Saturday, February 4, 2017

Laying Out the SPD Platform for 2017

I've put together the basic platform for the German SPD Party and their campaign "promises".

1.  Education:
- Modernization program for schools over four years worth 9 billion Euro.
- Assist the states in forming more capacity to train teachers.
- Modernization and digital effort for vocational/craftsman schools.
- Changing the Constitution of Germany to allow more interaction between the 16 state educational departments and the federal government.

2.  Strong and modern economy:
- Push to bring renewable energy to a higher level, reducing CO2
- Emphasizing the construction of affordable housing throughout Germany.
- Tightening tax evasion.
- Making taxes more fair.
- Grow start-up opportunities.
- Reduce government bureaucracy effect on commercial operations.
- Invest more money into public structure (schools, roads, hospitals, swimming pools, etc).

3. Layered Education Changes:
- More kindergarten positions.
- Emphasize digital education across all schools.
- Making full-day care a right.
- Equal scale across education for boys and girls.
- Increased support for masters-degree applicants.

4. People and the Cosmopolitan:
-  Emphasize integration.
- Bring an common integration and immigration law to the EU.
- Create a peaceful atmosphere.
- Promote housing, education and language opportunities.
- Promote dual-citizenship.
- Write a clever immigration law, and establish a line of who will be accepted and those who will not be accepted.

5. Just Pensions, Fair Work.:
- Emphasize and promote minimum wage.
- Work against often-abused temporary work contracts.
- Emphasize the new industrial revolution underway in Germany.
- Emphasize women's quota in the workplace and in leadership positions.
- Continue working toward options for early-retirement (age 63).
- Continue work on mothers retirement calculations (related to 1992 law).

6. Solidarity Project:
- Quick introduction of new immigrants into the employment scene of Germany.
- Better daycare options.
- Push for more sponsored affordable housing projects.
- Equality of men and women in integration classes should be emphasized.
- Press for a 'red card' on intolerance. This means peer-like stances.
- More support for people with disabilities.
- "Life has to pay off" goal with pension members.

7. Consumer Protection
- Apartment rental 'brakes' to continue.
- Introduce a law to protect citizens from unfair practices of banks.
- Press for a law which eliminates advertising on buses and trains (currently standard and accepted).
- Introduce a law which says if you advertise in papers, on the radio, or TV.....there must be a "clear warning".
- Promote healthy eating.  To include school programs where healthy food is emphasized.

8. Foreign Policy:
- Remove the cause of migration or escape. Promote more opportunities for migrants in their own countries.
- Fight terrorism. Fund anti-terror initiatives
- Emphasize a strong EU.

9. Families:
- Promote more time for the family.
- Help for the care of relatives.
- Ensure equality of gays and lesbians.

10: Safety:
- Ensure the Bundeswehr (German Army) and the German police are two separate entities and that the Army is not used for police operations.
- Promote technology answers to halt burglary trends.
- Promote programs to inform the public on how to better protect your property.

11. Environment:
- Promote clean environment agendas.
- Continue affordable energy trends.

12. Digital economy promotion and emphasis

13. Promote good living in urbanized regions

So, that's the basic list of platform appeals.  Some might appeal to general pubic.  Some might press folks to ask more questions.  Most are designed for the 30-year old who lives in the urbanized areas.

I would not call it weak.  If you were looking for a fired-up platform to bring jobs or ensure job stability?  Well....it's not there.  In the region of NRW, this is one of the common topics that pop up because of trends with some companies downsizing.

If you were wondering about the CDU?  I'll put their platforms up over the next week.

No comments: