Erich Honecker
In the depths of Hell, where he is receiving his eternal torment, this man is smiling.
Regards, Ivan
Posted on 09/18/2005 12:12:37 AM PDT by alessandrofiaschi
Voting began in Germany's closely fought election today with millions of undecided voters holding the key to a result that will have major implications for economic reform in Europe.
Angela Merkel, a Christian Democrat (CDU) chancellor, is expected to emerge as Germany's first woman chancellor, displacing Gerhard Schroeder who has led Germany for the past seven years at the head of a centre-left government of Social Democrats and Greens.
A provisional result is expected to be announced in the early hours of Monday morning. The final opinion polls published on Friday gave Merkel's centre-right coalition with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) a slim lead in a race it once dominated.
High stakes For Germany and the rest of Europe, the stakes in the election are high. Some five million Germans are out of work, the country's pensions system is in crisis, its public finances are overstretched and the economy that once drove growth in Europe is now acting as a drag on the rest of the continent.
Analysts say that if Germany succeeds in pushing through reforms, they could be a model for change in the rest of Europe. Surveys show that most Germans believe the system needs changing but they are deeply uncertain about how far the changes should go and how the burden should be shared.
Schroeder's own "Agenda 2010" reforms to welfare and labour market rules have been the most ambitious attempt to overhaul the social security system in decades. They have been attacked by the conservatives and by some commentators as not going far enough. The reforms were bitterly resented by voters. - Reuters
Now Merkel has to go horse trading.
I know there are many on FR who hate the two party system in the US, but I'm glad about it.
Makes things more clear, yeah a US party is going to have their independent minded kooks(kucinnich, conyers(left), shays, tancredo(right), but it puts the politcal divide in a clear perspective and minor fights by individuals can be smoothed over and the party is known to the voters by the laeadership of the party.
Perhaps the only exception is Bavaria which is still pretty prosperous. It's not surprising since they are the most conservative and religious of the lot.
Definitely not surprising.
Poland - religious, conservative, bright spot and success story in Europe
Germany - atheistic, leftists, Sick Man of Europe
Do the math
You're right, now they are both at 222 seats!
Is there a regional variation like in many other countries?
Easy, they have a controlled economy, which discourages competition and economic growth.
Consumer confidence is very low. Germans are merely selling to their neighbours, since they're not buying anything themselves.
Regards, Ivan
I should have added </sarcasm>.
That is just terrifying. In most other developed countries, communists are in the decimals and they have 0 seats or so few that they are insignificant. Where are their votes coming from?????
They could go to a re-election. always possible.
In the depths of Hell, where he is receiving his eternal torment, this man is smiling.
Regards, Ivan
The Stassi! (East German Secret Police)
ummm....Germans
Make of that what you will
From my best estimation, here would be the best comparison to US politics:
CDU = Republicans
SPD = modern-liberal Democrats (i.e. Howard Dean, Michael Moore)
FDP = Libertarians/classical-liberal Democrats
PDS = off-the-chart communists
Green = Green
The problem with Germany is that they haven't had to suffer quite as much. A large chunk of them have enjoyed 6 week vacations and all the other "incentives" of the welfare state. And they have done it on the back of not really having to pay for a military and living under the umbrella of the safety and security provided by the American military.
I guess there could be. Haven't been to Germany in over 10 years but Bavaria(Bayern) could be akin to the American South, culturally conservative, economically free and propserous.
The acculuration of the the former DDR into the German whole it looks has been a disaster.
There were hopes that the communists were so hated they would never rise again, but the welfare state is a big pull in the former DDR, as it seems it was in New Orleans, IMO.
I have been saying the same thing for quite some time. The ironic thing is that our presence and protection has provided the perfect environment for the far left German parties to thrive. Yet they are the ones that are screaming their anti-Americanism the most. I say lets get the hell out of there NOW and let them see what happens when they have to try to continue their leftist welfare utopia state without us there to be their parachute. I'm getting sick of this crap.
Oh jeez, a CDU minister from Bavaria on CNN right now just blamed the poor showing for the CDU on the FDP taking their votes. If this is the CDU leadership its no wonder that we are seeing these results today.
She has the FPD to her right, and to the left is the SPD, Schroeder's party. So most likely she abandons the FPD and tries to do a deal with Schroeder?
Sorry, FPD should have been FDP. Too many TLAs.
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