I guess socialist Democrats are the same worldwide.
Posted on 09/18/2005 11:45:50 AM PDT by anymouse
Exit polls showed conservative challenger Angela Merkel's party leading in German parliamentary elections Sunday but falling short of the majority she needed to form a center-right coalition as the nation's first female chancellor.
Gerhard Schroeder refused to concede defeat and said he could still theoretically remain in power if talks with other parties were successful.
"I feel myself confirmed in ensuring on behalf of our country that there is in the next four years a stable government under my leadership," he said to cheering supporters at his Social Democrat party headquarters.
But Merkel claimed her party received a mandate from voters to form a new coalition government to carry out her plan to mend frayed ties with the United States.
"What is important now is to form a stable government for the people in Germany, and we ... quite clearly have the mandate to do that," she said.
Both Schroeder and Merkel said they would talk to all parties except the new Left Party, a combination of ex-communists and renegade Social Democrats.
Sunday's vote centered on different visions of Germany's role in the world and how to fix its sputtering economy. Schroeder touted the country's role as a European leader and counterbalance to America, while Merkel pledged to reform the moribund economy and repair ties with Washington.
An exit poll by ZDF public television showed Merkel's Christian Democrats at 35.7 percent and the Social Democrats 33.6 percent. Merkel's preferred coalition partner — the pro-business Free Democrats — had 10.4 percent, while current Schroeder coalition partner Greens received 8.2 percent.
ARD public television showed near-identical results, with Merkel's party at 35.7 percent and the Social Democrats at 33.7 percent.
The Christian Democrats' projected totals were considerably worse than expected. Merkel's party consistently polled above 40 percent during the campaign.
The results open a period of uncertainty as the parties negotiate to form a government. Voters were choosing lawmakers for the 598-seat lower house of parliament, which elects the chancellor to head the government.
Had Merkel reached a majority with the Free Democrats, they would have formed a center-right government to push through her proposals to get the economy going and cut unemployment by making it easier for small firms to fire people, cutting payroll taxes and giving companies more flexibility to opt out of one-size-fits-all regional wage agreements.
If she does become chancellor, she likely will have to water down her program as she partners with a party to her left in order to hold 50 percent of the seats in parliament. Merkel's party already controls the upper house of parliament.
The most likely combination, analysts have said, is a "grand coalition" between Merkel's party and Schroeder's party. Most predictions were that Schroeder would not participate in such a government, but his defiant statements Sunday cast doubt on that.
Free Democrats leader Guido Westerwelle said his party would not work with the current government pair, the Social Democrats and Greens.
If the new parliament cannot elect a chancellor in three tries, President Horst Koehler could appoint a minority government led by the candidate with a simple majority.
Merkel's plan to patch up relations with Washington, which frayed after Schroeder's refusal to back the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, resonated with voters, as did her position that Turkey should not be allowed full membership in the 25-nation European Union.
"A country like Turkey just doesn't belong in the European community," said voter Torsten Quade, 41. "We're already going to let in countries like Romania and Bulgaria, and this is already too much because of how far behind they are."
But other voters said they supported Schroeder's party because he kept Germany out of the Iraq war and pushed for diplomacy to resolve concerns about Iran's nuclear program. Germany is one of three nations representing the EU in talks with Tehran.
"When you have a son coming of military age, this makes it even more important to vote for a government that isn't eager to go to war," said Stefan Deutscher, a 38-year-old business consultant voting in Berlin.
Schroeder called for the election a year ahead of time in frustration at resistance to his attempts to fix Europe's biggest economy, as unemployment hit record highs in his seven years in power and growth was sluggish. His limited measures cutting taxes and long-term jobless benefits have been slow to show convincing results.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?siteid=mktw&dist=nwham&guid=%7BEB079F53%2D81A0%2D4419%2DB9DB%2D88FE635355F9%7D
Euro, DAX fall after election deadlock
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Last Update: 11:51 AM ET Sept. 19, 2005
E-mail it | Print | Alert | Reprint |
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The euro tumbled against the dollar and the German stock market declined Monday after both Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats claimed the right to form a governing coalition in parliamentary elections in Germany.
The euro recently was down at $1.2149 vs. $1.2235 on Friday, reaching a seven-month low, and the German DAX 30 stock market index ended 1.2% lower at 4,926, and had dropped earlier as low as 4,872.
Figures suggest Merkel's CDU/CSU only won only a three-seat majority, 225-222, over the SPD in Germany's lower house. See story.
Both Merkel and Schroeder on Sunday night claimed the right to govern Europe's largest economy.
Analysts said markets were reacting to both the paralysis and the weak mandate for economic reforms.
I guess socialist Democrats are the same worldwide.
http://blog.democrats.com/node/3541
Do a search for "Piss on Bush"
2:01 Market Snapshot: U.S. stocks widen losses; oil prices higher, Fed looms
1:57 Gold futures close near an 18-year high
1:54 Economic Report: U.S. homebuilders index falls to 2-year low
1:53 Gold futures close at highest level in almost 18 years
Laaaaaaadeeeeeeeeeeeeeees and Gentlemen! We have a WINNER!!!
SORE SHROEDERMAN!!!
Hay Grampa! Everybudy knows the Left NEVER loses!!! Ha Ha Ha!!!
They can't win elections honestly around the world and in America, so they have these Nazi challenge teams just like their Uncle Adolph did to "win" elections in Germany in the 1930's after they really lost the elections.
What on earth are you on about? The election was fair but brought no satisfactory result. What's this guff about Nazis?
Not until they recount Ohio ...
"When you have a son coming of military age, this makes it even more important to vote for a government that isn't eager to go to war," said Stefan Deutscher, a 38-year-old business consultant voting in Berlin.
____________________________________________________
The mental miasma which will doom Western civilization.
Honor, duty, Country is all but gone from the lexicon.
sp (Sheehan pandemic)!
The Grampa is speaking the illustratable truth! Sit back and watch while he draws you some educational pictures to improve your understanding of the politico-economics of the situation!
Watchout Grampa! Here comes another "old european" tryin ta "explain" things to ya!!!
"the family was unlucky and stayed poor all through the 50s, and was the German equivalent of "white trash". But he worked his way up out of poverty by sheer hard work and ambition"
As Jefferson would say," I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it."
I consider your reference to "white trash" offensive.
sp
Sure I'm an old European! I live here, never intend to leave it, and know a lot about its history, culture and politics.
I await with interest your pearls of American wisdom, especially about the NSDAP. Use simple words, please (ones you can spell).
LOL!
Sorry, didn't know it was an offensive rather than a descriptive term.
I did not lose the election!
You can say that again.
Don't worry, Jerry. You've got a future, of sorts. algore proved it. (How do you say "moveon" in German?)
3:12 Natural gas closes at a record; crude up 7%
3:04 Crude futures close at a more than two-week high atop $67
3:04 Oct crude climbs $4.39, or 7%, to close at $67.39/brl
3:04 Oct unleaded gas ends at $2.0427/gal, up 14.4%
3:00 Natural-gas futures close at an all-time high
They got polytickle problems, but we's got GAS PAINS!!!
You're not a Nevell Chamberlain trust fund baby, are ya?
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