Budget deficit - Saving on citizens' income? How pathetic!
What is most annoying about this citizens' income debate? That it forces me to write a reflexive, old-left, almost "Neues Deutschland"-like comment like this one. Look, dear children, that's how it is, evil capitalism! Thank you too, Markus Söder.
Over the weekend, the Bavarian Minister President and CSU leader came to a realization that CDU Chairman Friedrich Merz and FDP Secretary General Bijan Djir-Serai had already expressed before him. It is that we simply can no longer afford the planned increase in citizens' income.
The state will have to cut 17 billion euros from the originally planned budget in the coming year alone due to the fierce Karlsruhe ruling. And what comes to mind immediately: a cut in social spending. The state cannot simply take out more loans because of the self-imposed debt brake. And under no circumstances can it raise taxes, because that is what Christian Lindner promised the FDP voters. He must not alienate the last five percent now. Sorry, dear citizens' allowance recipients!
Yes, yes, the chancellor certainly still has a lot of "respect". It's just that he no longer has that much money. And the little that he can still distribute has long since been promised to others.
Are the chip companies supposed to go away empty-handed?
Who is thinking of the poor chip companies that we have to persuade with the help of ten billion euros in subsidies to set up their semiconductor plants in Germany? And what about the hundreds of thousands of homeowners who will have to buy expensive heat pumps from next year thanks to Habeck's heating law? Are they to go away empty-handed just so that the recipients of citizen's allowance can get 61 euros more a month?
This is the amount by which the standard rate is to rise in January. It's not something that St. Hubertus has decided at night in his Ministry of Social Affairs, it's the result of a complex process - which the CDU/CSU-led federal states also agreed to in the mediation committee. But: new facts, new opinions. And in view of a 17 billion euro hole in the budget, 4.5 billion euros in additional costs is a pretty weighty fact. That's how much the higher standard rate costs the state per year. Or not. Then a quarter of the hole would be plugged in one fell swoop. That is tempting.
18 euros seems modest, twelve percent sounds presumptuous
That is also the reason why we now have to talk about proportionality instead. After all, 61 euros is not just an extra two euros a day, especially as the Citizen's Income will only rise to a total of 18 euros a day. For bread and milk, shoes, a winter coat, stamps and electricity. 18 euros - that seems modest. Twelve percent, on the other hand, sounds presumptuous. Twelve percent sounds like: Who is supposed to work?
Don't get me wrong, it can all be changed. It may be legally permissible to postpone the increase. It is not forbidden to demand more "support and demands". We can also discuss whether Ukrainian refugees really need to receive citizens' benefits immediately. But if we're going to talk about proportionality, why not talk about this for a change: 1.5% of Germans own 3,600 billion euros. This means that 1.5 percent own more than 90 percent of all Germans combined.
I know, unfortunately there's nothing we can do about it. So there's only one thing left to do: as soon as things get tight, we'd rather discuss the few bucks we graciously concede to the poorest in society. Or not. Because we can no longer afford it? Three state elections will be held in the east next year. Their results could cost us far more.
Read also:
- The budget deficit has led to a significant challenge for Friedrich Merz and his CDU party, as they now need to find ways to cut expenses, such as the planned increase in citizens' income, due to a budget hole of 17 billion euros.
- In response to the budget crisis, Markus Söder, the CSU leader, has expressed his support for Merz's stance on the need to reduce spending, including on citizens' income, to avoid exacerbating the fiscal deficit.
- Meanwhile, Christian Lindner, the FDP chairman, has vowed to uphold his party's commitment to not raising taxes, which adds another layer of complexity to finding a solution to the budget hole and the proposed increase in citizens' income.
- Critics of the current situation argue that the focus on reducing citizens' income may not be the best approach, considering that only a small percentage of the population owns a significant portion of the country's wealth, making it difficult to justify cutting assistance to the most vulnerable while protecting the interests of the wealthy.
Source: www.stern.de
