Overview

• Philipp Türmer urges higher taxes on the very wealthy and top earners to fund public services and safeguard the social state.
• He outlines structural steps including bringing civil servants, the self-employed and MPs into the pension system, raising the contribution ceiling, advancing toward a Bürgerversicherung and consolidating statutory health insurers.
• Türmer argues cuts would not close the gap, noting that tougher action on so‑called Bürgergeld “Totalverweigerer” would yield under €100 million.
• The CDU/CSU youth leader counters that the coalition should trim what he calls an overgrown welfare state, reflecting broader Union resistance to tax increases.
• CSU leader Markus Söder labels the coalition agreement the government’s “bible” and expects agreed Bürgergeld changes to proceed, as Türmer also presses for a Wehrdienst based solely on voluntariness with no activatable compulsion.