German election coming soon!

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It was on the news the other night. Apparently the 2 candidates had a TV showdown thing like you do in the USA or something and Schroeder didn't come off well. Personally hopes he goes because, don't know if I should say this, but because I think France and Germany* are too much in cahoots over too many Euro issues often at the expense of what is good for the rest of the EU (Yeah, I probably am only saying this 'cos I'm bitter and British. Yeah, we all know that Blair wants to some sort of Euro dictator too). Also, the sky high unemployment in Germany would be a good reason to get rid too.

Then it would be one down, Chirac to go and then Blair could take over the EU MWAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Yeah, I was only joking. Yeah, I know it wasn't funny. Yeah, I know I'm just wasting space now.)

Edited to say: * except for the CAP reforms. Germany and the UK supported each other on that and in the end I hope the reforms will turn out to be best for the EU. There were certainly some good ideas put forward.
 
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:giggle: I thought it was funny.

Schroeder was in big trouble when I watched the news reports in Germany back in June....looks like he still is. I'd be interested to see how that would change the US/German dynamic if at all.
 
I suppose only time will tell.

But I get the feeling with Germany (and I have no reason or information to back this up) that it's not filling its full potential. Its got the third biggest economy in the world but it doesn't seem......

Every word I tried to fit at the end of that sentence either didn't express what I meant or could be taken the wrong way so I'll just leave it unfinished.

OK I'll make one last attempt. If you said to people name some important countries in the world I just wonder how long it'd take people to get to Germany. When really being so important economically it should be one of the first. I don't know. You just don't seem to hear as much about Germany as you'd expect to given its importance.

That's more sort of what I mean :huh:
 
It's going to be interesting for sure. The CDU will obviously win but might be forced to go into a coalition with the SPD because there aren't enough votes to form a centre-right government. And I can't say the two of them really like eachother. :giggle:
 
At the moment it seems like SPD and CDU have to go into coalition, but we'll see since there is a lot of fluctuation at the moment.
If the CDU wins and goes into coalition wth the liberal party FDP I'm sure we'll see German soldiers in the Iraq. In the past Merkel, the candidate for chancellor, and Edmund Stoiber, the minister president of Bavaria and chairman of CDU's sister party CSU wanted to do everything Bush did, like going in the Iraq.

Many Germans are very pessimistic and don't see our chances. They don't buy much as they fear they'll lose their jobs because many companies close down or go abroad where it is cheaper.

Our problems are e.g. a tax system nobody understands and a school system that has to be reformed. Many companies are afraid of investing in Germany because they really cannot account the tax burden they will face.

Officially we have about 4.7 million unemployed, something etween 10.5 and 11 percent. But in reality it is even 6 to 7 million. That is very expensive for the state and not good for the economy. But both parties the CDU and the SPD don't have really great concepts to do something against it, also it is very hard to realize any concepts here in Germany because the opposition has too much power to block every new law. Then both parties are working out a compromise which doesn't really help.
And, like everywhere else, after the election is before the election, i.e. the politicians try to get re-elected all the time or support their parties in the states.

We are facing problems here in Germany, that's sure, but too many people only see the problems, not the good things. And nobody wants reforms that cuts money for him or is in another way negative for him. That's why Schroeder is in trouble besides his policy of the "slow hand." In the first years of his government he didn't do a lot to change Germanies problems with unemployment, retirement payments or school system. He only got re-elected because of the flood in Saxonia and the war in Iraq. In his second legislature he began to reform the country, but had to negotiate with the CDU a lot and so the reforms got worse.
Also, the peole expect a change immediately and forget that all reforms take a few years to change anything. And they are disappointed that unemployment benefits got cut.

Now, we're certainly facing a "great coalition", but I'm not sure if it helps really.
Both parties are too different, too power orientated and in a way too arrogant.

In foreign policies Schroeder is not best. I don't have a problem if he goes in opposition to Bush because Bush cannot expect that every country supports him nevermind what he is doing.
But the problem is his friendship with Putin which makes him blind for the problems in Russia (e.g. Yukos, the missing freedom of press and so on) and Chechenia. And he neither cares about the offenses of human rights in Russia and China nor the conflict between China and Taiwan only for our economical advantage.

So, I hope our politics will experience a change in many ways, but also our citizens have to change their thinking a bit.


Hope the writing isn't too bad or confusing.
 
At the time the CDU gives away all its percentages.
The came with a "joker" at the beginning of the election campaign. A former judge of the constitutional court and a expert for taxes wrote a book in which he explained a radical new form for the income tax. There, every person had to pay 25% of its income and there were no subsidies given for e.g. commuters or shift workers.
This guy should become the next Minister of Finances, but not with his own new concept, but a similar concept made by the CDU and its sister party CSU.
And now after there was a lot of criticism from politicans of other parties and even some of the same party Merkel tries to kick Kirchoff, the former judge, out of the team and get another expert for taxes back into the team. And in the same time she tries to explain that she now wants both experts, but nobody knows how this should work. A SPD-politician asked if it was job sharing with two Ministers of Finances at the same time.

This confusion costs a lot of votes for the CDU and the SPD with the Green party get a good chance to win the upcoming election on Sunday.

So the last days will become very funny and everything seems to be possible at the moment.
 
Yeah lets wait for Sunday. Merkel is a real ugly conservative shitbag. She could be Germany´s Maggie Thatcher. Which doesn´t mean I like Schroeder, but maybe he´s the better choice.
 
whenhiphopdrovethebigcars said:
Merkel is a real ugly conservative shitbag. She could be Germany´s Maggie Thatcher.

Hey! Say what you like about Thatcher but she was the perfect ammunition to give the UK some of its best political satire in years! Spitting Image did a great impersonation of her. Even better than Dead Ringers' Blair. And that's saying something.

Will leave you to get back to the serious political discussion now. ;)
 
Really nice article.
Yes, Merkel is not a person being very popular. If you saw some pictures of her of e.g. 2000 or 2001 it looks like she is really sad and had just seen the worst thing a human being can see, or something like that.
And for many people it is more important how she looks than how she is making politics.
She is a good politician, for sure, but I don't like the politics of the CDU and what they're planning for the future.
We had sixteen years of CDU/FDP under Kohl, and nothing happened during the 1990's when many other European countries made reforms and helped their economy.
Yes, the oppostion also blocked a lot of new laws, but in the end it was the fault of the government that they overslept the problems.
And now the same people, nearly, come up as the great reformer who will strengthen our economy and help people getting better off? No, I don't thnik that they will do it. In many cases the suggestions made by the CDU and others made by the FDP are very counterproductive and the social component is missing.
At the moment the great coalition seems to be the most likely. But it's really open at the moment.
 
According to the exitpolls, the CDU won with 35,6%, followed by the SPD with a little over 33%. The FDP got around 10% I think so probably no CDU/FDP coalition.
 
CDU/CSU plus FDP might not work even if the FDP won a lot.

Also SPD and Greens (8%) are far from having majority. PDS scored high, too.

Looks like either big coalition (more likely) or an SPD/ Greens/ PDS? If they have enough voters?

Many combinations possible.
 
If Merkel left the CDU as her president Stoiber, Wulff and Koch would go crazy as they will see their chances rise in future.

but I don't think that SPD and the Greens will go into coaltion the the PDS, and I hope they won't, and also a CDU/FDP/Greens is very unlikely.
So we will get a great coalition.
I don't think they will try another election.

Now Dresden becomes very important, and so the East will decide the election, and Stoiber goes crazy :D
 
whenhiphopdrovethebigcars said:


Looks like either big coalition (more likely) or an SPD/ Greens/ PDS? If they have enough voters?
Many combinations possible.

luckily the Links partei will not be included in any stuff
if they would... I would herde all voters together and build a wall around them and they can feel free to relive old times (having voted for some of their old fellow DDR politicians)
This time around i would be on the right side of the wall.. luckily

hope they form a big coalition now and not ignore the strongest party. if so - i would have lost any faith in politics.
now they shoul finally get their act together and work for germany instead their feeble egos

Angela as a president would at least put a competent person on top again. If i need a showmaster i turn on the tv and watch thmas gottschalk - I do not need my chancelor to enteratin me.
 
Sherry Darling said:
BBC's calling it for Merkel.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4258376.stm


Someone get Hiphop some alcohol quick :D :laugh: :hug:

Just opened a bottle of wine ;)

Well I think the SPD/ Green/ FDP is unlikely but only because Westerwelle excluded it. He has many options now. Not my kind of politics :shrug: Maybe Westerwelles outcome of being gay has boosted his election results. :D
 
By the way, Merkel and Schroeder both want the chancellor now. Hehe. This is going to be funny.
 
because Schroeder recieves less votes
he is deemed rejected

Merkel it will be

and this is determined by exit polling

she wins by a small margin less than 2 %

exit polling is amazingly accurate
 
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