Thursday, March 24, 2022

Christian Wirth, March 16, 2022, Living Standards and Saarland

German Bundestag, Plenarprotokoll 20/20, pp. 1457-1458.

Frau President. Valued colleagues.

The motion of the CDU/CSU discloses for the first time that the Constitution’s postulate of equivalent living standards in the territory of the Federal Republic apparently was not attained – a late acknowledgment for a party which for many decades in government was responsible for the fate of Germany.

The best example is the commission for the creation of equivalent living standards of the 19th legislative period. If it is seen how the new Federal States prior to the State legislative elections there were compensated on account of the closing down of brown coal mining – it may be granted by you – one becomes misty-eyed when this is compared with the closing down of anthracite coal mining in NRW and in my State of Saarland.

Yet with regard to the policy of the Merkel time in office and of the present Ampel coalition, you should perhaps rename the council as “council for equivalent poor living standards” or equally the “council for scarcity administration”. Since money for leveling up the living standards will not be on hand for the foreseeable future. “The World’s Dumbest Energy Policy”, as it was styled by the Wall Street Journal not too long ago, as well as the senseless lockdown policy, drag these States into a downward spiral and provide in wide areas for misery in the population and for business bankruptcies.

The crisis in the Ukraine alone shows how very dependent on foreign powers this country as become. An evil awakening in Neverland Germany: One needs only what one wants, then it will surely be.

A good start would be under the motion’s point 4, “the parliamentary accompaniment of European legislation in regards the objective of a more equivalent living standard” in Germany. If that means that German tax money will first be transferred to foreign countries when it is better in every region in Germany than in that of the payments recipients, then this would be welcomed.

A small example from Saarland in which, due to the energy policy, not only the auto and steel industries are being driven to the wall: In Croatia, it may be granted by you, has been built a 2.4 kilometer bridge between Split and Dubrovnik so as to avoid a 10 kilometer drive through Bosnia-Herzegovina – in itself surely dubious. The EU has financed this project to 85 percent, thus with some 300 million euros. By whom was this bridge built? You can well nigh guess: A Chinese state concern. Thereby wanders the 300 million euros of tax money from the EU directly into the Chinese state account. Why? Because your EU professionals are incapable of writing rational procurement regulations. The curvature of bananas and cucumbers are more important.

            Marianne Schieder (SPD): What do you have against bananas?

Conversely, the Chinese naturally allow no international bidders in regards their orders from which German businesses could profit.

For the Saarland, that means the following case:

First. The Saarland taxpayer co-pays for the Chinese bridge construction.

Second. It is denied to the Saarland to deliver its highly valued quality steel.

Third. With their tax payments, the Saarlanders also subsidize the cheap, low value steel of China in Europe.

If the council would assist in preventing such imbecility, then we could vote in favor. Unfortunately, here we see black.

Since, think of the States’ financial equalization. By means of the States’ financial equalization, Bavaria in the beginning years of the Federal Republic greatly profited from the payments by other Federal States, and then later with Baden-Württemberg by complaining against the payments obligations vis-à-vis other Federal States. Besides, responsible were the politicians of parties which with one voice always declare to us that a financial equalization in the EU at the cost of the taxpayer may be a wonderful thing.

Many thanks und Glück auf!

           Marianne Schieder (SPD): Oje, oje!

 

[trans: tem]