BERLIN, GERMANY – NOVEMBER 26: Farmers arrive on tractors at the Brandenburg Gate to protest against new government agriculture policies on November 26, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. The farmers claim they are being unfairly held responsible for the drastic decline in insects. They also say new restrictions on fertilizer use will hurt their grain harvests. (Photo by Michele Tantussi/Getty Images)
You will likely hear the term “farm subsidies” as Western media claim the German farmers are protesting the decisions by government. However, what they are protesting is not a hand-out of government funds, but rather the addition/increase of taxes for diesel fuel and farming equipment.
The planned eight-day countrywide protests by agricultural workers began today. The actions include motorway blockades and are described by the head of the farmers’ association as “the like of which the country has never experienced before.” The government is planning to increase taxes on Diesel fuel and farm equipment as part of the German “Build Back Better” climate agenda.
Additionally, you might remember the Canadian “trucker protests,” when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his left-wing government tried to deflect attention from the justified motive of the truckers by claiming they were Nazis and part of the right-wing extremist conspiracy to destroy government. Well, that same approach is taking place in Germany with government officials claiming the German farmers are backed by right-wing Nazis.
BERLIN, Jan 8 (Reuters) – German farmers kicked off a week of nationwide protests against subsidy cuts on Monday, blocking roads with tractors and piling misery on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition as it struggles to fix a budget mess and contain rising far-right forces.
Convoys of tractors and trucks gathered on roads in sub-zero temperatures in nearly all 16 federal states, while protesters clashed with police and leading politicians warned that the unrest could be co-opted by extremists.
The protests have forced Scholz’s unpopular government into a tricky balancing act, trying to keep a lid on the unrest while sticking to fiscal discipline after a constitutional court ruling in November threw its spending plans into disarray.
“No beer without farmers,” read one protest banner, while another tractor had a poster from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party that read “Our farmers come first.”
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, whose return from holiday last week was disrupted by furious farmers trying to storm the ferry he was on, warned in a video message on Monday that farmers’ right to protest could be exploited by fringe groups.
“Calls are circulating with coup fantasies, extremist groups are forming and ethnic-nationalist symbols are being openly displayed,” said Habeck. (read more)
According to the German government, the farmers are revolting…
Source: Theconservativetreehouse.com
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