Forever Socialist

George Will cites some serious flaws in the French version of modern socialism. Although there is global hope that France will return to the fold of serious productive nations, Will thinks that their systemic issues with socialism may prevent true reform and progress. It seems like Hillary, Barack, John, and some of the commentors on this blog have French/European envy.

“One in four French workers is employed in the public sector, which devours 54 percent of GDP. (The U.S. percentage is about 34.) The fact that for 15 years France’s GDP and output per hour worked have been declining relative to those of Britain and the United States surely is related to the fact that 60 percent of the French respond positively to the word “bureaucrat.” American conservatives should seek happy harbingers elsewhere.”

Chris Wallace Slapdown of Bill Moyers

You have to watch this clip from Fox News Sunday. I saw this on Sunday morning, and then forgot about it while doing other reading and watching the Sunday News programs. Chris Wallace put the slapdown on foolish Bill Moyers of PBS. Moyers is a reactionary liberal who participates in the worst kind of propaganda/journalism. More at Hot Air.

France’s Sarkozy raises prospect of Iran Airstrikes

Here’s something really different…A French President talking about actually doing something with an international threat. We’ll see if anything comes of it, but it actually sounds like real leadership.

By Francois Murphy
PARIS (Reuters) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday a diplomatic push by the world’s powers to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program was the only alternative to “an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran”.
In his first major foreign policy speech, Sarkozy emphasized his existing foreign policy priorities, such as opposing Turkish membership of the European Union and pushing for a new Mediterranean Union that he hopes will include Ankara.

He also presented some new ideas, such as possibly renewing high-level dialogue with Syria and expanding the Group of Eight industrialized nations to include the biggest developing states.

Sarkozy said a nuclear-armed Iran would be unacceptable and that major powers should continue their policy of incrementally increasing sanctions against Tehran while being open to talks if Iran suspended nuclear activities.

“This initiative is the only one that can enable us to escape an alternative that I say is catastrophic: the Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran,” he said, adding that it was the worst crisis currently facing the world.

The Debate Continues

Our friend, Scott Elliot, Dayton Daily News Education Reporter and author of the excellent education blog, Get on the Bus, responds to our essay of Sunday, August 26. We hope that Scott’s article will be widely read. There are so many misconceptions of the state of public education including in the Miami Valley.

The Incredibile Shrinking Federal Deficit

The New York Sun had a great editorial that we missed last week about the shrinking federal deficit. The Bush tax cuts have produced a booming economy and therefore a boom in receipts to the federal treasury. You won’t hear this great economic news in any of the drive-by media. They are obsessed with forecasting a possible recession.
2004: $413 billion
2005: $318 billion
2006: $248 billion
2007: $158 billion

Close readers of this column may recall the top three numbers in the list above from our editorial of July 12, “Incredible Shrinking Deficit.” It commented on the mid-session review released by President Bush’s Office of Management and Budget, which projected the fourth number, the 2007 federal budget deficit, at $205 billion. Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office released its own updated estimate for 2007, $158 billion, a deficit even smaller than the White House’s July figure. The CBO yesterday also released its latest estimate of the 2007 deficit as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product, allowing us to update another list of deficit numbers: