Exclusive
On Wednesday, the Union and the SPD want to achieve a breakthrough on major reform projects. In a document that… ARD capital studio available, the left SPD now demands that the party should not be allowed to participate under any circumstances.
Negotiators from the Union and the SPD will meet at the chancellery on Wednesday. The coalition committee must decide on possible reforms. Who will have the upper hand when it comes to tax reform, cutting bureaucracy or the labor market?
Shortly before these important negotiations, six left-wing SPD deputies spoke out. They include Jan Dieren, one of the parliamentary labor market group’s experts, and Annika Klose, spokeswoman for labor and social affairs. The Berlin MP was currently the representative of the SPD on the so-called pension commission.
MPs are making it clear what they see in the reform debate. In the text that ARD capital studio present, they say that reforms are not needed for the sake of reforms. Instead, we need reforms that make people’s lives better in difficult times.
Anyone who says the economy can be fixed by social cuts is only thinking about the short term. Savings alone will not end the financial crisis. The reduction proposals currently under consideration would have the opposite effect. If the disposable income of the population falls, then domestic demand also falls.
Don’t ignore people’s point of view
The left SPD is doing something that the Social Democrats should never be allowed to do. The text states that the SPD will lose support if the party “cruelly” ignores the opinion of the population in the upcoming reform process.
We are therefore against reforms that would increase working hours, limit the right to strike or protection against dismissal, or introduce so-called waiting days in case of illness. Like many other proposals discussed, they would increase the burden on people.
make greater use of assets
Besides cutting benefits and increasing the burden on the population as a whole, there is another way: this would require greater use of the assets of the extremely rich people in Germany. This requirement also becomes specific. There were approximately 5,000 people living in Germany, each with assets worth more than $100 million. In total, their combined assets amount to more than 3.3 trillion euros.
Instead of putting even more strain on the population, these extreme assets should be used to support social safety nets. SPD MPs propose to impose a one-time tax on assets worth more than 100 million euros. A fairer inheritance tax is also needed.
For those whose income is barely enough to live on, cuts to social security contributions and consumption taxes are also needed.
demand for Price restrictions
Alternatively, you can also take on new debt. However, this only postpones the issue for the future. This is already evident today in the payment of interest necessary to service loans taken for modernization. These interest payments will take up a significant portion of the federal budget. Cutting defense spending and reforming the debt brake are also important to improve political capacity to act.
There is also a need to set price caps for “inflation factors” such as fuel, electricity, energy and food. The example of capping gas and electricity prices showed how effective pricing interventions are. In the context of rising prices, such measures only become more relevant.
Signature to the SPD leadership
Other demands for negotiations in the coalition committee include a nationwide rent cap and reform of the BAföG.
These are all reform proposals that meet the interests of the vast majority of the population. The goal is to counter “the gloomy forecasts and pessimism, the demand for more efforts aimed only at preventing the worst from happening, with a positive outlook.” They do not want to continue to burden people, but rather provide a response based on solidarity. This is still the task of social democracy today.
This document is a clear signal to the SPD leadership before the all-important coalition committee. Many members of the SPD parliamentary group believe that enough social democratic positions have already been lost in the pension compromise. Now party leaders Lars Klingbeil and Bärbel Bas must also promote the ideas of SPD reform.