Jusos and JU argue about debt brake
In view of the huge financial gaps in the budget, Juso chairman Philipp Türmer has called for the abolition of the constitutionally enshrined debt brake. "We have to decide whether we want to save the climate or the debt brake," the head of the SPD's youth organization told the Rheinische Post newspaper. "The debt brake must be suspended in the short term for 2024 and removed from the Basic Law as quickly as possible. We will propose this at the federal party conference." In order to suspend the debt brake, it is necessary to establish and justify an emergency situation.
His counterpart from the Junge Union, Johannes Winkel, took the opposite position and vehemently warned against suspending the debt brake for 2024. "If this happens, the CDU and CSU will have to take legal action against it," the head of the CDU/CSU's young generation demanded via the news portal t-online. Sustainability for future generations is not only an ecological issue, but also an economic one. After all, interest obligations were already the third largest budget item.
Winkel also disagreed with calls for a change to the debt brake, as heard from the SPD and Greens as well as some Christian Democrats. "The political left is acting as if it is virtually forbidden to make investments from the regular budget," said Winkel. It could not be the position of the CDU/CSU to deprive future generations of their scope for decision-making through mountains of debt and interest. "I can only warn everyone against opening this discussion within the CDU now," he said with a view to the CDU heads of government from Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt, Kai Wegner and Reiner Haseloff, and threatened "a very ugly confrontation with the Junge Union".
The debt brake caps net borrowing for the federal government at a maximum of 0.35 percent of gross domestic product. However, it can make use of an exception in the event of natural disasters or exceptional emergencies. The Basic Law would have to be amended for a reform. This requires a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag and Bundesrat. The Federal Constitutional Court recently prohibited the use of special emergency funds for other purposes at a later date, leaving the federal government with a billions hole.
- Regarding the proposed suspension of the debt brake, the CDU and CSU's youth leader, Johannes Winkel, stated that they would take legal action if it was indeed suspended for 2024.
- In the debate about the debt brake, some Christian Democrats, like Winkel, disagree with proposals to change it, fearing that it could restrict future generations' decision-making scope through excessive debt and interest.
- The CDU/CSU's young generation chief emphasized that sustainability is not only an ecological concern but also an economic one, as interest obligations constitute the third largest budget item.
Source: www.dpa.com
