German democracy

Posted by Phil Peterson on May 22, 2005, 05:02 PM | #

You beat me to it John. That was quick! I was going to post that in five minutes.

Posted by Guessedworker on May 22, 2005, 05:20 PM | #

What is the CDU position on the EU Constitution, Turkish membership and Third World immigration?

Posted by Phil Peterson on May 22, 2005, 05:29 PM | #

They oppose all three, I believe.

Posted by Kubilai on May 22, 2005, 07:06 PM | #

Definitely good news for a change.  Now with Holland and France hopefully to vote NO on the EU constitution, we could be witnessing a significant change in the state of affairs in our beloved Europe.

Posted by Fred Scrooby on May 22, 2005, 07:16 PM | #

Any veering away from the left is good news.  The question is what will they do on the issues that count?  We’ve been burned before (look at George Bush ...).

Posted by Kubilai on May 22, 2005, 07:47 PM | #

We’ve been burned before (look at George Bush ...). - Fred

Yes, we sure have been burned, Fred.  As it currently stands now in the US, there is essentially one party, a leftist part with two subdivisions.  One is REALLY left and the other partially left, but left none the less.  The people are still caught up in the Rep v Dem slugfest to realize that Bush and his neo-con ilk are the same as Kerry or Clinton.  The people in the US have no real choice any longer and the “choices” they are given are all bought and pocketed career politicians.  I do not think it possible for any person to make it in the political theater that has honest and noble intentions.  They will be crucified or marginalized from the outset.  Only the “right” type of people make it into the Oval office.  I could be wrong here, and I would like confirmation from the Europeans reading, however Europe has a better chance of having grassroot political parties emerging as big players with significant clout and I think we are seeing this in certain countries.  Even in the UK, the BNP made significant headway in total votes from previous elections and was probably the reason that immigration was even discussed close to election time by the Tories and Labour.  Too bad the UK system is set up that they did not get a single seat.  Next time though may be different.

As a side note, I cannot remember where I read this, maybe AmRen, however the article stated that the likelihood of deporting the illegals in the US is probably zero.  The reasons given were first, the cost would be too great to get them out and secondly, the negative effect on the economy would be catastrophic.  It would be a cascade effect with the end results being a long severe recession or depression.  I am wondering if this is the same thinking for Europe and the Muslim/African migrants that are there now.  Thoughts anyone??

Posted by Martin Hutchinson on May 22, 2005, 08:59 PM | #

Don’t believe the scare stories you read about the adverse effect of deportation, which is simply scare-mongering by the immigration lobby.  The reality is that deportation would sharply decrease the supply of unskilled labor, thus increasing its price, and putting up the cost of janitors, WalMart warehouse laborers, etc. 

These costs have been driven down by immigrant labor, generally to the benefit only of top management raking off excessive stock option loot (for example, Los Angeles blacks have been driven into unemployment by the replacement of black janitors with illegal Latinos at 40% cheaper, according to the Wash. Post.)

The US GINI (inequality) coefficient has been rising steadily since the 1960s; at first this increased efficiency, but it has now gone far beyond the point of maximum efficiency and is approaching the level at which negative South American type pathologies set in—the working class ceases totally to believe in the American Dream and starts rioting and agitating for handouts, while the rich bribe Congressmen and steal from shareholders.

Since there is substantial hidden unemployment in the US, the net effect on the economy of removing illegals would be positive—it would certainly be heavily positive on those at the bottom end of the educational scale, whose real incomes have DROPPED 15% since 1973. Crime would drop too, since high school dropouts would be able to move securely into the workforce and start a family (illegal immigrants are NOT disproportionately criminal, but they cause criminality by taking away the locals’ ladder up from the ghetto.)

As for Germany, it’s a generally sensible country, unlike France, and is in much better economic shape than the US media would have you believe. Integration of E. Germany was done at the wrong exchange rate, which caused 15 years ofchaos, but they appear to be coming out of it.

Posted by stari_momak on May 23, 2005, 03:41 AM | #

One looks at this honourable move and compares it with the mess currently happening in our brother ‘Anglosphere’ country—Canada—and one begins to wonder. Has the AngloSaxon moment passed. From quality of life to sense on immigration,and now politics! the continentals have us beat.

Posted by Arcane on May 23, 2005, 06:43 PM | #

Phil,
I hate to tell you this, but the CDU is a strong supporter of the EU constitution, and the largest parliamentary group in the European Parliament are Christian Democrats. In fact, the CDU voted with the SPD and Greens against modifying the German constitution so that a national referendum on the EU constitution could be held.

The only major party grouping in Germany that supports having a referendum on the EU constitution is the Free Democrats, which is basically the German equivalent to American libertarians.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1220255,00.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1242302,00.html

The CDU is, luckily, opposed to Turkey’s entry into the EU and the party chief of the North Rhine-Westphalia wing of the CDU, Jürgen Rüttgers, has gotten into trouble with the media before for some of his comments on immigration. A CDU-FDP coalition is definitely better than an SPD-Green coalition.

Posted by Andrew L on May 24, 2005, 03:17 AM | #

Angela Mercle for Boss, she is my heroin. ha

Posted by Andrew L on May 24, 2005, 03:19 AM | #

That photo of Angela is awful, Licence Photo perhaps

Posted by Effra on May 24, 2005, 04:17 AM | #

The Germans were never invited to pronounce upon the extinction of their currency or the submission of their government to federasty under the new EU ‘Constitution’. The professional politicians, elected under arrangements which exclude ‘exremism’, did those little jobs of national self-abnegation for the volk.

Germany is a land of conformists, always at your feet (today vis a vis Israel, for example) or at your throat. It is a synthetic nation belatedly stitched together by Bismarck and reformed/castrated by foreigners after 1945. It bears no comparison with real, organic polities such as France and Britain. I see no reason to envy or emulate it.

Posted by Phil Peterson on May 24, 2005, 05:05 AM | #

Arcane,

Thanks for that. I should have checked before mouting off on the CDU.

Is the CDU perfect? No. Is it better than the Social Democrats? By a mile, yes.

However, I am less worried about the EU constitution because the French will most certainly reject it in a referendum. And once the French reject it, Tony the Great will have difficulty selling it here. It might sink the thing completely.