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German and Austrian politics: Twilight of the conservative parties


Luzifer's right hand
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2 hours ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Meanwhile on the supposedly other end of the spectrum (German language link).

I really hate Wagenknecht and her entourage so much. What is wrong with that woman, seriously?

I don't know. At this point I have to assume that they are just trolling. But then...my father has an Ukrainian girlfriend and has lived with her for a few years in central Ukraine. They are so pro Russia that I can't even talk with them anymore. There are people who really believe in the just cause of the poor Russian occupiers. 

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Our chancellor is calling a crisis summit today because we are getting 50% of the expected natural gas now. Completely unexpected I guess because he assumed his brow-nosing behind closed doors worked when he visited Putin.

A friend who works at the fuel/gas storage facility run by a subcontractor of OMV told me that they installed barbed wire last week. Sounds like the plot of a bad movie. That our main refinery had an accident during start-up after a showdown did not help. A mostly identical refinery in Germany has canceled plans to postpone its own shutdown because of that.

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  • 2 months later...

A energy company owned by the city if Vienna which had a revenue of ~3000 million € last year needs at last ~6000 million €. The causes seems to be futures/shorts. They money is not lost ...yet and the amount might increase.

That everything is a financial instrument nowadays is working out so well again.

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Last days of the 9 €uro ticket. 

It was a popular measure, it reduced emissions, and high income households were not the main beneficiaries. So we won't get an extension of it, because the FDP is opposed. Because their shitty tax cut on fuel was not popular and was mainly another source of income for Petrol Companies, manes we don't get to enjoy popular policies. 

The climare report showed once again, how hard the transportation department sucks, and they explicitly called that ass clown Wissing. Speed limits? Nah! Lindner and this ass clown are against it. Talking about the Clown Prince of Finance. His idea to address cost of living and energy prices? Tax cuts. I hate those yellow fuckwits more than the fucking AfD. :tantrum:

Prince Valium Olaf first of his name, chancellor and protector of the realm still has memory problems regarding Cum Ex. Thank you SPD for forcing that moron upon us. (keep calm, remember this is the relatively better time line with him in charge instead of Laschet..). Anyway, this story/scandal is not going away, I am just waiting for the bombshell that forces his resignation. 

Edited by A Horse Named Stranger
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16 hours ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Last days of the 9 €uro ticket. 

It was a popular measure, it reduced emissions, and high income households were not the main beneficiaries. So we won't get an extension of it, because the FDP is opposed. Because their shitty tax cut on fuel was not popular and was mainly another source of income for Petrol Companies, manes we don't get to enjoy popular policies. 

My partner (German) and I actually took advantage of the 9€ ticket for my vacation in northern Germany last month. It was absolutely brilliant. The boon that 9€ ticket for the tourism industry was pretty clear from my time there. 

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48 minutes ago, A wilding said:

Our German relatives also make heavy use of it. They seemed to be visiting somewhere almost every other day.

And that's the downside. It doesn't move traffic from the road to the railway. It creates extra traffic. People do railway trips for fun on the cheap. The railway (and the commuters using it) have to deal with the extra load.

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19 hours ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

The climare report showed once again, how hard the transportation department sucks, and they explicitly called that ass clown Wissing. Speed limits? Nah! Lindner and this ass clown are against it. Talking about the Clown Prince of Finance. His idea to address cost of living and energy prices? Tax cuts. I hate those yellow fuckwits more than the fucking AfD. :tantrum:

 

the FDP is not proposing tax cuts but a change in the tax progression formula  so that the inflation is not in fact a tax increase. Why is that a bad thing? Why do you think a tax increase helps against the living and energy prices?

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3 hours ago, JoannaL said:

the FDP is not proposing tax cuts but a change in the tax progression formula  so that the inflation is not in fact a tax increase. Why is that a bad thing? Why do you think a tax increase helps against the living and energy prices?

You do know the standard question i politics? Cui bono?

Their proposals are helpful for high earners in the upper tax brackets, but not really helping on the lower end of the social ladder, so tell me how's that helpful to people living on Hartz IV or on low incomes, and they feel the squeeze much harder than Wolfgang fucking Kubicki. Hint they also not the ones benefitting from the Dienstwagenprivileg. What would help is raising a windfall tax, but for those yellow bastards that's the end of the social capitalism. Fuck them, and fuck every single cunt who voted for those clowns.

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4 hours ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

You do know the standard question i politics? Cui bono?

Their proposals are helpful for high earners in the upper tax brackets, but not really helping on the lower end of the social ladder, so tell me how's that helpful to people living on Hartz IV or on low incomes, and they feel the squeeze much harder than Wolfgang fucking Kubicki. Hint they also not the ones benefitting from the Dienstwagenprivileg. What would help is raising a windfall tax, but for those yellow bastards that's the end of the social capitalism. Fuck them, and fuck every single cunt who voted for those clowns.

I agree with the fuck the F.D.P. and I am more or less their target audience.

I really can't understand how they can have such an iron grip on this government.  

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  • 3 weeks later...
4 hours ago, Darzin said:

Apparently Chancellor Schultz has said asked in a speech that Germany join the security council as a permanent member. Does anyone know the reasoning behind this? It seems a very odd play to me.

It’s nothing new. They play for that for…decades? I don’t think it will ever happen and also think the security council in its current form needs to be abolished anyway. 

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6 hours ago, Darzin said:

Apparently Chancellor Schultz has said asked in a speech that Germany join the security council as a permanent member. Does anyone know the reasoning behind this? It seems a very odd play to me.

Scholz. Prince Valium's family name is Scholz. With an O. As in, Oh God, why have you inflicted that moron upon us. 

Also no T in his name.

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On 8/31/2022 at 7:16 PM, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Dienstwagenprivileg

There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding in how the tax system works.

Let's first exclude all business-owners and self-employed, for whom a car is a necessary part of their business to provide their services or goods - there is no factual base to say that their car is somehow "priviledged", if they can deduct any other COGSS, then the cost of their car is no different. 

So let's have a look at employees, because I feel like this is the main debate going on here.

Any employer can provide a car, including maintenance and petrol, to the employees and depending on wether private use is permitted or not, the private use is considered part of the salary and thus you'll have to pay income tax and social security for the private use. The amount of private use is either estimated (1% Bruttolistenneupreis per month) or calculated using a detailed vehicle log. Now many people say that this is unfair, because the estimate 12% per year is not enough to reflect the true private use, but this is speculation, because it depends entirely on the real private use and company use. Consider sales- or technical service people who have to drive a lot of long distances versus people, who drive 7km from home to work. Our tax system works with these kind of flat estimates, to reduce bureaucracy and allow for easier calculation of the tax burden (just like any employee can claim up to 1.200EUR in tax deductible expenses without having to provide any kind of proof). I have many clients who prefer the flat estimate over having to keep a detailed vehicle log, even though it is disadvantageous for their tax burden. However fair or unfair this method is, the fact remains, that the private use of a company caris added to the base of taxation (and social security) one way or another, you cannot (legally) avoid it. 

But is it a priviledge still? Well, to say that, we'd have to look at how the private use of any other transport/mobility provided by the employer is taxed in comparison:

- Bikes: For any bike, not considered a motor vehicle, that the employer provides on top the regular salary, is tax and social security exempt. 

- Ticket for public transport: As long as it is paid on top of the agreed salary, the private use of the Jobticket is completely free of income tax or social security.

Now, we could argue, that you can't use your bike or your public transportation ticket to drive to Italy on holidays, and you can't take your kids and family with you, which is at least in case of a bike also true. But you can still use it privately and you don't have to pay taxes for it (unless your employer is a dummy and doesn't do it right). 

But in terms of taxation, there is no priviledge. Maybe you feel that the car is a superior means of transportation and is therefore priviledged and we can certainly make the case that in many areas of city planning and allocation of public ressources, the car is priviledged, but in our taxation system, it isn't. 

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7 hours ago, Alarich II said:

There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding in how the tax system works.

Let's first exclude all business-owners and self-employed, for whom a car is a necessary part of their business to provide their services or goods - there is no factual base to say that their car is somehow "priviledged", if they can deduct any other COGSS, then the cost of their car is no different. 

So let's have a look at employees, because I feel like this is the main debate going on here.

Any employer can provide a car, including maintenance and petrol, to the employees and depending on wether private use is permitted or not, the private use is considered part of the salary and thus you'll have to pay income tax and social security for the private use. The amount of private use is either estimated (1% Bruttolistenneupreis per month) or calculated using a detailed vehicle log. Now many people say that this is unfair, because the estimate 12% per year is not enough to reflect the true private use, but this is speculation, because it depends entirely on the real private use and company use. Consider sales- or technical service people who have to drive a lot of long distances versus people, who drive 7km from home to work. Our tax system works with these kind of flat estimates, to reduce bureaucracy and allow for easier calculation of the tax burden (just like any employee can claim up to 1.200EUR in tax deductible expenses without having to provide any kind of proof). I have many clients who prefer the flat estimate over having to keep a detailed vehicle log, even though it is disadvantageous for their tax burden. However fair or unfair this method is, the fact remains, that the private use of a company caris added to the base of taxation (and social security) one way or another, you cannot (legally) avoid it. 

But is it a priviledge still? Well, to say that, we'd have to look at how the private use of any other transport/mobility provided by the employer is taxed in comparison:

- Bikes: For any bike, not considered a motor vehicle, that the employer provides on top the regular salary, is tax and social security exempt. 

- Ticket for public transport: As long as it is paid on top of the agreed salary, the private use of the Jobticket is completely free of income tax or social security.

Now, we could argue, that you can't use your bike or your public transportation ticket to drive to Italy on holidays, and you can't take your kids and family with you, which is at least in case of a bike also true. But you can still use it privately and you don't have to pay taxes for it (unless your employer is a dummy and doesn't do it right). 

But in terms of taxation, there is no priviledge. Maybe you feel that the car is a superior means of transportation and is therefore priviledged and we can certainly make the case that in many areas of city planning and allocation of public ressources, the car is priviledged, but in our taxation system, it isn't. 

This post came right on time for me to push the order button for my Audi (which is btw the cheapest sensible option for me) I would rather have taken the 500€ pay rise though. All things considered, I break even compared with my old salary and have to make do with a smaller car with a shorter range and lower speed. Though I guess getting a shiny new car every 3 years is something?

It does pay off if I drive around a lot though. Not sure that's a good thing. Can I go to Italy in an eCar and how long does it take?

TLDR; you only need to be jealous if you like shiny things.

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Cars lose a lot of value over the first three years, so getting a new one that often would cost you a lot. Which raises the question if the tax of 12 % per year isn't a bit low. There's also the issue of social security. The employer saves a lot on that by not paying a higher salary. The whole thing is of course a big marketing machine for the carmakers. The German premium brands make more than half of their domestic sales this way.

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1 hour ago, Loge said:

There's also the issue of social security. The employer saves a lot on that by not paying a higher salary.

That's not correct. The monthly 1% is considered regular income and such it is subject to both regular taxation and social security contributions.

 

1 hour ago, Loge said:

Cars lose a lot of value over the first three years, so getting a new one that often would cost you a lot. Which raises the question if the tax of 12 % per year isn't a bit low.

That depends on the ratio of private to company use, the age of the car, the car brand etc. Even if it was "a bit low" it is still more than any other kind of employer-paid transportation.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It is presidential election time here in Austria.

It is amusing in a weird way the most electable candidate apart from the incumbent is the founder of our BIER(:cheers:) party...

You can chooses between the far right and conspiracy theorists if you want someone else. Well one of the conspiracy theorists is kinda left if you ignore the fact that he has no problem marching with Nazis and people burning LGBTQ+ flags while holding russian flags. You know that kind of left. ;)

Edited by Luzifer's right hand
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Mixed bag from Lower-Saxony.

Good: increase of the Green votes, SPD managed to stay above the CDU as biggest party in the next parliament. Bye-bye FDP*. Loss of votes in a conservative state for the CDU

Bad: Vote increase for the AfD, bye-bye FDP*.

On a political level, I firmly believe the less the FDP is represented in parliamets, the better. The problem is, that those knuckleheads are now even more prone to try to impose their shitty policies on the federal level.  I find their disproportionate influence on policy making hard to stop as it is.  Losses for the SPD, but the incumbent bonus pretty much carried Weil over the finish line despite the Scholz-O-Mat. Kinda surprised over the increased Green votes, basically not the best time for an election for them. The doa Gasumlage was one piece of poor legislation.

*not official that the FDP missed out on re-entering the parliament in Lower-Saxony. The 5% threshold is in place, and they are right now on 4.9%. So, there's some ground for optimism that'll stay below the magical 5%.

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