Kühnert reveals the SPD's savings ideas
The SPD would prefer to suspend the debt brake in 2024, but that does not look likely at the moment. General Secretary Kühnert therefore outlines where the Social Democrats would make savings: State benefits for the rich should be cut, he says. He cannot imagine a new grand coalition.
In the dispute within the traffic light coalition over savings in the 2024 budget, SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert has made concrete savings proposals. "The budget gap cannot be closed by savings alone, but of course the SPD is not closed to any discussion about sensible savings," Kühnert told the Funke newspapers. "One example: We want to and will stick to subsidies for heating replacements.
But for households with the highest incomes, I don't think there needs to be such support," suggested the SPD politician. "Anyone who earns so much that they pay wealth tax doesn't need state aid. In general, we should review support programs to see whether they correspond to our solidarity principle."
Kühnert also recalled the SPD's proposal to abolish the splitting of income between spouses for future marriages. "Or think of the absurd tax exemption on profits from the sale of entire blocks of flats. That can be done away with immediately!" said the SPD General Secretary. "When we talk about savings, we should look at the strong shoulders and not at pensioners, children or even people with low incomes."
"Running over the welfare state with a lawnmower"
At the same time, the SPD General Secretary rejected the idea that the "traffic light" crisis could lead to a new grand coalition. "With Friedrich Merz, there might be fewer uncertainties about the 2024 budget in the current situation," Kühnert told the newspapers. "But the price would be that he would have already run over the welfare state three times with his lawnmower." A grand coalition is also "not an option because we are not looking for a coalition partner", the SPD politician added.
He was also well aware of what the "Groko" years had been like. "Many of our current problems are also the result of governing with the CDU/CSU, which has consistently blocked reforms to the welfare state or the modernization of our infrastructure," said Kühnert. "Furthermore, we are not even dealing with a united Union on the major issues of the day."
Kühnert cited the discussion surrounding the debt brake as an example. "Berlin's governing mayor Kai Wegner is calling for a reform of the debt rules. He was ridiculed for this by Merz on the open stage in the Bundestag," Kühnert explained. "The line in the CDU/CSU runs between Merz, who has never borne political responsibility for the big picture in Germany, and many minister presidents who bear concrete responsibility on a daily basis. I think they have something to work out with each other."
In the context of budget policy discussions within the Traffic light coalition, SPD politician Kevin Kühnert suggested cutting state benefits for the wealthy as a potential savings measure. Despite this, he firmly opposes the notion of a return to a Grand Coalition, citing Friedrich Merz's history of potentially damaging welfare state reforms.
Source: www.ntv.de
