And their only "sin" was running a tight ship.
Germans face bitter round of budget cuts as the price of eurozone bailout
• Toughest austerity measures in Germany since 1945
• Plans for German tax cuts scrapped
• No area of spending 'can be considered taboo', minister warns
Kate Connolly in Berlin
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 May 2010
Germans have been urged to face reality today as the full impact of the euro bailout on Europe's biggest economy was laid bare by politicians and financial experts for the first time.
The nation is to be forced to make savings more extensive than at any time since the end of the second world war, with education and family welfare expected to take the largest hits.
The sobering figures emerged just after Germany's cabinet gave the go-ahead for Germany to put up €123bn (£105bn) towards the rescue package to stabilise the eurozone. That figure could rise to almost €150bn if needed.
Germans now face several years of belt-tightening, with Roland Koch, the deputy leader of chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and the minister-president of the state of Hesse, saying that no areas "can be considered taboo". more
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