Macron makes U-turn on climate change fuel-tax increases
France’s prime minister on Tuesday suspended planned increases to fuel taxes for at least six months in response to weeks of sometimes violent protests, the first major U-turn by President Emmanuel Macron’s administration in 18 months in office.
In announcing the decision, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said anyone would have “to be deaf or blind” not to see or hear the roiling anger on the streets over a policy that Macron has defended as critical to combating climate change.
John UK wrote: It just shows how entrenched in Catholicism France was, back in the day, before it became a secular nation.
Unsurprisingly, Catholicism is better entrenched in Italy, as the author mentions in: www.trinitylectures.org/papal-power-its-origins-and-development-p-123.html
I honestly don’t know if they televise the race here or not. Not my cup of tea. Now if they would get rid of those stupid bicycles and use goat carts instead...
Dr. Tim wrote: I thought Macron was a synthetic fiber used to make those tight, fruity-looking shorts guys wear in the Tour de France.
Hey Doc, do you get to see any of the Tour de France over there? The filming is amazing, from both motorcycles, and usually a couple of helicopters. Stunning scenery and often a short history lesson as they pass by landmarks, especially Catholic establishments. It just shows how entrenched in Catholicism France was, back in the day, before it became a secular nation.
Dr. Tim wrote: I thought Macron was a synthetic fiber used to make those tight, fruity-looking shorts guys wear in the Tour de France.
This is a Macron: ¯ Code Point U+00AF, part of the ISO8859-1 Latin 1 character set supported by modern web browsers. More useful to Christians, perhaps, are the Greek and Hebrew Unicode subranges.
Allie wrote: This is a schtick to take more of the people's wealth.
Probably so. They learned from Edward Bernays that the public can be manipulated by propaganda from powerful interests.
Bernays, an Austrian related to Sigmund Freud, was one of the 20th Century's most pernicious, diabolical influences, yet few have ever heard of him. He invented the profession of Public Relations, and consulted with major corporations and governments on how they could manipulate the people, who could not be trusted to think for themselves.
Example: in the 1920s, he used publicity stunts to convince women to smoke, on behalf of the tobacco industry. Far worse, he worked with the CIA Operation PBSUCCESS on discrediting the Guatemalan gov't on behalf of United Fruit Co., resulting in a horrific civil war lasting decades.
This is a schtick to take more of the people's wealth. They went to diesel to "save the planet" now They want to increase the tax. That is all the climate stuff is. A way to control people. China and India the world's largest polluters and as far as I can see no one harasses them. It's the rich people in the west that must suffer. Glad the people spoke up and their President backed off. They need to keep speaking up. I don't see Monsiuer Macron as a tough leader. He did marry his high school teacher who was romantically attracted to him and (and it was mutual) eventually left her husband for him. That is not a person who should be in authority.
Just a Guy wrote: How does Macron think a higher tax on fuel is going to help climate change...
If one wants to reduce consumption of a commodity, I have to admit higher taxes are a great method. But tax rises are also a time-tested catalyst of popular revolts. This is why the 18¢ US national gas tax hasn't changed in years.
If we all rode horses instead, Climate Change fanatics would decide these would have to go too - all that methane flatulence.
COMMENTS | 
