One more difference between Blair and Schroeder

[Johannes Schneider]

Michael  quoted:
>    <snip>
>
>    A monthly opinion poll by ZDF public television last week said the
>    government's approval rating was at its lowest since Schroeder took
>    office in October at the head of a center-left coalition.
>
>    One reason for the slump: planned cuts in Germany's generous welfare
>    state that Schroeder says are necessary to spur investment and lower
>    stubborn double-digit unemployment.
>
>    <end excerpt>
>
> By comparison, if I remember correctly, Tony Blair had Saddam-like
> approval ratings of 93% a year into his term.
I think there is a important distinction between Britain and Germany to be
noted: German unions never had to endure such a defeat as their British
counterparts during the Thatcher years.
As a result far-reaching cuts into the welfare budget were made in Britain
during that time. Thus one could say Thatcher did most of the dirty work for
Blair.
In Germany, however, despite the attacks of the Kohl government on the
working class the reforms and cuts remained superficial but gained some
momentum in the last years of the Kohl government. This put together a
strange coalition, that led to the Schroeder victory: On one hand there were
those ones who expected the SPD to revert most of the cuts of the
conservative government on the other hand there were those business circles
who expected Schroeder to implement a more Thatcherite programme than Kohl.
Now this coalition is falling apart. The SPD left and the union wing are
protesting against the budget cuts. Furthermore some of the SPD bureaucrats
are fearing for their jobs. There are going to be state election in
Lafontains home state the Sarre and more important local elections in the
biggest German state North-Rhine-Westphalia, a traditional SPD stronghold.
The SPD is panicking right now, after a election defeat the in-fighting will
increase, each faction accusing the other one being responsible for the
defeat.
Johannes