Monday, June 25, 2012

French socialists trying to have it both ways

The new French socialist government is apparently committed to raising the highest income tax level to 75%. That led the British PM, David Cameron, to offer the UK as a home to wealthy French tax refugees:
"When France sets a 75 percent top income tax rate we will roll out the red carpet, and we will welcome more French businesses which will pay their taxes in Britain," he said.

What was the response of the French socialists? It was to rely on the patriotism of French businessmen to stay put in high taxing France:
France's Socialist government said Tuesday it was confident that patriotic business leaders would not flee the country over tax hikes, after Britain's prime minister offered to "roll out the red carpet".

"What I can answer to this statement from the British prime minister is that there are French bosses who are patriots, and there is a range of measures we will take in favour of business, measures that will support investment and encourage business to stay in France," European Affairs Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told Canal Plus television.

The French socialists are committed to dissolving France through open borders and an EU superstate, but then they make an appeal to patriotism to keep people paying a 75% tax rate.

You really have to wonder at what goes through the minds of these people. They want to erase national loyalties whilst still relying on people staying loyal to the nation.

7 comments:

  1. And that will be the reason for the eventual EU breakup; infighting for tax revenue coupled with spending. And to top it all off, IMO it won't be the smaller economies that bail first or are forced but the largest one, Germany followed by the UK that do.

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  2. Gee Bernard, what if you left the money in the pockets of French businesses and let them decide how to invest it rather than trying to do the job for them more expensively and less effectively? That would be an even better measure to support investment and encourage business to stay in France!

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  3. What "patriotism" is he appealing to? Patriotism to a geographical area that used to house a French culture?

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  4. Patriotism to a geographical area that used to house a French culture?

    Oddly enough, given their very advanced state of cultural leftism vis-a-vis the US, cultural differences and their disparate effects remain largely non-taboo in France. They are careful never to entertain the thought the such questions might have any genetic component; but they are totally open to the idea that there is a distinctive French culture, of the French, by the French, and for the French, and which ought to be preserved. Say that in America and yer a disgusting raaacist.

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  5. Indeed, the one thing the neo-liberal economic mantra of "free movement of goods, capital and labor across borders" has forgotten is that "free movement" also includes the free movement of productive, educated, Western taxpayers, not just that of low-skilled, dysfunctional third worlders.

    As the elites of Detroit and California completely forgot, much to their current dismay.

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  6. Anon,

    A good point that I predict will become increasingly relevant in coming years.

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  7. Mr. Richardson:

    The elites haven't figured out that when they break their side of the social contract, the other side eventually will decide not to honor it either.

    That doesn't only extend to the avoidance of taxes; next up will be the avoidance of military obligations.

    People won't pay taxes to support a non-country; neither will they send their sons to die for one.

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