COUNTERPOINT – The 40 billion savings sought by the executive are just a number. But, very quickly, it will transform into so many reasons for unpopularity.
Beneath the tax dispute, there is an issue of political credibility. For now, only the observation is unanimous: a slippage in deficits and a surge in debt which requires drastic recovery measures. But by announcing twenty billion more in taxes, is Michel Barnier acting on the truth? Or does he take the risk of offending his majority first, then the French?
Determined to make people talk about him as a deputy as well as as a minister, Gérald Darmanin threw a wrench in the pond by threatening not to vote on the budget. For having spilled the beans on the new Prime Minister’s fiscal intentions, the former Minister of the Interior had already caused trouble and lost his place in the government. He had only made the mistake of telling the truth too soon.
Public support
Since then, Michel Barnier has strived to regain control of a debate that threatened to escape his control. On the one hand by emphasizing that the reduction of deficits will be first, and…
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