frozen snapshot — 2026-08-13 · see today →

What's on Friedrich Merz's mind?

read fresh this morning at 6

26%21%16%12%25%

new powers for the spies 26% the welfare state he calls unaffordable 21% · newthe deal with the Taliban 16% · newconfidence at rock bottom 12% · neweverything else 25%

Germany hands its intelligence services their biggest expansion in decades

Politico and Bloomberg both report the Putin threat is buying the BND powers no peacetime chancellor has asked for.

German Spies to Gain New Powers in Deterring Mounting Threats

Bloomberg.com · 2026-08-12

our translation

putin is the alibi and the argument at once. when your own approval is 14 percent, 'the threat is real' is the one sentence nobody in the coalition votes against.

Politico and Bloomberg carried it same dayvery sure · 3 sources

Merz moves to kill retirement at 63 and says the welfare state can't go on

new — Coalition discontent over retirement at 63pretty sure · 2 sources

Afghan dissidents in Germany read the Taliban deal as a door closing

new — Two outlets, well off last week's volumepretty sure · 2 sources

Confidence in every German party hits an all-time low, and Le Monde calls him isolated

new — All-party confidence at record lowvery sure · 2 sources

thursday, august 13

Sell scrapping retirement at 63 to a coalition that hates it(reported)

Sign off on the intelligence services' expanded powers(reported)

Say 'the welfare state as we know it is unaffordable' out loud again(reported)

Read the all-time-low confidence poll, then put it face down(safe bet)

rebuilt from the public schedule, pool reports & old habits — the rest is educated guessing

The source

The German government proposes the elimination of early retirement at 63, causing discontent within the coalition and among the population.

news.google.com · 2026-08-13

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