tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11585641.post112683800294310838..comments2023-08-07T06:17:52.287-04:00Comments on Random Acts of Logic: Finally The Story Begins!Erik Growhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10200161330427377798noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11585641.post-1128087192659639742005-09-30T09:33:00.000-04:002005-09-30T09:33:00.000-04:00Hah! Yeah, no kidding!Hah! Yeah, no kidding!Erik Growhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10200161330427377798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11585641.post-1127699836370692892005-09-25T21:57:00.000-04:002005-09-25T21:57:00.000-04:00Erik, how did an ordinary guy like yourself get to...Erik, how did an ordinary guy like yourself get to marry the St. Pauli Girl? :-)Tom McMahonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02999772646133246504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11585641.post-1127254862168571022005-09-20T18:21:00.000-04:002005-09-20T18:21:00.000-04:00Has there been any "big" coverage on the results o...Has there been any "big" coverage on the results of the German election in the US? Schröder has shown a quite disturbing attitude towards Merkel and the media at a tv show at the night of the election. In some way he's really addicted to power ...AndiMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16109331479999555211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11585641.post-1127053910860637302005-09-18T10:31:00.000-04:002005-09-18T10:31:00.000-04:00Ok, I wanted to add a few things before sending th...Ok, I wanted to add a few things before sending that comment ;-), but something went wrong *g*. Hm ... The number for a family with 4 people in one household refers of course to the income per year. The free sum of income is supposed to be afaik 8.000 per person and 2.000 in adition.<BR/>So yes I'm prefering the flat tax. Finally it's far more social justice than the current system, where only the rich people can afford investments which help them avoiding paying taxes to some degree.<BR/>Btw: I was at home, but I guess I've been downstaris with my parents drinking coffee and eating a cake (no Apfelstrudel ;-)). So I didn't hear my telephone ringing here upstairs.AndiMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16109331479999555211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11585641.post-1127053453364308732005-09-18T10:24:00.000-04:002005-09-18T10:24:00.000-04:00Hm, it isn't Merkel herself who brought up that id...Hm, it isn't Merkel herself who brought up that idea. It's been Paul Kirchhoff, former judge at the "Bundesverfassungsgericht" (Germany's highest court concerning our constitution ) and expert at Merkel's team for financial things.<BR/>His plans are NOT ONLY about the flat tax, although that's what Schröder and his party try to tell the people. And it's not about making the rich people richer as well: Besides the flat tax he wants to cut a lot (K. says about 450 or something like that) possibilities to save money from the taxes, which is one of our system's mayor problems imo: The rich people don't pay many taxes 'cause there are too many ways to avoid that. Secondly with Kirchhoff's system families don't have to pay that many taxes. E.g. a family with 2 children would have to pay taxes only for their income above 34.000 Euros.AndiMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16109331479999555211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11585641.post-1127048788889416332005-09-18T09:06:00.000-04:002005-09-18T09:06:00.000-04:00Hey Andi! I just tried to call you, but nobody was...Hey Andi! I just tried to call you, but nobody was there. Yes, I know you have the huge election coming up. What I hear though is that Merkel wants to have a flat tax. I think that is insane. It will end up with the people with the highest incomes paying less. I want to be rich one day too, but I also want to pay my fair share! Do you think she would really put in a flat tax if she were elected, and is this something you want?Erik Growhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10200161330427377798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11585641.post-1127043297951493792005-09-18T07:34:00.000-04:002005-09-18T07:34:00.000-04:00Germans' opinion on the US? Hm ... ok, that's a di...Germans' opinion on the US? Hm ... ok, that's a difficult topic.<BR/>The broad mass of people will tell you here: USA = Bush = bad. Of course most people have understood why the US went to Afghanistan after 9/11, no question there. The problem the Germans with Bush's "War on terror" starts with the invasion of Iraq. Most people saw the weapons of mass destruction which Bush claimed to be in Saddam's hands only as a imaginary reason for the States to get their hands on the oil fields in Iraq. The other problem for many people over here was imo the way Bush and friends dealt with the UN. <BR/>Just a note towards the German election today: Schröder was, as you migh know, one of those European politicians who said "No" to the Iraq War and is seen as the "Freedom Chancelor" by quite many Germans, which was one of the mayor reasons why he was re-elected back in 2002. Now in his 2005 election campaigne he's playing that card again and many people are getting convinced by this. That's kind of ridiciolous to me: Germany has currently far more important issues (especially economy and our school and university system) on the desk than arguing about US foreign politics. If this is one of the reasons for another Schröder victory tonight I'll just once more bang my head on some wall for all those Germans not caring about the REALLY IMPORTANT issues and problems ...AndiMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16109331479999555211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11585641.post-1126894808465346612005-09-16T14:20:00.000-04:002005-09-16T14:20:00.000-04:00Actually, I didn't talk to anyone about that too m...Actually, I didn't talk to anyone about that too much, but I did talk a bit about German politics with one guy. It was interesting. He was hoping that Schröder would be re-elected. He said that the flat tax was a really bad idea, which of course he is correct on. Their election is coming up very soon now.Erik Growhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10200161330427377798noreply@blogger.com