Friday, January 24, 2020

Bundestag Story

I've essayed in the past year once or twice about this, but it's popped up again in the German news.....the number of politicians in the Bundestag.  For those who aren't aware....there are currently 709 members there in Berlin. 

Focus carried a great update, and I'll reference most of my comments back to it. 

Just about everyone in the Bundestag agrees....the number is now a problem and there needs to be a cut-back.  The current problem?  Virtually all of the parties have a solution, with differing numbers.

Back in 2002, there were a total of 603 members.  In virtually every election since that point, there's been an effort after the election to expand....sometimes a dozen seats....sometimes fifty-odd seats.

As each effort passes by....the cost goes up a notch.  Presently?  They've gone over the one-billion Euro point and it's now a public attention matter.

If you were wondering about 'counties'?  Well, there are 299.  So you would think that there would just be one single representative from each of the 299.

The odds of this being worked out by the fall of 2021 (the next national election)?  I'd give it less than a 30-percent chance at this point.  You'd have to go and get both the CDU and SPD to agree upon the matter.  The suggestion of a nice round number of 650?  This might be somewhat agreeable. 

A top ten or top one-hundred problem?  No.  In fact, if you asked most Germans in the public....they'd just say that they see all these empty seats in the Bundestag, and often wonder where these people are, and how they earn their pay.

No comments: