Bartsch in the ARD summer interview: “We’ll be billed in autumn”

Regardless of the weak polls, Left Party top candidate Bartsch is combative: his party is ultimately needed “as a social corrective,” he said in the newspaper ARD summer interview. A major tax reform is also necessary.

The Left Party’s top candidate for the federal election, Dietmar Bartsch, has campaigned for a major tax reform. The Left Party’s election manifesto was the only concept that would generate more revenue, he said in the ARD summer interview. “With us there will be a plus because we also clearly state who we want to burden.” The Left Party is planning relief for employees who are taxed alone with an annual income of up to 80,000 euros, while for jointly taxed employees it will be almost double. “But we really want to burden those who have profited from the crisis.” A major tax reform is needed – also with a view to inheritance tax and the reintroduction of wealth tax.

In view of the weak polls, Bartsch admitted that the Left Party could not be satisfied with it. But it will be billed in autumn. “The left is the social corrective. Only with us will it be the case that Germany will continue to be social in the future.”

His party is the only one that excludes a coalition with the Union and its top candidate Armin Laschet. “We believe that the Union has recently completely failed state-politically, I just say: mask scandal. That has to get out of the government,” said Bartsch in the discussion group “Ask yourself” with questions from citizens. The CDU and CSU urgently need a renewal. His great concern is that there will be black and green or black and red or something similar. “But a policy change is urgently needed.” He is promoting a center-left alliance, and that will only happen with a strong left party.

Corona: “Many orders, few controls”

In the Corona policy, the parliamentary group leader criticized the lack of controls on the measures adopted. “If you issue ordinances, they also have to be implemented. That was one of the problems with Corona: Lots of orders, few controls. That logically led to abuse,” said Bartsch. And that must be prevented.

The top candidate rejected compulsory vaccination in the fight against the corona virus. “But we should especially target those who have doubts”. He has long been calling for a vaccination summit “to really examine all possibilities that you can get more people to vaccinate”.

Discussion about Bundeswehr operations inside

Basically no, in special cases yes – this is how Bartsch’s line can be summarized with a view to internal military operations. When asked by a citizen how he wanted to explain to those affected by the flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate that the Left Party wanted to abolish such aid operations, Bartsch replied that there was a difference between Bundeswehr operations inside and a disaster. “In a special situation like the flood, I say very clearly: If the Bundeswehr can help, then it has to help.”

At the same time he called for a reform of the disaster control in Germany after the federal election. The flood showed that the country was obviously not prepared for such a disaster. “And I expect the federal government to really look with the state governments there to see whether we need a task force or something similar for such cases.”

Germany as a “refusal to arm”

Bartsch once again called for the budget for the defense to be significantly reduced: “With the tasks that we now have after Corona, for example, or with Corona that we have in the social field, in view of the division in society, it is simply madness. to disproportionately increase the defense budget and ultimately cut it in other areas. ” In view of the huge national debt, one will have to look at where to reduce spending. In its election manifesto, the Left Party calls for the defense budget to be cut by ten percent a year.

Of course, according to Bartsch, the best perspective is that there is a world without armies. But the development of the past few years is “madness”: “The defense budget is now over 50 billion. All over the world there is armament. We say we want the opposite direction: disarmament everywhere in the world.” And Germany should be the “first refusal to arm”.

Climate policy should become more international

In terms of climate policy, Bartsch does not believe that higher prices for the emission of climate-damaging gases are the right way to go: “Climate change cannot be denied by anyone, he is there. And I am in favor of us talking about other perspectives than just about higher prices, higher fuel prices or the like. “Rather, an” intelligent regulatory law “is necessary so that it is not only applied to consumers.

Bartsch called for the fight against climate change to be tackled more broadly: “We must finally think big when it comes to the climate issue, think about structures and also emphasize the international component a little more.”