such as a higher minimum wage and lower taxes for ordinary workers. Bullshit with sauce, it sounds from the Union. It is not clearly stated in the agreement, the leader of the Union and future Chancellor, Friedrich (BlackRock) Merz, now makes clear. Such concessions depend on the budget situation, which, thanks to the war budget and the wealth preservation program, is not more generous – on the contrary.
One can feel the emotionless merzian finger in the face: ha, fooled! However, even that is just a show for the public. After more than 100 years of continuous betrayal of the working class, the “Social Democrats” are no longer believed to be the innocent lamb.
Empty phrases
Before the supposed dispute, another move was made from the trick box: the coalition agreement is formulated so vaguely that everything is left open. The “GroKo” wants to “lower the income tax for small and medium-sized incomes to the middle of the legislature”, it says, without specifying anything more. And: through the minimum wage commission, a “minimum wage of 15 euros by 2026 is achievable” – a hollow possibility phrase.
That the minimum wage was increased to 12 euros at the end of 2022 due to the price explosion of energy and food was a political decision of the Ampel to avoid completely losing the appearance of charity. The said minimum wage commission has so far been more characterized by small steps that did not even keep up with inflation. Every two years, a few cents per hour more, that was the rule – and it is again: today, minimum wage recipients receive 12.82 euros.
This is not surprising: the supposed neutrality in this commission through three trade union officials as the “worker side” and representatives of the business lobby as the “employer side” is only theoretical. So, two more members are well disguised as “scientific assistants”, but in reality, they are lobbyists for capital. Also, the chairwoman Christiane Schönfeld has a lucrative career at the Federal Employment Agency (BA) behind her. That the DGB trade unions often function as an extension of the business bosses under the guise of “social partnership”: gift-wrapped.
Merz interprets it correctly: a minimum wage of 15 euros per hour would certainly be achievable – only not with this commission, which is supposed to be set up. Both CDU and CSU and the SPD know this. They know all the neoliberal arguments to justify it: too high wages would only scare off the capital and endanger the economic location of Germany. That is even true: hunger wages guarantee rapid maximum profit – a truism.
Empty PR is also the SPD’s “wish” to reduce the tax burden for people with small and medium-sized incomes. In the end, it can only mean, as Merz already hinted: the state revenues were unfortunately not so high, the budget gap is huge. Sorry, dear citizens, you have to tighten your belts. – The neoliberal “argument” has been known for 25 years, social dismantling, wage dumping and squeezing the masses are “unfortunately unavoidable”.
The state treasury will not only be emptied by the recently imposed “war credits” in unlimited amounts, which will lead to billion-dollar interest burdens, which would be borne by the budget. The “GroKo” also ensures that this money does not come in – at least not from top earners and wealthy corporate bosses. For them, the usual wealth preservation applies.
The SPD knows very well how it would work differently. Until recently, they still campaigned for increasing the tax-free allowance for income from employment, slowing down the progression, i.e., the increase of the tax rate above certain income thresholds and taxing very high salaries more.
The tax-free allowance for single persons this year is 12,096 euros, which is barely a meager monthly gross of 1,008 euros at tax class one. For every euro earned above this amount, the state reaches for the hand: with 14 percent it starts and then the rate increases quite quickly. For monthly incomes above 5,707 euros, the taxman already demands 42 percent and for annual gross income of almost 278,000 euros, 45 percent are due. However, that’s it: even managers who earn ten million a year do not exceed this rate.
To fill the state treasury and effectively combat growing poverty, the state could, for example, tax all individual annual incomes above one million euros at 70, 80, or even 90 percent, while doubling the basic allowance to 36,000 euros and slowing down the progression. So, all the way up to the upper middle class would be less burdened. At the same time, the wealth at the very top would concentrate much more slowly and the state would have more money for social purposes. But that is not wanted.
So, plans for tax increases for those earning million-dollar salaries do not even appear in the coalition agreement. To not anger the SPD, here they have left it open due to “differences of opinion”, Merz justified. This makes it now easier than ever for the SPD: what does not fit their image is simply silenced.
So, the “Social Democrats” continue their long-practiced “GroKo” role in the Merkel era: as a party without any characteristics, actively supporting the imperialist war cartel in extracting and bullying the wage-dependent – accompanied by a lot of neoliberal propaganda.
Hartz IV and low wages, temporary employment and pension cuts, budget cuts in healthcare and nursing and now also worktime extension, hunger sanctions against disobedient jobless, total surveillance and war preparations: all of this has long been running – and was perhaps only the entry. With job cuts, massive layoffs and the next level of the “Agenda 2010” under Friedrich (BlackRock) Merz and Olaf (Cum-Ex) Scholz seems to begin.