And yet the social democrats have infamously implemented reforms that drastically cut back on worker's rights and social welfare. The reason the government can

And yet the social democrats have infamously implemented reforms that drastically cut back on worker's rights and social welfare. The reason the government can't go below the Existenzminimum is that this would be a violation of the constitution's guarantee of human dignity according to the federal constitutional court of Germany, not because it would annoy the poors. Also there is documented corruption in almost all political parties in federal politics. Most of that corruption is legal though but the beneficiaries are decidedly not the recipients of the "social security system" but rather of public-private partnerships and subsidies. If you think the poor are leeching off society then the same goes for the fossil fuel industry, the agricultural industry, car manufacturing and other industries that are heavily subsidised and benefiting for extremely specific tax exemptions and funding programmes. One of the biggest beneficiaries of the COVID relief programs in Germany unlike the US was not ordinary taxpayers but airlines and large manufacturing companies.