"Is the Federal Chancellor still in control?"
With the question: "Where is Scholz?", the CDU/CSU repeatedly questions the Chancellor's leadership role. CDU politician Thorsten Frei now wonders why the federal government's list of cuts has been ripped up from all sides after just a few hours. It is completely unclear what will actually be implemented in the end.
CDU politician Thorsten Frei has serious doubts that the federal government's written list of cuts will now put an end to the budget dispute. "It only took a few days, or actually hours, for this program to be torn apart by our own coalition, by members of the government, by negotiators, by parliamentary group leaders. And in this respect, the question really arises: What applies now, and to what extent does the Chancellor still have the reins in his hands?" asked the First Parliamentary Secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group on ntv Frühstart.
"It is completely unclear whether what is to be presented to the cabinet today will actually be implemented next year. And that's why you have to ask the question: This coalition is clearly not really managing to set priorities, to really draw long lines and to see this crisis as an opportunity to reorganize the budget and set new priorities," continued Frei.
The planned austerity measures in agriculture in particular are unfair. "If you're being generous, the coalition is saving just 8.5 billion euros, and around one billion of that is in agriculture alone. To call this a reduction in climate-damaging tax subsidies is, of course, word acrobatics. In reality, these are tax increases that are explicitly directed against rural areas and agriculture in particular."
Scrapping the heating law, putting recipients of citizens' income into work
The CDU politician also criticized the short-term abolition of subsidies for electric vehicles. "Above all, it is irresponsible towards those who ordered vehicles and did so in the knowledge that they would receive this state subsidy. I think it's really bad business to make these overnight decisions because they don't give consumers the chance to react."
Instead, Frei suggests scrapping the heating law and relying on market-based elements such as CO2 pricing. The social sector also needs to be addressed. "However, if €0.45 of every euro in the federal budget is spent on social welfare, then we will have to be more accurate in this area," said the Parliamentary Secretary. "When you see that we have 5.5 million recipients of citizens' benefits, 3.9 million of whom are of working age, then you have to say that 3.9 million healthy young people are not working."
If just one million of these almost four million people were put to work, it would relieve the budget by around 30 billion euros. "You have to look very carefully at where you are supporting those who really need support and where is money simply being poured out with a watering can?"
Read also:
- Year of climate records: extreme is the new normal
- Precautionary arrests show Islamist terror threat
- UN vote urges Israel to ceasefire
- SPD rules out budget resolution before the end of the year
In response to the CDU/CSU's criticism, the Union parliamentary group is pushing for a focus on scrapping the heating law and encouraging work participation among citizens' income recipients as potential solutions to the budget dispute. This proposal, however, has not been met with agreement from all coalition members.
During his appearance on ntv's early start program, CDU parliamentary group first secretary Thorsten Frei emphasized the uncertainty surrounding the federal government's budgetary policy, questioning whether the Chancellor still has control over the situation due to the coalition's fractured response to the initial list of cuts.
Source: www.ntv.de
