Early results in German election give Merkel major boost

[lied_ohne_worte]

Partial results give Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives a big lead in national elections. The fate of their junior coalition partners looks less secure, and polls suggest Merkel will need to find at least one ally. According to the public ARD broadcaster's figures, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats comfortably secured more votes

Comments

[katiie_]

Is there even anyone who likes Schröder? At least her ~feud~ with von der Leyen made me like the latter a tad more, though I'm still rather vary of her.
See, I think the whole idea of ~let the family decide what's best for them~ is quite good. The execution however is not. Because in the end it's the wrong people who benefit from it and who don't need it and see the "Betreuungsgeld" as a nice bonus while their children attend a fancy private kindergarten. What we really need are better options for childcare. Childcare that is affordable and doesn't only cover a few hours in the morning. My mother has been nagging me about future grandchildren for a while now, but I certainly won't have any children if that means not being able to work for 2-3 years and being dependent on a man. Especially not since I've seen how single mothers are treated in this country.

I've always assumed that at least the last year in Kindergarten would be mandatory in all states? But at least the children of you cousin can socialize with each other. I imagine it's only worse for an only child.

Do you know who'd be in charge if Mutti decided to form a coalition with the Green party? Members of the "Realo-Flügel" or would it be Claudia Roth?
And apparently you haven't heard that Sahra Wagenknecht is the reincarnation of Ludwig Ehrhard and tries to appeal to voters in West Germany by fangirling him ;)

[lied_ohne_worte]

Yes, it's sad that one only appreciates von der Leyen because it could be so much worse.

Hm, I'm not aware of Kindergarten being mandatory. If you mean "Vorschule", at least when I went to school in Hessen, that was for children who should have been in normal first year but weren't far enough, so were relegated into that. I think the poor boy was thrown directly into school. And while I see your point about letting parents decide, particularly those with little money may go for the money option even though their child would benefit more from receiving early education and if needed special assistance, say with language - the way school success it coupled with social status and/or parents' education levels isn't good, but I doubt it can be solved by encouraging women to return to their natural role (because that's what I'm convinced it's really about).

I agree completely about the childcare options. Baunatal in North Hessen (they have a VW plant, so no lack in tax income) has made all pre-school child care free for parents, including Tagesmütter. That really helps parents.

As it looks like the current leadership will retreat, who knows? But while black/green might be entertaining (and I say that as a member of the Green party), it wouldn't hold for more than six months, I think. Too many of the differences concern core Green issues.

Pah, I'd rather vote for the CDU than the Linke, and that's saying something.

[katiie_]

Did you see the talk show with Jauch, where Gabriel asked von der Leyen if she was on drugs? They are always so entertaining, until I remember that these are not some second rate comedians, but actual politicians supposed to govern us.

I was actually confused with Kindergarten being mandatory, probably because the last year of Kindergarten has been free of fees here in Rhineland-Palantine for a couple of years. Do you really think that poorer parent could even afford to opt for the Herdprämie? If I'm not mistaken they wouldn't even get the Herdprämie if for instance they were to receive Hartz IV and "only" had 450 Euro jobs (or rather, they would get reduced benefits). The only people really benefiting from it would probably only be the already rich or a family consisting of a Facharbeiter (or someone in a similar income bracket) and a housewife with a "Minijob", who then can take advantage of the "Ehegattensplitting".

I don't know if you've read it already, but I found the "Arbeiterkind" book by Katja Urbatsch really enlightening and rather depressing in regard to the status and education of the parents, because it hit quite close to home. Can't see that changing in the near future unfortunately, though.

Yes, I agree, that the differences regarding the core values of the Green party and those of the CDU/CSU are too vast (they should however be able to agree on the "Veggie Friday", though). It's just that Merkel wouldn't have to share that much of her power since the Green party only has around 9%. SPD probably wants at least 5 ministries and I'm not really looking forward to Gabriel as "Super-Minister" for economics/finance/whatever else he also wanted.

And have you seen this: http://www.bundesvogel.de/2013/09/wahlhilfe-fur-unentschlossene/#more-632 Totally voted for the wrong party, I'm afraid.

[neurotoxia]

Anyone else thinking it's quite ironic that Schröder is going to quit because she's not able to work and look after her family at the same time?

[lied_ohne_worte]

But see, that's her choice! Just like all other women who can't afford to have children or who lose ground in their careers or who make less money than men are totally to blame themselves, because we have equal rights and no longer need feminism!

*gags*

[neurotoxia]

Oh right, how could I forget it's all just a matter of choosing? We live in the most equal country in the world after all! How silly of me!

*headdesk*