Schroeder loses confidence vote

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I understand that deliberately losing a confidence vote is a rare tactic. Since I'm not too familiar with German or European politics in general, I would like to know why he did this. Ragusa, Dendri, or anyone else, please comment.

 

Well he and his party is in a political crisis because of the defeats in the earlier state elections (or whatever they are called in English). So practically it's very difficult for him to do anything until he gets a vote of confidence from the people. He could try to drive through his widely unpopular economical reforms with force now but it would probably make him even less popular. Now he gets a chance to market his plans to the people before it is actually done.

Personally I would like to see him be changed since Anglea Merkel will probably support Blair's line of a economical reform in EU. After that all we need is Chiraq removed and then finally business can go on as usual. Politically dead presidents are not good for the country and even less good for the EU.

Anyway this is what I make of it. Ragusa can probably give you a full analysis when he notices this topic.

 

Ha! The point is, the Germans are so stuck, there is no way out. The difference between the SPD and the CDU is zero, nada, nothing. Both are equally unable to anything at all except grant some particular interest groups extra benefits. Now, the SPD/greens have proven to be, even if it seems to be a nigh impossible feat, exactly as unbelievably incompetent as the CDU. No, before it gets better in Germany, it has to get a whole lot worse, so the two big parties have a reason to destroy themseleves and to start a-new from scratch.

And now it's Merkel's turn. And I tell you what will change. Nothing, nada, rien, Absolut nichts. More and more of the same and nothing else.

The Germans messed so up, it is unbelievable. They wasted more than a trillion Euro on the completly failed re-union. And that's a black hole in the center of central Europe.

We are doomed !

Oh, yeah, and by the way, they have to reform there political system fast. Either be openly centralist or make federalism more then mere lip-service.

 

He's a coward, you know: Claiming 'legislative paralysis' as a reason for his way out - but deciding a handful of laws just before this confidence vote. Sure thing, not exactly a paralysis.

He simply didn't have the guts to step back. Using the 'legislative paralysis' thesis, he blames the opposition for some of his own failures. As in: Only christ democrat obstruction forced onto me this extraordinary step!"

He has a point though, but ironically it was under him that his social decmocrats have developed the tactic to enforce partisan politics in the Bundesrat to perfection when fighting Kohl. What he got was blowback, so to say.

 

Ah, but Kohl knew why he never tackled the problems of the Republic in earnest - doing so will get any chancellor in the bad books of the voter, resulting in loss of power. The reforms hurt and frightened people, who turned to the opposition. Now the opposition holds the Bundesrat, whose nod the chancellor needs for most of the legislation going on.
Either he makes policies to the liking of the CDU -- or there will be no progress at all. In any event, from a socialist's point of view there has paralysis come about.

To me this seems not that cowardly, more like Schröder doesnt want to sit on his thumbs until the elections next year, with nothing whatsoever -- or at least not enough -- happening on the political scene. He wants to spare Germany a year of stagnation. And perhaps he intends to give the voters the chance to reconsider, and reconsider now, what kind of politics they want. For the reforms of the SPD, which frustrated people, will be nothing compared to what the conservatives/liberals have in petto.

And making the voters reconsider is best done by having elections now, forcing the opposition to come out of the woods and present their would-be solution to our problems. We will see how the people like what the CDU has in mind for a change.

A daring move by Schröder. Although I have no hope for him. The people feel betrayed.

 

The problem for Schröder was simply that the CDU majority in the Bundesrat coupled demads to their votes - these demands were usually CDU lines and were quite contrary to SPD lines.

To agree forced Schröder repeatedly to sort-of 'betray' his party and partytraditions, this feeling was strongest in his parties' left wing.

Insofar, yes, an unavoidable move, especially in face of a leftist alternative where formerly left wing social democrats gathered, especially with union background. Schröder would at worst have to go into the next elections with a much weaker party. The elections will force the dissidents back in line, as an CDU takeover seems very possible.

At least the SPD will have to undergo an overdue re-orientation, probably back to the roots, back to the left. A pity Schröder is a so much lesser man than Schmidt was. With his move Schröder, with a grain of salt, rescues his party.

Any way, don't get me wrong, while I sort-of support Merkel, I do so half-hearted - as I loathe the neo-lideral nonsense the CDU has recently started to represent. The very sensible Sozialverbände have being more or less pushed aside under Merkel, and that's pissing me off.

So as for me, a lot of glee -- but no triumph.

 

Plus, there is something else to this. Schröder was never the popular one in his party. Even before the recent reforms, that carry a mark of the conservatives, he was a necessary evil to the socialists. The only one with the charisma to dethrone Kohl - and be a chancellor? At the same time a person his party never felt easy about. From what I heard his relation to the very basis and ideals of the SPD is shaky. What with 'Genosse der Bosse'? And what with that clash of Schröder's and Lafontaine's idea of social politics at the beginning? A confrontation sending Lafontaine into exile.

There was a rift between him and a good number of his party from the start, it is said. That resentment grew with the reforms to the point that he had to part with the position of chairman of the SPD, ceeding it to Müntefering.

Maybe it is true what they say and he has tired. Simply tired of having to fight his own party almost as much as the opposition. Yet another SPD chancellor brought down by his own people. Friendly fire is the most devastating one, in a way.

P.S. Ragusa, I would not have expected you to be with them conservatives. You have a leftist vibe to you. Thats a revelation. Oh, and as a lawyer you should be with the FDP, no?
The only good I see in the coming change is Merkel's stance against the entire Turkey-thingy (in itself almost enough to make me vote for the conservatives). The rest is purest vileness.

 

See Dendri, I'm catholic - in fact it's probably in my blood to vote Zentrum, after all Kolping came from Kerpen, which is just around the corner. I consider social politics very important. But the Geissler's are a dying breed.

As far as legal politics are concerned the FDP has a few points, but for me that's no reason to vote for 'Happy' Westerwelle and his fun club. As for the rest the FDP sucks: Economic liberalism isn't an aim in itself but a means to achieve individual freedom. That's probably equivalent for businessmen, but there are a majority of other people in the republic, too. But then, I have to hold that against the CDU as well.

The SPD left, with their calls to 'tax the rich' and the Vermögenssteuer (roguely: Wealth tax) simply don't get that it was unconstitutional when we had it the last time and will be about as unconstitutional the next time. Some people never learn - and they have no new ideas, too.
In a sense the SPD have achieved about everything they ever fought for, and have now reverted to a reactionary role to defend the status quo, because they don't find anything else they could do.

I'd love to see Merz' simplyfied tax system implemented - with the stroke of a pen, whole libraries of tax literature obsolete. Wonderful that. And tax consultants would have to search for honest work, too.

So to say, I'm a conservative punk

 

So, when will we know if the tactic was successful?

 

Well, Schröder will probably lose the election. The question is how many votes he loses to either of the lefist parties WASG or PDS - and how many members the SPD loses to them.

The capitalism dispute in the SPD has much to do with this process of re-orientation. Whatever commenters say about demagoguery, I think the dispute is focused inward.

The SPD will run through the same long hard slog of soul seeking the CDU had, after Kohl blundered his last election in a stroke of megalomania.