Social: CDU social wing: the concept of citizen money has failed

The CDU social wing considers the traffic light plans for a citizen’s allowance to be absolutely hopeless in a vote in the Bundesrat.

“The concept of citizens’ income has failed,” said Christian Bäumler, Vice-Chairman of the Workers’ Wing (CDA), of the German Press Agency in Stuttgart. “The citizens’ income has no chance in the Bundesrat with the traffic light proposal.” Bäumler criticized what the traffic light offered in terms of compromise proposals, which was purely cosmetic. The main sticking point for the CDA is the waiver of sanctions, i.e. benefit cuts, in the first six months.

Although he himself does not believe so much in the effectiveness of sanctions, said Bäumler – but there must at least be the possibility of sanctions as a threat. The point is not negotiable for the Union. “It cannot be that you dance on the public’s nose and that has no consequences,” he said.

The Bundestag will vote on the new citizens’ allowance on Thursday. It is to replace the previous Hartz IV basic security on January 1st. The plan is for the standard rates to rise and for the job center to put less pressure on the unemployed. But the real acid test comes in the Federal Council: The Union wants to stop the project in the state chamber. In a key issues paper available to the dpa, the labor ministers from Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein primarily criticize the planned waiting period, after which any assets should only be checked and touched after two years. In all four federal states, the Union is involved in the government.

“Attack on the principle of promoting and demanding”

The parliamentary manager of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei, told the “Rheinische Post”: “In any case, we will not shake hands with the system change proposed by the traffic light towards an unconditional basic income.” Substantial improvements are needed, particularly in the case of assets and sanctions. CDU Vice Carsten Linnemann sees citizen money as an “attack on the principle of funding and demanding”. “Honest work apparently doesn’t count for much in Germany anymore,” he told the “Bild”.

However, the traffic light parties, which are dependent on the approval of the Union in the Bundesrat, see no scope for further concessions. SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert sharply criticized the Union and accused it of “lies” and “party tactical games”. “When it comes to citizen income, the Union has finally lost itself in the Bermuda triangle of slapstick, disinformation and propaganda,” said Kühnert to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “False numbers and lies are deliberately being spread, according to which people in Germany would have more with the citizen’s income than those who work. Lifelike stories are being told by allegedly super-rich people receiving citizen’s income.”

Introduction at the turn of the year questionable

Kühnert also criticized the plan of the Thuringian CDU parliamentary group to use a motion in the Thuringian state parliament to get the red-red-green state government to vote against the plans of the traffic light coalition in the Bundesrat. Only the AfD could help this application to a majority, said the SPD politician. The much-vaunted right-wing firewall only seems to be stable in the CDU as long as it doesn’t stand in the way of populist maneuvers by party leader Friedrich Merz.

The Union had already made it clear that if the Bundesrat failed, the federal government would have to call the mediation committee if it wanted to save the law. As a result, the planned introduction at the turn of the year would at least be questionable. CDA Vice Bäumler spoke out in favor of an early decision to increase the standard rates, as otherwise they could not be paid out on January 1st. That would be fatal, he said.