Getbig.com: American Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure
Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: Eric15210 on April 01, 2010, 05:41:50 AM
-
French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday praised President Obama's health care overhaul, called his push for stricter financial regulations "great news" and, standing alongside Mr. Obama at the White House, said he hopes their administrations can team up "to go even further in regulating world capitalism."
Mr. Sarkozy, a fierce advocate for tougher rules on global financial markets, said France will use its position next year as leader of a group of the world's top finance ministers to push for a new economic regulatory regime.
"During the French presidency of the G-20, [Treasury Secretary] Tim Geithner, [French Finance Minister] Christine Lagarde are going to be working hand-in-glove in order to go even further in regulating world capitalism, and in particular, raising the issue of a new world international monetary order," Mr. Sarkozy told French and American reporters gathered at the White House in a brief joint appearance.
For his part, Mr. Obama said world leaders must take actions to ensure that "reckless speculation or reckless risk-taking by a few big players in the financial markets will never again threaten the global economy or burden taxpayers."
"I will continue to work with President Sarkozy and other world leaders to coordinate our efforts, because we want to make sure that whatever steps were taking, they are occurring on both sides of the Atlantic," Mr. Obama said.
Mr. Sarkozy also took a moment to tell his host "how glad" France is for the U.S. that Mr. Obama's health-care legislation passed.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/31/sarkozy-hopes-us-help-regulate-world-capitalism/
-
April 1, 2010
What France Can Do
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France got nearly everything he could have hoped for from his visit to the United States this week. Now he needs to return the favor by significantly increasing French combat strength in Afghanistan.
Coming off low poll numbers and a regional election drubbing, Mr. Sarkozy needed a boost. And he was welcomed as an old and trusted friend in Washington. He and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, were treated to a private dinner with the Obamas, which is sure to play well in Paris. He also got a presidential promise of a “free and fair” trans-Atlantic bidding process for the Air Force’s new tanker. And President Obama and his aides graciously made no public mention of France’s failure to contribute its fair share of troops to fight a common enemy in Afghanistan.
Mr. Sarkozy scored additional political points by telling a Columbia University audience that America needs to “reflect on what it means to be the world’s No. 1 power” and be a country “that listens.”
That is true. And France needs to be a country that does more than lecture.
When Mr. Obama ordered 30,000 more American troops to Afghanistan, he rightly expected significant increases from European NATO members as well. In particular, he looked to France, with one of Europe’s most modern and effective military forces, to send another 1,000 or more troops to the 3,750 it currently has there. That would have added useful military punch and underscored the multinational character of NATO’s presence.
Instead, Mr. Sarkozy has offered only 80 more military trainers. Thousands more trainers are needed to transform Afghanistan’s underperforming Army and corrupt and brutal National Police into forces capable of maintaining order and legitimacy in areas reclaimed from the Taliban. But while a number of NATO members can provide qualified trainers, France is one of the few that can provide robust and effective combat forces.
Mr. Sarkozy repeatedly declares that he strongly supports the NATO effort in Afghanistan. He said so again this week. The best way to prove that support would be to send more French combat troops.
-
Head of the IMF Christine Lagarde in court charged with embezzlement and fraud
Lagarde faces court in fraud probe
The deadly medicine of austerity - how the cuts are killing people around the world
Peter Allen
23 May 2013
The head of the International Monetary Fund arrived in the dock of a Paris courtroom today as she braced herself to be formally charged with embezzlement and fraud.
Christine Lagarde’s humiliation is not only a massive personal blow which could lead to her resignation, but one which will plunge the world’s banking system into further ignominy.
The clearly nervous 57-year-old said nothing to reporters as she entered the Court of Justice of the Republic, a special tribunal set up to judge the conduct of France’s government ministers, shortly after 8.30am.
Lagarde faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail if found guilty of the very serious charges.
It was when she was President Nicolas Sarkozy’s finance minister that she is said to have authorised a 270 million pounds payout to one of his prominent supporters, so abusing her government position.
The money went to Bernard Tapie, a convicted football match fixer and tax dodger who supported Lagarde and Sarkozy’s UMP party.
It came after Dominque Strauss-Kahn, another senior French politician, was sacked as IMF chief following allegations that he attempted to rape a chambermaid in a New York hotel.
Ms Lagarde began campaigning to succeed Mr Strauss-Kahn soon after his arrest for the alleged crime.
But now it is Ms Lagarde, a lawyer and retired synchronised swimming star, who is facing a long court process of her own, as well as a possible jail sentence.
The scandal will not only pile further shame on France’s political class, but worry politicians and bankers desperately trying to resolve the global financial crisis.
Mr Tapie, the former head of adidas in France, claims he was cheated out of millions by Credit Lyonnais bank when the sports kit empire was sold in 1993.
In 2007, Ms Largarde ended the epic dispute by ordering a panel of judges to arbitrate and, in turn, they awarded Tapie the damages.
Opposition MPs were furious, with former presidential candidate Francois Bayrou accusing Ms Lagarde of ‘dipping into the taxpayers’ pocket for a private beneficiary.’
Mr Strauss-Kahn’s Socialist Party also accused Ms Lagarde of improper conduct, pointing to the fact that Mr Tapie was a vocal supporter of Sarkozy.
Ms Lagarde’s lawyer, Yves Repiquet, said the inquiry was ‘in no way incompatible’ with her new job, and expected the case to be dismissed.
Ms Lagarde denies any wrongdoing, saying before today’s court appearance: ‘If it’s decided to continue with this inquiry it won’t be particularly surprising. Personally, it doesn’t worry me at all – I didn’t benefit personally’.
But it has been widely reported in the French media that investigators intend to charge her with fraud and embezzlement.
Le Monde said that magistrates had already written to Mrs Lagarde to tell her that she should not expect any special treatment because of her high-profile international job.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/head-of-the-imf-christine-lagarde-in-court-charged-with-embezzlement-and-fraud-8628670.html
-
It seems obvious the IMF is a huge scam to soak poor developing nations and force them to sign over their natural resources to foreign corporations. I'm sure there are a few goodies in the IMF who genuinely want to help but the whole apparatus itself is flawed and corrupt.