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This R&D provides resources on French President Francois Hollande’s unpopularity. Hollande boasts some of the worst approval ratings in the world at the moment, with only 4% of the French public agreeing with his actions. It is unlikely that Hollande will be re-elected next year or even nominated for another term by the Socialist Party, especially after Hollande criticized the French soccer team, insulted his own ministers, and admitted to ordering targeted killings in a recent book.
French right calls for Hollande’s impeachment https://t.co/ztCRStH4UV
— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) November 7, 2016
Francois Hollande’s political future is in freefall https://t.co/iCvq2gYlzK
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) November 5, 2016
Spare a thought for François Hollande, whose approval rating has hit a record low of 4 percent. Indeed. 4 percent https://t.co/fTu1pJmOwY
— Liam Hoare (@lahoare) November 4, 2016
Two weeks ago on January 7, two gunmen stormed into the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical French magazine, and proceeded to kill eleven people and a police officer. The gunmen, Cherif and Said Kouachi, were French citizens with Islamic beliefs and their grievance against Charlie Hebdo was the magazine’s cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, who cannot be depicted per the tenets of the Islam. Over the next two days, French police tracked down and killed the Kouachi brothers, while one of their accomplices, Amedy Coulibaly was killed after taking a kosher supermarket hostage. Coulibaly killed four hostages and one policewoman before being neutralized. The string of attacks shocked the French public, with many seeing the attack on Charlie Hebdo as an assault on the country’s traditions of freedom of speech and expression. On January 11, an estimated 1.3 million people went into the streets of Paris to march against the violence, which included more than forty heads of state. The attacks have presented President Francois Hollande with an opportunity to bolster his reputation among French voters, which has eroded over the last year due to a sluggish economy. However, the attacks may serve to galvanize support for the French far-right, namely the National Front (FN), which has argued for immigration controls and against what they deem as the “Islamization” of France.
Here is today’s premium R&D to accompany
In the United States, the Democratic Party is attempting to paint the Republican Party as mean spirited and warning voters that if the Republicans take control of Congress this November they will privatize Social Security. This tactic is meant to rally elderly voters, who vote more than any other group, to the polls on Election Day. Social Security is referred to as the third rail in American politics because it is such a deadly issue for politicians to confront. However, all experts agree that without changes in its structure, Social Security and America’s dreams of a government pension in old age are likely to go the way of the dodo.