Want To Take Over France? Now's The Chance!

PARIS (AP) — French President Francois Hollande dissolved the government on Monday after open feuding among his Cabinet over the country's stagnant economy.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls offered up his Socialist government's resignation after accusing France's outspoken economy minister of crossing a line with his blunt criticism of the government's policies. Hollande accepted the resignation and ordered Valls to form a new government by Tuesday.

France has had effectively no economic growth this year, unemployment is hovering around 10 percent and Hollande's approval ratings are sunk in the teens. The country is under pressure from the 28-nation European Union to get its finances in order, but Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg has questioned whether the austerity tack pressed by the EU will really kick start French growth.

Hollande's promises to cut taxes and make it easier for businesses to open and operate have stalled, in large part because of the divisions among his Socialist party.

"A major change in our economy policy," was what Montebourg had said was needed, just days after Hollande had expressly said there would be no change in the government's economic direction.

The minister's comments angered the Socialist leadership, which said Montebourg's job was to support the government, not criticize it from within.

"He's not there to start a debate but to put France back on the path of growth," Carlos Da Silva, the Socialist Party spokesman, told the Le Figaro newspaper.

Montebourg represents the hard-left Socialist base, and his departure from the government is likely to anger many of the voters who brought Hollande to office in 2012. Since that time, France's economy has only worsened, and the sense of impending crisis weighs heavily.

French officials have already made clear that the deficit will again surpass the EU's 3 percent target and are negotiating a delay.

The new government is unlikely to include Montebourg or other left-wing Socialists and there will be no new election. Instead, led by Valls, the new Cabinet is expected to work toward smoother ties with the EU.

Montebourg's criticism of austerity — and his pointed remarks about German Chancellor Angela Merkel — have rankled before.

In an interview last week after Germany's economy also showed signs of stagnation, Montebourg said France's neighbor had been "trapped by the policy of austerity." He went on to say "when I say Germany, I mean the German right wing that supports Angela Merkel. It's not France's job to align itself to the ideological axioms of Germany's right wing."

Merkel on Monday declined to comment directly about France's change in government but said she wishes "the French president success with his reform agenda."

Take over FRANCE?

You must be kidding. France is about as socialist as countries ever get.

It's France, so... Nikolce should be all over this.

Apparently they are leaving Socialism and moving to a different governmental/economical system.

Now's the perfect chance to take it over and spread "Freedom" all over the place.

Good to see the French preserve their legacy of surrendering at the slightest patch of resistance.

The same way Mitt Romney straightened out his own state when he was governer? (he actually did an amazing job in comparison, and should have used that as his presidential nomination launching point)

It's a reference to Mitt Romney running away to France during the Vietnam draft to be a minister.

If the French fought the French...

which side surrendered first?

So I heard the French government is in disarray....

(Disclaimer: This is an article from MSN.com, so please forgive them for obvious misspellings and grammar errors)

It's a reference to Mitt Romney running away to France during the Vietnam draft to be a minister avoid being drafted.

ITT people who do not understand what happened on the western front

Nobody cares about WW1.

Nobody cares about WW1.

dogg the french surrendered in ww2 because after 1 they had just, like, straight up run out of guys

i mean, suppose england ran a blitzkrieg on georgia in 1875

anyway, leave it to ffxiah's news discussion to take an article about a legitimately important development in global politics that will meaningfully change (well, solidify for germany) the EU balance of power for the next five years and immediately be all LOL SURRENDER MONKEYS

Some of us are actually excited for this change, believe it or not.

dogg the french surrendered in ww2 because after 1 they had just, like, straight up run out of guys

i mean, suppose england ran a blitzkrieg on georgia in 1875

In short, France got chainspell zerged. Think Dynamis Lord but with tanks. Germans exploited the Maginot line defenses, blitzed the country and the Brits retreated back to the homeland leaving France to issue a surrender. They used turtling tactics in a metagame of zerg.

Then the resistance decided to send one man - Kyle Reese back in time to prevent WWI from ever happening. Germany sent back Arnold Swarzenegger.

We don't call him Kevin Bacon here in Canada, we call him Kevin Ham.