http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121038123776782371.html?
mod=opinion_main_commentaries
OPINION
Obama Promises Germany-Plus
By GABOR STEINGART
May 10, 2008; Page A9
When I begin to feel homesick for Germany, I have discovered a cheap
and easy way out. I simply turn on the TV and listen to a Barack
Obama stump speech.
The promised land of universal health care, secure pensions, a lot of
green-collar jobs and stable bridges brings me back to my home
country. My grandma, who has worked in a post office all her life,
enjoys her pension without having ever observed the stock market.
Everyone who travels through the countryside can see thousands of
windmills, but never a collapsed bridge. And the best: My mom, my
friends and everyone around them have access to first-class medical
services.
Sometimes it appears to me that Mr. Obama wants to trump all that. He
has promised not only a $160 billion program for new green-collar
jobs, a higher minimum wage, affordable health care for everybody, a
massive investment in infrastructure and tax-free status for
pensioners who make less than $50,000. All these nice things come
with no tax increase for 95% of Americans. Wow! That's Germany-plus!
I've been in the U.S. for a while, but if I remember my home country
correctly, all the German comforts come with a price. My grandma has
paid 10% of her salary to the public pension system, and her employer
has matched the contribution. For our health insurance everyone has
to sacrifice 7% of his or her earnings, which again is matched by the
company. Fashionable windmills go along with extra taxes for fuel. A
gallon of regular gas in Munich or Berlin costs – fasten your seat
belt – more than $8.
Not all of my fellow Germans are happy with this, but the
overwhelming majority of my fellow countrymen made their decision a
long time ago. They prefer big government. They have learned to live
with growth rates far behind and an unemployment rate far above the
U.S.
Maybe I am being unfair to Mr. Obama. But it seems to me that the
agent of change was window-shopping in Germany without looking at the
price tag. You should ask him for the bill.
Mr. Steingart is the senior correspondent in Washington, D.C., for
Der Spiegel news magazine and author of the "The War for Wealth – The
True Story of Globalization" (McGraw Hill, 2008).
------------------------------------
*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm
*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf
*****************************************
MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm
*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/
*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm
*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm
*****************************************
Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm
****************************************************
VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/
****************************************************
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: