France's 35-hour workweek gets a punch in the croissant

There's a lot of international buzz today about a shorter workweek, but we have to admit we're not involved this time. (Except for this item, which taught us the delightful term "Seppo.")

France's newly elected president, Nicolas Sarkozy, spent a good chunk of his campaign being critical of his country's 35-hour workweek. Of course, he hasn't exactly promised to do away with it, either.

This is a good chance to point out that our plan isn't the same as the way France approached it. We don't want a government cap on what you can work. We simply want our legislators to acknowledge that overwork is an ever-worsening ailment in America, and businesses have few incentives to fight the trend.

One intriguing aspect of Sarkozy's plan is to make overtime pay be tax-free. Sounds good in the sense that it keeps the government from benefiting when you're overworked. But at the same time, it also creates a system where you're rewarded based on how much you work instead of how well you work.

And that's just un-American.