(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)A pathetic-looking Emmanuel Macron went on television Monday to address the fed-up people of France. It looks like President Donald Trump is getting the last laugh on this one.
Rising fuel taxes, part of French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to fight global warming as part of the Paris Climate Accord, have sparked thousands of protesters, called “yellow vests,” to take to the street of Paris.
“We drove all night,” said Julien Lezer, an electrician who took part in Saturday’s demonstrations. “We don’t agree with the current system anymore; it doesn’t represent us. It’s not in the regions that things change; it’s in Paris. It’s when the people from the regions go to Paris that the politicians listen.”
French police arrested hundreds of protesters associated with the so-called Yellow Vest movement as France is now dealing with more fallout from a failed set of carbon taxes designed to tackle climate change.
Police arrested more than 700 people Saturday morning and searched protesters for items like the now-famed yellows vests they wear to signify allegiance to the country’s working class. Four people have died and scores more wounded during the weeks-long protests, which began in mid-November.
Protesters attempted to set a drugstore ablaze on the Champs-Élysées, placing burning Christmas trees against the building. A trove of riot police eventually dispersed the crowd and knocked down barricades the crowd placed in front of the buildings Officials hoped French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to nix an unpopular carbon tax might help defuse the situation. [Source: The Daily Caller]
In an address to the French people on Monday, a very desperate Macron begged for “another chance” and attempted to quell the anger of protesters by promising to raise the minimum wage an additional $113 per month starting in January and eliminating taxes on overtime and poor pensioners. Macron also said he’d put together policies to help graduates find jobs after school.
“I feel the anger. Give us another chance,” said the French president. “I don’t want the French people to be divided.” He added, “I want to find a way to get out of this together. I want this for France because this is our path through history.”
The dire situation in France ought to serve as a warning to some of the more liberal states in America which continue to raise taxes on commodities like fuel without offering citizens anything of value in return.
California, for example, has some of the highest gas taxes in the entire country. It can cost upwards of $4 per gallon at the pump. Registering your car each year costs hundreds of dollars, and you’ll also have to pay tolls if you want to drive on certain roads.
So, what does all of this extra expense actually get the people of California? Not much. Lawmakers allege that these sky-high taxes will allow the state government to fix highways. But if you’ve ever visited — or are unlucky enough to live there — you know that California’s roads are an embarrassment. Citizens are shelling out billions of extra dollars for literally nothing in return.
The people of France were also fed a line of BS about where their own hard-earned tax dollars were going. According to Macron, he “needs” them to fight climate change. But the whole global warming narrative has been proven time and again to be nothing more than a money-making scheme invented and perpetuated by wealthy political operatives.
President Donald Trump noted that the protests in Paris showed the failures of the Paris Agreement, which the Obama administration joined in 2016. Trump pledged to withdraw from the Paris accord in 2020.
“The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for Paris,” Trump tweeted on Saturday morning as France was preparing for another wave of violent protests.
Indeed, liberal policies that act as nothing more than a drain on the wallets of hard-working citizens are the reason Paris is in chaos.
