October 19, 2010
FIRST YOU HAVE TO BREAK THE REVOLUTION:
Sarkozy Stands Firm on Pension Reform as Protests Cripple France (Der Spiegel, 10/19/10)
France was brought to a standstill again on Tuesday by another nationwide day of strikes and protests against pension reforms. President Nicolas Sarkozy said he won't back down in the dispute because raising the retirement age is "essential" for France. [...]Sarkozy says the reform is the only way to save France's pension system. A decisive vote on it will take place in the Senate on Wednesday. Sarkozy reiterated on Tuesday that he won't back down. "The reform is essential and France is committed to it and will go ahead with it, just as our German partners did," he told journalists during a summit meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the northern city of Deauville.
Merkel backed Sarkozy in an interview with French channel France 2. "I think the population in Germany, just like in France, won't be able to avoid facing up to the truth," she said. "The truth is that people are living longer. And if we want to guarantee a decent pension, the fact that we're living longer must lead to people working longer."
It's over. The Jacobins lose.
