Posted on 12/07/2018 10:04:46 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
PARIS - France hunkered down for another wave of potentially violent protests on Saturday as embattled President Emmanuel Macron planned to address the nation next week over public fury at the high cost of living, senior allies said.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said the three-week-old yellow vest revolt had created a monster and vowed police would have no tolerance for violence, with much of Paris in lockdown and tens of thousands of police deployed nationwide.
Castaner warned that radicals would likely again infiltrate the protest movement - a backlash against high living costs but also, increasingly, a revolt against Macron himself, including his perceived loftiness and reforms favoring a moneyed elite.
After the Dec. 1 riots in central Paris and sometimes violent demonstrations in dozens of other cities and towns across France, the government offered a rush of sweeteners to soothe public anger.
It started by scrapping next years planned hikes to fuel taxes, the first major U-turn of Macrons presidency and costing the Treasury 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion).
But protesters want Macron to go further to help hard-pressed households, including an increase to the minimum wage, lower taxes, higher salaries, cheaper energy, better retirement provisions and even Macrons resignation.
But, mindful of Frances deficit and not wanting to flout EU rules, Macron will have scant wriggle room for more concessions.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
I love that phrasing: by NOT stealing 4.5 billion Euros from the pockets of the proles, somehow this COSTS the government money.
Typical leftist mindset, I suppose.
Let them ride bikes
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner... vowed police would have no tolerance for violence
Cut him some slack, must be his first day in France. Or, maybe he's just a whistling past the graveyard kind of moron.
Like the Democrat phrase, 'Paying for tax cuts.'
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