Obama and the Rich: ‘This Young Man Hasn’t Finished Showing Us’: Le Monde of France

Here’s something unusual if not startling from France’s left-leaning Le Monde newspaper: an op-ed the criticizes Obama’s perceived crackdown on the well-connected and wealthy – and what the author calls his ‘anti-business bias.’

For Le Monde, Frederic Lemaitre laments Obama’s handling of the auto sector, his investments in the green economy, and his intention to eliminate off-shore tax havens:

“While the press sings the praises of Barack Obama one hundred days after his arrival at the White House, this young man worries me. … The worst is that this president, not content with being “green,” is pursuing a policy that’s hostile to the business climate. His management of the ‘automobile’ sector is revealing. Having fired the boss at General Motors, there he was giving the United Auto Workers the keys to Chrysler – and tomorrow it will be GM. The UAW is about to become the largest shareholder in both manufacturers. The most optimistic explanation is that this is the best way to get the workers to swallow the pill of restructuring, but the shareholders have lost practically everything. Thank you Mr. Obama!”

By Frédéric Lemaître

Translated By Mary Kenney

May 9, 2009

France – Le Monde – Original Article (French)

While the press sings the praises of Barack Obama one hundred days after his arrival at the White House, this young man worries me. Every day brings its share of baleful news. Let us pass over his decision to reveal the horrors carried out by the CIA. That is outside my field of competence, even if the primacy accorded morality over Realpolitik tells me nothing good. This is not the way Tony Blair or Hubert Vedrine would have acted [Vedrine, Jacque Chirac's former foreign minister, is famously resistant to following the American line].

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