What Exactly Is The Scandal That Jens Spahn Can Never Escape From?

 CDU politician Jens Spahn up until the Covid era....was probably everyone's top five list for the right-of-center party.  In Merkel's last coalition....he was given the lite-duty of Health Minister.  

So as Covid arrived....there was this funny path for protective masks....where originally....THE expert (medical-virus guy....not Spahn) said masks weren't going to be necessary.  About six weeks later....the authorities determined masks  were necessary.

This problem erupted (I saw it approaching 6 weeks prior).....they (the commercial reality) simply did NOT have sufficient masks on hand....to meet the requirement.

Spahn went and did something fairly stupid....he put up a requirement for masks....without signed contracts or a clear understanding of the business-world.

Plane-loads of masks slowly began to arrive....on top of what stores/pharmacies ordered.

What you started to notice....the gov't  pallets....weren't really  planned out well....so they started to store them in military-storage.....then it got into overflow situation.  Quality?  Well....that was hit-and-miss.  Some Chinese masks were correct....some were crap.

By the time Covid had ended....Spahn's mess to clean up....added up to around  8-to-10 billion Euro.

Yeah....because of poor management....legal matters started up.   Best guess currently....around 100-million Euro in legal costs have been put upon the gov't.

Spahn's fault?  I don't think he ever understood the logistical side of the issue. Even if you quizzed the forty-odd staff members around him....I don't think nothing more than strictly virus-experts...not med-parts experts.

If you were to explain to the public....how ten-odd billion was spent....they'd start laughing. 

Where the masks are today?  I suspect....still in some military storage bunker. 

Firing Story

 This past week....ZDF (Channel 2 of public TV in Germany) did a news piece with a employee of the Bremen Job-Center (the folks who approve/disapprove your welfare pay-situation).

He'd been in the job for around 20 years.

So he said in a blunt way.....on his personal belief....around 30 to 40 percent of folks in  Bremen were approved for welfare/burgergeld....were capable of working and in some way....should have been 'pushed'.

Well...after the TV episode....management at the Bremen Job-Center got peeved, and have terminated the guy.

I would imagine that there's going  to be a rough reality for the judge who reviews the firing....with him likely admitting the guy is correct, and probably across all of Germany....the 30-to-40 percent number holds true.

Poll Reality

 INSA did a political poll.

So...it's an odd thing.  AfD would win  with 29-percent of the public vote in Germany, but be unable to get a partnership coalition. CDU-CSU in 2nd place with 21-percent.

SPD?  With 12-percent.  Greens with 14-percent.  Linke with 11-percent.

BSW and FDP?  Still at 3-percent.....thus getting no seats.

The 'Other' People

 Some lefty-party member of the Bundestag....stood up yesterday and admitted....in just four years of 'service' in the Bundestag....a member  could make what takes a normal German three decades to accumulate such 'wealth'.

I paused over the chatter.

First, living in Berlin is awful damn expensive.  For a plate of something that I'd  pay 12 Euro in Mainz for....you'd have to pay near 16 Euro in Berlin.

Second, it just seems to me....working around Bundestag folks....you have to accept a certain amount of stupidity and you ought to be paid more  for this type of situation.

Third and final....I suspect if you asked a hundred Germans if they'd take up a Bundestag job....probably 95-percent would say no.....claiming they don't have patience to do BS-work.

I'm now waiting for the lefty-member to get a EU job, and suggest the same problem there.

Q-and-A:

 1.  Has the peak of Russia come and gone?

All things considered....economically....2019 (before Covid/the War)...was the peak, and they will likely never cross that line ever again.

I read this past week....a key bank in Russia wants to be a middle-man....bringing in tens of thousands of Indians....as physical manpower for Russian infrastructure projects.  It might start....but they got no money (meaning the gov't)....so it's mostly BS.

2. Is the SPD Party (used to be called the 'party-of-the-people') evolving into some academic 'brain-trust' party?

Focus wrote up a piece (by Jan Fleischhauer)....suggesting this.  Polling mostly indicates the party can marginally reach to 12-to-14 percent of the public.  It would beg the question....who would replace them.

3.  What's with the grocery 'strike'?

Well....if you count up grocery brands in central Germany....it's around a dozen brands that folks recognize. Around nine of them  are organized into a union,  and want a salary raise.  So yesterday (Friday) and today....if you were attempting to  grocery shop....you'd find a closed business.

I reviewed what they want, and the key thing....is a 250-Euro pay-raise per month. 

I asked the wife....if forced to pay it....won't our grocery prices rapidly escalate?  She did the numbers in  her head (Einstein-like) and suggested that we'd have to find another 100-to-120 Euro a month....to cover the situation.

4.  This ARD-World Cup news-documentary piece....just weird?

To lay this out....the chief news guy for ARD, with two others....are traveling into the US for the games, and trying to tell a non-World Cup set of stories....about the folks who oppose President Trump. 

I watched a brief introduction, and just started laughing.  The German World Cup enthusiast....mostly guys....won't waste a single minute watching this. It's developed more for the non-sports viewer (mostly women)....to keep them engaged in their hatred-passion. 

6 June 2026: Germany: 5 Things

 1.  This Germany-UN-Seat Drama?

For a couple of years....Germany has been on some weird trend.....desperately waiting for this vote and expecting to get a seat on the top Security Council. In the midst of this....they even paid more  on 'dues' (roughly 3-to-4 billion Euro) to impress folks.  Well....it failed. 

So....my impression?  If you asked folks....around 80-percent of population would say it's not in their top 500 priorities.  Same crowd would say it gets you 'nothing'....if you held a seat. Probably 50-percent of folks are asking now.....you really went and gave them 3-billion Euro of free money?

The odd remainder?  Well....the intellectual folks want to talk over the drama and find the blame. The five things I hear?  Blame Putin.   Blame support for Israel.  Blame Trump.  Blame China.

If you ask me....I think they acted like 12-year-old kids the past couple of years.....hinting always on the vote, and they deserve to be voted 'in'.  

2.  Timmy-the-lady-whale-update.

Autopsy wrapped up.  Experts say they can't find a cause of death. Other than building a statue for Timmy....I  think the saga is finished.

3.  US says it'll stop sale of Tomahawk missiles to Germany.  Chief reason?  Well....Putin says it's a threat.

4.  Germany talking over regulating the entry of Ukrainian men into Germany....suggesting that they should stay at home and fight.

5. US gave NATO a list of asset which are 'leaving' Europe shortly (downsizing):

 - Currently 99 F-16 multi-purpose fighters in Europe, 63 will remain.  Currently 54 F-15E heavy fighter-bombers, 36 will remain.  They don't say which bases are affected....but would only come from Aviano, Spang,  and Lakenheath.  

- All long-range reconnaissance drones from Europe to leave. In addition, the number of MQ-9 strike UAVs will be halved.

- Naval?  The number of cruisers and destroyers will be cut in half. Submarine carriers of cruise missiles will be completely withdrawn. 

- Bomber deployments....temp stationing in the UK?  To end, period.

How quick?  Wording hinted at a couple of weeks for some....up to six months max.

The Decline of Germany Connected To Deindustrialization?

 Deindustrialization in Germany didn't start in recent years....it probably goes back to 1990s, with each year....presenting a 'step'.

Defining it?  The decline in German manufacturing output, employment, and global competitiveness, particularly in energy-intensive sectors like chemicals, steel, glass, and autos......was more prevalent than a complete collapse of industry. 

This 'path' taken....while having deep roots....simply accelerated dramatically due to a combination of policy choices, geopolitical shocks, and structural pressures. And no....while some is just plain bad luck....some of the 'step's' were planned.

I would suggest that things took off around 2010-to-2015 with warning signs emerging.....rising competition from China.....slow digitalization.....high labor/regulatory costs, and infrastructure gaps. 

The Russian natural gas mess, and Covid?   They simply speeded-up the process.

Where things emerge in ten years (say 2035)?  Survival mode will kick in, and I predict around 500,000 to 1-million Germans a year will be exiting....to countries with less issues. 

The key point?  Within three-to-four years....one of the major car-brands of Germany will either shut-down, or exit Germany. At that point, the clock starts to tick.  Might be Opel....might be VW.....might even be Porsche.

Change In Law Coming?

 I noted this AM....Saxony's Minister of Justice wants to advocate for the abolition of the criminal offense of insulting politicians. 

To get the job done....the Conference of Ministers of Justice (national group) is to pass a corresponding resolution next week and present it to the Federal Minister of Justice.

Why?

Well....a couple of months ago....some Germans using social media....called a certain German politician (thin-skinned type)....a liar.  More or less....they suggested he promised 'X', and had yet to deliver.

This guy went to the legal system....using current laws, and took the chatty folks (using the word 'liar') into court.   Result....guilty....one month's salary taken as the 'fee'.

This has (in the  past month) gotten a lot of attention, and even the AfD Party has focused upon this....saying it's not right.

What you can say...presently?  You could wish that so-and-so would tell the truth more often, or just wish politicians would avoid talking/BSing.   But  to call them a liar.....no, that gets you into court-woes.