The Morning Flap: May 7, 2012

These are my links for May 4th through May 7th:

• Germany says renegotiating EU pact ‘not possible’– The German government on Monday ruled out reworking the European Union’s fiscal pact despite calls to do so by French president-elect Francois Hollande.”It is not possible to renegotiate the fiscal pact,” government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference.He noted that 25 of the 27 EU member states had already signed the accord imposing strict budgetary discipline in March after major wrangling.

  Hollande has called for a shift in strategy toward more growth-oriented measures including more public spending.

  But Seibert said Merkel would not accept “deficit spending” to feed economic expansion, and believed in “growth through structural reforms” such as reducing the cost of job creation as pursued by Germany over the last decade.

  Yet he dismissed suggestions that the apparently conflicting policies would put Merkel on a collision course with Germany’s closest ally, insisting she was ready for an open dialogue.

  “We will see what proposals and ideas he has and go from there,” Seibert said, referring to Hollande.

  He noted that Merkel was also a firm believer in promoting growth as a path out of the debt crisis.

  “Growth is not a new issue but rather the second pillar of our fiscal policy, and not just since yesterday,” he said.

• Hollande faces battle with Berlin over growth– Fresh from the election campaign, president-elect Francois Hollande faces a new battle with France’s European partners, in particular Germany, to add a growth pact to balance the EU’s new compact on strict budgetary discipline.The handover of power by Nicolas Sarkozy should take place by May 15 at the latest, but the Socialist will immediately begin consultations with EU partners on his emblematic campaign initiative, according to his advisors.The goal is to advance the proposal on a growth compact to the stage of a memorandum that would be transmitted to European capitals for consideration by the end of the month.

  The fiscal compact treaty requiring cutting deficits and debt was signed at the beginning of March by 25 EU states and has already been ratified by several.

• Socialist Hollande triumphs in French presidential poll– François Hollande has won France’s presidential election, giving the country its first Socialist president in almost two decades, exit polls showed Sunday.According to Ipsos polling institute, the left-wing candidate took 51.7% of the vote to incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy’s 48.3%.Celebrations are underway at the iconic Place de la Bastille in central Paris, the same spot where the last Socialist to win a presidential election, François Mitterrand, celebrated his first victory back in 1981.
• Vice President Marco Rubio? –
• Twitter plays outsize role in 2012 campaign –
• Fortune 500 2012: Annual ranking of America’s largest corporations from Fortune Magazine –
• Schwarzenegger vs. GOP, for old times’ sake –
• Why the Obama Campaign Is So Confident About Beating Romney –
• Untitled (http://getglue.com/Fullosseousflap/stickers/amc/the_killing_keylela?s=ts&ref=Fullosseousflap) – I unlocked the The Killing: Keylela sticker on @GetGlue!
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-06 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-06
• Gregory Flap @ Ronnie’s Diner – foursquare – Only 10 miles for me today, but it was sunny for a change. (@ Ronnie’s Diner w/ 2 others)
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-05 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-05
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » California FPPC’s Ann Ravel Backs Off Blogger Campaign Disclosure – California FPPC’s Ann Ravel Backs Off Blogger Campaign Disclosure
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » CA-26: Democrat Super PAC Up With Ad for Julia Brownley – CA-26: Democrat Super PAC Up With Ad for Julia Brownley
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Michael Ramirez: Barack Obama’s Forward? – Michael Ramirez: Barack Obama’s Forward?
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » In-Sen: Richard Mourdock Leads Sen. Richard Lugar By 10 Points – In-Sen: Richard Mourdock Leads Sen. Richard Lugar By 10 Points
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » The Morning Flap: May 4, 2012 – The Morning Flap: May 4, 2012
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Economic Growth Stalls as Unemployment Decreases to 8.1% – Economic Growth Stalls as Unemployment Decreases to 8.1%
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: May 4, 2012 – The Morning Drill: May 4, 2012