Nicolas Sarkozy is a man of contradictions: When a handful of delinquents welcomed him with rotten eggs at one of the Parisian banlieues, he didn’t hesitate to call them racailles (scum.) Yet he never shied away from using un langage de voyou (thuggish language) himself: To an old man who refused to shake his hand, he said “Casse-toi, pauv’ con” (“F*** off, you loser”), and shortly before the Presidential Debate was scheduled, he promised his political pals that “il va exploser” (“he will blow up”) his opponent, François Hollande!

Tum Sally made a whole song about Sarkozy’s infamous “Casse-toi, Pauv’ Con” (“F*** off, you loser”)

Let us resume the debate: The topic is also quite “explosive”: l’ÉCONOMIE… 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ3zCh5qt48

HOLLANDE vs. SARKOZY: The Big Debate

• For 00:00:00 -00:19:33: 
  • For this segment of the video, check the posts:
    • Hollande Vs. Sarkozy: Get in the Ring!
    • Hollande Vs. Sarkozy: Comics, Economics, and Freakonomics! (Part I)

• 00:19:33 – 00:24:30:
  • Sarkozy:
    • Let us be very precise, Monsieur Hollande. You will admit that there was une crise financière (a financial crisis) for the past four years. You will also contend that I wasn’t in power in the United States, Spain, Italy, and other places.
    • After you criticized its policies for so long, now you talk about Germany as a model to criticize me! Well, Germany never launched les 35 heures. Germany’s economic policies are diametrically opposite to yours. I’d rather be inspired by what works than by what doesn’t. I’d rather follow the example of Germany rather that of Greece or Spain.  Therefore I’m afraid that this argument turns itself violently against you.
    • As for the deficit, it is true that it reached 70 billion Euros high. Do you know how much l’énergie fossile (fossil fuel) represents in this deficit? It’s 63 billions. That is why I think it is totally irresponsible to suggest dismantling our nuclear agency capability when the cost of energy is that high.
    • The number of 10% formed unemployed is accurate. But did you know that the responsibility of forming them is shared by the syndicats, the regional authorities, and the State. It was mainly the fault of the regional authorities who didn’t do well their job.
• 00:24:30 – 00:27:20:
  • Hollande:
    • Monsieur Sarkozy, things with are you all always so simple: It’s never your fault! You always have a un bouc-émissaire (a scapegoat): With the lack formation of the unemployed, it’s not you, it’s the fault of the regional authorities. For le chômage (unemployment), it’s not you either, it’s the fault of the financial crisis! For the German model, it’s not your fault, it took you five years to realize that it was better than the Anglo-Saxon model.
    • Your suggested TVA anti-délocalisation will only undermine le pouvoir d’achat (purchasing power), and won’t help enough our industry to be competitive.
    • When the Socialists left the government for good in 2002, our commerce extérieur (foreign trade) was still balanced, whereas with you as a President, it kept going skyrocketing.
    • Your propositions will also affect la durée légale du travail (the legal length of work.)
• 00:27:20 – 00:32:15:
  • Sarkozy:
    • You can try to criticize me for a lot of things, but not for assuming my responsibility, which is normal when one is a President of the Republic.
    • If my TVA proposition is that bad, tell me why your porte-parole (spokesperson) made it the main theme during the Socialists Primaries?
    • I also don’t get it: You say Germany is doing better than we do, but we won’t be taking any of the measures that Germany took in order to succeed? Germans voted for the TVA, and they also voted for les accords compétitivité-emploi (the competitivity work agreements), which means that it is totally up to the employers and the employees to decide the salary and how much they want to work—unlike the law of les 35 heures. That, Monsieur Hollande, is called “trust.” That means a modern economy.
    • And seriously, you’ve got some serious problems with counting. Aren’t you into accounting? I mean, you worked for la Cour des comptes (the Court of Audit), or not? Ten years ago, when the Socialist Lionel Jospin was Prime Minister, the budget was in deficit.
  • Hollande:
    • Yes, I am from the Court of Audit, and no, the budget was not in deficit. You will verify it yourself.
  • Sarkozy:
    • Why did you veto everything I proposed to promote innovation during the past five years, and now come to us and say: “J’ai changé d’avis” (“I changed my mind”)! Do you know the only country that didn’t go through a trimester of recession before 2009? Well, that is France.
  • Hollande:
    • That’s amazing! From all the people in France, why are you the only one happy?
  • Sarkozy:
    • That is an outright lie. You are shamelessly lying.
  • Hollande:
    • When did I lie?
  • Sarkozy:
    • When you say that I was always happy about myself.
  • Hollande:
    • Ok, fine. My bad, you too are unhappy with your work. I was wrong!
  • Sarkozy:
    • Monsieur Hollande, this is not a competition of la petite blague (one-liner jokes)!
  •  Hollande:
    • No, it’s not a joke, but I didn’t come here to be called a menteur (liar) either.