Posted on 12/05/2018 6:31:10 AM PST by reaganaut1
‘There is no Plan B because there is no Planet B,” Emmanuel Macron lectured Donald Trump—in English—when the American President withdrew from the Paris climate agreement last year. Well, apparently there is a Plan B after all. Mr. Macron on Tuesday stopped his fuel-tax increase after concluding that marginal carbon reductions aren’t worth kneecapping an economy and sacrificing his political career. Mr. Trump could have warned him.
The French President views stopping climate change as a grand legacy project, and he had hoped to use higher fuel taxes to discourage driving for the sake of slashing carbon emissions. It didn’t matter to him that French emissions already are very low on a per capita basis and further cuts to transport emissions would be extremely difficult to achieve. But this matters a great deal to lower-income rural voters whose use of cars for daily life and business was about to become much more expensive.
Those voters produced the yellow-vest movement—named for the safety gear they wear—that in turn has created a political crisis for Mr. Macron. What began as a few hundred thousand protesters scattered around the country became more than a million last weekend, including inexcusable rioting mobs in Paris.
Mr. Macron’s tax backtrack, which his government says is only for six months, might induce the protesters to return home. But the movement grew so large and garnered so much public sympathy that his entire economic-reform agenda is now in jeopardy. The fuel tax was not part of his election campaign.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Our taxes have been raised. In Oregon we riot for higher taxes.
President Trump should just play back Macron’s off mic comment to the Saudi, “you never listen to me” everyday.
I always wondered where the “edge” was to the global warming hoax. Guess we found it. Tax people to stop global warming, a proven hoax? Time to start burning things down....and they did.
He married his high school teacher who is 24 years older than him.
Maybe Macron could now consider Plan C.......not ever trying anything stupid like this ever again, because it would accomplish no good purpose anyway.
Macaroon should be forced to go everywhere in a horse and buggy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.