Cheryl on the Web

Unlike the American conservatives, German conservatives love taxes. As luck would have it, guess who’s in charge of Germany at the moment - the conservatives. And not only do they love taxes, but they seem intent on eliminating what’s left of a middle class here in Germany. Have a look at this Wikipedia entry that shows how the tax brackets have changed in the last 30 years:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einkommensteuer_(Deutschland) Whereas in 1975 the top tax bracket started at EUR 66,000 (converted from 130,000 German Mark) and taxed people at 56%, today the top tax bracket starts at EUR 52,152 and taxes people at 42%. And let me tell you, 66000 Euro was a lot more back then than it is now! Germany thinks it’s making real progression in the tax scale area: starting in 2007, it implemented a “rich people” tax that taxes income above EUR 250,000 per year at 45%. A whopping 3% more than the highest tax bracket. By way of comparison, have a look at the US tax brackets for 2007. There, the tax bracket just under the “rich people” bracket doesn’t start until about EUR 125,000.

I couldn’t figure out when we came to Germany why the supermarkets all compete on price and not on quality, atmosphere, or selection. But I’m beginning to form a theory that there is just not a significant middle class out there that is willing “en mass” to spend that additional amount for better selection or quality. And there’s no reason for that middle class to be ambitious about their salary either: a raise will probably just put them into a tax bracket 5-10% higher than the one they’re already in; it’s more advantageous to stay in a lower bracket and get tax cuts and subsidies.

The German economy is facing dropping consumption, and the government has promised .. that it will not lower taxes. Ever. Can you believe it? Of course, the people making the laws are all well above middle class - they’ve got no reason to change anything, they’re getting a break. I guess what I’m driving at is: there should be higher taxes in the top brackets, and the current top bracket here in Germany should be split up.

When I started this blog just over a year ago, I was raving about my new MacBook. It looked good, it performed well, it was cute and sexy and intelligent all in one package! 15 months later though, I’m beginning to feel like a slightly disgruntled customer. I so want to love Apple, as much for their ideology as for their products, but they are making it tough. (more…)

Disclaimer: If you are not familiar with the SQL Server 2005 equivalent of SQL Server 2000 packages - SSIS packages - then you need not read further.

For the rest of you: beware of the limitations you will face when using the Execute Integration Services Package task in SSIS workflow for SQL Server 2005. Under other circumstances, when running such a package as a job or manually, you can pass in configuration settings using XML configuration files or using command line parameters. Unfortunately, when running a package as a nested (”child”) package using this SSIS package task, you can’t pass in any configuration options (more…)

I grew up in the USA. Believe me, I have an idea of what freedom means. At least I thought I did, until I came to Europe. Then I began to miss a lot of the freedoms I had always taken for granted, like the freedom to drive a car; the freedom to go grocery shopping at any hour of the day or night; the freedom to leave the country or get married; the freedom to work where I want. And then I understood even more what freedom means.

I lost most of these freedoms only temporarily - and in some senses voluntarily, since I was a foreigner living under the rules of a host country - but the point here is not why I lost the freedoms but the effect it had on me. In particular, it wasn’t until this month that I exercised the one freedom I’d lost for over 5 years: (more…)

The German government’s media watchdog is criticizing the song competition “Germany Looks for the Superstar” (in other countries known as “Pop Idols” or “Idols”) as “a conscious portrayal” of “antisocial behavior” as “cool” and “promising” (Spiegel.de). According to the leader of the Commission for Youth Media Protection, the popular TV show chooses which candidates are shown to the public and how they are portrayed in such a way that a quota of humiliation and mortification is met. “It is everything but normal, to overrun a candidate with descriptors of the foulest category, to make him look ridiculous due to supposed outward deficits, and to portray this as socially preferable [behavior]”. A leftist member of the Parlament in Germany has called the show “disruptive to the life dreams and self-confidence of rejected candidates”.

Interesting, is my first standard reaction on reading this news article. The criticism isn’t without a basis. (more…)

I thought I’d heard it all when, on Thursday of this week, the CEO of the German postal service was taken in for questioning on a warrant for tax evasion: tax evasion to a sum of more than 10 million euro. The man, named Klaus Zumwinkel, had (until this week) a prestigious reputation in the business world, and he is (or was until this week) member of the Board of many large companies such as German Telecom, Lufthansa and Morgan Stanley. Apparently he grounded foundations in Liechtenstein and used them to hide money from German tax authorities. It has come as a huge shock to most of Germany that this man would commit tax fraud to such an extent, not to mention the resentment felt by many that someone with so much money would find it necessary to avoid paying taxes, so that the less well-to-do can pick up the slack.

Yesterday the story took a new turn worthy of consideration: it seems that the information which lead to the case against Zumwinkel (and against many others German tax “sinners”, not yet named) was turned over to the German government by a secret informant in Liechtenstein for the sum of between 4 and 5 million euro, paid by the German secret intelligence service. The information included memo’s, details of financial transactions, and Liechtenstein bank account numbers that were involved in the tax evasion schemes. Two large Liechtenstein banks are implicated by the information, and the press as well as the banks have yet to establish how the information was obtained by the informant. Tax evasion is not officially a crime in Liechtenstein; foundations incorporated there are allowed to benefit the founder; and Liechtenstein banks have a strong policy of secrecy and confidentiality - so the value of this information to German tax authorities and the embarrassment it presents to Liechtenstein should not be underestimated.

This entire saga brings to mind a number of fascinating moral questions. (more…)

Signs I am integrating into German culture, that is.

1. Can tell you about the most ridiculous contestants on the German Idols (Deutschland Sucht den Superstar) TV-show from last week.
2. Didn’t break out in tears of culture-shock frustration on Sunday even though the stores were closed and we desperately needed light bulbs for our new lamp.
3. Know more about the status of the Hessen provincial elections than the US primaries.
4. Decided to watch Tim play Wii Chess but secretly missed watching my Monday-night CSI show in German.
5. Expect to get my new German drivers license this week, which will mean relinquishing my only piece of Dutch legal identity.
6. Can no longer touch type on a US keyboard because the keys aren’t in the same place as the German keyboard at the office.
7. Can get a Milchhörnchen (”milk horn” croissant) from the baker without having to re-pronounce the word at least three times.
8. Took a walk after lunch two workdays in a row without feeling guilty.
9. No longer start sweating at the sight of all my favorite software on my work computer being entirely in German.
10. Have bought and eaten 3 loaves of German bread in the last week, the authenticity of which was proven by the weight: 1000g (2.2lb) per loaf.