German Chancellor doing Heil Hitler salute with other German officials!!!

Thanks Warner Brothers/Leni Riefenstahl and Dick Strong if you're
involved.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?vDtQCmbe3V0Bs

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/WO-AB056_MERKEL_DV_20100523165507=
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704904604575262802823783996.h=
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MAY 24, 2010 Merkel Faces Loss of Political Clout
German Backlash Puts Pressure on Chancellor to Resist Efforts for
Greater Euro-Zone Integration Amid Debt Crisis

By MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG And MARCUS WALKER
BERLIN7German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a growing popular
backlash over her handling of the European debt crisis that could
undercut efforts to forge closer integration of the euro zone.

Recent poll data suggest that a majority of Germans have lost
confidence in Ms. Merkel's leadership ability while support for her
center-right coalition has reached a low point.

More than 60% of Germans believe Ms. Merkel has shown poor leadership
during Europe's debt crisis and that she no longer has full control of
her government, according to a poll by research institute Emnid and
German television news channel N-24 that was published late last week.

Chancellor Angela Merkel casts a vote in parliament Friday in Berlin.
The latest poll data follow a stinging election defeat for Ms.
Merkel's coalition this month that cost it control of Germany's upper
house of parliament and the power to push through legislation on its
own.

Taken together, the developments indicate Ms. Merkel lacks the
political capital she would need to push through overhauls of the euro
zone that could cost Germany some sovereignty over its budget and
economic policies, analysts say.

A consensus has been building among economists and European Union
officials that euro-zone members need to closely coordinate fiscal
policies to prevent future crises like the one that has pushed Greece
to the brink of default.

Many economists believe such cooperation would be necessary to
alleviate the chronic imbalances that currently exist between Germany
and much of the rest of the euro zone.

Yet Germany, the political and economic linchpin of the 16-nation
currency bloc, has resisted proposals for deeper integration that
would force countries to coordinate economic and tax policies. That
position is in keeping with Germany's traditional stance on closer
integration within the euro zone. But some political observers say
that Ms. Merkel, a pragmatist with a record of bucking party ideology,
might support deeper reforms to keep the euro zone intact if she
could.

Instead of pulling the currency bloc's members closer together, Ms.
Merkel's government advocates politically popular changes to euro-zone
rules that would sharpen budget oversight and sanctions for countries
that violate the area's spending limits.

By focusing on those issues rather than economic policy, Ms. Merkel is
trying to appease a German public that is already angry over her
decision to loan billions to Greece, analysts say.

"This is the most difficult situation Merkel has faced as chancellor,"
says Gerd Langguth, a political scientist at Bonn University and Ms.
Merkel's biographer. "The psychological discomfort of the Germans
about being the paymaster of Europe is the reason why Merkel's
leadership is being questioned."

If Germany were to bring its economic policies in line with the
broader euro zone, it would have to sacrifice what many in German
business see as the country's key achievement in recent years7
competitiveness.

Journal Community
Unlike countries such as Spain and Greece, where wages have surged
since the introduction of the euro, wage growth in Germany has been
tame, allowing German industry to maintain its competitive edge.

That has translated into a robust export sector that drives the rest
of the German economy even as consumer demand has remained tepid. Yet
industry in much of southern Europe, where productivity lags behind
Germany, has suffered as a result, compounding the current crisis.

"Other euro members won't be able to put their public finances on a
sustainable footing if their economies cannot return to economic
growth," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for
European Reform. "It's all very well to talk about the need for
greater fiscal discipline7that's only one element of the problem,
which is why Germany's strategy lacks any real credibility with the
markets or with its European partners."

In addition to stricter fiscal oversight, Ms. Merkel's government has
also championed financial-market restrictions aimed at speculators7
including a ban on certain types of short selling and a financial
transaction tax7that caught the country's European partners and the
U.S. off guard.

"She wanted to do something popular to show Germans that she's acting
faster than other countries," Mr. Langguth said. "Banning naked short
selling has a pure function of showing the Germans we're resisting the
speculators."

For now, Ms. Merkel is sticking to plans to cut government spending in
the coming years, a policy that economists say will further thwart
consumer spending in Europe's largest economy.

In order to comply with Germany's "debt brake," a law that requires
the government to cut the federal deficit close to zero, the
government will have to cut more than 010 billion (about $12.5
billion) a year out of its budget between 2011 and 2016.

If Germany succeeds, it will have set a powerful example for the type
of frugality it is demanding of its euro-zone partners. Critics of
that policy say Germany is sending a potentially dangerous message.

"If all economies were to pursue the course that Germany advocates7
cuts in budgets and real wages7then the euro zone would find itself on
a very dangerous course, economically, socially and politically," Mr.
Tilford says. "If everyone does that simultaneously, the result will
be rampant deflation."