Gerard Depardieu May Have Ruined Francois Hollande's Presidency

By now you've probably heard Russian President Vladimir Putin has bestowed Russian citizenship upon Gérard Depardieu as part of the French actor's quest to seek refuge from his country's onerous income taxes.

It's a pretty funny situation.

But French President Francois Hollande is not laughing.

Because after all the fuss, the 75 percent marginal income tax that was the highlight of the new taxes which Depardieu and others were attempting to flee was ultimately vetoed by the country's Constitutional Council.

The ruling came on technical grounds, and the government has vowed to resubmit a similar proposal.

But the project has now morphed into a "disaster" for Hollande, France's most important newspaper, Le Monde, says.

In a new editorial, Le Monde writes that Hollande's failure on the measure could serve as a "ball and chain" around the rest of his presidency.

Economically counter-productive, it unnerved business leaders — including those who would be far from the policy's tax bracket. Legally ill-conceived, it's been rejected by the Constitution Council, who didn't even need to judge it confiscatory (though this is illegal). And it would have had only a modest effect on the budget — $210 million Euros a month.

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These stumblings are driving French citizens crazy — not to mention creating doubt about the ability of the executive branch to impose its will on fiscal policy. There is now a clear risk that the government's attempts to address the country's fiscal problems will fall flat.

While the French daily remains strongly sympathetic to Hollande's broader fiscal agenda, it admits the country has likely "reached the limits of marginal tax increases."