Sorry, Germans support both Merkel and austerity

[Euroconservativ]

Angela Merkel's approval rate is still around 60%. As high as 64% in february, according to Stern magazine.

According to a recent poll, 55% of german voters support austerity and budget discipline over growth iniciatives funded by new credits (33%). Most major parties voters support austerity, except left-wing Die Linke.

Majority of Germans Back Merkel

: Mehrheit der Deutschen stützt Merkels Sparkurs - Nachrichten Print - DIE WELT - WELT ONLINE

Another poll says austerity support climbs to 59%.


Losing in North Rhine is not that important, since it's a SPD stronghold where conservatives have only won once in 50 years.

The german right coalition (CDU/CSU + FDP) is losing local elections because of domestic issues. For example, the enormous unpopularity of the current FDP national leadership.

By the way, the SPD is not ahead of CDU in national polls.


This is the version that most people outside Germany read:
Angela Merkel, Austerity Policies Dealt Blow In Local German Election
German voters reject austerity in key poll - FT.com
Voters in German state election reject government austerity policy

 

[Truthseeker420]

Angela Merkel's approval rate is still around 60%. As high as 64% in february, according to Stern magazine.

According to a recent poll, 55% of german voters support austerity and budget discipline over growth iniciatives funded by new credits (33%). Most major parties voters support austerity, except left-wing Die Linke.

Majority of Germans Back Merkel

: Mehrheit der Deutschen stützt Merkels Sparkurs - Nachrichten Print - DIE WELT - WELT ONLINE

Another poll says austerity support climbs to 59%.


Losing in North Rhine is not that important, since it's a SPD stronghold where conservatives have only won once in 50 years.

The german right coalition (CDU/CSU + FDP) is losing local elections because of domestic issues. For example, the enormous unpopularity of the current FDP national leadership.

By the way, the SPD is not ahead of CDU in national polls.


This is the version that most people outside Germany read:
Angela Merkel, Austerity Policies Dealt Blow In Local German Election
German voters reject austerity in key poll - FT.com
Voters in German state election reject government austerity policy

austerity for who?

 

[rdean]

It's easy to support austerity when you have the best economy in Europe. Republican policies have trashed our economy. It happened under Bush. It can hardly be denied.

Denial - the one thing Republicans are very, very good at.

 

[Franticfrank]

I agree with the post above. There are alot of unhappy Germans out there in general with regards to the situation. But until Germany experiences real austerity itself, why should the Germans complain too much?

 

[Katzndogz]

Germany doesn't need austerity. Austerity is where the government is forced to spend less. Reduce the government payroll, rein in outlandish government benefits and pensions. Germany has practiced fiscal restraint and the people work and are productive. They don't need austerity. What the Germans are angry about is the demand of nations whose people want to be paid not to work for the benefit of what they worked for.

The German's open letter to the Greek PM.


Dear Mr Prime Minister,


If you read this print, you’ve entered a country completely different from yours. You’re in Germany.

* Here, people work until they are 67. There is no longer a 14-month salary for civil servants.

* Here, nobody needs to pay a €1,000 bribe to get a hospital bed in time.

* And we don’t pay pensions for the General’s daughters who sadly can’t find husbands.

* In this country, the petrol stations have cash registers, the taxi drivers give receipts and farmers don’t swindle EU subsidies with millions of olive trees that don’t exist.

Germany also has high debts - but we can meet them.

* That’s because we get up reasonably early and work all day. Becuase in good times we always spare a thought for the bad times. Becuase we have good firms whose products are in demand around the world.

Dear Mr Prime Minister, today you are in the country that sends umpteen-thousand of tourists and money aplenty to Greece.

We want to be friends with the Greeks. That’s why since joining the euro, Germany has given your country €50bn.

For this reason, we are writing to you,

Yours,

Bild Editorial

Too bad we don't send the same letter to our democrats.

 

[rdean]

Germany doesn't need austerity. Austerity is where the government is forced to spend less. Reduce the government payroll, rein in outlandish government benefits and pensions. Germany has practiced fiscal restraint and the people work and are productive. They don't need austerity. What the Germans are angry about is the demand of nations whose people want to be paid not to work for the benefit of what they worked for.

The German's open letter to the Greek PM.


Dear Mr Prime Minister,


If you read this print, you’ve entered a country completely different from yours. You’re in Germany.

* Here, people work until they are 67. There is no longer a 14-month salary for civil servants.

* Here, nobody needs to pay a €1,000 bribe to get a hospital bed in time.

* And we don’t pay pensions for the General’s daughters who sadly can’t find husbands.

* In this country, the petrol stations have cash registers, the taxi drivers give receipts and farmers don’t swindle EU subsidies with millions of olive trees that don’t exist.

Germany also has high debts - but we can meet them.

* That’s because we get up reasonably early and work all day. Becuase in good times we always spare a thought for the bad times. Becuase we have good firms whose products are in demand around the world.

Dear Mr Prime Minister, today you are in the country that sends umpteen-thousand of tourists and money aplenty to Greece.

We want to be friends with the Greeks. That’s why since joining the euro, Germany has given your country €50bn.

For this reason, we are writing to you,

Yours,

Bild Editorial

Too bad we don't send the same letter to our democrats.

You missed the parts about all the vacation days and how it's nearly impossible to fire anyone. And don't forget how heavily regulated the country is. You could get a ticket for having a dirty driveway or a lawn that needs mowing. True story. Oops.

 

[Wiseacre]

About Germany - they were smart enough to make some changes before things got out of hand, several years back. Pension reform, upped the retirement age and tightened the req'ts for early outs, CUT taxes, and managed to get their entitlement programs to be more sustainable. Hey, didja know they passed a balanced budget amendment a few years back? Takes effect in 2015 or 2016, somewhere in there. Their economy is hurting a bit lately, GDP was up only .5% last quarter, but they're an export economy and not a lot of importers lately for their stuff.

The Germans are on the horns of a real dilemna - they definitely want to keep the EU strong and in tact, but they also don't want to throw more good money after bad to the Greeks. I think the upcoming Greek elections may influence what they do, but I don't think anyone really believes the Greeks will do what is necessary to attain any semblanceo fiscal sanity. AND, they're definitely worried about higher inflation too, and will not be thrilled if the ECB starts up the printing presses to float general bonds to help out the Greeks, Italians, and Spanish.

 

[Franticfrank]

Absolutely right. I agree with you Wiseacre. My brother works in Berlin and pays away about one third of his money in income tax alone. And the Germans work damn hard, I'd say the the vacation days have nothing to do with it. If anything, the amount of vacation in the US is ridiculously low.

 

[KissMy]

Greece using Euro Trojan Horse to defeat Germany.​

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvl9N9GdraQ"]The Greece Plan[/ame]

 

[Trajan]

About Germany - they were smart enough to make some changes before things got out of hand, several years back. Pension reform, upped the retirement age and tightened the req'ts for early outs, CUT taxes, and managed to get their entitlement programs to be more sustainable. Hey, didja know they passed a balanced budget amendment a few years back? Takes effect in 2015 or 2016, somewhere in there. Their economy is hurting a bit lately, GDP was up only .5% last quarter, but they're an export economy and not a lot of importers lately for their stuff.

The Germans are on the horns of a real dilemna - they definitely want to keep the EU strong and in tact, but they also don't want to throw more good money after bad to the Greeks. I think the upcoming Greek elections may influence what they do, but I don't think anyone really believes the Greeks will do what is necessary to attain any semblanceo fiscal sanity. AND, they're definitely worried about higher inflation too, and will not be thrilled if the ECB starts up the printing presses to float general bonds to help out the Greeks, Italians, and Spanish.

facts get you no where

 

[Truthmatters]

Man cons are silly

 

[Katzndogz]

The Germans are never going to agree to enable the Greeks to sit on their asses.

 

[Rat in the Hat]

Man cons are silly

What about the women cons? Are they silly, too?

 

[Euroconservativ]

You missed the parts about all the vacation days and how it's nearly impossible to fire anyone. And don't forget how heavily regulated the country is. You could get a ticket for having a dirty driveway or a lawn that needs mowing. True story. Oops.

You missed the part about wage restraint, with a net decrease in manufacturing real wages in the last 10 years. Or the part about corporate tax cuts: from 59% in the 1990s to 28% now (federal rate of 15%). Of course they can easily fire unproductive and undisciplined workers, but the german goverment helps businesses when they need reduced working days, so less jobs are lost. Nothing wrong with that. Labour is flexible enough to avoid forced shutdowns in the longer holiday periods (in many mediterranean countries plants have to stop activity at least for two consecutive weeks in the summer; in Italy the Vatican says that is "cruel" to separate families in holiday periods).

Oh, and they have just one union for each economic sector. One professional sef-financed union. Germany is one of the very few EU countries where political and general strikes are forbidden. This is a deep contrast with Southern Europe, where is typical to have 2, 3 even 4 large unions that behave like political parties and get state money.

 

[Euroconservativ]

About Germany - they were smart enough to make some changes before things got out of hand, several years back. Pension reform, upped the retirement age and tightened the req'ts for early outs, CUT taxes, and managed to get their entitlement programs to be more sustainable. Hey, didja know they passed a balanced budget amendment a few years back? Takes effect in 2015 or 2016, somewhere in there. Their economy is hurting a bit lately, GDP was up only .5% last quarter, but they're an export economy and not a lot of importers lately for their stuff.

The Germans are on the horns of a real dilemna - they definitely want to keep the EU strong and in tact, but they also don't want to throw more good money after bad to the Greeks. I think the upcoming Greek elections may influence what they do, but I don't think anyone really believes the Greeks will do what is necessary to attain any semblanceo fiscal sanity. AND, they're definitely worried about higher inflation too, and will not be thrilled if the ECB starts up the printing presses to float general bonds to help out the Greeks, Italians, and Spanish.

Germans don't want the ECB to behave like the Fed or any other major central bank in the world; they don't want the ECB to be a lender of last resort for states. Ironically the ECB lends hundreds of billions to private banks at 1% so they can buy government debt at expensive rates... It's just disgusting.

This has nothing to do with austerity. You can combine both: spending cuts/balanced budgets and a central bank that actually behaves like a central bank. That's the point that turns many people in Europe against the german government.

 

[Wiseacre]

About Germany - they were smart enough to make some changes before things got out of hand, several years back. Pension reform, upped the retirement age and tightened the req'ts for early outs, CUT taxes, and managed to get their entitlement programs to be more sustainable. Hey, didja know they passed a balanced budget amendment a few years back? Takes effect in 2015 or 2016, somewhere in there. Their economy is hurting a bit lately, GDP was up only .5% last quarter, but they're an export economy and not a lot of importers lately for their stuff.

The Germans are on the horns of a real dilemna - they definitely want to keep the EU strong and in tact, but they also don't want to throw more good money after bad to the Greeks. I think the upcoming Greek elections may influence what they do, but I don't think anyone really believes the Greeks will do what is necessary to attain any semblanceo fiscal sanity. AND, they're definitely worried about higher inflation too, and will not be thrilled if the ECB starts up the printing presses to float general bonds to help out the Greeks, Italians, and Spanish.

Germans don't want the ECB to behave like the Fed or any other major central bank in the world; they don't want the ECB to be a lender of last resort for states. Ironically the ECB lends hundreds of billions to private banks at 1% so they can buy government debt at expensive rates... It's just disgusting.

This has nothing to do with austerity. You can combine both: spending cuts/balanced budgets and a central bank that actually behaves like a central bank. That's the point that turns many people in Europe against the german government.

Most European countries raised taxes more than they cut spending. And then they wonder why their economic growth suffers. The "austerity" that the Left constantly bitches about is actually the requirement to live withon your means, nothing austere about that. The agreement they all signed a couple of months ago was to keep their budget deficits to with 3% of their GDP. Some countries adopted that policies years ago, like Germany and Sweden. And as a result they aren't suffering as much as the southern European countries are.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

About Germany - they were smart enough to make some changes before things got out of hand, several years back. Pension reform, upped the retirement age and tightened the req'ts for early outs, CUT taxes, and managed to get their entitlement programs to be more sustainable. Hey, didja know they passed a balanced budget amendment a few years back? Takes effect in 2015 or 2016, somewhere in there. Their economy is hurting a bit lately, GDP was up only .5% last quarter, but they're an export economy and not a lot of importers lately for their stuff.

The Germans are on the horns of a real dilemna - they definitely want to keep the EU strong and in tact, but they also don't want to throw more good money after bad to the Greeks. I think the upcoming Greek elections may influence what they do, but I don't think anyone really believes the Greeks will do what is necessary to attain any semblanceo fiscal sanity. AND, they're definitely worried about higher inflation too, and will not be thrilled if the ECB starts up the printing presses to float general bonds to help out the Greeks, Italians, and Spanish.

Germans don't want the ECB to behave like the Fed or any other major central bank in the world; they don't want the ECB to be a lender of last resort for states. Ironically the ECB lends hundreds of billions to private banks at 1% so they can buy government debt at expensive rates... It's just disgusting.

This has nothing to do with austerity. You can combine both: spending cuts/balanced budgets and a central bank that actually behaves like a central bank. That's the point that turns many people in Europe against the german government.

Most European countries raised taxes more than they cut spending. And then they wonder why their economic growth suffers. The "austerity" that the Left constantly bitches about is actually the requirement to live withon your means, nothing austere about that. The agreement they all signed a couple of months ago was to keep their budget deficits to with 3% of their GDP. Some countries adopted that policies years ago, like Germany and Sweden. And as a result they aren't suffering as much as the southern European countries are.

yes what most European countries are, in effect, saying to Germany is thank you for the austerity programs that allow you to have so much money in the bank; now can we borrow that money so we can go on being irresponsible liberals.

 

[Euroconservativ]

Most European countries raised taxes more than they cut spending. And then they wonder why their economic growth suffers. The "austerity" that the Left constantly bitches about is actually the requirement to live withon your means, nothing austere about that. The agreement they all signed a couple of months ago was to keep their budget deficits to with 3% of their GDP. Some countries adopted that policies years ago, like Germany and Sweden. And as a result they aren't suffering as much as the southern European countries are.

That's a complex issue: the number of people and companies depending on government programs. And the job destruction that austerity would bring.

US left-wingers are wrong if they think you can have a large welfare nanny-state only taxing the rich. Welfare in Europe is sustained by high taxes on consumption and labour. Virtually every EU state has raised the VAT in the last 4 years. As a consequence, the european wealthy pay a lower share of taxes:

No Country Leans on Upper-Income Households as Much as U.S. | Tax Foundation

They pay less, even as a ratio of their income share

 

[motownron]

Being the host organism Germany can only be brought down now from the surrounding "partners"

 

[editec]

The Greeks are going to reintroduce the Drachma.

And then they ought to pay their external debts to the BANKSTERS in that specie at a 1drachma -to 1 EURO ratio, regardless of what the currency exchange claims the rate is.

Come to think of it the USA ought to ALSO take over control of its specie and change its currency, too.

We ought to pay off the national debt with Treasure issued GREENBACKS to pay off our debts at that same 1 to 1 exchange rate for FEDERAL RESERVE notes.

Make those treasure dollars, rather than FED RESERVE NOTES the offical specie of this nation. And make CONGRESS AND THE TREAURY the issuers of those.
Let the MONETARY WARS commence, says I.

OUR AMERICAN REVOLUTION was over who got to issue the currency, ya know?

It wasn't about a tax on tea and glass, it was about the crown disallowing the state to issue their ISSUE their own currencies, as they had been all along.

Wake up people.

The scam against the people and its government is funded by this monetary RIP OFF.

Rome was build on bronze and copper coins, NOT gold. When Caesar tried to force Rome onto the GOLD STANDARD he was murdered by the REPUBLICANS of ROME.

THE USA fought and paid for the CIVIL WAR with non-gold-backed GREENBACKS.

We the people, are NOT at the mercy of the BANSTERS unless we ALLOW ourselves to be so.