Many German political scientists are convinced that the two parties in Germany's ruling coalition – the SPD and the Greens – are most comfortable in opposition. Indeed, twice in the entire post-war history of the Federal Republic have the Social Democrats led the government, but both chancellors, Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt, were forced to leave the stage early. The third Social Democratic chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, although re-elected for a second term in 2002 by a minimal margin, risks going down in the country's history as its most incompetent leader. His comprehensive social reform program "Agenda 2010" was rejected not only by the opposition but also by his most loyal voters: for more than a year now, the German workers and employees to whom Schröder promised protection and assistance have been taking to the streets in demonstrations and staging one strike after another.
Gerhard Schröder no longer dares to appear at events organized by trade unions: there he is regularly booed and driven off the podium. At the end of 2004, the whole country protested in unison against Schröder's labor market reforms, and the chancellor himself promised: "You will see how everything works perfectly!" At the beginning of 2005, when these reforms officially came into effect, everyone indeed saw: no, it didn't work. It got worse. The European Union somehow, just barely, overcame the protracted economic crisis, but in Germany it continues to this day.
What exactly are the reforms on which Schröder placed and continues to place such rosy hopes? They can be divided into three main, closely interrelated groups: reforms of the employment market and labor legislation, reform of the healthcare and pension systems, and social reform. Since the beginning of this year, for example, Germany no longer has separate payments for social assistance and unemployment benefits: these two categories are now equalized and are called "unemployment benefit II."
The problem is that the so-called "social recipients," of whom there are about a million in the country, receive a very substantial increase without lifting a finger, while 4 million unemployed people, from whose wages social insurance taxes were regularly deducted while they worked, have lost more than a third of their money at once. Moreover, whereas previously an unemployed person receiving benefits was allowed to have additional earnings – on average about 90 euros per month (not a huge sum for Germany, but still a fairly good incentive to look for at least some kind of work) – now that amount has been reduced... to 15 euros.
Schröder claims that such strictness will push the unemployed to look for work more actively – in reality, however, statistics say the opposite: unemployment in the country is rising. Moreover, this kind of leveling not only "expropriates" in favor of the state considerable insurance sums paid by those Germans who work by the sweat of their brow, but also creates social tension, putting on the same footing those who lost their jobs due to unfavorable circumstances and those whom in Germany are called Sozialschmarotzer – "social parasites."
The average German today would readily subscribe to the well-known Russian proverb "You can't earn stone chambers by righteous labor." Official pensions earned by middle-class representatives turn out to be quite small by German standards, and moreover they are subject to taxation. Therefore, until recently, many Germans also took out private pension insurance policies, which allowed elderly people to receive a substantial supplement, and one that was also tax-free. Since 2005, all types of pension insurance in the Federal Republic are taxed – so future pensioners who failed to arrange their policies before the end of 2004 will be forced not only to overpay, but will also lose part of their future money.
As for the healthcare system, its reform "hit" patients a year ago: every German (except for Bundestag deputies, by the way) is now obliged to pay 10 euros once per quarter when visiting their primary care physician – and this money goes not to the doctor, but is transferred to the relevant health insurance fund. The doctor merely issues a payment certificate, which patients present when visiting other doctors. If anyone, God forbid, forgets it – they will have to pay another 10 euros. The only exception is dentists: a visit to the dentist costs 10 euros per quarter, regardless of the payment of the mandatory "quitrent."
The German Minister of Health, Ulla Schmidt (who by education, by the way, is not a medical worker at all, but a teacher at a so-called "Sonderschule" – a school for mentally disabled children) promised that with the introduction of the new tax, the monthly contributions of health insurance fund clients would be reduced. More than a year has passed since then, the budgets of the health insurance funds have successfully emerged from the "red," but during this time the size of contributions not only has not decreased, but has increased twice. Nothing can be done about Ms. Schmidt: she has no authority to give orders to the directors of health insurance funds...
Most German voters feel deceived, but they realize: if the opposition came to power, it would also carry out equally harsh reforms: the state treasury is empty, and in order to fill it and preserve at least the remnants of what was once a reliable and stable social system, one would willy-nilly have to tighten one's belt. However, the current German government, and this is the essence of the complaints of the conservative-liberal opposition, is carrying out its own reforms in such a way that they do not fix state affairs, but only worsen the situation of the majority of the population of the Federal Republic.
The best proof of this is the fact that for the third year in a row Germany is forced to violate the three-percent budget deficit threshold prescribed by the European Stability Pact. The 2005 budget, in particular, stipulates that the German government will borrow 22 billion euros. This is despite the fact that the mountain of debts of the German state is already so high that every German now living, regardless of age or financial status, owes more than 1,300 euros to one or another state, bank or insurance company for his country.