Maybe this will help me keep my job…

I know. I’ll call Vladimir Putin and ask him to stop the war and pull out of Ukraine.

That’s never been tried before.

Zelensky accuses German chancellor of opening ‘Pandora’s box’ with Putin…

Facing a snap election on Feb. 23, Scholz’s Social Democrats are coming under pressure from Russia-friendly populist parties on both sides of the political spectrum that argue the government has not deployed enough diplomacy to end the war, according to Reuters.

Don’t choose between security and prosperity…

Because you won’t get either.

Scholz, fighting for survival, says Germans should not choose between security and prosperity – Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday appealed to parties to pass measures such as raising child benefits and lifting tax thresholds before a February snap election, stressing that Germans did not need to choose between security and prosperity.

Scholz was addressing parliament in political leaders’ first public head-to-head since the collapse of the chancellor’s ruling coalition last week forced the country into a snap election that will likely take place in February.

We don’t have enough paper…

For the ballots, you know?

So we can’t have that vote of confidence and early election you voters want. Even though our government doesn’t have a majority anymore and is more non-functioning than ever. Sorry, fellow citizens. It’s out of our hands.

Geez. These German SPD guys would make good Democrats.

Germany: Paper questions punctuate election date debate – As lawmakers jostle over the timing of a vote of confidence after Germany’s coalition collapse, preparations are already being made for a snap election. Officials have warned of logistical issues with ballot printing.

A vote of confidence now?

Why? Everybody loves me.

I’m at least as popular here as Nicolás Maduro is in Venezuela.

German opposition parties and business groups on Thursday urged Chancellor Olaf Scholz to trigger a new election quickly to minimize political uncertainty after his rocky three-way coalition collapsed

The chancellor said he would hold a confidence vote in January, which he would probably lose, triggering a new election by the end of March — six months ahead of schedule.

Breaking up is hard to do

But somebody has to do it.

Germany’s loveless coalition teeters on brink of break-up – Chancellor Olaf Scholz snubs partners, fuelling speculation of early elections in spring.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a much-vaunted “industrial summit” on Tuesday, sitting down with business leaders and union bosses to figure out how to pull Germany out its current malaise. Pointedly left off the guest list: his own finance and economy ministers.

Robert Habeck, the economy minister, responded by unveiling plans for a multibillion-euro, debt-financed investment fund — an idea not previously discussed with cabinet colleagues — while finance minister Christian Lindner simply scheduled his own, rival business summit on the same day…

Speculation is growing in Berlin that the alliance could soon collapse, pulled apart by its own internal contradictions. Several German media outlets have even named a possible date for snap elections — March 9, more than six months ahead of schedule.

What can stop it?

Hmmm. That’s a tough one.

What can stop the rise of populism in Germany? How about taking care of the problem you created? You know, like the voters have been demanding you to do for nearly ten years now? Until the migrant madness ends, this “populism” you fear won’t.

What can stop the rise of populism in Germany and elsewhere?

Populist parties are on the rise in Germany as they are all over the world. What can open societies do to protect democracy?

“We have to realize that party democracy is losing structure and strength. Party democracy is changing into a movement democracy, which is much more volatile.”

German of the day: “mach den Biden”

That means to do the Biden. To a politician.

To toss him out, in other words.

Germany’s Scholz risks Biden’s fate – If the chancellor’s SPD party loses a crucial regional election to the far right on Sunday, it could lead to his ouster from the top spot.

As German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Sunday, his political future will likely be decided at home in a regional election 6,000 kilometers away.

One more defeat at the hands of the far right this weekend will almost certainly spell the end, and Scholz could very well share the fate of U.S. President Joe Biden — thrust aside by his panicking party to make way for a candidate who can avoid a massacre in a national election next year.

Irregularity

And it shows.

Germany steps up controls at borders in response to ‘irregular migration’ – New regulations come into force next week following spate of suspected Islamist attacks.

Germany’s interior minister has announced that controls at all of the country’s land borders are to be stepped up in an attempt to confront what it called “irregular migration” after a recent spate of suspected Islamist attacks.

The new regulations are due to start next Monday and to be in place for an initial six months, before being reviewed, Nancy Faeser (SPD) said in a statement.

The move comes after Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), campaigning heavily against migration, this month became the first far-right political party since the Nazi era to win a state election in Germany. It comes ahead of a second round of emergency talks on migration policy due to be held on Tuesday in Berlin between the coalition government, opposition parties and federal states.

Nobody else’s pension system works

Why should Germany’s?

They are all brilliant systems and they all work the same way: You pay into it your entire working life while your government pumps in ever more money to prop it up and thus burden future generations with massive growing debt (interest rates rock). This Ponzi scheme only works if parents have way more children (at least three on average). It stopped working a long, long time ago, in other words.

Germany struggles to fix its pension system – German society is aging fast and the working-age population is shrinking. There are new plans to make the pension system fit for the future, but critics have said they won’t work.