Social cuts averted: For a change: Thank you, SPD!

Occasionally the SPD is good for a surprise. There is less to distribute in the federal budget, and until Wednesday evening it was expected that a disproportionately large part of the bill would go to those who have the least: cuts in basic security, housing benefit and immediate child allowance have been in the room in recent months and in some cases already on paper. In times of rising living costs, the poorest classes should save the most.

This would have been consistent with the SPD mantra of recent years: they are the party of the “hard-working middle”, which is not exactly defined, but to which the recipients of the above-mentioned transfer payments largely do not belong. It is therefore astonishing that the Social Democrats seriously campaigned for them in the negotiations with the Union (and in the end prevailed to a certain extent).

Of course, paradise does not end with the agreement. Firstly, basic security and the like are not decreasing, but the government is not increasing them either. Due to inflation, life is still getting harder for those affected. Secondly, the cuts that have been averted are partly paid for by the broad middle class, who are also feeling the effects of the rising prices but are now receiving no relief from either electricity or income tax.

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Thirdly, of course there will be no new taxes on large assets, which may not solve all budget problems, but would at least distribute the loss of wealth more broadly. The coalition is not creating anything new with this budget, but is essentially continuing the status quo with great effort for another year. It certainly does not prepare a solution for the 2030s, when the exploded military spending will no longer be able to be paid for with loans alone.

None of this was to be expected in the specific situation and in a coalition with the Union. There wasn't much that the SPD could do, and at least it did what little it did: it averted the most serious excesses of social cuts that the opposition and social associations had been warning about for months.

Even with this, the Social Democrats will not be able to overcome their crisis. Parties don't usually score points by not getting anything out of it for some and preventing the worst for others. But since the opportunity doesn't come up often at this point, at least today we can say: Thank you, SPD!