The Chances of Freedom

Transcription

1 The Chances of Freedom The time is ripe for political change in Germany. A new policy must regain the confidence of the people. A new policy given the magnitude of the problems at hand must be clear and bold of objective, rapid of pace. The FDP stands for a bold new start. For the FDP, the free and politically mature citizen is the highest principle on which we base our manifesto and on which we act. It is the citizen who refuses to shut his eyes and let things continue to drift. Our manifesto is based on the following tenets: Production before distribution Private responsibility before state regulation Liberty before equality Self-responsibility rather than faith in the state Equality of opportunities rather than egalitarian leveling For More Jobs and Greater Prosperity What we offer our fellow German citizens is an overall concept for economic and social renewal where the principle of jobs first is applied in implementing measures which will generate growth and new jobs. A concept that achieves growth through tax relief for every taxpayer and a better environment for business. So that you can afford more and businesses can invest more. To achieve this we shall create a simple and equitable system of taxation with low rates of 0%, 15%, 25% and 35% - that will provide relief for all. Every person, including every child, is entitled to a basic tax deduction of 7,700 euros that is being pro-family. We will reform the corporate tax. The tax slabs we propose are 15% and 25%. In the case of sales tax, we propose switching from taxation based on nominal figures to taxation on actual sales figures. This will make businesses competitive once more; this will generate new jobs. We will ensure reliable financs for local government and abolish the trade tax ( Gewerbesteuer ).

2 The FDP has the only well-founded, meticulously calculated concept. It provides for tax relief to the tune of about 17 billion to 19 billion euros. At the other end is a saving of approximately 35 billion euros on public budgets. Once all exemption provisions are removed, it will be possible to file tax returns on a single sheet and within a single hour. The FDP will curtail bureaucracy. Over 90,000 individual rules and regulations prevent over a million new jobs. We demand an inspection agency to scrutinize the costs of bureaucracy. Also the Federal Employment Agency, a bureaucratic monster, must be dissolved. Our goal is to replace it by an employment agency that is efficient and accessible to our citizens. Labor must once again become affordable and competitive. We will reduce social levies and restructure the social security systems. Our objectives are: private health insurance cover with social protection for all a compulsory capital-funded nursing-care insurance system that caters to the needs of all generations a mandatory public pension insurance with long-term low premiums that will be supplemented and thus made sound and secure for the future by means of additional private and company retirement funds We will bring the labor market back into shape. For this we propose: freedom for employees to decide for themselves rather than have trade union officials decide for them labor alliances ( Bündnisse für Arbeit ) on the level of individual companies must no longer be blocked by restrictive cartels the protection against dismissal by law must no longer be an impediment to new recruitment employees in companies which are regulated by worker participation ( Mitbestimmung ) must in future be given the freedom to elect their own representatives to the Supervisory Board. For More Education and Innovation Germany will only have a chance to have well-paid jobs in the long run if we develop new ideas, transfer them into practical technology and then implement them by producing competitive products. Education is our raw material, well-trained people our capital. Education is a civil right.

3 For every individual we seek fair opportunities. Fair opportunities for social advancement. Here our objectives are: fair opportunities at the initial stage through nurturing and development in early childhood a country-wide supply of all-day schools with their own pedagogical concept reduction of the standard period of schooling up to matriculation ( Abitur ) to 12 years across the country. Educational institutions must compete with each other in providing the best education. This means: schools and universities need more autonomy universities must be given the freedom to charge tuition fees if they are to produce excellent results no one may be denied access to university education for financial reasons. Repayment of tuition fees will be due only on completion of the study course, once a corresponding income is forthcoming. We support research and modern key technologies. We have no prejudices against genetic engineering. It helps protect the environment. Pollution-resistant plants could help check hunger worldwide. Applied genetic engineering and biotechnology create new, highly skilled jobs in Germany. We support the advance of medicine, which has long since developed into a genetically-based science, without which modern health care would no longer be conceivable. We are the only party to speak out in favor of stem cells being used for scientific purposes. Whoever puts hurdles in the path of stem cell research time and again, will only gamble away all hope of hitherto incurable diseases - such as diabetes, Alzheimer s and Parkinson s disease - being better understood and treated. We will put research once again in the service of humanity. For More Civil Rights, Freedom, Trust and Participation We are for the state protecting the freedom, property and privacy of our people. For, without security, our citizens cannot enjoy the advantages of a free society. Yet, security must not be at the cost of freedom. We support a domestic and judicial policy directed by a sense of responsibility and sober judgment.

4 Over the past years, a dangerous alliance of red, green and black 1 has time and again curtailed civil rights, rule of law and data protection without Germany becoming the more secure for it. Just more laws alone will not guarantee more security. Germany is not lacking in laws but in proper law enforcement. We will provide optimal equipment to the police and security forces so that both staff and modern technology can be put to well-targeted use. To effectively combat terrorism, we will improve the organizational structures of and the co-operation among the security agencies including at the international level. The existing possibilities for the deployment of the German Federal Armed Forces ( Bundeswehr ) within our country as for instance in the event of a disaster are more than adequate. We will restore banking confidentiality. Rather than suspect all citizens of tax evasion, we support justifiable checks in cases of well-founded suspicion. We will further promote the protection of private data even in the nonpublic sphere: we cannot erect glass houses, not for customers nor for patients nor for doctors. The individual must have the freedom to decide for himself to whom he wishes to convey what, and for what purpose. We are against any kind of routine mass storage of data, unrelated to suspicion. We are for all state surveillance measures being reviewed. Telephone surveillance has to be reduced to the extent which is really necessary. We want fewer but at the same time better laws. In order to follow the laws, the citizen should first understand them. Action by the state must be transparent and comprehensible. Wherever possible, the citizen must be involved in decision-making. An indispensable part of our civil rights policy is the commitment to fight discrimination. Discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, political conviction, disability, age and sexual orientation has no place in an enlightened society. The state cannot appoint itself the custodian of the people. We want a state which the people can trust, and which in turn can trust the people. 1 Colors associated with different German political parties, i.e. the Social Democratic Party, the Greens and the Christian Democratic Union

5 For More International Cooperation and Stability Our foreign policy is value-based: in acting on behalf of German interests, we are led by our support for democracy, human rights, rule of law and market economy. We wish to re-establish relations of cooperation with the USA on the basis of mutual trust. We support a policy anchored in European integration. We will strengthen the dialogue with our small and medium-sized partner countries in Europe and get the German-French engine of integration started again. We are in favor of a critical partnership with Russia in which human rights violations must be brought up and civil societies strengthened. Our special relationship with Israel and the war on international terror call for greater engagement on our part in promoting processes of democratization particularly in the Arab world. We count on international cooperation to repel dangers: on a reform of the United Nations, a strong NATO and a strengthened European Union. To realize our contribution we need armed forces that are well-trained, well-equipped, in a state of full preparedness and capable of being rapidly moved. Only a voluntary army can guarantee this. Universal conscription can no longer be justified; it must be suspended. Germany Needs More FDP The FDP advocates more freedom and courage for the future. Today, the greater risk lies not in changing what exists but in not attempting it. For, without the willingness to change, there will be no better future. Vote for the FDP and vote for more jobs and more tax relief Vote for the FDP and vote for more education and more freedom of research Vote for the FDP and vote for the protection of civil rights and the strengthening of the right to individual liberty. The opportunity is yours. Use it. By voting for the FDP

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