We often hear: “We have the policies we deserve” (1). This shows how little the French deserve, given the distressing spectacle offered by our national elected officials. By chance of the calendar, two events will collide in the coming days. On January 14, the first Prime Minister of the year, François Bayrou, will deliver his general policy speech to deputies. Oratorical exercise expected. We already know what happens next: howls from the opposition, tense smiles from Macronie, demagoguery at all levels, and undoubtedly a motion of censure, reviving the memory of the ephemeral Barnier government.
Less than a week later, 7,700 kilometers from the Palais-Bourbon, it will be Donald Trump’s turn to swear on the Bible during the inauguration ceremony of the 47th American president. The same one, who, four years ago, encouraged his activists to storm the Capitol. Trump returns, and with fanfare. With incalculable consequences for the rest of the world, from Ukraine to the Middle East, including Europe, threatened with a new commercial “tariff” war…
But who talks about these subjects in our country? Laurent Wauquiez? Olivier Faure? Gabriel Attal? Marine Le Pen? Jean-Luc Mélenchon? Listen: no one. Our politicians are too preoccupied with the clock on the 2027 presidential election. The swelling public debt burden? The record level of the deficit? The decline in productivity? More swear words, undoubtedly reserved for an elite cut off from French realities… Listening to a large majority of our elected officials, we should therefore continue to spend, for hospitals, for justice, for schools… And beware of those who the one who says the opposite, like Christelle Morançais, the courageous boss of the Pays de la Loire region, who dared to take out her budget pruning shears… What hasn’t she done! Scolded, nailed to the pillory within a minute. And too bad if France, champion of all categories in terms of public spending (56% of GDP) or compulsory deductions (45.5%), lives (very) well beyond its means: our policies don’t care ! This is evidenced by the new deficit objective, incapable of falling below 5% of GDP…
The President of the Republic called on the political class to regroup during his vows. But can we trust him, he who let the public accounts slide into crimson red for so long without reacting?
And yet he is right. Faced with the disruptions in the world, faced with our own financial mistakes, is it not time for our parliamentarians to resolve to vote for a budget that is, if not realistic, at least reasonable? Just to show that irresponsibility in political matters is not inevitable. We would like to believe it. But the “revolutionary mood” (2), which is sweeping across France, is hardly reassuring.
(1) We have the Policies we deserve, by Chloé Morin (Fayard, 2022).
(2) Revolutionary Mood. Paris, 1748-1789, by Robert Darnton (Gallimard, 2024).
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