Germany’s tax euros at work everyone.

Rules for thee and not for mee.

It was amazing watching the FDP not even have to think about approving the last €100B Schuldenbremse-excluded military gift basket.

Ah yes, because the last time Germany changed its constitution to pursue military aims it went so well for everyone.

One whistleblower who carried out benefits reassessments for a triple amputee recalled the claimant saying he felt he had to keep proving his limbs had not “grown back” to ensure his money was not cut.

This is already policy in Germany. Anyone with a disabled status has to regularly prove that they’re still disabled, even when it’s something as stupidly obvious as an amputated limb.

The threat of the AfD is going to be used as a cudgel with which to keep the left in line, even as the CDU (and inevitably the SPD) end up adopting pretty much exactly the AfD’s position on immigration thinking that this will win back AfD voters.

That’s exactly what we’ve already seen over the last ten years of the AfD getting ever stronger, and especially the last year or so after the Correctiv exposé on what the AfD says in private. The AfD even bragged that this is what’s happening and it’s what they want, but nobody paid attention to that part.

I’ll see if I can listen later today.

On first thought, this is proof of US influence. Sure the currently governing US capitalist faction (tech billionaires) likely won’t see their party of choice (AfD) in government, but the traditional Wall Street and MIC establishment will be very happy to see a hawkish Chancellor from Blackrock in Berlin.

But of course this result was made possible by older people voting CDU as they always have, regardless of the candidates, contemporary policies, and conditions. Younger people tended to vote for non-centrist alternatives, whether reactionary or nominally leftist.

Former Al Qaeda affiliate HTS

Sure

To your question, this was already really noticeable in his first term. By being brash and uncouth and calling things what they are, rather than using doublespeak or just doing things in the shadows, he made the contradictions of imperialism really uncomfortable for a lot of people. In being direct he created the beginnings of pushback from people who would otherwise be perfectly fine with kids in cages, seizing other countries’ natural reources, etc.

At this point that’s the only way Ukraine can pay even debt maintenance on all the “aid” they’ve been getting from the US and vassals.

Imperialists have been salivating over Ukraine’s natural riches for a while already.

https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/09/16/senator-lindsey-graham-ukraine-trillion-minerals/

The French had a pretty good way of shutting up insufferable rich asshats.

All countries will confiscate illegally obtained income. Want to work cross-border? Do it with the proper visas, permissions, tax reporting, residencies, etc. There’s no story here, just more China hate to help beat the drums of war.