National party conference - SPD General Secretary: We will not go along with social cuts
According to its General Secretary Kevin Kühnert, the SPD will oppose cuts in the social sector in the further budget negotiations for 2024. "Social cuts at the expense of those who have worked their butts off for society is not something we will go along with," said Kühnert at the Thuringian SPD party conference in Meiningen on Saturday. The SPD is concerned with a state that is capable of acting, that invests and renews the promise of social cohesion.
"The SPD is fighting to ensure that it does not become an austerity budget and that the poorest do not suffer," Kühnert called out. The goal remains to get a federal budget for the coming year before Christmas. Provisional budget management is not something "we want to impose on the country from 1.1.24".
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) had named social affairs as one of three areas in which he considers savings to be possible in order to close budget gaps. Without going into this directly, the SPD General Secretary said that "our welfare state is under attack", not only from politicians but also from business associations. He accused CDU leader Friedrich Merz of trying to "turn the welfare state into a charity event".
Kühnert called Lindner's proposal to postpone the share pension and thus save billions a zero-sum calculation. So far, there is no legal basis for a share pension, the so-called generation capital. A postponement would therefore not result in any savings.
On the other hand, Kühnert sees opportunities to reduce the tax privilege on property sales, where income is currently tax-free after ten years. He also reiterated the SPD's proposal to abolish the tax privilege of marriage splitting for future marriages.
The Thuringian SPD intends to adopt a government program at its party conference with a view to the 2024 state elections.
Link to motions and the government program
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- Despite Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner's suggestions for savings in social affairs, the SPD, led by General Secretary Kevin Kühnert, has vowed to opposition any social cutbacks in the budget negotiations for 2024 in Thuringia.
- The SPD, particularly Kühnert, is adamant that they will not support an austerity budget that could burden the most vulnerable households in Germany, emphasizing the importance of social cohesion.
- In his speech at the Thuringian SPD party conference in Meiningen, Kühnert criticized the attack on the welfare state, noting that it is not just a political target but also faces opposition from business associations.
- Regarding the proposal by Lindner to postpone the share pension, Kühnert suggested it to be a zero-sum calculation, as there is no legal basis for a share pension, and no actual savings could be derived from it.
- In addition to analyzing opportunities to reduce the tax privilege on property sales, Kühnert reiterated the SPD's proposal to abolish the tax privilege of marriage splitting for future marriages, as part of the party's efforts to help improve social equity in Germany.
Source: www.stern.de
