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A government minister has her armored Mercedes stolen while on holiday in Spain, prompting a general uproar: voters are up in arms, and Health Minister Ulla Schmidt is under pressure. "Everyone is talking about a car, while at the same time, 102 billion euros of taxpayers' money vanish into a bank," complainsTageszeitung, referring to the rescue of Hypo Real Estate – on the verge of bankruptcy — by the German state in the autumn of 2008. The 102-billion bailout cost every German 1,200 euros, and questions about the circumstances surrounding the deal are now being investigated by a commission of enquiry established in April 2009. "You can count on a general outcry whenever it is a simple issue," laments Tageszeitung, "however, when it is a question of understanding how 102 billion was given to a bank, public opinion is unmoved and no one wants to stick his neck out." It is on this basis that the Berlin daily concludes that another headline — "850,000 state cars disappear, and nobody cares" — would be more than justified.
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