Aurelia Butler

BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday his government would make Europe’s largest economy fit for the future by fostering investment in climate protection and digitalization, vowing no one would be left behind in this major transformation.The Social Democrat’s first major address to parliament since replacing conservative leader Angela Merkel last week focused largely on domestic issues, emphasizing the immediate need to tackle the pandemic and the longer-term task of modernizing both the economy and society.Yet the 63-year old, who has paid visits to Paris, Brussels and Warsaw since taking office, also underscored the importance of strengthening the European Union and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with transatlantic allies in the face of security threats like the Russian military build-up in Ukraine.”We have about 23 years ahead of us in which we must and will get out of fossil fuels which means the biggest transformation of our industry and economy in at least 100 years,” said Germany’s new chancellor.Scholz served as vice chancellor and finance minister in coalition with Merkel over the past four years. But he has vowed his unprecedented three-way coalition with the ecological Greens and liberal Free Democrats would be a “restart”.Germany needed to double renewable energy production by 2030 but also to expand infrastructure like charging stations for electric vehicles, he said.His government would create the framework for most of the investment in Germany’s future to be private, for example expanding the state bank’s role in supporting start-ups.Such a transformation could only work if there was social cohesion, Scholz said, highlighting plans to raise the minimum wage and make society more inclusive, for example through self-identification for transgender people and the liberalization of citizenship laws.”We are an immigration country … but we must work at becoming a better country for integration,” he said, adding that his government aimed to make it easier for foreigners to come work in Germany.Opposition lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum focused their criticism of the new government on its proposals to fund public investments by taking on billions of euros in extra debt. Those on the far-left criticized it for not raising taxes on the wealthy and those on the right accused it of unsustainable financial policy.Running at just under 70% of GDP, Germany’s debt ratio is far smaller than that of France, on 115%, or the United States, on more than 160%, but Scholz has nonetheless faced criticism over his government’s budget plans.The opposition conservatives said on Tuesday they would file a complaint with the constitutional court about the new government’s plans to tap unused debt from this year’s budget for future spending on climate and economic transformation.NO RED LINESScholz said his immediate priority would be tackling the pandemic, warning there would be “no red lines” for his government in fighting Germany’s fourth wave and imploring citizens to get vaccinated.He touched on foreign policy an hour into his speech, saying the success of the European Union was a top priority for Germany and his government would work to strengthen the bloc. One aim was to see qualified majority voting at the European Council expanded.Scholz, who is due to attend his first EU summit as chancellor on Thursday, has big shoes to fill after Merkel helped navigate the bloc through multiple crises during her 16 years in office.The two leaders share a down-to-earth, conciliatory manner and a calm rather than charismatic attitude – qualities on display in his sober speech on Wednesday in which he thanked Merkel for her handover that was, he said, a global lesson in citizenship.On Europe’s most immediate crisis, Scholz reiterated warnings that any violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity by Russia would have a high price although Berlin still wanted a dialogue with Moscow.”We will speak with one voice here with our European partners and our transatlantic allies,” he said. More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Having averted an embarrassing government shutdown and potentially catastrophic default this month, Democrats in the U.S. Congress now move on to the even harder task of passing President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion domestic investment bill.After months of intraparty dickering, moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin was withholding his support for the sweeping bill that would expand social programs and invest in technology to battle climate change, complicating Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s goal of approving it before Christmas just 10 days away.”The president’s been speaking with Senator Manchin and I look forward to hearing about further progress,” Schumer said on Tuesday, refusing to retreat from his timetable but not guaranteeing success.The Senate Democratic leader scored a victory on Tuesday when Congress gave final approval to raising the government’s $28.9 trillion debt limit, averting a catastrophic default.But with no votes to spare in passing Biden’s “Build Back Better” (BBB) initiative amid solid Republican opposition, Schumer now faces his biggest challenge since becoming majority leader in January. He is feeling the heat from all sides.His top lieutenant, Senator Dick Durbin, has been clamoring for a showdown that would force Manchin to either fall into line and vote for the bill or defy Biden in a way that could severely damage his presidency and Manchin’s own party.Asked whether Schumer should schedule votes on Build Back Better without nailing down victory, Durbin said: “It’s always a risk,” adding: “Many people will sit on the fence as long as possible. There comes a time when you’ve got to say … put up or shut up.”Some moderate Democratic senators saw no urgency in Schumer’s Christmas deadline.”If we get it done before Christmas, great. If it goes into New Year’s, that’s fine,” Senator Jon Tester told reporters.Such flexibility infuriates liberals, who have already swallowed a raft of compromises amid a promise of quick action if they helped pass a separate, $1 trillion, bipartisan road and bridge-building infrastructure bill, which they did.”The agreement from the beginning was that it was one deal,” Senator Elizabeth Warren, a leading progressive, told reporters. “And yet we seem to be having trouble pulling the BBB part across the finish line.”Schumer’s predicament is similar to what Democrats faced over a decade ago when, without Republican support, they struggled to enact the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, which promised to make health insurance affordable to millions of Americans.It finally passed in an election year and became the landmark achievement of Barack Obama’s presidency, just as Build Back Better could be for Biden.Some political observers think Biden can afford to wait until early next year, maybe into January or February, to secure a victory. After that, lawmakers’ attention will turn almost exclusively to the Nov. 8 congressional elections.But a delay has pitfalls as it gives individual Democratic senators time to mull more ways for changing the legislation and more time for House Democrats – both liberals and moderates – to complain about any emerging compromise.’FAILURE TO DELIVER’The interrelated issues of the economy and the COVID-19 pandemic will be the top campaign issues, former Senate Democratic aide Jim Manley predicted. But he added: “For Democrats who want to run on a positive agenda, the failure to deliver here is going to be very damaging.”A middle ground, he added, could see negotiators “continue to slim down the package under the belief the progressives will take whatever the Senate sends over.”As the waning days of the 2021 session of Congress tick down, the Senate parliamentarian still must rule on whether a raft of provisions in Build Back Better, including a major reform of immigration policy, adhere to Senate rules.The final version of the legislation must then be written and signed off on by the 50-member Senate Democratic caucus.It is a gargantuan task to achieve over few days, as Republicans sit on the sidelines cheering for failure.”They’ve (Democrats) got to keep the stiff upper lip” for now, said No. 2 Senate Republican John Thune.”The smart ones over there realize this can’t and shouldn’t happen before the Christmas holidays and we’ll just see how long it takes for leadership to come to the same conclusion,” he added. More