FRENCH SOCIALISTS RESISTING AUSTERITY MOVES

NYTIMES/AP:

Strikes across France delayed flights, closed schools and frustrated commuters Thursday as workers protested government plans to raise the retirement age past 60 -- one of the lowest even in Europe.

President Nicolas Sarkozy says retiring so young is now untenable given growing life spans, but unions see his planned reforms to France's over-stretched pension system as yet another blow to Europe's cherished social model.

THE SOCIALISTS DON'T REALIZE IT YET, BUT RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

THE SO-CALLED "EUROPEAN SOCIAL MODEL" IS BROKEN - SOCIALIST MODELS ALWAYS DO BREAK DOWN BECAUXSE, AS LADY THATCHER SAID: "THE PROBLEM WITH ROBBING PETER TO PAY PAUL IS EVENTUALLY PETER RUNS OUT OF MONEY!"

WE NEED TO DO THE SAME THING HERE: RAISE THE RETIREMENT AGE.

AN THEN GO A STEP FURTHER: END GOVERNMENT PENSIONS AND REPLACE THEM WITH PRIVATE PENSIONS.