Sarko's First Budget Offers No Big Shakeups

Nicolas Sarkozy presented his first budget to the French national assembly yesterday, but tax cuts have largely replaced the overhaul of the public sector he promised during his election campaign. Super-Sarko's plans to shake up the French economy have run aground, the Guardian reports: huge public debt, ballooning social security deficits, and a too-strong euro have left the government paralyzed.

Sarkozy's budget sans belt-tightening comes on the heels of France's prime minister, François Fillon, telling the papers that France is "bankrupt." Le Canard Enchaîné, France's muckraking political weekly, reports that Sarkozy is already looking to sack his friend and PM, saying, "He's pissing me off. I can't get rid of him straight away, but in May anything will be possible." (More Nicolas Sarkozy stories.)