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13.02.2018, 08:05
| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel?
Latest polls upon reaction to the new coalition. If they were to run another election on these projections, they wouldn't even be able to form a coalition  SPD 1.5% ahead of AfD | The following 3 users would like to thank for this useful post: | | 
19.02.2018, 20:53
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel? | The following 3 users would like to thank kriss kross for this useful post: | | 
20.02.2018, 07:57
| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel? | Quote: | |  | | | | | | | | But we were told populism in Europe had been defeated? That the far-right had peaked...? | The following 4 users would like to thank for this useful post: | | 
20.02.2018, 10:34
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel? | Quote: | |  | | | But we were told populism in Europe had been defeated? That the far-right had peaked...? :format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49493993/this-is-fine.0.jpg) | | | | | Of course it has.
Besides being chancellor of Germany, Merkel won the presidential elections in France and Austria and the parliamentary election in Holland.
And Maas is banning people from claiming anything otherwise.
Remember how only a week or so before the Berlin Wall vcame down, how Honnecker was saying that the DDR had another 40 years ahead of it?
No problem is more difficult to solve than the problem whose existence you deny.
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20.02.2018, 14:26
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel? | Quote: |  | | | The HuffPost presidential forecast model gives Democrat Hillary Clinton a 98.2 percent chance of winning the presidency. Republican Donald Trump has essentially no path to an Electoral College victory. | | | | | https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...b0e80b02cc2a94 | Quote: |  | | | (CNN)Almost 7 in 10 voters nationwide say they think Hillary Clinton will win the presidency next month | | | | | https://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/25/p...oll/index.html | The following 2 users would like to thank esto for this useful post: | | 
26.02.2018, 14:35
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel?
Merkel has appointed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as general secretary of the CDU. Many pundits are interpreting this as effectively appointing a successor, and predict that the end of Merkel is nigh and that she knows it.
Kramp-Karrenbauer is essentially new to politics on a federal level (she comes from state level politics in Saarbruecken)
Karmp-Karrenbauer is described by many as being from the right wing of the party, although she herself denies this. Nevertheless, her appointment is seen as an attempt to win back voters lost to AfD and return to the core Christian and Conservative values that were abandoned under Merkel.
The OH and I listened to an interview with her on Deutschlandfunk. She sounds reasonable and honest, but in a good schoolteacher sort of way. There was nothing really there that sounded seismic or could have swept people off their feet.
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26.02.2018, 15:10
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel?
I don't think Merkel is as delusional as Helmut Kohl.
But both Merkel and the CDU know that a quite long transition period is needed to prevent a scenario like after Helmut Kohl was voted out - or something along the line of what the CSU is doing right now.
CDU-voters are very conservative. They don't really like change - unless everything stays the same...
"AKK" is apparently quite popular in her home-land.
We'll have to see how well that works on the big stage (and the cesspool/snakepit that Berlin really is)
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26.02.2018, 15:48
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel? | Quote: | |  | | | Merkel has appointed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as general secretary of the CDU. Many pundits are interpreting this as effectively appointing a successor, and predict that the end of Merkel is nigh and that she knows it.
Kramp-Karrenbauer is essentially new to politics on a federal level (she comes from state level politics in Saarbruecken)
Karmp-Karrenbauer is described by many as being from the right wing of the party, although she herself denies this. Nevertheless, her appointment is seen as an attempt to win back voters lost to AfD and return to the core Christian and Conservative values that were abandoned under Merkel.
The OH and I listened to an interview with her on Deutschlandfunk. She sounds reasonable and honest, but in a good schoolteacher sort of way. There was nothing really there that sounded seismic or could have swept people off their feet. | | | | | Whatever... Germany affords to do whatever they want and laugh at everybody else. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39064795
What a difference, different problems I guess....Macron was complaining the other day that the evil Chinese buy agricultural land in France for "dubious" purposes and he'll take care of the matter (probably, in his mind, only the French farmers should have this kind of privileges)...meantime Germany is cashing in. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018...buying-french/
It's fun to watch the whole circus from one actor to another. Really, Mr. Macron? | Quote: |  | | | President Emmanuel Macron has promised farmers that he will stop foreign investors buying up land in France, after a Chinese fund purchased swathes of rich agricultural land in the centre of the country.
The promise came as the centrist leader hosted a lunch for around 1,000 young farmers at the Elysée place, an event seen by critics as a bid to buy their goodwill ahead of the annual Paris farm show where he is due to make the traditional presidential visit on Saturday.
"For me, French agricultural lands are strategic investments upon which our sovereignty depends, so we can't allow hundreds of hectares of land to be bought by foreign powers without us knowing the aims of these purchases," Mr Macron told the farmers. | | | | | | This user would like to thank greenmount for this useful post: | | 
26.02.2018, 16:08
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel?
Not long ago, the EU were threatening Orban for similarly trying to protect farmland from foreign buyers.
At the time the EU said that was totally inexcusable and made lots of nasty threats.
But now that it's France doing it, they'll probably turn a blind eye.
Or maybe Macron can take a leaf out of Otban's book and distract them by building a fence?
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26.02.2018, 16:34
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel? | Quote: | |  | | | Not long ago, the EU were threatening Orban for similarly trying to protect farmland from foreign buyers.
At the time the EU said that was totally inexcusable and made lots of nasty threats.
But now that it's France doing it, they'll probably turn a blind eye.
Or maybe Macron can take a leaf out of Otban's book and distract them by building a fence? | | | | | Seems Orban has his own problems!
Orban’s Weak Spot Exposed in Shock Loss Before Hungary’s Election, the unexpected loss in the pro-government stronghold, controlled by Orban’s Fidesz party for the past two decades, showed his potential vulnerability if the opposition bands together.
Beyond the result in Hodmezovasarhely, the margin of victory was also a surprise as independent candidate Peter Marki-Zay got 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Fidesz’s Zoltan Hegedus amid a record 62 percent turnout.
Whether the opposition can get their act together before the general election in six weeks seems unlikely but they do have a strong incentive. Source | 
26.02.2018, 17:06
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel? | Quote: | |  | | |
Whether the opposition can get their act together before the general election in six weeks seems unlikely but they do have a strong incentive.
| | | | | For the opposition getting their act together, read, the neo-nazi Jobbik party joining forces with the left, as they indeed did in this case.
To bring this thread back to topic, in Germany that would be the same as the SPD forming an alliance with the NPD.
Be careful what you wish for.
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26.02.2018, 17:11
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel? | Quote: | |  | | | Seems Orban has his own problems!
Orban’s Weak Spot Exposed in Shock Loss Before Hungary’s Election, the unexpected loss in the pro-government stronghold, controlled by Orban’s Fidesz party for the past two decades, showed his potential vulnerability if the opposition bands together.
Beyond the result in Hodmezovasarhely, the margin of victory was also a surprise as independent candidate Peter Marki-Zay got 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Fidesz’s Zoltan Hegedus amid a record 62 percent turnout.
Whether the opposition can get their act together before the general election in six weeks seems unlikely but they do have a strong incentive. Source | | | | | That independent candidate with a much more radical discourse....right, marton. A reason for celebrating and sing Kumbaya with your friends.. | This user would like to thank greenmount for this useful post: | | 
26.02.2018, 17:45
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel? | Quote: | |  | | | Whatever... Germany affords to do whatever they want and laugh at everybody else. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39064795
What a difference, different problems I guess....Macron was complaining the other day that the evil Chinese buy agricultural land in France for "dubious" purposes and he'll take care of the matter (probably, in his mind, only the French farmers should have this kind of privileges)...meantime Germany is cashing in. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018...buying-french/
It's fun to watch the whole circus from one actor to another. Really, Mr. Macron?  | | | | | It also said Germans were saving too much and not investing enough in both the private and public sector. A large part of the German population can't make any savings at all, certainly not much anyway.
It's ridiculous to make such a blanket statement.
Those who make savings do so because they know the music will stop playing soon enough and then the party will be over.
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26.02.2018, 19:43
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel? | Quote: | |  | | | For the opposition getting their act together, read, the neo-nazi Jobbik party joining forces with the left, as they indeed did in this case.
To bring this thread back to topic, in Germany that would be the same as the SPD forming an alliance with the NPD.
Be careful what you wish for. | | | | | "To bring this thread back to topic" Says the one who brought Orban into the conversation, thank you
I believe the best Governments are coalitions between opposites because they can never agree and so never deliver any legislation. Only problem is they usually do not last long.
| 
26.02.2018, 19:47
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel? | Quote: | |  | | |
I believe the best Governments are coalitions between opposites because they can never agree and so never deliver any legislation. Only problem is they usually do not last long.
| | | | | In principle, I agree.
But most countries don't have as benign parties as Switzerland does.
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26.02.2018, 20:38
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel? | Quote: | |  | | | It also said Germans were saving too much and not investing enough in both the private and public sector. A large part of the German population can't make any savings at all, certainly not much anyway.
It's ridiculous to make such a blanket statement.
Those who make savings do so because they know the music will stop playing soon enough and then the party will be over. | | | | | Yes, because when the population can save and does so it's a bad thing for everybody else. They should have the typical American behaviour - one or two mortgages, remortgages and so on, two or three consumer loans, two or three leasing contracts.... in short - shop till you drop. | The following 2 users would like to thank greenmount for this useful post: | | 
04.03.2018, 10:49
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel?
SPD voted for the coalition (66.02% vote yes ) so normal German service is resumed
All as I forecast last September in post 569 here | This user would like to thank marton for this useful post: | | 
04.03.2018, 12:27
| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel?
Turkeys voting for Christmas.
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05.03.2018, 09:37
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel?
I don't know where to put it, so I'll post it here. It became a pattern. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...ults-forecast/ | Quote: |  | | | Italian voters have flocked to anti-establishment, Eurosceptic parties and rejected mainstream, traditional political parties, the latest results from the country’s election indicated on Monday.
The populist Five Star Movement, founded by stand-up comedian Beppe Grillo as a bombastic challenge to the established order, emerged as the big winner of the general election, in a result that will be viewed with trepidation in Brussels.
With around half the ballot counted, it looked as though the Five Star Movement had won around a third of all votes, up from 25 per cent in Italy’s last general election in 2013.
The Eurosceptic, anti-immigration League also performed well, according to preliminary calculations.
The numbers suggested that The League and Five Star together attracted 50 per cent of all votes.
The League was projected to take more than 17 per cent of the vote – compared with just four per cent at the last election.
In a bitter blow for former premier Silvio Berlusconi, The League was projected to take more votes than his more moderate, centre-Right Forza Italia party.
The two parties are in an uneasy alliance, along with two other centre-Right parties, and together the bloc was expected to win around 37 per cent of the vote.
No party or alliance got over the threshold of 40 per cent, which would have allowed it to form a government outright.
Matteo Salvini, the leader of The League, wrote in a tweet: “My first words – thank you.”
There was a euphoric mood at the party’s headquarters in Milan, with one official telling reporters that the League's strong showing was "a clear signal to Europe, which has mistreated Italians."
The governing Democratic Party, headed by former prime minister Matteo Renzi, performed dismally, with exit polls suggesting it won less than 20 per cent of the vote – a disastrous result for Italy’s mainstream centre-Left party.
It appeared to have been punished by voters for persistently high unemployment, a laggardly economy and the reception of 600,000 migrants arriving by boat from Libya in the last four years.
As the largest party, Five Star is likely to demand the chance to try to form a government.
"Nobody will be able to govern without the Five Star Movement," said senior party member Riccardo Fraccaro. "We will assume the responsibility to build this government, but in a different way, talking with all the parties about what this country needs."
However, the party has repeatedly ruled out forming a coalition with other parties, guaranteeing uncertainty over what happens next.
"Di Maio wins, Italy ungovernable," was the front-page headline on the first edition of La Stampa newspaper.
One scenario would be a loose alliance between Five Star and The League – both have called for hundreds of thousands of unauthorised migrants to be sent back to their home countries and both have raised the prospect in the past of ditching the euro.
But many analysts believe they would make strange political bedfellows.
Nigel Farage congratulated the strong result of the Five Star movement.
"My congratulations to my colleagues in the European Parliament (@5-Star Movement) for topping the poll tonight," he wrote in a tweet. Earlier he had tweeted, "Eurosceptism is on the rise."
The results suggested that Italy is in for a protracted period of uncertainty and weeks of tortuous horse-trading between the parties.
“Italy is far from having sorted its long-standing problems, and now it will have new ones. Be prepared for long and complex negotiations that will take months," said Lorenzo Codogno, a former chief economist at the Italian Treasury.
During the day many voters waited in line for more than an hour to vote, only to then be baffled by confusing ballots and the process to cast them - which for the first time required an anti-fraud check by polling authorities.
"You feel as if you have gone there prepared but it's not that clear," complained Sister Vincenza as she cast her ballot on Rome's Aventine hill before heading to Mass.
Some polling stations remained closed in Palermo two hours into election day because the wrong ballots were delivered and 200,000 new ones had to be reprinted overnight. Similar ballot glitches were reported elsewhere, forcing the suspension of the vote in two towns in Alessandria. | | | | | | This user would like to thank greenmount for this useful post: | | 
05.03.2018, 09:45
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| | Re: Do you believe in Merkel? | Quote: | |  | | | Turkeys voting for Christmas. | | | | | Better than the alternative |
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