Redstate

Posted at 3:28pm on Jun. 3, 2008 A Brief Primer on the Perniciousness of Government

By Kevin Holtsberry

Tony Woodlief makes a point worth remembering:

This put me in mind of how many states require that health insurers who want to serve customers within their borders provide not just basic health coverage, but funding for things like hairpieces for cancer patients, and podiatry services. Now hairpieces for cancer patients are a good thing, and so are healthy feet, but the effect of such mandates is much the same as if your state forbids you from buying an old pickup with no AC or stereo. Yes, an old stinky truck without an AC is crummy in the summer, but it beats walking, which is what you'll be doing if you're only allowed to buy a Lexus.

We don't think about it that way, however, we simply think about how everyone ought to have everything they need, immediately. And then we drive up the price of health care, or energy, and when people can't afford it, we declare a "market failure." Then some officious Ivy Leaguer conveniently emerges with a blueprint for rational government provision of the service.

And then the next thing you know, we're France. And that, my friends, is just plain un-American.

True. The sad thing is that at least France figured out a way to use nuclear power . . .

Posted at 3:33pm on May 5, 2008 Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Remembering The Battle of Puebla

By Dan McLaughlin

Today is May 5: Cinco de Mayo, commemorating the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Cinco de Mayo does not celebrate Mexico's independence from Spain (that date is September 16, which marks the start of Mexico's war for independence beginning in 1810), and in fact it isn't a federal holiday in Mexico; it is, rather, more an excuse for Mexican-Americans to celebrate their heritage, like St. Patrick's Day is for my own family. It's also an occasion for politicians like John McCain to seek support among Mexican-Americans by commemorating the holiday.

If you think about it historically, though, there's actually a good reason why the Battle of Puebla should be a bigger deal in the U.S. than back in Mexico.

Read On...

Posted in France | History | Mexico — Comments (8)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:33pm on Feb. 1, 2008 John McCain: He's Always There When He Needs Us

"My Friends" Im in Need

By Michelle Oddis

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is one-stop shopping for presidential candidates. It’s the one time every year that they can guarantee themselves the attention of more movement conservatives than at any other single gathering.

For years, Sen. John McCain has been noticeable by his absence. This year he’s not only coming, his campaign has bought a display booth in the exhibition hall.

McCain will address the conference on Thursday at 3 pm. He’ll follow Gov. Mitt Romney who will speak at 12:30pm. (Cong. Ron Paul is scheduled for 4:30 pm. Only Gov. Mike Huckabee hasn’t yet told CPAC he’d be there.)

McCain’s absence in earlier years is probably explainable by his attitude towards conservatives, which they have reflected right back at him. John McCain blew off CPAC last year. He came in last in the Presidential Straw Poll with only 12%. Mitt Romney came in first with 21%. McCain’s name was actually booed by the crowd of conservatives at several moments during the three-day program.

David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, host of CPAC since 1974 said ...

Read On

Posted in 2008 | 2008 Presidential Campaign | CPAC | France | McCain — Comments (43)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:28am on Jan. 18, 2008 God Forbid That French Bookbuyers Should Actually Get A Good Deal

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Details here. All the more reason to like and patronize Amazon, as far as I am concerned. And just imagine what the reaction would be here if a law were passed denying bookbuyers the ability to get free shipping discounts.

(Link via the Smithians.)

Posted at 11:17pm on Nov. 30, 2007 Bringing An End To The 35 Hour Work Week In France

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Nicolas Sarkozy's efforts to dramatically change the nature of the French approach to work continues apace:

President Nicolas Sarkozy is trying to revamp France's 35-hour working week without picking a fight with trade unions by making it easier and more attractive for employees to work longer.

Introduced in 1998 when the opposition Socialists were in power, the 35-hour work week has been blamed by the ruling centre-right UMP and business for inflation, competitiveness problems, sluggish growth, and a host of other ills.

Past UMP governments have already done their bit to undermine the law by allowing some exemptions, and Sarkozy introduced tax breaks for firms and employees for overtime work -- even before Thursday's announcements.

Read on.

Posted in 35 Hour Workweek | Foreign Affairs | France | Nicolas Sarkozy — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 7:40pm on Nov. 23, 2007 Le Vainqueur

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Nicolas Sarkozy wins:

President Sarkozy of France is on the verge of a breakthrough in his ambitious plan to wean his country off the restrictive working practices he believes stand in the way of national prosperity.

Yesterday, the strike of rail and subway workers that has crippled France for nine days was clearly crumbling, as workers began returning to work in large numbers and union branches conceded that support for the dispute is collapsing.

"We think a dynamic of return to work has begun," Julie Vion, a spokeswoman for France's state-owned railroad network, SNCF, said.

Union leaders began to concede defeat yesterday. "We have to face reality. Since yesterday's negotiations, things have changed. The strike is no longer the solution. The strike strategy is no longer winning," a leader of the Sud union representing Paris underground railway workers, Philippe Touzet, said in an interview with Bloomberg News.

The collapse of support for the strike by individual rail workers marks the first success in what Mr. Sarkozy considers the key goal of his presidency, the abandonment of expensive entitlements and special conditions for public sector workers, including generous early retirement and pension benefits for half a million rail workers, which he believes make France uncompetitive.

Hopefully, this positive trend will continue, but it should not be forgotten that despite his reformist tendencies, Nicolas Sarkozy remains something of a statist who supports an industrial policy and is less than enthusiastic about globalization. To be sure, if his political successes continue, Sarkozy will be able to move France from the excessively statist position it has found itself stuck in for generations, but Milton Friedman or Margaret Thatcher he ain't.

The good news may be that Sarkozy will help set the stage for a future President who actually will pursue Thatcherite reforms. At which point, France will take the giant step towards economic and social dynamism all those who love it want it to take.

Posted in Foreign Affairs | France | Nicolas Sarkozy | Strikes — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 3:30am on Nov. 22, 2007 Robespierre Might Have Approved

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

I have been watching with some interest the strikes going on in France. The short story is that the government of Nicolas Sarkozy wants to increase the time workers will need to pay into the national pension system before they are able to retire and draw benefits from it. Additionally, Sarkozy wants to make it easier for employers to be able to fire their workers.

Labor has revolted. And now, the revolt appears to have taken a dangerous turn:

As a national transit strike stretched into its second week, arsonists disrupted high-speed train service on four main routes on Wednesday. Government officials called the fires a "coordinated act of sabotage."

The early morning outbreak of fires on the electrical lines supplying the T.G.V. high-speed trains happened hours before talks between transit union and government officials. The negotiators met for more than four hours and agreed to continue on Monday, while strike-weary travelers endured the eighth day of a walkout with no end in sight.

The fires raised the question of whether the striking unions were losing control of their most militant members. Top union officials condemned the attacks and insisted that there was no proof of union involvement. Bernard Thibault, the secretary general of the Confédération Générale du Travail, a powerful union, said such attacks during a strike were "certainly designed to bring discredit to the profession."

Government officials also condemned the fires. They stopped short of blaming the unions.

I suppose that we will find out soon enough who is responsible for this. But whomever is responsible, it is obvious that the government of Nicolas Sarkozy is being put to its first major test. And all of France is wondering whether he is the reformer he promised to be, or whether he will back down and give into the traditional and desultory sociopolitical arrangement in France in exchange for peace.

I imagine that at the end of the day, a compromise of sorts will be reached. By all accounts, Sarkozy has tried to reach out to the unions even as he has sought to implement his reforms. But whether any compromise will advance the cause of reform or kill it in its cradle is another matter altogether. On that issue, I am not prepared to place any bets.

Posted in Foreign Affairs | France | Strikes | terrorism — Comments (7)/ Email this page » / Read More »