Il y a un an, Nicolas Sarkozy ne manquait pas une occasion de fustiger les prudences, les velléités, les louvoiements des années Chirac, pour mieux vanter sa propre énergie et son volontarisme à toute épreuve. On allait voir ce qu’on allait voir, ne cessait-il de clamer.

Et l’on voit. Un président qui entendait assumer pleinement ses responsabilités et ” gouverner “. Et qui gouverne mal, trop solitaire, trop impulsif, incapable de déléguer et de faire confiance au-delà du cercle trop étroit de ses principaux conseillers. Un président qui s’était imposé comme l’incontestable ” patron ” de la droite française. Et qui se montre impuissant à tenir ses troupes parlementaires, en dépit de vigoureux rappels à l’ordre dont le plus récent remonte à moins d’une semaine.

Un président qui allait réformer la France, sans craindre de la bousculer. Et dont les initiatives se heurtent trop souvent, même quand elles sont pertinentes, aux réticences, voire au rejet. Un président enfin qui n’hésitait pas, il y a un an, à faire la leçon à ses voisins européens, trop timorés à ses yeux. Et qui est aujourd’hui rappelé à l’ordre par la Commission de Bruxelles, inquiète des dérapages de nos finances publiques, lourdement déficitaires. A quelques semaines de la présidence française de l’Union, sur laquelle mise le chef de l’Etat pour redorer son blason, c’est un autre camouflet, tout aussi cinglant. Nicolas Sarkozy l’a dit et répété : il n’entend pas ” changer de stratégie “. Dont acte. Cela n’interdit pas de lui suggérer de changer de méthode. C’est, à l’évidence, la condition nécessaire pour retrouver la confiance du pays, indispensable à l’action.

© Le Monde 15/05/08

His government is a joke, as the Elysee is the real “lieu de pouvoir”.
His foreign policy is just a mix of a commercial roadshow and pro-bush activism.
His economic program was so empty that he needed to set up the attali comittee to define one. A one year graduate student would be more coherent
His social program (justice, security, immigration, unemployment, education) is only an affichage to keep the votes of the extreme right

As for reforms, most of them are simple “effet d’annonce” without any enforcement of the important part
The fact that he did more than Chirac hides the fact that he did far less than Mitterand and Giscard d’Estaing.

Really Fabrice, you should get your infos from other sources.
Try the recent Courrier international that explains how France has lost all his credibility in Europe, citing sources of scores of world newspapers.

And by the way, I dont buy this new disinformation that Sarkozy is falling because of his private life. He’s falling because he’s a liar and don’t keep up with what he promised.

This was obvious from the beginning.
He gave every clientele the speech they wanted to hear, so that anyone thought that he would transform the country without choices and sacrifices, but for others.
His biggest responsability was that he failed to place France in a position to decide his future (social democracy a la nordic or liberalism a la Blair). An historical blunder France will pay for years

Don’t fall subject to the old saw of giving benefits on the basis of “need” because in the 1st place “need” can always be faked up. In the second place its discriminatory against those who pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.

The smartest solution is how the owner of EFDATA handled gym memberships. Gym memberships were subsidized but not free. His explanation was if its free EVERYBODY signs up and they 1 in 10 uses what his company paid for. His solution was to charge a nominal fee large enough that you had to really WANT to use the membership or it made no sense. It was like 20 bucks a month. Just enough to make them make a decision.

….and I know how you euros can party in school. There has been a steady procession of students living where I’m at and they’re definitely taking advantage of the system to avoid work. Thus it really MUST have a cost penalty associated or everyone will take advantage of it to have 4 years of partying.