The technical quality of politics can be measured quite well by the role played by moral considerations and demands. Sure, you can’t do without morality, but all too often it’s used to cover up tangible deficits. This is also the case now in the debate about the burden on citizens and companies caused by the exploding prices of energy sources. First it was said in the federal government that some companies should voluntarily forgo the gas surcharge. So one should be so noble because the Federal Ministry of Economics has not managed to distinguish legally between more and less needy companies? The SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil went one better and spoke of “indecent free riding”. No sovereign acting chancellor party speaks like that.
Which could be because the SPD is anything but self-confident. Because she not only shoots at companies, but also violently against the top representative of her Green coalition partner, Economics Minister Robert Habeck. New style, respectful interaction, joint search for solutions? Oh, what do I care about my gossip from yesterday, a CDU chancellor would have said.