Schröder's Not Proud of This Record

With Deutsche Telekom posting a record €24.5 billion loss for the first three-quarters of the year, just about the only thing going smoothly in Germany's economy right now is music sales. A savage single satirizing Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, The Tax Song , soared toward No. 1, selling over 300,000 copies since its release.

The song is part of a wave of sharp criticism that the government has faced since announcing a series of tax increases and benefit cuts only weeks after the general election. Last week members of the Green Party, who are in coalition with Schröder's Social...