The Dow Jones industrial average fell, the euro slid against the dollar and key European markets edged down in off-hour trading after Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the results of their emergency talks in Paris.

Sarkozy called for a “new economic government” for Europe that would meet at least twice a year with European Union President Herman Van Rompuy as its head, but he offered few other details or indications that the body would have real power.

Merkel and Sarkozy also called for all euro zone nations to enact constitutional amendments requiring balanced budgets. They said they want the process completed by the summer of 2012, but it would almost certainly run into protracted political difficulties in many countries.

Both leaders said the moment was not right to replace 17 government bonds with a single one allowing weaker economies to borrow in cooperation with the powerhouse economies of France and Germany. A growing number of experts are calling for the eurobond as a way to prevent the unaffordable interest rates that have driven Greece, Ireland, and Portugal to seek bailouts from the eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.

New figures show slowing French and German growth, and the German government fears it would face higher borrowing costs and more risks if it had to borrow jointly with financially shaky nations.

“We have exactly the same position on euro bonds,” Sarkozy said. “One day we could imagine them, but at the end of a process of European integration, not at the beginning.”

The Dow fell as many as 190 points shortly after 1 p.m. in New York, a sign of clear market disappointment with the lack of immediate action.

Merkel and Sarkozy also said they did not want to increase the size of the EU’s 440 billion euro rescue fund, which may have to take over a massive, multibillion euro European Central Bank program to support the prices of Spanish and Italian bonds by buying them up on the open market. The ECB spent 22 billion euros ($32 billion) in the first week of the program alone and says it wants to hand off that responsibility in coming months to the rescue fund, or European Financial Stability Facility.

Sarkozy described the EFSF’s current funding as “a considerable sum” and “sufficient.”

The two leaders also proposed a Europe-wide tax on financial transactions and pledged to harmonize their countries’ corporate taxes in a move aimed at showing the eurozone’s largest members are “marching in lockstep” to protect the euro.

Shares of financial markets operators, such as NYSE Euronext and the IntercontinentalExchange Inc., already under pressure as part of a broader sell-off of financial stocks, tumbled.

NYSE Euronext fell 10 percent, or $2.87, to $26.10, leading the S&P 500 Index in percentage losses. The IntercontinentalExchange was not far behind, falling 5.5 percent, or $6.33, to $110.10, the third biggest loser on the S&P.

Investors may be concerned about how the euro bloc will put in place what its leaders have suggested and how a proposed tax on financial transactions may effect demand for European assets, said David Gilmore of Foreign Exchange Analytics in Essex, Connecticut.

“On the surface, it sounds very bold, a federal `eurozone,”’ Gilmore said. “The practical part still seems, to me anyway, to be a pipe dream.”

He said the plan to form a deeper fiscal union among the 17 countries using the euro “made the euro credible,” but governments might not want to surrender their rights to set tax and budget policies.

But some analysts say only tighter fiscal convergence between the euro zone’s 17 members, with the block’s strongest members guaranteeing the debts of the weaker partners, will resolve a crisis that has dragged on for nearly two years and resulted in a string of sovereign bailouts worth hundreds of billions of euros.

Sarkozy and Merkel stressed their commitment to defending the common currency, a cornerstone of integration on this long-fractured continent. They presented their proposals after meeting Tuesday in Paris amid signs of economic slowdown, and after an exceptionally turbulent week on financial markets prompted by concern about Europe’s financial health.

Sarkozy told reporters that he and Merkel want a “true European economic government” that would consist of the heads of state and government of all eurozone nations.

The new body would meet twice a year _ and more in times of crisis _ and be led initially by Van Rompuy for a 21/2-year term. After that, Sarkozy suggested, it could be opened up to other heads of states and government.

The move appeared a step toward the closer long-term economic integration that many analysts have said is inevitable to make the euro experiment survive, though it was unclear how much effect it would have in the short term.

“There has to be a stronger coordination of financial and economic policy” to protect the euro, Merkel said.

Some were not impressed.

“Investors might be left wondering what was the point of this meeting,” said Neil MacKinnon, economist at VTB Capital in London. MacKinnon said the measures outlined amounted to “well-intentioned rhetoric” but are not the “silver bullet” needed to settle Europe’s debt and banking crisis once and for all.

The chancellor stressed that the crisis built up over several years by the actions of several member states, and there is no solution to tackle the crisis within days now.

“We will regain the lost confidence,” she said. “That is why we go into a phase with a new quality of cooperation within the eurozone,” she added, referring to the proposal of forming a permanent economic government for the eurozone.

Sarkozy and Merkel will send a letter outlining their proposals to Van Rompuy on Wednesday.

The leaders want the new budget rules to be enshrined in euro zone constitutions by summer of next year. They said the common French-German corporate tax would be established by 2013.

The two leaders ruled out, however, issuing common government debt in the form of eurobonds, at least for now, despite demand by many investors for such a bold but politically difficult move.

Sarkozy said that euro bonds could be considered “one day, but at the end of a process of European integration, not at the beginning.”

In afternoon trading in New York Tuesday, the euro slid to $1.4385 as investors digested the proposal for greater coordination. It had spiked to $1.4472 immediately after French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced their plan.

Late Monday, it was worth $1.4451.

Europe’s traditional big six of Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France and England have mustered only four wins between them in the tournament’s first 11 days _ and the Dutch provided two of them without hitting anything like top gear.

Abete blamed Europe’s big clubs, awash with money from lucrative broadcast contracts, for failing to develop young players good enough for international football.

“If you look at this World Cup you’ll realize that all the big European teams are having problems,” Abete said. “Between Spain, France, England, Germany and Italy, we’ve only managed one win. Apart from the Netherlands, only Central and South American teams are smiling.

“The clubs have more power than the federations.”

While the problems facing France and England have much to do with player unrest, that cannot explain all their ills.

Factor in defending champion Italy’s dispiriting 1-1 draw with New Zealand and three-time winner Germany’s 1-0 loss to Serbia, and Abete may have a point.

Nine players in Italy’s squad are 30 or over, led by 36-year-old captain Fabio Cannavaro, who lifted the World Cup trophy four years ago but was responsible in part for both of the goals Italy has allowed so far.

Under former France great Michel Platini, UEFA is attempting to swing the balance back in favor of national associations and young players by enforcing minimum quotas on so-called homegrown players.

But Abete is unconvinced.

“Real Madrid has a budget eight times that of the Spanish federation,” Abete said. “Nobody can stop a club from relying on a proven champion rather than a promising young player _ not even Platini.

“All we can do is try to encourage coaches to put more faith in younger players. That’s it.”

The problem is particularly acute in England, which has a strong starting 11 but has been severely disrupted by injuries to Rio Ferdinand and Gareth Barry.

Ferdinand, the team’s captain, is missing the tournament, while Barry sat out the opening 1-1 draw with the United States and looked rusty in the dismal 0-0 draw against Algeria.

More than half the players in the Premier League are from overseas and even the Football Association’s head of development, Trevor Brooking, said that the national team faces greater problems still once the current generation of players fade.

Brooking said England is producing talented youngsters, citing last month’s victory over Spain in the final of the under-17 European Championship, but that these players struggle to get the topflight experience necessary to make the leap into the national side.

“Every place in the league is worth 750,000 pounds ($1.1 million), so even at the end of season you don’t get a chance to try out youngsters because you might lose three places and cost yourself 2 million pounds ($3 million) in the transfer budget,” Brooking said.

Arsenal and Chelsea have both fielded entire teams of overseas players, and Arsenal, a regular in the Premier League’s top four, did not provide a single player to England’s 23-man World Cup squad.

South American nations may be benefiting from the relative financial weakness of their clubs.

Even continental giants such as Boca Juniors, Santos and River Plate struggle to hold onto their best players once heads are turned by the lure of Champions League football and the money on offer from European clubs.

That forces them to invest heavily in young players, with football a traditional route out of poverty for many.

Inter Milan won the Champions League final last month without a single Italian player in its starting lineup, but with four Argentines and three Brazilians.

Julio Cesar, Maicon and Lucio have helped Brazil win its opening two group games at the World Cup, while Argentina has such depth that coach Diego Maradona felt able to leave Inter’s Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso out of his squad.

Argentina has also won both its games, beating Nigeria 1-0 before clicking into gear with a 4-1 victory over South Korea.

European clubs pay their players’ enormous salaries and feel entitled to get the best out of them before turning them over to the national associations. The result of all this is that Europe could be headed for its lowest representation in the round of 16 since the World Cup was expanded to 32 teams in 1998.

At least European champion Spain and Portugal finally sprang to life Monday. Spain recovered from its shock 1-0 loss to Switzerland with a 2-0 win over Honduras, and Portugal came up with a 7-0 rout of a physically unimposing North Korea.

Greece, Slovenia, Serbia, Switzerland and Denmark each have one victory to take Europe’s tally to 10 from 26 games.

But only the Spanish and Portuguese, with Cristiano Ronaldo in their lineup, can have realistic aspirations of making it all the way to the July 11 final at Soccer City in Johannesburg.

“You see that any day any team can win,” Spain striker Fernando Torres said. “We’re seeing that the favorites are having a lot of problems winning and the motive is clear: in a World Cup everything is much more even. The surprises have come very early this time.”

Even if some of the tournament’s top stars _ France’s Franck Ribery and Uruguay’s Diego Forlan _ showed flashes, the fear of losing the opening game stifled both offenses.

The low point came when Uruguay’s Nicolas Lodeiro was ejected after a wild challenge on Bacary Sagna in the 81st minute for his second yellow card.

In the end, an early short-range miss by France’s Sidney Govou and an excellent save from Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera left Group A as wide open as possible.

The match at the sellout 64,100 Green Point Stadium had few of the thrills and drama of the 1-1 opener between South Africa and Mexico at Soccer City, but the result left all four teams tied with one point.

“It is almost a beautiful 0-0,” France coach Raymond Domenech said. “But the result is what it is.”

South Africa plays Uruguay next on Wednesday, one day before France meets Mexico.

“There weren’t many chances for either team, neither team wanted to take many chances,” Forlan said. “It was very complicated. The whole game was equal, I thought.”

Down to 10 men for the last 9 minutes plus 3 minutes of injury time, Uruguay concentrated on kicking the ball away from its penalty area and net. But even with a man up, France failed to find a goal.

After the final whistle, the Uruguayans embraced, happy to have escaped with a point, while most French players looked sullen, saddled with the disappointment of a lost opportunity.

French coach Domenech swiped his hand in frustration and then dug them deep in his pockets before going to shake Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez’s hand.

Both teams were bothered by a slippery pitch that made deep passes next to impossible and left even Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimmura unsure of his footing at one stage.

France dominated the first half, but its lack of a finishing touch showed the lack of confidence that has long affected the 1998 champion.

“We had to guard against an unlucky counter,” Domenech said.

Great work from Abou Diaby set up Ribery on the left side and his pinpoint low cross found Govou in the center. But Govou didn’t blast the ball home, sending it far wide instead.

Some of France’s best chances came from set pieces, usually taken by Yoann Gourcuff. On one, the midfielder curled a free kick to the near corner, forcing Fernando Muslera to make an excellent save.

Uruguay, which won the title in 1930 and 1950, sometimes had at least seven players in its penalty area to contain a lone Frenchman.

It clearly wanted to give its standout forward duo of Forlan and Luis Suarez room to take on the French defense. And in the 17th minute, he outwitted Bakari Sagna and swept past a slow-moving William Gallas to give goalie Hugo Lloris his first test. It was Uruguay’s only first-half chance.

In the 72nd minute, Forlan had an open shot from 15 yards he sent just went wide.

French parliament lay groundwork for veil ban

The non-binding resolution, passed 434 to 0, lays the groundwork for a planned law forbidding face-covering veils in public, including in the streets.

One lawmaker compared women who fully cover themselves to “phantoms” and “walking coffins.”

The bill calling for a global ban on such garments goes before parliament in July. A draft text is to be reviewed by the Cabinet on May 19. A similar veil ban is in the works in neighboring Belgium.

Tuesday’s resolution, sponsored by President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative party, had been widely expected to win approval in the National Assembly with rival Socialists backing it despite concerns about the wording of an eventual law. Lawmakers in the 577-seat house who opposed the resolution abstained.

“The freedom of women is what brings us here … Have we the choice (to say no) when the symptoms of the regression of women are in the streets?” asked Nicole Ameline, a lawmaker from Sarkozy’s UMP party and former minister for women’s rights.

Sharp criticism has accompanied France’s nearly year-long debate on banning burqa-style veils, with those opposed saying, among other things, that the entire process has stigmatized the nation’s estimated 5 million Muslims _ the largest Muslim population in western Europe. They also claim it is a political ploy because only an estimated 1,900 women wear veils that hide the face.

Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, who is writing the draft law, said it is the veil that “stigmatizes Islam” and “harms the liberty of women on whom it is imposed.”

Andre Gerin, a Communist deputy who headed an information panel on the issue, said veils transform women into “phantoms,” “walking coffins” and represent the “barbarism” of Muslim extremists.

A law banning the veils “will be a law of liberation,” he said.

France banned Muslim headscarves and other “ostentatious” religious symbols in classrooms in 2004 after a bitter debate.

The road from a resolution to a bill then a law fully banning face-covering veils is likely to be rocky, too. Sarkozy’s government has been warned by the Council of State, the nation’s highest administrative body, that such legislation may not pass constitutional muster, in France or in European forums.

Earlier Tuesday, a Council of Europe commission opposed a blanket ban on face coverings such as the burqa and niqab, the cloth that exposes only the eyes.

A statement by the Strasbourg-based commission said such a ban would rob women of their freedom of expression and could violate their religious freedoms.

The panel also urged Switzerland to end its ban on the construction of Islam minarets as soon as possible. The Council of Europe, a 47-nation human rights institution, is to discuss the burqa issue next month. Its rulings are binding on all Council of Europe member states.

Although coach Raymond Domenech is under fire for not getting the best out of a team of top quality players, France was given a comparatively easy group and should be capable of reaching at least the quarterfinals.

France even missed playing an uncomfortable opening game against the host nation. While millions of South African fans will be focusing on their team’s game against Mexico, France’s first game against Uruguay in Cape Town later in the day will be out of the spotlight.

With Henry set to make his fourth World Cup appearance and Patrick Vieira hoping to get there, too, the 1998 world champions and 2006 runners-up have plenty of experience.

In Karim Benzema, Franck Ribery, Nicolas Anelka, Florent Malouda and maybe Louis Saha, the French have plenty of attacking talent and have strength throughout the lineup _ as long as Domenech can get them to play to their strengths.

Like France, Uruguay had to win a playoff series to reach its 11th World Cup. Unlike the French, however, the South Americans haven’t been past the last 16 of the competition since 1970, when they finished fourth, and it is more than 50 years since the 1930 and ’50 champions were considered a world powerhouse.

With strikers Diego Forlan and Luiz Suarez, Uruguay has the talent to score but lacks any depth to make an impact and will do well to make it to the second round.

Mexico went through three coaches and used more than 60 players to get through the qualifying rounds and is now relying on Javier Aguirre to get the best out his talented but unpredictable players.

Veteran Cuauhtemoc Blanco has come out of retirement to mastermind the midfield and Aguirre has Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez at the back. He also has young talents Carlos Vela and Giovani Dos Santos playing at their first World Cups, so opening against South Africa before 87,000 fans at Soccer City might prove difficult.

The local supporters, with their unbridled enthusiasm and the sound of thousands of vuvuzela horns being blown throughout the games, should be South Africa’s biggest weapon. They will create such a din in the stadium that their opponents may find it hard to concentrate.

On the field, hardworking and talented midfielder Stephen Pienaar and lanky defender Matthew Booth will play major roles for the team.

Although South Africa’s form has been poor over the past two years, the team showed at last year’s Confederations Cup that they can be difficult to beat on home turf.

And I’m one of the lucky ones! The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) claims that there are 46.3 million uninsured Americans (John Briley, AARP Bulletin Today, September 11, 2009). With approximately 305 million people living in the United States, that means 15% of the population can’t afford to get sick! The figure is not only astoundingly mind-boggling…..it’s a disgrace.

Before delving into the ongoing healthcare reform initiated by President Barack Obama, with bills wending their way through five Congressional committees, we have to appreciate the current landscape. Right-wing Republicans are, by their own admission, hell-bent on making the president fail at every turn. The President should not count on any cooperation from that part of the Republican Party. These Republicans are spreading false rumors, spewing hatred and hoping that the public will be riled up (or scared) enough to say “no” to everything that Obama proposes, without giving it a fair hearing.

Naysayers are claiming that the American healthcare system is fine just the way it is, and that Obama wants to institute socialized medicine. Yes, the healthcare system is great….if you are working! Lose your job and you are one catastrophic illness away from losing your home or your life savings. Even though the U.S. has many good doctors, the country has more infant deaths per capita than Canada, Sweden, France and even Cuba (CDC, NCHS Data Brief, November 2009). And, by the way, those other countries have the dreaded socialized medicine disease!

If socialized medicine was as bad as Republicans want us to believe, then these other countries should be suffering from the plague. The fact is that in countries with government-sponsored healthcare, the citizens are healthier on average than in the United States. The simple reason is that they are able to go to the doctor whenever they are sick without worrying about the financial implications.

Which takes us to the “dreaded” public option scenario in Obama’s original plan. The idea was that the government would administer a healthcare plan that would compete with private industry to help keep costs down and provide more affordable option for the citizenry. Opponents coined the term “ObamaCare” to describe this governmental intrusion into the most hallowed of industries. Insurance companies are scaring people by saying that their premiums will increase. Yes friends, your premiums will increase because these insurance companies are going to increase their premiums in anticipation of more affordable competition. You might remember the credit card companies increasing their rates as legislation limiting interest rates made its way to the Senate this past summer. The legislation failed, but credit card companies still dug the knife deeper into the backs of consumers by keeping their rates high.

Similarly, insurance companies will raise their rates just in case the future brings added competition from the government.

I think all this opposition to the president trying to help those without healthcare insurance points to mean-spirited behavior coming from moderate Democrats and Republicans. The next time any of these politicians decry socialized medicine, ask them what kind of healthcare plan they have. Members of Congress have health insurance for life that is fully paid by the taxpayers. They have no problem accepting this largesse from us. What is wrong with the public having something similar to this? What about Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security? These are government-run programs that are almost untouchable come budget time

So friends, we already have public options. It’s just that these hypocritical and selfish members of Congress want to deny the rest of the public the sort of healthcare benefits that have been extended to them as part of the ruling class.

In a survey conducted by Drs. Salomeh Keyhani and Alex Federman of Mount Sinai School of Medicine earlier this year, they found that 73% of doctors supported the public option, even though the leaders of the American Medical Association (AMA) were against it. The AMA leadership apparently thinks that any government-run program will lead to doctors getting lower fees. Even if this happens, what’s wrong with us giving back a little so that all Americans can have the benefit of affordable healthcare? Again, the selfishness of those who have at the expense of those who have not.

This is one time when I think liberal Democrats should hold out for as long as possible to get this public option into any bill that comes to the floor. They need to turn back the lies about socialized medicine. No system is perfect, but to vilify something that has worked for years in Europe is silly. Europeans have been far better off than Americans for the kind of healthcare system they have had.

Let’s not talk about waiting long to see a doctor. I pay plenty to be part of the vaunted American healthcare system, and sometimes I have to wait a month or more to see a specialist!

In the final analysis, President Obama will have to decide if the campaign promise of a better and more equitable healthcare system is worth fighting for. He’ll have to decide if he’s going to spend the political capital to fight for the public option. I believe a public option would help-working class families—and I believe that despite the drivel coming from the hate-filled right-wingers.