Lars Feld: State finances: Up to 100 percent penalty tax and still no regrets
Whoever receives more in the country’s financial equalization loses almost everything again. But why the system allows even plans for socialization and excessive debt to go unpunished. A guest post.
After the state elections in Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Saxony-Anhalt, a discussion emerged on social media about whether the federal financial compensation could possibly discipline questionable state policies. On X, the Baden-Württemberg Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz wrote, "If a state government engages in legally questionable special paths, this has consequences for trust and cooperation in federalism, including financial matters."
The debate picks up again in the wake of the elections in Berlin, given the utopian fantasies of the Left in terms of socialization. Some observers of the struggle of the federal government to implement reforms despise being torpedoed by the states and even wish for a departure from the federal principle. "Read also: Bavaria and Hesse want to take money away from Berlin under a leftist government" The sober assessment reveals all of this as utopian fantasies.
Article 20 Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law states that "The Federal Republic of Germany is a democratic and social federation." In addition, Article 79 Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law guarantees that a change in the Basic Law affecting the structure of the federation in states, the fundamental participation of states in legislation, or the principles laid down in Articles 1 and 20 is impermissible.
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