Posted on 06/13/2005 7:30:53 PM PDT by blam
From what little I know about this whole situation...that's my impression too.
You've got it correct.
Without the rebate for the UK, they would pay 15 times as much as France does. Even with the rebate the UK pays more than France, and still France goes on to accuse Britain of "selfishly refusing to pay the bill for enlargement last year".
What Gaul!
""Our humble and modest position says we simply respect the position of each member state," said Mr Douste-Blazy. "
That sure sounds like someone took the French aside and said " You keep this up and we'll blow the lid off of.... "
Oh, I am so sad. NOT!!!
The Dutch voted it down for more or less the opposite reason; they've had a hard time recently with their famed ''tolerant'' culture.
In plain English, this utterly moronic alleged ''constitution'' is starkest idiocy in action. Only legislators (well, wth did you expect?, 7 out of 7 leges have ''approved'' it, w/o any vote of the citizens of the respective nations) and Spaniards (again, wth did you expect?...quaking in their boots after a round of Islamic terrorism that killed several hundred) will vote to enact such a disgraceful and idiotic, AND self-enslaving, document into what passes for ''law'' in the ESSR.
Hell's bells, man, even the old Soviet ''constitution'' was more coherent than this batch of bilge. Don't even think of taking my word for it!
Look up the USSR constitution (which was absolute kwap, not worth the paper on which it was printed, because totalitarians love to show the faux-emulation of generally republican principles), and compare it to this new ESSR nonsensical so-called ''constitution''.
Couldn't happen to a nicer continent.
They might well seek a merger partner (or two, or twenty-five) which a.) had better future prospects and b.) in which they would be the surviving corporation.
That over-extended corporation is France. The mega-corp they were attempting to form is the EU.
The Euro has decoupled from other currencies, and is in a tailspin. There are some interesting charts here:
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/chan/chan061305.html
This previous post details the absurd salaries.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1421157/posts
France Surrenders! (again)
The very concept of socialism is anti-self-deterministic by definition; when a socialist gov't utters its decrees and ukases, both the individual and any non-dominating population group have one of two choices, namely:
1) Knuckle under
2) Get the hell out of Dodge.
Spin, is it? What rubbish. The French leftists voted en masse and in lockstep (gee, now THAT was a shock, eh?) against the pseudo-constitution.
Look, laddiebuck, the froggies can't possibly ''return'' to protectionism, simply because they've never abandoned the notion. Protectionism is the national economic equivalent of attempting to call ''time out'' or ''freeze the ball''. Doesn't work over time, never has, never will, although assorted nations have managed by force against their respective populations to maintain a protectionist regime for a little while.
Which little demonstrable truth, of course, makes protectionism the perfect policy for the froggies. I assume you know the history of this besotted nation after said nation's most serious debacle, to wit and specifically, WW II. Good, glad you do know it.
About time for the SIXTH alleged ''Republic'', I'd say. Merely superimpose a green crescent over the vaunted ''bleu, blanc, et rouge'' and voila tout!.
Simplest thing in the world...well, except for most froggie politicos, who are far, far simpler.
FReegards to you.
Trading forex is highly influenced by mob psychology, though; most extended currency moves overshoot by 20% or so, even more when a panic component is thrown in (think MXN, 1997, or RUR, August 1998, to mention a couple of recent examples).
Long term -- say a decade or so -- EUR is toast, absolutely insupportable as a currency, until and unless the Maastricht agreement is rewritten top to bottom.
Will this occur? I've no view...but if you hold a gun to my head, I'd say that I doubt such renegotiation of the agreement will, or even could possibly, occur. The political class in the original signatory nations (pls note that UK and the 'Eastern' European nations are not part of this group) will never permit a renegotiation, even unto EUR's collapse.
They ''know best'', dontchasee?
In your honour, Cicero:
Quo usque tandem abutere, EMU, patientia nostra?
Fine analogy!
Good show, SAJ. You have stated quite succinctly, and with the proper amount of Old West aphorism, what socialism is -
"The very concept of socialism is anti-self-deterministic by definition; when a socialist gov't utters its decrees and ukases, both the individual and any non-dominating population group have one of two choices, namely:
1) Knuckle under
2) Get the hell out of Dodge."
I plan to use it with some of my friends in the West whose understanding of socialism is sorely lacking.
FReegards!
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