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"Hard but fair": Ramsauer (CSU) etches against the "debt-state mentality"

For Frank Plasberg and his studio guests, “Hart aber fair” (ARD) says: “Put warm clothes on. How expensive should heating, fuel and food still be? “

Berlin – The cost of basic food, energy and transportation are rising and rising, and there seems to be no end in sight. That may hardly be a problem for the better-off. For low-wage earners and an increasing number of medium-sized companies, however, the situation is completely different.

“Hard but fair” presenter Frank Plasberg (ARD) speaks about the causes of the increasingly dramatic price developments and, above all, about possible measures that the state, but also each individual, can do with a well-balanced group of guests. Fortunately, the tatters hardly fly and everyone has their say for the most part understandably and equally often, so that the course of the discussion is easy to follow.

“Hard but fair” (ARD): Thirteen million people need state support

Right at the beginning, Ulrich Schneider, managing director of the general association “Der Paritätische”, sums up that around thirteen million people in Germany are poor according to scientific definition. For them, state support, be it in the form of Hartz IV or other basic security, urgently needs to be increased or even made possible in the first place.

Guests at Hart but fair
Katarina Barley Vice-President of the European Parliament, SPD
Mona Neubaur State chairwoman of North Rhine-Westphalia from the Greens
Peter Ramsauer CSU member of the Bundestag
Ulrich Schneider Chief Executive “Die Paritätischen”
Hermann-Josef Tenhagen Editor-in-chief of the consumer guide Finanztip

A meager 0.7 percent more money, as recently decided, is far too little measured against an inflation rate of 4.1 percent and many would not even be entitled to housing benefits because the bar for receiving it would be very high. With a VAT reduction, as suggested by a viewer, there is little that can be achieved, however, since such a reduction would not automatically lead to price reductions – a point on which all guests actually agree. On the other hand, Schneider could well imagine financial support in the form of checks based on the French model to relieve people below or close to the poverty line.

“Hard but fair” (ARD): The still-federal government has missed a lot and overslept

The NRW-Greens state chairwoman Mona Neubaur is open to an increase and recalculation of housing benefit and Hartz IV shopping carts. She is also thinking about suspending electricity and gas locks if people can no longer pay their energy bills. In addition to targeted help, an important means of shaping social policy is the statutory minimum wage.

It would also make great sense to expand digitization, which has so far been overslept – many people would then have significantly faster and easier access to applications and forms. And when it comes to renewable energies, too, Neubau accuses the federal government, which is still in office, of barely promoting it for years. Had it been different, many of the current problems would probably not have been there, since at least the current energy crisis is a fossil fuel crisis. Now, through the massive and rapid expansion of renewable energies, everything must be done to make up for what has been missed and also to break new ground in energy storage.

“Hard but fair” (ARD): With renewable energies at lower prices

The Vice President in the European Parliament, Katarina Barley, hopes that the new federal government, which has yet to be formed, will give a boost to the issue of social justice – the SPD politician makes it more than clear that the CDU and CSU should not be part of such a government. As previous coalition partners, both parties would have slowed down potentially future-oriented developments in many areas. She considers the promotion of e-mobility to be immensely important in order to bring about the energy turnaround, which in the medium term will also bring consumers lower prices for gas and electricity again.

At the moment, the main thing is to create incentives to switch to renewable energies, with compensation options for everyone who cannot afford to switch on their own. On the other hand, Barley irons some of the green ideas for new buildings, such as the use of call taxis or call buses in the countryside, as alien to life. It does not allow comparisons with other European countries when it comes to VAT puzzles – there is no state energy monopoly in Germany, such as in Spain, which is why we do not meet the requirements for corresponding price gimmicks.

“Hard but fair” (ARD): Peter Ramsauer and the Mediterranean debt-state mentality

Former Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer from the CSU is particularly clear in this context – and uses a few clichés. He calls the procedure in countries like Italy or Spain, in which one tries to relieve the general public by reducing VAT, “Mediterranean debt-state mentality”. Germany should not fall into this under any circumstances, so his credo – a warm apartment in winter does not bring that to low-income earners in this country.

In some contexts, Ramsauer agrees with his political opponents, including the fact that poorer people must be given targeted support – but he still owes a constructive “how”. He does not consider an increase in the commuter allowance to be sensible, as this would only benefit those who regularly drive more than twenty kilometers to work, but not families in the country or pensioners. There is also agreement that the public transport infrastructure should be expanded further. From his own experience, however, the CSU man sees problems here due to too much bureaucracy, too long court times and the power of citizens’ initiatives that would block many traffic projects.

“Hard but fair” (ARD): If you want to save, you have to take action yourself

Business journalist Hermann-Josef Tenhagen provides a central thread through the show. He repeatedly recommends citizens to become more active themselves. With the help of comparative online platforms, for example, they could and should always obtain gas, electricity and fuel from where it is cheapest. A change from a much too expensive provider – and that could well be the local public utility company – to a much cheaper one is often quite possible. The gamble of energy companies on the markets can be penalized in this way and higher prices can at least partially be avoided. Anyone who wants to invest in renewable energies themselves would receive up to 45 percent funding from the state.

Missed the program?

Here you can watch the broadcast in the ARD media library.

And everyone who generally has too little money in their pockets and would feel overwhelmed by bureaucratic hurdles should definitely seek support, for example from organizations such as Ulrich Schneider’s association “Der Paritätische”. As an example, he cites all those citizens who are entitled to receive housing benefit: Two thirds of them would only not withdraw the money due to them because they would fail because of the flood of forms and would not even submit applications.

“Hard but fair” (ARD): SPD-CSU unity on Nord Stream 2

The final question in the last, somewhat rushed minutes of the program is whether Russia wants to blackmail the EU with rising gas prices and impending winter supply bottlenecks in order to press ahead with the immediate commissioning of the controversial Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2. Here at least Ramsauer for the CSU and Barley for the SPD are pulling together, are critical of the not unproblematic alternatives from the USA or Saudi Arabia and are in favor of opening the pipeline – which hopefully is not a sign of a new edition in this unity the grand coalition is. (Peter Hoch)

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