In case you were wondering....I asked Grok (AI)....how much money does Germany (the nation) ship out...past the EU....as 'gift-money' for groups/nations.
Roughly 25-billion Euro aa year.
This topic has come up....as the German poverty-class has begun to ask questions. These are the type that neither the CDU or SPD....can answer.
Well....this 1,400 number gets thrown around a good bit. It's what a average German apprentice kid....entering around age 16....will get around age 67. Figure baker, plumber, heating tech, etc.
Germans talk about this...in a critical way.
If you were smart...around age 30, and invested a bit....working extra hours....you might achieve a investment fund to additionally supplement your 1,400 Euro....with anything from 300 Euro to 1,000 Euro.
Lot of differing numbers, but around 50-to-62 percent supplement 'something' toward the pension situation.
So roughly 40-percent of society do nothing.
Can you survive purely off 1,400 Euro? If you resize your living situation...living in a more rural area....yeah. You'd probably dump the car....drink less booze....and avoid vacations.
If you were marginally paid over the forty-odd year period, and only making 900-Euro a month? You'd be screwed, and probably getting some welfare funding.
End-point? Well....you see this a good bit....where a German reaches age 50, and suddenly realizes the reality...shaking their head.
As of 9 AM today, the 'relief' for German gas prices has been released.
If you didn't know....there are two taxes applied to German gas prices. One is the VAT/sales tax, and the other is the energy tax.
The relief? From the energy tax (NOT the VAT)....17-Euro-Cents will be cut....for two months.
So if you bought a liter yesterday for 2.10 Euro....then the new price would be1.93 Euro (still hefty....about 20-cents above the norm).
What happens in six-to-eight weeks? Well...if the 'war' is still screwing up the pricing....more talks will occur, and I would imagine it'll go for a second two-month period.
Still to be grumbling? Oh yeah. Who will get the blame for the grumbling? Mostly Merz, the CDU, and the SPD.
Wel....for a long time (after the war)....you had three basic parties....left-of-center SPD, the right-of-center CDU-CSU, and the FDP (usually anti-tax and cut budget folks). The FDP served to be the 'partner'....getting a cabinet post or two, and forcing compromises.
As the Green Party arrived....the SPD lost some voters, and started to be a partner. As the Linke Party arrived....more SPD voters switched.
For about 20 years....the SPD and CDU-CSU folks have generally lost voters...to the point that combined....they can't get 50-percent of the seats to hold a coalition.
From 2025....the election results were enough....that the CDU-CSU invited the SPD in for talks. To get a partnership....you end diluting your 'promises' and end up as much a neutral organization....which your voters shake their heads and wonder why they really need to vote.
Announced this AM....German gov't will offer a 'deal'.
Your company can offer you a 1,000 Euro bonus....tax-free. Anything over the 1,000 Euro....has taxes attached.
So my question....out of a hundred average companies in Germany...how many will offer the 'deal'? Twenty? Fifty?
Some will be smart about this....deducting a 1,000 Euro from your check over 12 months, and presenting it to you....as a 'gift'...meaning tax-free status.
I would not be complaining but I doubt if you get more than forty-percent of Germany's work-force getting the deal unless they sneak it to you in some fashion (cutting the monthly check).
1. From WELT over the weekend: Non-German suspects in the state of Bavaria for crimes in general....show an approximately fourfold higher rate of involvement in violent crimes compared to Germans. Syrian suspect? Eleven times higher than a German. Afghan? Fourteen times higher.
2. Talks all weekend by the Merz coalition...announcement to occur this AM about the results to solve the energy crisis.
3. Tatort last night (the German crime show on ARD (channel 1))...featured a German comedian acting as the chief criminal suspect.
Well....it just felt more like a comedy than a murder-show.
4. German gov't discussing less-pay....when you are sick (so you would not get 100-percent compensation).
Most Germans probably have five or six sick-days over an entire year, and won't grumble much over this. However, if you were the gal/guy who took 20 to 30 days a year for sick leave.....yeah, you won't be happy.
You'd board....on time...leave on time, and sit in a respectful cabin (6 seats).
The windows opened (if you needed fresh air). Yeah, there was no AC unit.
A guy would roll a cart around later...selling you a beer, wine or Coke.
Sound-proofed? Well...moderately.
Somewhere in the 1990s....the ultra-modern crap came, and 'classic' got dumped.
The biggest whine? Mostly over the cabin being 'cornered' by older ladies who in December...had the heat up around 32C in the cabin.
Once established....you'd have a agency/group to monitor the companies involved, and spend hours reaching a conclusion that something-is-not-right-but-you-can't-say-what.
So after 2,000 man-hours of audits....you conclude they must be hiding data, and there's just too much profit. You get 'Timmy' (your numbers guys) to invent a maximum profit level....then start taxing.
The company reviews your action, and immediately lessens production or service. It might be one-percent....maybe three-percent....maybe even ten-percent.
'Timmy' tells you a month later....the numbers changed. What 'Timmy' is missing...is that you shifted the product to a slower schedule, or that you moved some production outside of the country.
A new problem is developed (oddly)....there's a shortage of X-product.
A new agency/focus is started....to figure out why shortages now exist. They hire a 'Timmy-2'. His numbers reflect a problem where you need more incentive (cash-flow/profit).
Timmy-1 and Timmy-2 fight over the analysis.
Eventually....a new agency is formed....there seems to be too much regulation. They hire a Timmy-3 to show the numbers.
Someone at this point figures out....the whole excess profits tax has only one purpose....hiring more people to fix a non-existent problem.
