Resistance against German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s plan to cut social welfare programs to balance the budget is emerging. In a speech to the North Rhine-Westphalia branch of the Young Socialists (the youth organization of the Social Democrats) over the weekend, Social Affairs Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) said, “This debate about us no longer being able to afford these social security systems and this welfare state is—and I apologize in advance for the expression—bullshit.”
Facing critique and harassment by budget-cutters, Bas struck back, standing by her “bullshit” statement and reiterating her criticism of cuts. “I have to reject that, because we are a rich country,” Bas told Stern magazine on Sept. 1. “And to say that we have to cut social security is wrong. We must work together for more growth; that is the right way forward.”
Bas went on to say that the government coalition had agreed “that the benefits we have will not be cut.” The state must be made faster and more efficient, “and people who are out of work must be put back to work,” said the SPD politician. That requires economic momentum. “Now there is this rhetoric that the economy is not working because the social systems are too expensive. I don’t see it that way,” said Bas. “I had to counter that.”
What kind of “growth” and “economic momentum” Bas was thinking about remains a question; generally, the SPD is promoting green projects. If the fiscal budget is under stress, it is because of the high rate of corporate insolvencies, particularly in the productive Mittelstand, and because of record unemployment—the highest in 10 years—which is to blame for the loss of tax revenues. Additional stress comes from the alleged need to spend billions to rapidly rearm against Russia.
