***http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051012/wl_nm/germany_schroeder_dc_4 Schroeder quits government, blasts U.S., Britain By Dave Graham Wed Oct 12,12:05 PM ET BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who has led Germany since 1998, said for the first time on Wednesday he would not play a role in the next government, in an emotional farewell including broadsides at the United States and Britain. "I will not be a part of the next government -- definitely not be part of it," a tearful looking Schroeder told a rapt audience of union members in his home city of Hanover. He quickly composed himself, hitting his stride in a passionate defense of a strong German state and lashing out at "Anglo-Saxon" economic policies favoured in Britain and the United States, which he said had "no chance" in Europe. In an apparent reference to Hurricane Katrina, Schroeder castigated Washington for liberal, hands-off policies that left it exposed in times of crisis. The Bush administration was widely criticised for its response to the devastating storm. "I do not want to name any catastrophes where you can see what happens if organised state action is absent. I could name countries, but the position I still hold forbids it, but everyone knows I mean America," he said to loud applause. Schroeder was speaking two days after his Social Democrats (SPD) said he was ready to step down to allow conservative leader Angela Merkel to front a power-sharing government of their two parties. Her conservatives narrowly beat Schroeder's SPD in a September 18 general election, but failed to win enough seats to build a majority with their preferred coalition partners. Schroeder, who has been urged by some members of his party to stay on as vice-chancellor in a new government, hinted on Tuesday evening he would not stay on but had not ruled it out publicly before. CLASHES OVER IRAQ Schroeder clashed with Britain and Washington in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion and has been at odds with British Prime Minister Tony Blair over the direction of European economic policy. Blair has urged European Union countries to cut back state influence on the economy, running into fierce opposition from both Schroeder and his ally, French President Jacques Chirac. Schroeder stressed the importance of the Franco-German link in his speech, saying it was crucial for the defense of Europe's social model. Merkel, who advocated far-reaching reforms of the German labor market and tax system during the election campaign, has vowed to take a more even-handed approach with France and is seen to be closer to Blair. But as she will rule in a coalition with Schroeder's party, her plans are expected to be watered down. The SPD has won many of the important cabinet positions in the next government, including the foreign and finance ministries. The party plans to decide who will fill those posts on Thursday, SPD sources told Reuters. Peer Steinbrueck, former state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, is a "clear favorite" to take the key role of Finance Minister, sources said. The SPD and the conservatives are due to start formal coalition talks from next Monday. Schroeder will participate in those negotiations, which are due to conclude by November 12. His withdrawal, while not unexpected, is nevertheless a blow to the SPD, which is likely to struggle to fill the void their most charismatic figure leaves behind him. Schroeder has not given any signs of what he could do next, although companies could be keen to make use of his connections and deal-making skills, which he used as chancellor to secure lucrative deals for German industry. (Additional reporting by Iain Rogers) *** Funny he should allude to Katrina. I remember tens of thousands dying in Europe because they had a few weeks of Texas style heat back in 2003. Lot of good "Europe's social model" did back then.
what's the point of saying all that? it just comes off as bad form...sour grapes...whatever you want to call it. go out with dignity.
An interesting inner-European economic battle going on I guess. That would explain German-Franco alliance IMO: an alliance for socialism
Clinging to Europe's "social model" has resulted in >10% umemployment in France and Germany. That is not a good thing.
Yeah, but once you get one of those jobs, it sure is hard to loose it. People like you couldn't fire me just because you came in with a hangover and in a bad mood because that lapdancer wouldn't go home with you the night before.
That argument doesn't hold water. We've been through this argument before. So you're saying that all 10% of their populations have never been employed before in their lives? If they have been employed, I guess it's not that hard to lose your job...
I would still fire you, by the way. If a stripper is not providing bigtexxx with benefits, somebody is going to pay.
Except that hundreds of people also died in the heatwave of 1996 in the US and say what you will of they Clinton Admin. they certainly weren't running a European social model.
I'm with Texx on this one and Shroeder really has no one to blame with himself. Maybe if he had spent some more time working on revamping the German economy instead of criticizing the Bush Admin. he might still be in office. While I certainly don't agree with the Bush Admin on many things I don't think they're too blame for Germany's lagging economy.
To be fair, Schroeder actually pushed through some pretty big corporate tax cuts to bring businesses back to germany as well as an economic package that loosened some of germany's rather strict regulations. The problem was that most of his party wasn't willing to go along which is why he called for early elections. Yea he's whining here but he tried to do something and failed miserably.
It's fashionable to bash French, and now Germany as well, coz they are "not with us" in some events. Yes, the US economy is the strongest in the world, but that doesn't mean its model is the perfect one. Because US is the only successful (but also most successful) example of that model, while the so-called "socialists" European model has quite a few countries with relative success and wealth to back up. Is it just remotely possible that there are something good from that model, before some of you totally dismiss it? Yes, their unemployment rate is at 10%, but you also have to realize they calculate it differently than they do in US. Please correct me if I am wrong, US only calculates those who are receiving unemployment benefits. In other words, if I lost job 18 months ago, am no longer eligible for those benefits, but still without a job, I would not be considered unemployed. That 10% is not THAT far away from that 5%. They are not perfect in social care. The heat wave did cause lots of death directly or indirectly, but can you blame it all on government, local or state? There wasn't report about how the government support was delayed. In Europe, the elderly rate is higher than it is in US. They are not familiar with extreme hot weather as their counterparts in TX. 12 years ago, it wasn't easy to find an air conditioner in a department or electronic store in Germany. Personally, I don't think it's necessary and smart to bring up Katrina when Gerhardt Schroeder did his farewell speech. But on the end, it is a Germany-French against US-Britain thing in Europe now, that's why the so-called old europe and new-europe thing was brought up by US, however, I don't see Britain as anything new. Neither SPD nor CDU can form a majority government with their usual coalitions. After all the attemps failed, the only way to get the country moving forward is to have a coalition between them. In fact, if the ruling party isn't willing to cooperate, calls for a re-election, you can't say that's technically, ethically, or constitutionally wrong, can you? If they argue, the opposition party didn't get the coalition strong enough to take over the goverment, they might still be able to stay in power, you can't say that logically wrong either, can you? They didn't do any of those, as much as you don't like SPD those socialists. Doesn't that mean Democracy prevails? Isn't it a good thing? What else dignity would you expect? Just because he brought up US, all of the sudden he lost dignity? I don't remember Americans had so much negativity about "the old Europe" before, even with the history of WWII. It all started from the war in Iraq maybe. Maybe the mentality nowadays is just different. What was that again? Oh yeah, you are either with us or against us.
real_egal -- 1. people have been bashing the French forever. that's always in fashion. 2. this thread is about the German chancellor...the outgoing chancellor...ripping in to the United States. this isn't French bashing or German bashing. this isn't some random guy on a BBS message board. this is the outgoing German chancellor bashing the US. that's fairly fashionable, as well.
