What the French Election Says About France in 2017

What the French Election Says About France in 2017

Top of Mind with Julie Rose - Radio Archive, Episode 539 , Segment 1

Episode: French Election, Cancer is Mostly Bad Luck, The People's Piano

  • Apr 25, 2017 11:00 pm
  • 25:39 mins

Guest: Corry Cropper, PhD, Professor of French, Chair of the Department of French and Italian, BYU; Yvon Le Bras, PhD, Professor of French and Contemporary French Civilization, BYU Since World War II, two political parties have dominated France’s political scene. But neither of those parties has a candidate in the Presidential runoff election slated for May 7. Instead, voters will choose between a far-right candidate named Marine Le Pen whose campaign is unapologetically anti-immigrant and anti-European Union – sound familiar? The other choice for French president is a 39-year-old former investment banker who has never held elected office and created his own political party just a year ago. Emmanuel Macron is his name – he’s pro-business, pro-EU and globalization. The polls show him leading right now.  The choices couldn’t be more different for French voters. And the stakes are high for the European Union, already reeling from the impending Brexit; a “Frexit” could be disastrous.

Other Segments

The Fight Against California's Tampon Tax

11m

Guest: Cristina Garcia, Assemblymember, California’s 58th Assembly District In many states across the country, tampons, pads, and even diapers are taxed as luxury items. That “luxury” designation might seem surprising, but the truth is that actually, only a handful of states give a sales tax exemption to these kind of products.  Last year, California lawmakers pushed for legislation—dubbed the tampon tax--to eliminate sales tax on feminine hygiene products. The bill was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown, who claimed the state could not afford the loss in revenue. But California Assemblymember Cristina Garcia is not giving up—she’s back, with a bill called the Common Cents Tax Reform, which would lift the sales tax on feminine hygiene products and diapers in CA, while imposing an increase in sales tax on hard liquor.

Guest: Cristina Garcia, Assemblymember, California’s 58th Assembly District In many states across the country, tampons, pads, and even diapers are taxed as luxury items. That “luxury” designation might seem surprising, but the truth is that actually, only a handful of states give a sales tax exemption to these kind of products.  Last year, California lawmakers pushed for legislation—dubbed the tampon tax--to eliminate sales tax on feminine hygiene products. The bill was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown, who claimed the state could not afford the loss in revenue. But California Assemblymember Cristina Garcia is not giving up—she’s back, with a bill called the Common Cents Tax Reform, which would lift the sales tax on feminine hygiene products and diapers in CA, while imposing an increase in sales tax on hard liquor.