Budget embarrassment: Olaf Scholz’s principle is at an end

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Oh look – on Tuesday, at the digital summit in Jena, he had to say something. Olaf Scholz spoke about artificial intelligence, fast internet and – very briefly – also the question of what should actually happen next with his government after the Federal Constitutional Court convicted the coalition of sloppy budget policy a week ago.

Well, said Scholz Jena. “It would of course be exciting for you if you turned something on here with me now could and I would reveal to you my thoughts or the exchanges I have with Mr. Habeck and Mr. Lindner and Mr. Wissing. But we’ll keep that to ourselves.” A grin. No, I won’t say anything. Hihi. That’s it.

I admit: As a journalist with a critical attitude, you are sometimes faced with the difficulty of not constantly complaining or resorting to bad-mouthing. But after seeing Scholz sitting there in Jena, it’s really difficult for me to write something nice to him, no matter how hard I try.

As a chancellor these days you could come up with the idea of ​​sending a calming signal, like in 2008, for example, when the banks collapsed and the… Big coalition which guaranteed savings deposits. But Scholz says nothing. And thus increases the uncertainty. Is electricity becoming more expensive? Is my job safe? These are everyday questions that many Germans are interested in right now. Not just any secret chats between the Chancellor and his ministers.

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This government crisis is historic. Because the traffic lights have been flying blind for days. Because there was no plan B. Because now a hole that is larger than the entire budget of some other countries has to be filled within days. The Chancellor can be happy that my colleague Benedikt Becker stepped in for him this week – and wrote down a good guide through the complicated crisis.

It would also be nice if Scholz would comment in more detail because the misery would be unthinkable without him. Karlsruhe has put a principle at issue that hardly anyone is as connected to as Scholz. The approach is to be able to eliminate political dangers and ideological differences with budgetary nonchalance.

Scholz invented the “bazooka” when the pandemic broke out, planned the “Double boom“to counter the energy crisis. And the traffic light might not have a coalition agreement if the clever Scholz hadn’t thought of the debt brake bypass that was now blown up in his face by the highest court: loans in reserve in order to be able to accommodate the wishes of all three parties .

I don’t mean to say that all ideas were politically wrong. Many aid packages from Scholz prevailed, have helped this country, and that should be noted in fairness. But the Scholz principle is now history. From now on, every budget policy step taken by the Chancellor, including every benefit that he announces during the election campaign, will be under special observation. He has himself to blame for it.

PERSON OF THE WEEK

Many people in the traffic lights are looking at Scholz right now – at Werner Gatzer practically all of them. Gatzer do not you know? Then you are probably not alone. For 18 years, the Social Democrat has been doing his work largely quietly and inconspicuously. He is State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and has served ministers from three different parties: Peer Steinbrück (SPD), Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU), Olaf Scholz (SPD), now Christian Lindner ( FDP). Gatzer is actually close to retirement, and now, on his last legs, has to count the money again and somehow ensure that the government manages a legally secure budget. It’s a task for the history books. My colleague Nico Fried has a nice portrait of Werner for you Gatzer written.

AND OTHERWISE?

There are sometimes strange coincidences in politics. The Greens are meeting at a party conference at the end of the week. Do you know where? In Karlsruhe, of all places, the seat of the Federal Constitutional Court. It will be restless. My co-head of politics Jan Rosenkranz and our colleague Lisa Becke the two new leaders of the Green Youth were interviewed. Mood? Seems so-so to me.

What is it like when Karlsruhe throws a spanner in the works? My colleague Miriam Hollstein and I went to Hanover on Monday. Between two appointments we met Rolf Mützenich in a hotel for an interview. He didn’t really speak well to the judges. To do this, he revealed a small hobby from his youth. You definitely won’t figure it out.

LOTS OF FAVORITE

Your highlight of the week

… was a small outburst of anger from colleague Fried. His anger was directed at Robert Habeck and his tendency to blame everyone for political problems – except himself. Habeck, writes Nico, is currently showing his worst side. I think he’s right.

My highlight of the week

… is a text by my colleague Florian Shillat about the new Juso boss Philipp Türmer. When you read the portrait, One suspects: Scholz will also face difficult times within the party. By the way, Florian was at the Juso congress in Braunschweig for three days. You have to endure it first.

If you haven’t had enough of politics yet, then come to Berlin next Monday. There’s our next “stern hour”, the talk format with my boss Gregor Peter Schmitz. He has invited two interesting guests: the former CSU Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and the security expert Claudia Major. Information and tickets are available here: stern.de/great moment

Have a nice week and many greetings from our Berlin office,

Veit Medick
Head of Politics Department

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