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| Europe |
| Bundestag votes back extended jobless benefits |
| 2005-06-19 |
| This rolls back a key, if limited, economic reform unless they do something else to pay for it. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's supporters voted a law through on Friday to restore more generous jobless benefits to older unemployed people in Germany, less than a year after pushing through the cuts in the face of demonstrations. Centre-right opposition parties who are forecast to win power at a likely general election in September rejected the changes. Those parties have the power to delay the legislation in the Bundesrat upper house so that it expires when the election is called. In the Bundestag lower house, Schroeder's Social Democrats justified their about-face as a response to continuing high unemployment in Germany. The legislation postpones by two years, from 2006 to 2008, a reform that will shorten the duration of pay-linked benefits for unemployed people over 45. Currently a person aged 57 or older when losing a job can claim a benefit for as long as 32 months. Leftist groups organised big demonstrations last summer against the benefit cuts. |
| Posted by:too true |
| #7 I hope you're right, TGA, but in light of the IG Metall newsletter, I have My doubts. That such hateful propaganda would be put out by an organization with a lot of members and support is troubling. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-06-19 22:00 |
| #6 I hope you're right, but isnt German media increasingly anti-capitalist and anti free market? |
| Posted by: Hupomoque Spoluter7949 2005-06-19 16:20 |
| #5 I don't think so. The German public may hate the reforms but they know they are necessary. If anything positive can be said about Schröder is that he paved the way. If the Conservatives fail to enact working reforms the Left will be back in 4 years. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-06-19 15:13 |
| #4 i am afraid (correction) |
| Posted by: Hupomoque Spoluter7949 2005-06-19 14:39 |
| #3 TGA i afraid you will have the problem that Durão Barroso had here in Portugal. After being elected to fix the Socialist disaster by Guterres, with Media(most is Left or far Left) completely against him, after 3 months of reformist drive all ended with nothing more than some cosmetic changes. The deficit stoped to hike like at socialist levels but nothing strutural was made to stop it. Then when he got the EC invite he just run away. Note that his governement with Popular Party had Parliament majority. The Media and protests stopped any possibility helped by some ineptitude by Durão Barroso himself and his governement that at first big protest just give up. If the political discurse in Germany is at left then there will be no chances. |
| Posted by: Hupomoque Spoluter7949 2005-06-19 14:27 |
| #2 Everything the Bundestag does now is just desperate Red/Green window dressing and rather irrelevant. Last polls give the CDU/CSU 49% of the votes and an absolute majority by seats. Merkel has already climbed to be the second most popular polititician (after President Köhler). Schröder is plummeting, his SPD now also faces opposition by a new Leftist Alliance. We'll see the major political swing Germany ever had. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-06-19 13:15 |
| #1 Trying to make Merkel's life difficult after he loses the upcoming election? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-06-19 10:42 |