Indeed, the upper 10% of income recipients pay more than 50% of aggregate income tax revenue, and the upper 20% pays about 80%, while 40% of income recipients pay no income taxes whatsoever. Small wonder that a huge majority of the population – and even a slight majority of CDU voters – prefer a strengthening of the welfare state to a more market-oriented system.
社会民主党为了解这些意向付出了高昂的代价：尽管施罗德的自由化改革慎之又慎，但还是引发了党内倒戈，并致使其前任党主席兼前临时财政部长奥斯卡•拉方丹摒弃社民党，另创新党。拉方丹大打公共转移支付受惠人的意向这张牌，并牢牢地占据了左派阵地。他梦想着一个在无限资源泽备下的永恒的福利国家。