Will Sarkozy Win?

[BelleBoo&AmisMum]

You paint with too wide of a brush my friend!

I would consider myself conservative. All my friends are way left of me!

Anyway.... I absolutely love the French. Spent time in northern France. Awesome people. Would retire to Normandie in a New York minute. Made a trip last year to support the calvados industry. They had a great month!

The bashing of the French was rather embarassing and showed our collective ignorance of French history and their bravery during WWI and WWII.

The French voted. They made their choice. Viva la France and democracy.

You'd live in northern France?!?! My DH is from that area and I don't think he'd want to live there again. I've always thought it was quite like Idaho with a French accent. Then again I've been in some really small towns where I was treated like a side show because I was an American and they'd never seen a real life American before. DH and his whole family were in fits of laughter over that one.

 

[billythefish]

I think there is a balance that is needed. Clearly, there are many Americans who consistently work 50-60 hours a week, and that is not healthy. I agree that the 35 hour work week needs to change in France, and the President elect has some good ideas. One thing I read in the paper this morning is that they are thinking of taking overtime pay an exempting it from taxes to help stimulate the economy.

As far as french bashing, that is just from ignorance and I was embarrassed by some of the behavior I saw in our country. The President elect said he wants to strengthen the relationship with US, and that being a strong allies does not mean agreeing and supporting every issue.

I think making a 35 hour week mandatory across the board was a mistake by the French, but a 40 hour week is long gone in many European countries. My own company is working towards a 35 hour week in progressive stages. At the moment we do 37. This time next year it will be 35, with 32 annual leave days a year. There's a big lie being told in the US about working hours, annual leave and productivity. Unfortunately, most American's seem to be swallowing it.

 

[Oreo Cookie]

I think making a 35 hour week mandatory across the board was a mistake by the French, but a 40 hour week is long gone in many European countries. My own company is working towards a 35 hour week in progressive stages. At the moment we do 37. This time next year it will be 35, with 32 annual leave days a year. There's a big lie being told in the US about working hours, annual leave and productivity. Unfortunately, most American's seem to be swallowing it.

Thanks for sharing. What country do you live in?

 

[billythefish]

Thanks for sharing. What country do you live in?

I'm from England.

 

[LukenDC]

I work in the USA, have a 37 hour work week (paid for 40) and four weeks of leave a year. Every Friday is a short Friday and we leave work three hours early. It's a great benefit.

 

[dcentity2000]

Wow! 85% turnout?!?!? The American public could take a real lesson from the French on appreciation of the right to vote!

Same here! As of late we've been remarkably indifferent when it comes to the vote, which sucks because it potentially makes the poll unrepresentative.



Rich::

 

[Chloe'sMom]

I think making a 35 hour week mandatory across the board was a mistake by the French, but a 40 hour week is long gone in many European countries. My own company is working towards a 35 hour week in progressive stages. At the moment we do 37. This time next year it will be 35, with 32 annual leave days a year. There's a big lie being told in the US about working hours, annual leave and productivity. Unfortunately, most American's seem to be swallowing it.

I have to agree. It amazes me that people actually think that business looks out for their workers. Tell that to the 17,000 people that just got laid off at my company.

~Amanda

 

[Oreo Cookie]

I work in the USA, have a 37 hour work week (paid for 40) and four weeks of leave a year. Every Friday is a short Friday and we leave work three hours early. It's a great benefit.

Any job openings?

Good for you. I'm glad that there are companies out there that have a good balance.

 

[JoeEpcotRocks]

I think making a 35 hour week mandatory across the board was a mistake by the French, but a 40 hour week is long gone in many European countries. My own company is working towards a 35 hour week in progressive stages. At the moment we do 37. This time next year it will be 35, with 32 annual leave days a year. There's a big lie being told in the US about working hours, annual leave and productivity. Unfortunately, most American's seem to be swallowing it.

There's no free lunch.

 

[JoeEpcotRocks]

I have to agree. It amazes me that people actually think that business looks out for their workers. Tell that to the 17,000 people that just got laid off at my company.

~Amanda

Most companies do look out for their workers.

 

[toto2]

Because it affects productivity tremendously. Business has to spend a lot more to produce less and less. France's employment rate is 60% which means that there are a lot of people permanently excluded from the work force. Its unemployment rate is 9%, twice that of the USA. Last year when attempts were made to loosen some of the constraints on hire; hire on a trial basis, being able to dismiss poor workers, as it is here in the USA, the French rioted. I guess those that do work want their jobs forever, regardless if they are useful or not. If workers had to work 40 hours a week, companies could earn more and expand. Overtime is taxed at very high rates and this too stifles job growth.

The idea for the 35 hour week was that , instead of keeping 3 employes on overtime , you hire one more employe to do the work ( obviously , it is more complicated than that but it was one of the reasons)

Secondly , the productivity of France is far from being terrible. If places 7th in the world ahead of Canada (11th), Australia (13th), Germany (17th), United Kingdom (22nd) and Japan (23rd). So the 3 week vacation is not doing to bad thankyou !

Here , in my province, we have the 2 week paid vacation, by law , up to 50 weeks of maternity leave for one of the parents ( paid by the governement , based on your salary ) and 5 weeks for the other spouse. We are 11th in productivity.


As far as the situation in France goes , they now have brilliant man as President... but the 46 % who did not vote for him are a bit afraid of him He said things during the electoral campaing that were a bit ...racist.

 

[Database]

BelleBoo&AmisMum;18542796]You'd live in northern France?!?! My DH is from that area and I don't think he'd want to live there again. I've always thought it was quite like Idaho with a French accent. Then again I've been in some really small towns where I was treated like a side show because I was an American and they'd never seen a real life American before. DH and his whole family were in fits of laughter over that one. ;

Wow! Thanks for the tip on Idaho! I couldn't afford Normandie anyway!

I'm simple folk. So they fit in just fine with my personality! (Did I mention Calvados?)

 

[dcentity2000]

As far as the situation in France goes , they now have brilliant man as President... but the 46 % who did not vote for him are a bit afraid of him He said things during the electoral campaing that were a bit ...racist.

If memory serves, the only reason Chirac stayed in last time was that his opponent was a far right madman with racist underpinnings. Chirac was the lesser of two evils.



Rich::

 

[JoeEpcotRocks]

Actually, we've always had a friend and an ally in France. It's a shame this administration didn't take their advice and intel about Iraq more seriously since they turned out to be correct. We would have saved ourselves hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of American citizens would still be alive.

I'm glad we got rid of Saddam, a terrorist supporter who failed to dislosure his disposal of WMD that he once had.

The cost of keeping Saddam in Iraq would probably have been much greater, just like the appeasement of Hitler in WWII.

We saw the usual "teeth" from France and the UN.

 

[Database]

LukenDC;18543089]I work in the USA, have a 37 hour work week (paid for 40) and four weeks of leave a year. Every Friday is a short Friday and we leave work three hours early. It's a great benefit

Dang! You and Billythefish are downright depressing me!
Hang on to those gigs my dis-buddies. Hang on to those gigs!

 

[DawnCt1]

I don't think tax rates for overtime are any different than normal tax rates. Maybe you can prove me wrong on that one.

It's always amazed me that America has only a two week annual leave as the norm. Four weeks has been the norm in Britain since the 60's. Anyone who tells you it affects the economy adversly is a liar frankly. Or a megarich businessman whose been fleecing his workers for years and telling them it's for the good of the economy.

Then how do you explain our 4.5 unemployment rate; half of what France's is.
Two weeks annual vacation is usually the minimum. DH gets 6 weeks. A lot of people who have been with their company for a while get 3 or 4. It depends upon what benefits were negotiated. The problem with your "arguement" is that it is "megarich" businessmen who create jobs.

 

[billythefish]

There's no free lunch.

Agreed, but it's possible to cut working hours AND increase productivity. The slavish adherence to the 40 hour week is outdated and lacks imagination on the part of employers.

 

[DawnCt1]

I have to agree. It amazes me that people actually think that business looks out for their workers. Tell that to the 17,000 people that just got laid off at my company.

~Amanda

The reality is, a company is not a social service agency. I have been part of a company that was forced to lay off 20% of their work force. If they didn't, there wouldn't have been a company for the other 80% to go to work in. They would have bled money and lost capital investment from shareholders.
That doesn't mean that the company didn't care about the 20%. It means that they needed to stay in business.

 

[salmoneous]

The cost of keeping Saddam in Iraq would probably have been much greater, just like the appeasement of Hitler in WWII.

We don't have to guess as to the cost of keeping Saddam contained without war - we did it for 12 years. We know what it took to contain him. How can you say the cost would "probably have been higher?"

Saddam was no Hitler - he wasn't a serious threat to the outside world. Invasion was not necessary to deal him. It hasn't made the world a safer place. Support for terrorism from Iraq is higher post invasion.

The French might not always be right - but they sure were correct about the wisdom of invading Iraq in 2003.

 

[JoeEpcotRocks]

We don't have to guess as to the cost of keeping Saddam contained without war - we did it for 12 years. We know what it took to contain him. How can you say the cost would "probably have been higher?"

Saddam was no Hitler - he wasn't a serious threat to the outside world. Invasion was not necessary to deal him. It hasn't made the world a safer place. Support for terrorism from Iraq is higher post invasion.

The French might not always be right - but they sure were correct about the wisdom of invading Iraq in 2003.

Contained?? Please. The sanctions were crumbling. Oil for food bribes were rampant. He never did disclose disposal of his WMD. Saddam could have done almost anything he wanted, and the UN would have just passed another resolution.

We were wise to liberate Iraq from Saddam.