Editorial - France, the Unions and Fiscal Reality - NYTimes.com

This is from the NYT?!


"While Mr. Sarkozy has done a terrible job of selling his reform, the opposition Socialist Party was reckless in pretending for weeks that the retirement age could stay unchanged. The real battle has been with the unions, which have unleashed six weeks of marches and disruptive strikes in national transportation and fuel delivery.

Despite the widespread inconvenience and economic losses, public opinion has remained sympathetic to the unions. Mr. Sarkozy has built a reputation for being far more concerned with protecting the wealthy than ordinary people. Protest movements are also deeply ingrained in the French national tradition. Sentiment and tradition cannot be allowed to prevail over fiscal reality.

France’s Parliament should give final approval to the retirement age reform bill this week. Mr. Sarkozy should open talks with both union and opposition leaders on how to make the transition as fair to the vulnerable as possible. It is not too soon to appoint a broadly representative national commission to recommend the further changes that will be needed to keep France’s pension system solvent after these initial reforms go into effect."

Did I wake up in an alternate reality? Since when did common sense about reforming entitlements and not being a mindless mouthpiece for organized labor become something that their editorial page is known for? Were the NYT to actual espouse this belief domestically, a lot (certainly not all) of my animosity towards their reflexive, high-handed government-and-unions-before-all agenda would lessen.