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Test: How would you vote in Germany?
Topic Started: Apr 13 2007, 03:59 PM (293 Views)
Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
I'd be curious to know where TNCR members would stand in the German political landscape. If you click on the link and then "Start" you will be asked 30 questions. For every question, you can answer "stimme zu" (agree), neutral, "stimme nicht zu" (don't agree) or "These überspringen" (skip question). After you are done, click on "Ergebnisse direkt anzeigen", and you get a ranked list which party agrees the most with your answers:

http://www2.wahlomat.de/bundestagswahl2005/main_app.php

Here are translations of the questions:

1 - Introduce general speed limit on the Autobahn?
2 - Reduce protection against job dismissal?
3 - Continue exit from nuclear energy?
4 - Lower gasoline tax?
5 - Turkey should get full EU membership?
6 - Raise VAT?
7 - Introduce minimum wages?
8 - Increase taxes for the rich?
9 - Get rid of deposit on cans?
10 - Everyone should be forced to be member of the public health insurance?
11 - Germans who live in foreign countries should pay taxes in Germany?
12 - Reduce EU agricultural subsidies?
13 - More common defense policy on the EU level?
14 - Continue to subsidize german black coal?
15 - Allow military to be used for the purpose of internal security (tasks that would normally be the field of responsibility of the police)?
16 - Members of parliament must make all auxiliary incomes public?
17 - Every child must pass a German language test before school enrollment
18 - No tuition at universities for the first degree?
19 - Education policy should be the business of the federal states only (and not at the federal level)
20 - State grants covering tuition for universities should be granted independent of the income of the parents
21 - The state should pay a substitute for the income in the first year of parental leave
22 - Pregnant women should be allowed to abort until week 12, without consulting (currently they need to go to a consulting service first)
23 - Open a central DNA database of all criminal offenders?
24 - Get rid of compulsory military service?
25 - More video surveillance of public places?
26 - Treat gay marriage equal (legally) to heterosexual marriage?
27 - Lower right to vote to 16 years (instead of 18)?
28 - Biometric data (such as fingerprint) should be included into identity card/passport?
29 - Legalize marijuana?
30 - Introduce possibility of referendum on the federal level?
Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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TomK
HOLY CARP!!!


1 - Introduce general speed limit on the Autobahn?N
2 - Reduce protection against job dismissal?Y
3 - Continue exit from nuclear energy?N
4 - Lower gasoline tax?Y
5 - Turkey should get full EU membership?N
6 - Raise VAT??
7 - Introduce minimum wages?N
8 - Increase taxes for the rich?N
9 - Get rid of deposit on cans?Y
10 - Everyone should be forced to be member of the public health insurance?N
11 - Germans who live in foreign countries should pay taxes in Germany?M
12 - Reduce EU agricultural subsidies??
13 - More common defense policy on the EU level?Y
14 - Continue to subsidize german black coal?N
15 - Allow military to be used for the purpose of internal security (tasks that would normally be the field of responsibility of the police)?Y
16 - Members of parliament must make all auxiliary incomes public?N
17 - Every child must pass a German language test before school enrollmentY
18 - No tuition at universities for the first degree?Y
19 - Education policy should be the business of the federal states only (and not at the federal level)Y
20 - State grants covering tuition for universities should be granted independent of the income of the parents Y
21 - The state should pay a substitute for the income in the first year of parental leave N
22 - Pregnant women should be allowed to abort until week 12, without consulting (currently they need to go to a consulting service first) N
23 - Open a central DNA database of all criminal offenders? Y
24 - Get rid of compulsory military service? Y
25 - More video surveillance of public places? N
26 - Treat gay marriage equal (legally) to heterosexual marriage? N
27 - Lower right to vote to 16 years (instead of 18)? N
28 - Biometric data (such as fingerprint) should be included into identity card/passport? Y
29 - Legalize marijuana? Y
30 - Introduce possibility of referendum on the federal level? Y [/QUOTE]
I have no idea on a few of them. :o
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George K
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Finally
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So, how'd I do?
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AlbertaCrude
Bull-Carp
I'm not as computer literate as George, so mine is as follows:

CDU/CSU

CDU
FDP
SPD
DIE Linke
Bundis 90

So I'm a Christian Democrat! Ha, that'll make a few people in here roll over in bed tonight. :lol:
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Piano*Dad
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Bull-Carp
I come out slightly as an FDP member. No shock there. It's the most market oriented party in Deutschland. I agreed with the FDP on 14 questions.

My Result

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P.S. George, how'd you post the image? I can't seem to find an image address.
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David Burton
Senior Carp
OK Klaus, here goes:

1 - Introduce general speed limit on the Autobahn? No

2 - Reduce protection against job dismissal? No. The basis for keeping a job is more than the way the job is or is not done, it is a matter of trust built between employer and employee and those who lose the trust of their employees for whatever reason should know ahead of time that unless they “wise up” and “improve their attitude” that they may be dismissed.

3 - Continue exit from nuclear energy? No You’ll need it more than ever for a while

4 - Lower gasoline tax? Yes

5 - Turkey should get full EU membership? No, they are not a European country or culture and most Europeans with any sense know this.

6 - Raise VAT? Yes especially if it lowers income taxes. Income taxes are a tax upon one’s labor which is immoral in my opinion.

7 - Introduce minimum wages? Yes because like it or not there are reasons people must demand to be paid what they demand to be paid.

8 - Increase taxes for the rich? No or you’ll drive the rich out and without them you’ll have a poor country

9 - Get rid of deposit on cans? Yes If you want to recycle for “green” sake come up with a better disposal system instead

10 - Everyone should be forced to be member of the public health insurance? No, but I advocate something so radical in its place that nobody would go for it; compulsory medical exams at state expense for everyone; they summon you from where you are at any moment, take you to get examined and release you. It would be far less expensive in the long run.

11 - Germans who live in foreign countries should pay taxes in Germany?
No. Why do you think they might be living in foreign countries instead of Germany?

12 - Reduce EU agricultural subsidies? Maybe, I’d have to look into it further. In general I don’t like subsidies of any kind.

13 - More common defense policy on the EU level? Yes
If you’re really going to have a “European Union” you might as well get used to working together for mutual defense.

14 - Continue to subsidize German black coal? No Although it may be the best coal in the world there are economic reasons why its price needs to find its own equilibrium and if it’s too expensive to mine then best leave it in the ground.

15 - Allow military to be used for the purpose of internal security (tasks that would normally be the field of responsibility of the police)?
Yes You may need to do so anyway as your country has already been invaded by foreigners who may cause trouble and need to be forcibly deported.

16 - Members of parliament must make all auxiliary incomes public?
No If you want the best people to serve in your government you must allow them to get rich and if you don’t you’ll have nothing but scum and numbskulls running things.

17 - Every child must pass a German language test before school enrollment
Yes And by God they should have to pass an English language test before public school enrollment here!

18 - No tuition at universities for the first degree? No. I’m not sure of
a) the value of a degree
b) the long term viability of colleges and universities
c) the value to society of the expense, particularly in any area not related to science and technology, sorry.

19 - Education policy should be the business of the federal states only (and not at the federal level) Yes Let it be competitive down to the local level

20 - State grants covering tuition for universities should be granted independent of the income of the parents Yes, if the parents are rich buit the student bright (which means he more clearly reflects the views of his professors) then it would be a form of economic discrimination.

21 - The state should pay a substitute for the income in the first year of parental leave Not sure about this one, need to look at it more carefully. In general I don’t like it.

22 - Pregnant women should be allowed to abort until week 12, without consulting (currently they need to go to a consulting service first) No, they’d better get a consultation first so they know what the risks are each way.

23 - Open a central DNA database of all criminal offenders?
Yes Absolutely. I might even go farther than that.

24 - Get rid of compulsory military service? Yes probably.
Some people are not suited to be in military service.

25 - More video surveillance of public places? Maybe you’ll need it. But it can be misused.

26 - Treat gay marriage equal (legally) to heterosexual marriage?
No, but they do deserve some degree of equality of treatment and it IS in society’s best interests to have them in stable relationships.

27 - Lower right to vote to 16 years (instead of 18)? No, and in fact they should raise it back to 21.

28 - Biometric data (such as fingerprint) should be included into identity card/passport? Yes as this would put a stop to identity theft

29 - Legalize marijuana? Yes and maybe they should legalize everything else too. So what?

30 - Introduce possibility of referendum on the federal level? YES. Certain questions deserve national attention.

Whose party am I in?
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Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
David and TomK

I'd say you are in the FDP, with CDU second.

It's quite interesting: The "big" parties in Germany are CDU and SPD (they usually get 30+ percent of the votes each), whereby the other three parties usually get 5-12 percent.

The CDU is the "conservative" party; the C stands for "Christian", but they are generally not religious fanatics. Our current chancellor, Angela Merkel is from the CDU. They stand for traditional values (support marriage, against abortion etc.). Economically, they are somewhere between FDP and SPD. They are also the party that is most likely to consider military options in some political situation.

The SPD is the "social democratic" party. They want a mixture of "free market" and many social-democratic elements. They are in favor of a big, regulating state. They won the 2002 election largely because of their opposition to the impending U.S. invasion of Iraq,

The FDP is the liberal party, whereby "liberal" stands for subsidiarity, freedom of the individual, small state etc. Probably in contrast to American "conservative liberalism", the FDP also strongly emphasises civil rights; e.g., they are strictly against laws that allow the state to observe its citizens or collect too much data.

The Green party is a bit like the SPD, but with less focus on economic and more focus on environmental measures. They are also strictly against nuclear energy plants.

The PDS/Die Linke is the successor of the SED, the former communist party of the DDR. It gets 90% of its votes in East Germany (former DDR) only.

Many people draw the comparison CDU - Republicans, SPD - Democrats between US and Germany, but I think that is not quite right - in particular because the current situation in both countries is so different. For example, those who demand less tax progression here might strive for a tax system that would actually mean an increase in tax progression in the US.

I would assume that a majority of US citizens would vote for the FDP, and in fact they also get my vote most of the time. However, they represent only a 10% minority in Germany.
Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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bachophile
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HOLY CARP!!!
i guess i am a social democrat in germany (SPD).

although it seems merckel is doing quite a job in leading germany to a role as the most dominant european country, in some ways more then the UK.

i wonder if the same type of web site exists for the french elections....

with all due respect for klaus, i see the french elections as one of the more interesting elections coming up in europe.

"I don't know much about classical music. For years I thought the Goldberg Variations were something Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg did on their wedding night." Woody Allen
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Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
Yes, the French elections will be interesting. I don't know if something similar exists there, too, but then again my French is too bad to find out.

Did you try the questions to find out you are a Social Democrat, or is this just your intuition (or knowledge about the German party system)?
Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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jon-nyc
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Cheers
I took the test, came out CSU/CDU with FDP a close second. I'm not surprised, although I might have predicted it the other way around.


I agree the French elections will be interesting, they always are.

I was there 5 years ago this month when Jospin came in third. The whole country was dumbstruck. (at least the left-leaning urbanites in Paris)

I do hope Sarko wins.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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bachophile
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HOLY CARP!!!
SDP according to the test, but i didnt know to screen capture the results....

i hate when ridculously simple tasks r not intuitive to me.
"I don't know much about classical music. For years I thought the Goldberg Variations were something Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg did on their wedding night." Woody Allen
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1hp
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Fulla-Carp

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Given Germany's history I am rather surprised at some of the answers. Using the military to help with "internal security" and adding more surveillance of the people sounds like the 1930's. Yeah, I realise there is a terrorism aspect to this, but internal security is the job of the police force, and the military is there to deal with forces threatening from outside the country.

The other one which surprised me was the taxes on Germans living outside the country. British citizens aren't taxed on their earnings by the UK tax authorities if they live outside the UK (unless the laws have changed since I left). The US, on the other hand, allows something like the first $80,000 (for single person) to be tax free, then everything above that is taxed - and regardless of your income the IRS wants a tax return. I'm in favour of a system where you are taxed on maybe the first $30,000 of income that you earn outside the US (assuming you live outside the country) to cover basic services that you use (passport, local embassy, etc..) and the rest should be tax free - with any local country income tax that you have to pay being a tax credit.

David Burton's answer for # 16 was not my first thought, but he has a point.

I see nothing wong with compulsory military service, though there should be an option for those not suited, like the peace corps.

Free University - No - except for people over 55 years of age. Make it free and the schools will be clogged with people who don't appreciate what they have, making it 3 times as difficult for those serious about an education to get through a degree course in a reasonable time.

Do these 30 questions really cover the main issues facing Germany today?



There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those that understand binary and................
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Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
1hp -

some clarifications:

the question regarding taxes for Germans living in foreign countries refers to income that is earned within Germany, not to income that is earned in the foreign country.

Regarding video surveilance - Germany has traditionally emphasized protection of data privacy very much, so even with a bit less strict rules in this regard it would still have more data protection rules than most other countries.

The question regarding military vs. police indeed refers to terrorism. We usually don't consider the fight against terrorism a "war", hence by default the police is the organization to fight against it.

Regaring compulsary military service - certainly not everybody has to go. Those with health problems don't have to go, and there is also the option to do community service instead of military service.

Whether these questions really face the most important issues? Probably not; many important things are missing, such as what happens with the social security system or with foreign relations.

Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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Mark
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Income based taxation should be abolished world-wide. It is an affront on basic human rights.

___.___
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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
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