The national secretary of the PCF, Fabien Roussel, castigated Thursday the “quirky” remarks of Emmanuel Macron on “abundance”, a “president returned from his fortified castle” who “does not know the problems of the French”, and called to “put an end to the recklessness of the super-rich”. “Since 2017, President Macron has never stopped lowering the taxes of the richest, of multinationals. (…) After five years of Macron’s government, the heritage of the 500 largest fortunes in France has increased from 570 billion (euros) in 2017 to more than 1,000 billion”, criticized Fabien Roussel, during a meeting for the party’s summer day in Malo-les-Bains (Dunkirk).
“He does not know the problems of the French”
“Yesterday (Wednesday), the President of the Republic dared to come and tell us: ‘It’s over abundance, it’s over recklessness.’ But in which country does he live, this President of the Republic who returns from his fortified castle in Brégançon, where he went jet-skiing, with his family, in his private swimming pool?”, he scolded in front of 3,000 people . “He does not know the problems of the French. The French, they have worries, they do not live in carelessness, they worry about the future”, he insisted, referring to the “ten million our fellow citizens who live below the poverty line”, the “four million poorly housed people” or the 12 million who “live in fuel poverty”.
Mr. President, for the vast majority of French people, it is neither abundance nor carelessness.
It is the lack. It’s the empty fridge. The holidays we deprive ourselves of.#Malo2022
— Fabien Roussel (@Fabien_Roussel) August 25, 2022
“For a large majority, it’s not abundance the problem, it’s lack. It’s not carelessness, it’s the worry of the empty fridge, the holidays we are deprived of, the restaurant that we cannot afford” and “it is not the small checks from the President of the Republic that will improve their situation”, he lamented. Fabien Roussel called for “putting an end to the abundance of the super-rich and multinationals (…) that of Bernard Arnault, François Pinault, Mulliez, CEOs of Carrefour, Total and company”.
The PCF will propose “a tax on superprofits”
For this new parliamentary term, the PCF will propose “putting on the agenda of the finance bill a tax on the superprofits of large groups, an anti-speculation tax, and an exceptional solidarity tax on the great fortunes of our country,” he promised. He proposed “to snatch” thus “50 billion (euros) per year from multinationals, from the richest, from speculation”, and to ask “the State and the European Central Bank to put as much each “to feed a “specific fund dedicated to employment, climate and purchasing power” endowed with 150 billion euros.
Emmanuel Macron warned on Wednesday that the next few months would be difficult, evoking “the end of abundance”, before a return to school which could be eventful due to the socio-economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis and the war in Ukraine.