New York Times Paris bureau chief Steven Erlanger sees French president Nicolas Sarkozy on the ropes in his re-election bid in his Friday front-page dispatch, and strangely foresees possible consequences for the United States in the form of higher taxes: "With Vote Days Away, Outlook for Sarkozy Dims."
Working to [Sarkozy's Socialist opponent Francois Hollande's] advantage is the fact that the public has tired of the grim business of budget cutting and is yearning for a different approach. Mr. Hollande is providing that, in the form of higher taxes on the rich, more state spending and an assault on inequality, themes that could conceivably reverberate beyond the Continent in subsequent years, particularly if they succeed.
Growing inequality has become a hot-button topic across Europe, and if Mr. Hollande were to win, the move to impose higher taxes on the wealthy could get a boost elsewhere, even in the United States, where President Obama has already promoted the so-called Buffett Rule to impose a minimum tax rate on incomes in excess of $1 million a year.
Really?
