What Obama Can Learn From Germany on Unemployment and Debt

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Welcome to the 21st Century, Bill Hedges of MO.
All your so-called statistics from the 1990's are irrelevant and just goes to show how out of touch you are with reality. By your logic the US economy was fine in the 1990s so its doing great now, or the US once had the most robust manufacturing economy, therefore our manufacturing industries are doing fine now.
Germany had the benefit of the Marshall Plan to revive their economy - its time we start a Marshall Plan for America, instead wasting hundreds of billions for rebuilding Middle Eastern countries while American infrastructure deteriorates and our industries move offshore.
Truth be told Republicans don't want to invest in America, they only want to give away the treasury to billionaires investing overseas or stashing their cash in offshore tax havens. The Republican Deficit Spending model doesn't work. Tax reduction did not create any jobs over the past decade. Lowering taxes for billionaires does not help revive the economy or create jobs, it only shifts the tax burden to the middle class and poor, and is a recipe for economic disaster.
Give Germany credit, they have a sense of economic patriotism - call it nationalistic but they take care of their own before giving away billions to our entitlement class of billionaires who are not investing inthier own country, as is the case here in America.

John of DE 3:23PM December 20, 2010

You say “I think that health care reform is a great idea.”. Then “I found "Wise Health Insurance" search for them online and you can get affordable health insurance instantly. ” Seems like there is a inconsistency there. Unless you are plugging a insurance company which you may be doing.
Maybe there is a better, cheaper way to health coverage. I think there is. Go on internet and check out plans across the Nations. Find one that fits you. Not limited to companies approved by the State you live in. Free market. Obamacare company must be on approved list. Unfit company list I could see. Then again, unfits should be closed down.
I understand diabetes. I have. New obamacare regulations are wiping children health plans into the trash pins. Advantage plans along with Special Need Plans are disappearing. I had but one SNP company plan to choice from this year. Many last year.
Business plans are going away, though barry has wavered 222 businesses of regulations. These 222 include McDonalds and different unions.
When obamacare passed, barry said we could keep our plan. Mine closed their doors. Others in same boat.
Remember nothing is free, insurance companies had to raise their rates to cover what now is required. Liberals will yell G R E E D. But if you buy a $10,000 more expensive car than planned, monthly car payment will be higher with same down payment, interest rate, and length of loan...

Bill Hedges of MO 8:21PM December 18, 2010

"By international standards, the German welfare system is comprehensive and generous. However, not everyone benefits equally. In the mid-1990s, the so-called safety net was deficient for the lower-income strata and the unemployed. It was also inadequate for persons needing what Germans term "social aid," that is, assistance in times of hardship. In 1994, for example, 4.6 million persons needed social aid, a 100 percent increase since the 1980s. Germans who had been citizens of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany), which became part of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany) in 1990, tend to be overrepresented in each of these groups."
"Women are more at a disadvantage than any other social group. This fact stems from the bias of German social insurance programs in favor of a male breadwinner model; most women receive social and health protection by virtue of their dependent status as spouse. Hence, despite the existence of a comprehensive interlocking social net, women face inequalities in accruing benefits in their own right because of periods spent rearing children or caring for an elderly parent. Divorced women also fare poorly because of the welfare system's provisions, as do widows, whose pensions are low."
"In addition to these problems or shortcomings, Germany's social welfare and health programs have had to contend with the unification of the former West Germany and East Germany in 1990. West Germany's approach to social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance (which did not exist in the former GDR), accident insurance, and social aid and assistance has been applied to East Germany. This fact has meant that the complex and heterogeneous organizational and financial arrangements present in the former West Germany to deliver health and social services have had to be built up in the former East Germany, in many cases entirely from scratch."
http://countrystudies.us/germany/111.htm
"In eastern Germany unemployment is high, as a result of the radical restructuring process. The officially measured rate is around 10 per cent., but a great many of the workers who make up "real" unemployment are not included in the statistics because they are counted as short-time workers or are working under job creation schemes or in job creation companies ."
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emire/GERMANY/UNEMPLOYMENT-DE.htm

Bill Hedges of MO 10:42PM December 17, 2010

Bonus for the German people that they have national health care, a great social safety net, strong unions, and little unemployment.
The only downsize to the Germany's good fortune is that the people actually pay for their high standard of living, a higher standard of living than ours here in the states. Not like us Americans who just put everything on the Uncle Sam's credit cards for the next generation to pay off the deficit we seem to be stocking up on.

John of NE 9:33PM December 17, 2010

"Clocking in just beneath Finland is Germany, with a 45% marginal tax rate on average income workers. Despite having the largest national economy in Europe (and the fourth largest in the world measured by nominal GDP), Germany has effectively traded off having a comprehensive social safety net against more robust economic growth."
http://www.businesspundit.com/12-countries-with-the-highest-lowest-tax-rates/
How much of their income tax is used to fund their health care ? I figured Country you bragged about for their health care was Germany. They pay high cost for that. While barry says his plan will reduce. While medicare and CBO studies say untrue.
I wonder how Democrats would respond to workers paying 45 % tax rate ????????

Bill Hedges of MO 5:43PM December 17, 2010

The Germans did not engage in excessive debt - consumer and commercial. It is against their core values - so they keep more cash on their balance sheets and more savings in their accounts. That is why Germany has not suffered as much during this recession. They had not built a tower on a foundation of smoke & mirrors, so the tower did not collapse. Yes - some, but a minor %, so individuals fell - not entire sectors. Most Americans are buried in debt - that's why they are losing their homes in record numbers.
The German nature is to balance the budget - protect its manufacturing industries, subsidize diesel to encourage diesel technology advancement, set up windmills and solar panels and biomass plants to reduce the use of fossil fuels and nuclear, recycle almost all garbage - glass, paper, plastic and use of return deposit bottles, remove chemicals from food and fake food coloring and hormones, pay substantial stipends to new mothers with small babies, support the unemployed with generous monthly income, support public transit and high speed rail, keep college tuitions in the hundreds of dollars instead of the thousands, provide viable universal healthcare that covers all citizens - and their longer lifespan than ours says it is working.
Labor unions are still a strong voice there - but work WITH management and the government to ensure everyone wins. Sure they have strikes, but generally the labor force is well-paid, well protected legally, and well-rested on long vacations. Everyone compromises from time to time in this relationship.
The German approach also is very structured - rules and regulations that require people to recycle if they want their trash picked up, many limitations on banks and business to ensure no one goes haywire, many norms regarding the EU and harmonizing the German economy with it, a team player mentality that has Germany helping financially within the EU structure (e.g. GReece)
They spend a tiny fraction on their military, and instead spend on new train stations, roads, and caring for the elderly.
Mary Kate - all this structure, rules, legislation, government controls over business, peer pressure, savings, renting instead of owning homes, universal healthcare, strong welfare and social security, and oh yes - I forgot - HIGH TAXES - would make your GOP/TP hair curl.
You can't just pick what you like out of the package - it all works together. I have lived there, and like it. You probably wouldn't, so be sure you understand what you are endorsing. Merkel has a much more collaborative colation government to work with - not the bunch of raving hyenas threatening people who just wanted decent healthcare that Obama gets to work with here. Merkel would never have to worry about a house of the government holding welfare or unemployment benefits hostage to get a tax cut for wealthy Germans. They all pay high taxes, get a lot for it, and like structure. Not your typical GOP/TP profile....

DeeToo of SC 4:24PM December 17, 2010