Photo: Envato / Symbolic image, editorial use
Good night, environmental protection - Part 4/4 - A greener deal would have been possible with such a chancellor
n the knowledge that Wendehals Fritze would even vote for the position of chancellor with the AfD, which is partly secured by the extreme right, I am convinced that there would have been more to be gained for the Greens. Fritze was just not allowed to completely lose face, apart from that, as long as that was preserved he would have signed anything. 1 After voting with AfD: Chancellor Scholz: Can no longer trust Merz https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/deutschland/merz-scholz-afd-migration-abstimmung-bundestag-100.html
orry, the man flies to Christian Lindner's wedding on Sylt in his private aeroplane, which costs almost a million euros 2 Multi-day celebration on Sylt - Merz arrives at the Lindner wedding by private plane https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/sylt-friedrich-merz-kommt-zur-hochzeit-von-christian-lindner-und-franca-lehfeldt-mit-privatflieger-a-20dba2c2-4cd3-4d74-a478-9a409e0399f3 3 Fuel consumption argument - Merz defends travelling to Lindner's wedding in his own plane https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/friedrich-merz-verteidigt-flug-zu-hochzeit-von-christian-linder-und-franca-lehfeldt-zdf-sommerinterview-a-6ac08585-a289-430e-a7bd-db7e8243a917 and talks about environmental protection 4 WELT News: FRIEDRICH MERZ: Energetic speech in defence of the debt package - "This is over now!" https://youtu.be/DUezW1LV8s4?t=92 5 taz: CDU chancellor candidate's private plane - How Merz flew around Germany "Friedrich Merz's private plane has taken off every few days in recent years. This is shown by a data analysis by taz. The emissions are high." https://taz.de/Privatflugzeug-von-CDU-Kanzlerkandidat/!6065499/ and the working population must now also make a contribution. He is thinking of giving up a public holiday footnote] Morgenpost: Cancellation because of debt package? Hands off our public holidays! https://www.mopo.de/news/meinung-news/streichung-wegen-schuldenpaket-finger-weg-von-unseren-feiertagen/ [/footnote], Merz would prefer to abolish the minimum wage,,,,,,,e as well as the citizen's income. The man no longer has all the champagne glasses in the cupboard.
Until recently, Fritze was also the owner of an aircraft company that owned a second turboprop aircraft and offered it to solvent customers as a charter aircraft. When he returned to politics, he parted with the second aircraft. That was probably too obviously decadent, even for him as a representative of hard-working citizens. 6 No more flights for toilet paper company: Friedrich Merz separates from aeroplane - debt discussion on "Illner "CDU general surprised: "Then it's a breach of promise "By Nina Jerzy https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/deutschland/gesellschaft/id_100208946/friedrich-merz-cdu-politiker-trennt-sich-von-seinem-flugzeug.html Will that make the roast even fatter?
Now he just uses the Bundeswehr's large aircraft. Friedrich Merz has used the Bundeswehr's air force more intensively than any other parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag during the current legislative period. A total of 32 flights by parliamentary group leaders were recorded, with Merz accounting for 30 of these flights. 7 taz: Air travel by CDU leader Friedrich MerzMerz uses flight service more often than other parliamentary group leaders "The flight service was used a total of 32 times by parliamentary group leaders in the Bundestag. Of these, 30 flights went to the CDU leader alone" https://taz.de/Flugreisen-von-CDU-Chef-Friedrich-Merz/!6076286/ 8 Merz surpasses all other parliamentary group leaders in the use of the air force https://www.fr.de/politik/merz-uebertrifft-alle-anderen-fraktionschefs-in-der-nutzung-der-flugbereitschaft-zr-93629226.html
t's an important man for society, our Fritze. He knows how the hard-working population is faring with the recession, rising food prices, falling real wages, perceived inflation, dwindling social benefits, rising health insurance and long-term care insurance contributions, in the middle of the biggest human crisis of all, the climate crisis, in which we have to do everything we can to emit as few greenhouse gases as possible. He knows how to make statements, our Fritze. Or is he perhaps a little too... "aloof"?
It just has a flavour to it. I'm just saying.
Do I have to declare the last paragraph as an opinion, "my" opinion, to avoid getting into trouble? Although... unfortunately, it's not just "my" opinion.
53% of the German would not like him as chancellor, according to the latest Politbarometer. That's pretty bad. A total of 44% even explicitly state that Merz would do a poor job as chancellor. And this at a time when he is not even Chancellor and, to be fair, he is finally making the right and important decisions for Germany and Europe. 9 ZDF political barometer: Great reservations about Merz as chancellor https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/politbarometer-vorbehalte-gegenueber-merz-100.html
If only there wasn't the small "but" that Merz's sudden activism when it comes to debt is solely the result of the knowledge that he no longer has the necessary two-thirds majority in the new Bundestag with The Left. Söder has made that clear. The only reason for the urgency of these decisions is that Die Linke and dire AfD have a blocking minority in the new Bundestag. 10 Young & naive, climate report, financial package, parental allowance | WIRTSCHAFTSBRIEFING | 24 March 2025 | With Jens Brodersen https://youtu.be/hQ9LZ_BK4QY?list=TLPQMjQwMzIwMjVL_ilOxNSP7Q
So much for Merz's official tall tale that the global political situation has suddenly changed so drastically and dramatically in the 48 hours following the election 11 WELT Nacrichten: BLACK-RED DEBT DEAL: "Whatever it takes" - CDU leader Friedrich Merz confirms special assets https://youtu.be/A4zc1jVnCSk that this decision could not be postponed for a single week 12WELT News Channel : FRIEDRICH MERZ: "What more do they actually want?" Desperate words towards the Greens https://youtu.be/Jqud-W5FZGU?t=267 .
So either now, with a parliament that has been more than clearly voted out by the people in favour of the 180-degree opposite of what has been promised over and over again for months - or never. Then he would be left with a parliament that is unable to act. It's hard to imagine what a disaster that would have been at European level. All because of the ego of a man who wants the chancellorship at least as much as his party. To be chancellor, not to lead a country, but to be chancellor. Friedrich Merz has to put up with this accusation. 13WELT news channel: SCHULDENPAKET: Merz's fate sealed? "He will now also win the election for Chancellor" https://youtu.be/9Q7ylNxHR2E
And so it comes as no surprise when Fritze stands up on stage and replies to the AfD's laughter at the word climate protection that he has always been convinced that climate protection is a super important issue 14 WELT News: FRIEDRICH MERZ: Energetic speech in defence of the debt package - "This is over now!" https://youtu.be/DUezW1LV8s4?t=92 . What about the original proposal before the Greens got involved? Water under the bridge. Now there is an "additional" 100 billion for climate protection. Yes, you have to sell a decision like that to your voters when you've been honing your anti-eco image for decades. I can just imagine his companion Markus Söder hugging a green tree. It just popped into my head. The would be a headline.
Genuine additionality, i.e. an increase in the special fund for infrastructure to 600 billion, would not only have been a strong signal for the economic viability of climate protection and an opportunity perceived as prosperity through climate protection. It could have significantly increased the scope for the federal states.
Especially as the countries already bear 60% of the investments in public infrastructure anyway. Dilapidated schools, roads in need of renovation, bridges in danger of collapsing, swimming pools in ruins, ... the legacy of a complacent Christian Lindner, who put the interests of his powerful friends from the Porsche executive suite and himself above the interests of the citizens - all costs that the federal states have to shoulder. 15 sueddeutsche.de : What is known about #Porschegate https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/porschegate-blume-lindner-anstalt-zdf-1.5626573 16 LobbyControl on #Porschegate : Comment on the current reporting on contacts between Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Porsche boss Oliver Blume. https://www.lobbycontrol.de/pressemitteilung/pressekommentar-lobbycontrol-zu-porschegate-98787/
Quite apart from the fact that an old debt regulation was completely forgotten. In the east of the country in particular, many local authorities are so heavily in debt that they will not benefit from the infrastructure "deal" as promised. East Germany has - once again - been forgotten by politicians. 17 Special debts - local authorities press for share of infrastructure package https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/kommunen-dringen-auf-anteil-an-infrastruktur-paket-100.html 18 Criticism of billions in debt Municipalities demand significantly more money from the financial package - The municipalities criticise the 500 billion investment package from the CDU/CSU, SPD and Greens: the share earmarked for them is far too small. Some places will soon no longer be able to maintain their infrastructure. https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/infrastrukturpaket-kommunen-fordern-deutlich-mehr-geld-aus-dem-finanzpaket-a-0f6e1b87-5d12-4612-8c0f-eb4ff810e4cf 19 Federal Government launches legal option for solving the municipal debt problem - Federal Ministry of Finance - Press https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Pressemitteilungen/Finanzpolitik/2025/01/2025-01-24-kommunale-altschuldenproblematik.html
If that's not an own goal.
The AfD is already in the penalty box. It is already the new labour party. 37% of workers have voted AfD. How far does Chancellor candidate Merz want to take it? Does he actually realise that he is playing into the AfD's hands all the time? 20 37% AfD among workers - who are the losers in the AfD's tax programme. Losers together with jobseekers, refugees, recipients of citizen's allowance and nature. https://youtu.be/mXBANeQEkZA?t=483
At least Lindner's politics as an end in itself is now finally history. Even without Lindner's misguided ideology-driven adherence to the debt brake, Germany is often enough in its own way. 21 WELT News Channel: CHRISTIAN LINDNER: "You here in front: Who are you and what did you do with Friedrich Merz?" https://youtu.be/TSkIx00jctY
While billions are being channelled into renewable energies in other countries, here in Germany it is first checked whether it will be "too expensive" or "too ugly". At the same time, there are tax giveaways for the biggest polluters - above all the industries with strong lobbies. McDonald's has had more influence on tax policy in recent months than any climate scientist. Burgers, spare ribs and Nuremberg sausages receive tax relief, while oat milk continues to be subject to 19% VAT - because the CSU is more interested in chips than saving the planet.
This new "new old" government shows that you can get very far in politics with a lot of hot air and little substance. While Söder is probably already thinking about which meat dish he will post on Instagram next or how he can personally insult people, real people from the opposition parties even more painfully, Merz continues to turn his right-wing screw in order to snatch as many votes as possible from the AfD.
Genuine climate policy? Social equalisation? Relief for the poor and low earners at the "expense" of the richest - people like me who don't even realise whether they pay a thousand more or less in taxes? I get the shivers when I hear that there aren't enough funds for the citizen's income. Of course there are enough funds. The Greens, and the SPD too, just don't dare to be left-wing enough to get them from social parasites like me.
Social housing? Tackling the causes of migration instead of agitating against migrants? A country that is set up for the future? Fiddlesticks. Welcome to the new German reality: ruled by rhetoric, polemics and populism. Guided by lobbies and celebrated by those who already have everything.
My conclusion:
Fritze, Fritze, Fritze was so angry about the incompetence of his colleagues and defamed them on a human and personal level.
Populist Merz, whose world view only knows lobbying and supervisory board positions and "doesn't look left or right to see if anyone agrees" 22 DER SPIEGEL: Friedrich Merz and the AfD: Voices of the CDU on migration policy | DER SPIEGEL https://youtu.be/KDzwwHKAQG4 .
Merz, who has never held a leadership position in his political career; indeed, he has never even held a ministerial post, has so far shone not only by agitating against the poor and the weak but also by explaining what the others cannot do.
You don't have to be able to do everything, he says, and goes on to say that you have to call in experts for the things you can't do yourself. Habeck's previous advisors, who were all once in NGOs, "they all have to get out of there. They have no business there!". Fritze's words, not mine. 23 phoenix: CDU/CSU election campaign wrap-up: Speech by Friedrich Merz | 22.02.2025 https://youtu.be/pa9h5BfOwk8?t=1095
He has already gathered his own experts around him, such as the right-wing populist slinger Carsten "rejectionist at Germany's borders" Linnemann 24 ZDF heute Nachrichten: Migration, citizens' income and pensions - how united are the CDU and SPD? | Markus Lanz from 25 March 2025 https://youtu.be/0A5cxxGjZbM human rights expert and experienced health minister Jens "400-million-euro mask" Spahn 25 Corona: Mask debacle costs another almost 400 million euros https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article253842954/Corona-Maskendebakel-kostet-weitere-knapp-400-Millionen-Euro.html and his favourite when it comes to transport and failed infrastructure projects worth billions Andreas "bankruptcy vulture" Scheuer 26 Seriously? You wanted to look up my source for the bankrupt vulture Andi? stand at gunpoint. Just in case we had guns. I almost said good night, Germany.
It's not all evening yet. The SPD and the Greens may no longer hold all the aces. But Merz and his CDU/CSU had no trump cards at all. Merz played the election he narrowly won in the first round. And gambled it away.
Fritzchen has his back to the wall. He has to deliver. His secret plan to bring his buddies from BlackRock on board as private investors in order to give them a share in Germany's hardship with billions in profits has probably not worked out 27 Kim 'Freiraumreh' Adam: Merz and the double standards | Talk with Maurice Höfgen https://youtu.be/d8LQm8akVns . Now he has to deliver.
Let's hope that the Social Democrats know how to capitalise on the momentum and do not give in on social issues.
If I may make a wish, it has never been easier to socially overcompensate for green measures so that socially fair environmental protection policies are recognised as a sign of prosperity in people's minds. This is the only way to bring about the real change that Germany, Europe and the world so urgently need. A change that picks up all population groups and leaves no one behind. A change that is recognised as the opportunity for humanity that it is. Life will survive. The question is whether we want to continue to be part of it.
