Friday, April 22, 2022

NRW Election Topics

 The Wahl-o-Mat program is up for North Rhine-Westphalia now.  It's a 38-question 'test' which helps you determine who you should vote for (multiple parties in Germany create this path where you tend to vote on topics, not candidates).  The test is here.

I looked it over and the chief fifteen-odd topics which I felt were interesting....were:

1.  Should coal-produced energy still continue on after 2038 (the federal idea is it'll end at 2038)?

2.  Should schools in the state still continue on-line to some degree....even when the virus period is almost non-existent?

3.  Should Germany still provide weapons to the Ukraine?  (Touchy subject in some states where ethnic Russians live in Germany)

4.  Should the state evaluate farm land and mandate how many animals can 'live' there? (Another touchy subject where farmers don't want the advice or mandate of the government)

5.  Should video-surveillance be increased in public areas (Very touchy subject in some major cities)

6.  Should the state government be able to mandate solar panels in constructing a new home?

7.  Should political parties be limited or mandated on equalization of women in the leadership roles of the party?

8.  Should the state mandate 30 kph as the speed limit in all urban areas?

9.  Should the state be able to mandate limits on building areas?

10.  Should the state have more powers to hand the police on internet hate crimes?

11. In urbanized areas, should decision-making situations.....should kids have a say in laws/rules which affect them? 

12.  Should WDR (the regional public TV/Radio system) lessen the number of radio networks in the region (there are nine radio networks within this one region, and some argue that a couple of these may only have a thousand people on a particular day that listen to the network)

13. Should the state create (out of thin air).....jobs for long-term unemployed? (Long discussed issue because some Germans have been unemployed for more than ten years and have no enthusiasm to return to work)

14. When combating infections/viruses....the state should have more power given to it....from the federal government?  (Some would ask....what kind of power, before answering this question)

15.  Should new wind-turbines be built a minimum of 1,000 meters from homes? (Lot of discussion over this, with people complaining of dizziness or headaches from the action of the blades.....science-facts here are limited)

On questions dealing with migrants/immigrants.....maybe less concern than some states.  NRW is one of the more populated states of Germany, and migrants make up a fair percentage.  Unemployment rate (Nov 2021 rate) was 6.7-percent (certainly not as low as Bavaria with 2.9-percent, but in the middle of the pack for most German states).  Most of the questions have little to do with commerce....although that farm animal question is a pretty 'hot' topic.  

Date of the election:15 May 2022 (SPD and CDU are running neck-and-neck at 30-percent each, and the Greens at 14-percent).  You can discount the Linke Party entirely out of this election (will be lucky to get 3-percent).  

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