France's most important left-wing newspaper, Libération, has affronted the country's wealthiest man, Bernard Arnault, said to be worth about $41 billion, with a front-page take-down for his announcement that he would seek double French/Belgian nationality. This after Hollande announced tax increases on the job creators obscenely wealthy as a means of reducing the French national debt and allowing the government to stimulate the economy by creating new jobs, including a promise to hire 60,000 teachers. Arnault responded by announcing that he will soon be filing suit against the paper.
The major French newspaper Libération was founded by Jean-paul Sartre in 1793 1973, and is widely-read both in print and on-line. Yesterday's Libération carried a front page picture or Arnault with an overnight bag in hand and huge letters saying, "Casse-toi riche con!" This is a paraphrase of the famous remark made by Sarkozy, who is a close personal friend of Arnault. During a photo-op palm-greasing session at an agricultural exposition several years back, an unidentified man in the crowd withdrew his hand as Sarko reached for it, saying, "Ah non, touche-moi pas! Tu me salis!" (Uh, don't touch me! You'll make me dirty!"), to which Sarko replied, "Eh ben casse-toi alors, pauv' con!" (Well, then, just fxxk-off, you poor bastard!"). Luckily the whole thing was captured on film, and the phrase became both a symbol of the arrogance of the wealthy elite represented by Sarko and a rallying cry for the then growing anti-Sarko sentiment in France, which would eventually prove to remove him from power after only one term.
Hollande has announced plans to raise taxes on the very wealthy, causing the rich to moan and groan and threaten a mass exodus to more friendly climes. Arnault's announcement that he would seek Belgian nationality came just a day before Hollande confirmed that he wants to impose a 75% tax on incomes above 1 million Euros a year. From the Daily Mail:
Mr Hollande, who has openly admitted that he dislikes rich people, said Mr Arnaud 'should have reflected on what it means to ask for another nationality, because we are proud to be French'.
Benoit Hamon, Minister for the Social Economy, also suggested Mr Arnault was unpatriotic saying: 'I expect the French, especially the richest ones, to be true patriots.'
Leftist politician Jean-Luc Melenchon said the country did not need such ‘parasites’ and Socialist lawmaker Bruno Le Roux said Mr Arnault was ‘betraying France’s recovery’.
The wealthy French, of course, also have their own lap-dog politicians, both on the right and the left, who are now trumpeting the same old complaint so familiar to Americans:
Politicians from right and left are now accusing Mr Hollande of driving wealth-creating tycoons out of the country to cities like Brussels, London, and Geneva, where they will pay less tax.
Francois Fillon, the conservative who stepped down as Prime Minister of France in May, said 'stupid decisions' by the Socialists who replaced his own government had prompted Mr Arnault to become a Belgian.
Mr Fillon said: 'When you take stupid decisions, you get these terrible results. The chief of one of the best companies in the world, who symbolises French know-how and success, known throughout the world, has been prompted to change his nationality because of the fiscal policy which is being applied in our country.'
Mr Hollande said that the tax was 'symbolic' and would 'set an example' to everybody else in society.
The Socialist President has made no secret of the fact that he sees taxing the rich as the key to revitalising France's stagnant economy.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/...
Arnault claims his move is motivated by purely personal considerations and that he would continue to pay his taxes in France, but many think he is lying. He would not be directly better off as a Belgian than as a Frenchman, but another article in the Guardian explains his clever ruse:
The move could be the first step towards obtaining citizenship in Monaco, Libération said. As a Frenchman in Monaco, Arnault would be required to pay French taxes. But if he drops his French nationality after becoming Belgian, he could avoid them.
Read more:
http://gu.com/...
Luckily, the newspaper is not in any great danger from Arnault's lawsuit. If found guilty, it would have to issue a public apology and pay a fine of 1 Euro.