Good morning, everyone. I’m going to go ahead and dive into the headlines coming out of France and Europe right now, and then bring this back to America at the end, with a Wonk rant of course.

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch reporting in Paris on Friday’s big and hotly contested pension reform vote — “French Senate passes pension overhaul raising retirement age to 62.” The increase, which is a gradual one from 60 to 62 by the year 2018, still has yet to get the green light by both a parliamentary committee and another vote by a joint session of parliament, steps which look likely to go through. According to the French Senate’s press office, the committee will begin meeting on Monday, meaning the measure could be voted into law as soon as Wednesday, though its final passage does not look like it will be doing anything to stop the protests.

Polling released yesterday from the BVA Institute indicates that nearly 70% of the French people support the strikes and street demonstrations. The Christian Science Monitor has more on what to expect next on that front — “New France strikes to follow Senate passage of pension law.” On the future of the protests: “Once the bill passes and the school holidays kick in, however, union leaders will have to walk a fine line between cadres who want to continue striking and those that do not. To this end, the two days of demonstrations called on Thursday are considered a compromise.” The two days being referred to are next Thursday and the first Saturday of November. The article also reports on how oil workers have taken to blocking the country’s refineries in addition to striking. Police force was used on Friday at the Grandpuits refinery near Paris. Three protesters were injured.

The BBC published a piece Friday called “Contrasting views on the age of austerity,” in which, as the BBC describes it, “people from three different countries – two of whom work in the public sector – share their contrasting views on their government’s action and the public response.”

The first person is Helen Stollery, age 23. She works in the public sector in Maidenhead, UK. Here is a taste of what she had to say:

I think people in Britain have a different culture to those in Europe – and I don’t think we’ll see the same level of strikes.

People here are more accepting of the changes that have to be made. Our state retirement age has been going up for some time and people have accepted the changes.

There’s no point in resisting something that is inevitable.

Next is Eleni Hondrou, age 38, from the public sector as well, in Athens, Greece. A sample of Hondrou’s remarks:

For now things are relatively quiet in Greece. Most people are trying to adapt and get on with their lives on a lower standard of living

Reductions in my allowances mean I have lost 20% of my annual income. I have had to cut many things out of my life.

We had no choice but to make those changes in May because things were so bad, we were on the verge of bankruptcy.

But we never know what will happen next. We rely on our external creditors. If we have to borrow more money at a higher rate – and if that means we have to take further reductions then I don’t think people will accept things peacefully.

Finally we hear from Brian Hind, a 40 year old American farmer from Kansas. Briefly from his comments:

The cuts in the UK and elsewhere in Europe are just something that the governments have to do. Things won’t be as bad as they will be for us in America – we’re making things worse by delaying cuts.

Also from the BBC a little later on Friday — “Pension reform vote: Views from France,” which highlights reactions to the passage of the pension bill from three residents of France.

The first reaction is from Heidi Garnier of Charenton-le-Pont. An excerpt:

France seems to be the only country in Europe where people want to retire as soon as they have left nursery school.

I am very satisfied with the result of the vote. I discussed it with my husband and we have the same opinion.

Georgina Thompson, a teacher from the suburbs of Rouen who is active in the national strikes, had this to say in her comments:

I’d probably say that I’m disappointed without being surprised by the outcome of the vote in the Senate. President Sarkozy has clearly shown that he’s unwilling to heed what the strikers and protesters have to say.

The decree of application hasn’t yet been published; there are already a number of demonstrations and strike actions planned in and around Rouen over the next few days and I’ll be taking part.

There does need to be some kind of pension reform, but I’m not convinced that this is the type of reform we need.

There are other problems with the French economy, for example many people being laid off before the age of 60 and not being able to make up their full pension.

The whole system really needs an overhaul – not these measures that are being proposed.

I am losing money by striking, and I was back at work today and will work tomorrow in order not to lose out on holiday pay.

And, this view from Alexandre Aba of Grenoble, an unemployed computer aided designer:

I’m really annoyed about this at the moment, because the strikes are preventing me from getting to job interviews. We can’t use the trains or drive anywhere because of the fuel shortage.

At this time of crisis, strikes are extremely disrespectful to the private sector, who are effectively paying for civil servants.

Going on strike is one thing, but messing up our economy is another and these strikes are so bad for France’s reputation.

Additionally, if you have a few minutes and haven’t done so already, check out the video up top from the Associated Press. It is one French family’s perspective on the importance of protesting.

Moving along to a couple editorials that caught my eye. I enjoyed this one from The Guardian — “French lessons: pension protests. As the welfare state is rolled back all over Europe, a cause is being fought in France which we would do well to watch.” Another op-ed, this one from the Financial Times — “France vents its fury as Britain takes a chilly dip.”

From Barbara Whelehan, on SS here in the US, via bankrate.com, with a title that piqued my interest, “Vive le Social Security,” until I read the first half of the entry, which was rather meh. It misses the point that the degradation of worker rights is what’s at stake at the broader level so quibbling over the best age to retire is neither here, nor there. The second half is more interesting, though, to say the least:

Tax the rich
There are other ways to save pension systems besides raising the retirement age. As I pointed out on two previous occasions, the Special Committee on Aging came up with 30-plus solutions to fix Social Security. My favorite solution is to eliminate the cap on Social Security taxes. Right now, only earnings up to $106,800 are taxed. If the cap is eliminated, high earners would get a smaller check (so what?), and Social Security would remain solvent over the next 75 years.

This solution can be taken a step further. In a recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Ken Langone, a co-founder of Home Depot, suggested that rich people shouldn’t get Social Security checks at all. “It makes little sense to send Treasury checks to high-net-worth people in the form of Social Security,” he writes. “I guarantee you that many millionaires and billionaires will gladly forgo it. …”

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