Overview

• Maybrit Illner’s 25 September broadcast tackled the social state with Paul Ziemiak, Philipp Türmer, Verena Bentele, Boris Palmer and Eva Quadbeck.
• Boris Palmer warned that municipalities face roughly €35 billion in deficits this year and said local finances are heading for a crash.
• Several panelists on Illner, including the moderator, argued that Bürgergeld is not the big budget item driving the strain on public finances.
• On Markus Lanz the same night, Karl Lauterbach linked AfD gains to a widespread sense of injustice and called for structural health‑system reforms rather than more money.
• Economist Martin Werding flagged major inefficiencies in healthcare financing, while Lanz’s 24 September show kept foreign and security issues in focus with Manfred Weber and NATO analysis.