November 27, 2013.

New German Coalition Pledges Billions in New Spending

"Isn't there a stream somewhere near here?" he whispered.

BERLIN----Germany's two dominant political blocs pledged billions in fresh spending on pensions, education and infrastructure as part of a coalition deal reached in the early hours of Wednesday, but offered little detail on how they would fund the new programs without raising taxes.

"That's right, there is a stream. It's at the edge of the next field, actually. There are fish in it, great big ones. You can watch them lying in the pools under the willow trees, waving their tails."

After 17 hours of negotiations, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union, its Bavarian Christian Social Union sister party and the Social Democrats agreed to introduce a national minimum wage, toughen labor-market rules and allow dual citizenship for the German-born children of immigrants.

"It's the Golden Country----almost," he murmured.

But more suspense is to come. First, the coalition agreement will have to withstand an unusual mail-in referendum that gives the 470,000 members of the left-leaning Social Democrats, or SPD, an up-or-down vote on whether to approve the coalition agreement. Then, the government will have to ascertain that it can afford around €20 billion ($27 billion) in new spending given its pledge not to raise taxes and the German law limiting new government borrowing.