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Press conference after federal and state consultations on energy aid, October 4, 2022
Photo: Political Moments / IMAGO
What a gap there is between the world situation and German politics.
While American experts are discussing the danger of a nuclear strike by Russia and seriously considering how the USA should react to it, while many companies and private households are concerned about their existence in view of the "energy war" (Christian Lindner) with Russia, while there is a risk of loss of prosperity, the quarrel Parties in the federal and state governments about the planned relief measures.
Even the language is revealing: »Wumms«, »double booms« or »Piff and Paff«?
Can it be more childish?
In many other European countries, concrete measures such as gas price brakes have been decided, in Germany the federal and state governments cannot even agree on how the costs will be distributed.
The Federal Chancellor, who worked in Hamburg for a long time, allegedly spoke a word of power: One is not at the fish market here.
With all due respect: At the fish market you get to the point faster!
The Prime Ministers' Conference, which already shone during the corona crisis due to its dysfunction ("Easter peace") and bored "Candy Crush" participants, was launched again to show that efficiency has not improved despite the increased external pressure.
Didn't Scholz claim in the summer that you have to stick together in the crisis and then everything will be doable?
A Scholzian »We can do it«, so to speak.
To be more precise, the Chancellor formulated in a video message at the beginning of July: "If we join hands and stick together, we are strong."
The only ones who are currently linking arms are the Monday demonstrators in the East German cities, who do not understand why, in view of the impending gas and electricity shortages, not all possible resources are used, but instead they become embroiled in ideological battles.
In Europe, too, the disagreement – about the sanctions against Russia – is only being covered up with difficulty. Hungary continues to purchase Russian oil, despite the embargo, Italy gets Russian gas.
Whether at federal or state level, the representatives of different parties seem to prefer to block each other or work against each other, on the gas levy and on the question of the continued operation of nuclear power plants.
The FDP finance minister, Christian Lindner, never misses an opportunity to tease Robert Habeck about the Greens, while leading Greens moan about Chancellor Scholz, who is seen as weak.
Instead of a coalition of progress and loyal cooperation, there is a whiff of »cucumber troops« in the air.
This is how the coalition partners of the government of CDU, CSU and FDP called themselves twelve years ago under Angela Merkel.
The new relief package was announced in big words, what it looks like in concrete terms, who it relieves, it does not allow for concrete planning.
The design of the electricity and gas price brake, the successor to the 9-euro ticket, the payment of the massive increase in housing benefit: everything is open.
If you listen to representatives of the federal and state governments in the run-up to the prime ministers, you could have got the impression that these are different nations.
In the end, state representatives like Franziska Giffey from Berlin and Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wüst, but also the Green Winfried Kretschmann from Baden-Württemberg were angry.
"Citizens rightly expect further relief to reach them quickly," warns SPD politician Giffey.
hook?
Looks more like wrestling.
Then you get the answer: it's just an election campaign, in a few days there will be an election in Hanover.
Well, who can get upset about such a tiny world crisis with possible nuclear war and potential German deindustrialization when elections are held in the most important German federal state!
Chancellor Scholz, Foreign Minister Baerbock, Labor Minister Heil, SPD Chairman Klingbeil - all Lower Saxony.
Apparently you have to set priorities.
Unfortunately, there is always a state election somewhere in Germany.
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Sabine Rennefanz
Finally, women and children: How crises challenge social justice
Publisher: Ch. Links
Number of pages: 144
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How good it would be to have an astute, intellectually astute opposition leader in these times.
For a while it looked as if Friedrich Merz would fill this role.
But then he went astray in the past few days by opening a debate about refugees and social benefits.
His claim that Ukrainian refugees would commute between the two countries to receive Hartz IV in Germany caused a lot of outrage.
And even when he retracted the controversial term »social tourism«, he repeated the statement that the high social benefits set the wrong incentives.
Allegedly, immigrants would rather receive Hartz IV than work.
It may be that among the many hundreds of thousands of refugees there are a small number of black sheep who are unfairly receiving benefits because they have long since returned to Ukraine - there are isolated indications of this in social welfare offices.
But one does not offend Merz if one assumes that his initiative is not about recovering a few hundred thousand euros that were wrongly paid or even relieving the completely overwhelmed social welfare offices in the municipalities, which have been working for months in view of the massive increase to relieve refugee numbers on the brink of collapse.
The CDU man wants to snatch votes from the AfD in Lower Saxony.
Responsible?
Cohesion?
Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that!
