Helmut Kohl, Germany's former chancellor, criticized the current foreign policies of Angela Merkel and her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder. Kohl said that Germany has become an erratic and unreliable partner for its allies. He pointed to Germany's decision not to support allies in Libya and its lack of leadership during the Eurozone crisis as examples. While personal dislike may factor into his criticism, Kohl is seen as an authority on German foreign policy. He warned that bailing out heavily indebted Eurozone countries is crucial to the future of the European Union.

1. AN AMERICAN JEWISH – GERMAN INFORMATION & OPINION
NEWSLETTER
dubowdigest@optonline.net
AMERICAN EDITION
September 5, 2011
Dear Friends:
The summer is over and with the arrival of September (hopefully without
anymore earthquakes or hurricanes) we’re getting down to serious business. The
UN is about to open its annual meeting in New York with both the Durban III
Conference and the Palestinian unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) on
the agenda.
Germany has decided not to attend Durban III but many countries will so we’re in
for a spate of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic attacks from such human rights
stalwarts as Iran, Cuba and probably Syria. I think it takes a lot of chutzpah for
such countries to attend anything that supposedly deals with the rights of people.
A better title for the UN group dealing with the issue would be the UN Human
Wrongs Council.
The matter of the Palestinian UDI is much more serious. However, as I write this
the situation is still very fluid. Our own government (for its own reasons) is trying
to convince the Palestinians to forego their announced UN gambit and get back
to the negotiating table. Read more about it below.
It’s time! Let’s get on with the news…
IN THIS EDITION
A CHAMPION IN GERMANY – Our kinda guy.
DURBAN III: GERMANY OPTS OUT – Good!
LIBYA & GERMANY – Connected? More than you think.
MECKLENBURG – WESTERN POMERANIA – The latest State election.
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2. KOHL ON FOREIGN POLICY – An old warhorse speaks! Critically!
FAREWELL TO A HORRIBLE NAME – Gone but certainly not forgotten.
SOCIAL DEMOCRATS: A BAD RESOLUTION – Whose side are you really on?
BERLIN’S ANTI-ISRAEL PARADE – Small but distasteful.
UNIVERSITY COSTS – Which country has a more sensible plan?
A CHAMPION IN GERMANY
A month or two ago I was asked by AJC to attend a small get together to speak
with Philipp Missfelder, the CDU’s Speaker on Foreign Affairs in the Bundestag. I
had heard his name previously but had never met him. Prior to the meeting I
“googled” him and was surprised to find out he was so young (Everyone seems
young to me these days). He’s just 32.
I found out that, “Philipp Mißfelder, born in 1979 in Gelsenkirchen, graduated in
History and wrote his Master thesis about the Jewish publicist Maximilian
Harden. In 2002, he was elected as Federal Chairman of Junge Union, the joint
youth organization of the conservative German political parties CDU and CSU.
He is member of the German Parliament (Bundestag), member of the CDU
presidential board and elected Spokesman for Foreign Affairs of his fraction.
I listened to what Missfelder had to say at the meeting and the way he answered
the tough questions about Israel – Palestinian relations and realized that Israel
and the Jewish people had a champion at a very high level in the German
government.
To confirm my feelings I found a recent piece in the Jerusalem Post which
reported, “A senior Bundestag deputy on Wednesday called on his country’s
Foreign Ministry to drop its planned participation in the UN-sponsored anti-
racism Durban commemoration event next month because the conference will
attack Israel as an allegedly racist state.”
Germany should refrain from participating in this conference, as it did in 2009.
We should not support with our attendance a conference at which our partner
Israel is denounced as an apartheid state.”
On a Junge Union website Missfelder explained, “According to the UN-Charta,
only a peace-loving state can become a member of the United Nations
Organization. I don’t see this condition being met, with the radical Islamic party
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3. Hamas in the government. A bid for full membership will most likely be denied by
the Security Council, as a veto from the USA can be expected. But as matters
stand, we can expect that a resolution will be approved by the General
Assembly”.
You can read the entire article by clicking here.
. http://www.junge-union.de/content/aktuell/1214/
It’s one thing to state positions in a closed meeting. It’s quite different to have
them out front for everyone to see and hear. I think Philipp Missfelder is the “real
thing”
DURBAN III: GERMANY OPTS OUT
Germany has decided not to attend or participate in the Durban III Conference
coming up later this month at the UN.
The Local reported, “German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle announced
that Berlin will skip the United Nations' Durban anti-racism conference, with an
eye toward anti-Israel remarks by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at
the 2009 summit.
"We unfortunately cannot rule out that the Durban commemoration event in New
York could be misused to make anti-Semitic comments as was the case at past
conferences," Westerwelle said, as part of a statement issued by the foreign
ministry.
An AJC press release noted, “AJC praised Germany for withdrawing from this
month’s tenth anniversary commemoration of the UN World Conference on
Racism. The event, known as Durban 3, will take place at the UN in New York on
September 22.
“We welcome Germany's decision, announced today, to join with other
democratic nations boycotting this lamentable gathering,” said AJC Executive
Director David Harris.
Germany was also one of the ten countries that laudably refused to participate in
the Durban Review Conference in Geneva in 2009, at which the notorious
Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was a speaker.
“The original gathering, in 2001, became best known for the toxic atmosphere of
raw anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment expressed by some governments and
NGOs,” said Harris. "Is this a cause for commemoration ten years later?"
Germany is the ninth country -- and fifth EU member state -- to opt out of Durban
3. The others so far are Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Israel, Italy,
Netherlands, and the United States.
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4. There is very little else to say except, “Good!” Let’s hope more countries join in
boycotting this disgraceful event.
LIBYA & GERMANY
One wouldn’t think that the demise of the Gadhafi regime in Libya would have
much affect on the current German government – but it does!
As Spiegel On-Line points out, “…it looks as though Chancellor Angela Merkel
guessed wrong. It could ultimately prove to be an expensive mistake.
Hindsight, of course, is always 20/20. Yet it must nevertheless be said: The fact
that the rebels in Libya are biting at the heels of autocrat Moammar Gadhafi can
be seen as a foreign policy success for French President Nicolas Sarkozy, for
the Americans and for the British.
For German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Foreign Minister Guido
Westerwelle, however, the development highlights a bitter foreign policy failure.
When the United Nations Security Council voted to establish a no-fly zone over
Libya in March, Germany chose not to participate. Westerwelle was particularly
vociferous in defending that decision, saying that any military operation in North
Africa was risky -- both for those involved and for Libyan civilians. Berlin decided
to abstain from the Security Council vote, a move that many German foreign
policy experts found inexplicable. It showed, many said, an alarming lack of
solidarity with Germany's Western allies.
Instead of doing its part to rid the world of a tyrant, the German government
seemed to prefer the role of schoolmarm. When rebel advances slowed in June
and July, German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière accused NATO of
having no long-term strategy for Libya.
Now, however, it would appear that Germany's partners were right after all and
that Berlin was horribly mistaken. There were indeed risks, but they were
manageable: NATO's air strikes saved the lives of countless civilians and played
an important role in the toppling of Gadhafi. At the same time, NATO's own
losses were minimal and not a single NATO soldier was killed in the mission.
Germany's credibility as a defender of human rights and democracy has been
tarnished, as has its reputation as a reliable partner in the Western alliance.
Renewed trust and renewed strength within NATO will only be established once
a new government takes power in Berlin.
France, Britain and the US have done their part for change in Libya. They will
now demand a substantial contribution from Germany for the coming
reconstruction of Libya -- and Berlin will have little choice but to send significant
quantities of monetary aid as well as experts and material assistance. US
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5. President Barack Obama told Merkel as much during her last visit to
Washington. Now, German police, development experts and even soldiers will
likely end up in Libya to ensure democracy and stability.
There is no doubt that Germany was on the wrong side in this matter. However,
saying that “Renewed trust and renewed strength within NATO will only be
established once a new government takes power in Berlin.” is a bit much.
It seems to me that sometimes memories are very short when it comes to
political matters. Should Germany take a significant role in a post-Gadhafi Libya
the original German position will be smoothed over and swept under the rug.
Unity in NATO will be re-established. And, besides, Germany is such a major
financial supporter of some of the NATO countries that it will be to their benefit to
have a timely memory lapse.
However, the UN faux pas may not have lasting international implications,
domestic political are something else again.
As above, while a positive role for Germany in post-revolutionary Libya might
make the “wrong” decision that was made regarding Germany’s involvement
(above) fade away, it might all happen too late to save the job of Foreign Minister
Guido Westerwelle. Westerwelle is already is a weakened position. His role as
leader of the Free Democratic Party has already eroded. D-W World reported,
“Westerwelle, who was forced to relinquish his position as FDP leader in April,
may also be forced out as foreign minister if his party fails to win any seats in
regional elections in Berlin and in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania next month. Many in Germany would see the departure of
Westerwelle, a close ally of Angela Merkel, as a symbolic blow to the chancellor
as well. The FDP is in coalition with Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats
(CDU) and its Bavarian sister party (CSU).
The FDP’s popularity in the last six or eight months has been sinking like a rock.
Westerwelle, no doubt, has become a liability. There is little reason to think they
will do well in the upcoming State elections. We might be looking at the new FDP
Party chief Philipp Roesler as the new Foreign Minister.
MECKLENBURG – WESTERN POMERANIA
The latest State election held in Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania, a state in
the former East Germany was held on Sept. 4th. The Local reported, “According
to exit polls released by public broadcaster ARD, the SPD was the strongest
party, with 37 percent of the vote, a significant gain on their 2006 performance of
30.2 percent.
Merkel's Christian Democrats mustered 24.0 only percent of the vote in the
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6. northeastern state on the Baltic Sea, a decline from the 28.8 percent they won
five years ago.
The third-strongest party was the hard-line socialist Left party (Die Linke), with
17 percent.
The resurgent Greens scored 8.5 percent, ensuring their representation in the
regional parliament for the first time. They had previously failed to clear the five-
percent hurdle required to enter the parliament.
Negotiations will now take place over possible coalition arrangements.
Many analysts expect a continuation of the "grand coalition" of SPD and CDU
that has governed the economically depressed state since 2006.
However, a coalition of the SPD and The Left, or even a three-way tie-up with
the newly elected Greens, is also possible. The SPD has not declared which
party it would rather form a coalition with.
The neo-Nazi NPD appeared set to remain in the state legislature after the party
benefited from low voter turnout 53.5 percent. The far-right extremists managed
5.5 percent of the vote, down from 7.3 percent five years ago.
It’s a disappointment for the Chancellor but not a disaster as the probability is
that her party, the CDU will remain in the governing coalition. I believe it is
doubtful that the Social Democrats (SPD) will want to link up with the Left Party. I
do not believe that their national party leaders would be happy with that. It’s safer
to join with the CDU in a “Grand Coalition”.
However, the FDP (Westerwelle’s party) did not get 5% so they are not
represented in the State Parliament. Another nail in the Foreign Minister’s
political coffin.
Most disappointing was the continued strength of the NPD. Yes, they received
fewer votes this time than last, however, they are still in the legislature and that is
an awful outcome. It probably says a lot about the high rate of unemployment in
M-WP and the fact that it is one on the poorest states in the country.
KOHL ON FOREIGN POLICY
Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl hasn’t got much love for current Chancellor
Angela Merkel or, for that matter, her Social Democratic predecessor, Gerhard
Schroeder. Merkel, a former protégé of Kohl’s who ditched him when he became
involved in a scandal over receiving illegal funds for the CDU Party and
Schroeder defeated him in 1998. Those sorts of things are not forgotten easily in
German politics.
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7. While Kohl may harbor personal dislikes, he is also a genuine authority on
German foreign policy. In a recent story, The Local reported, “Former Chancellor
Helmut Kohl on Wednesday offered a blistering assessment of Germany’s
current foreign policy, saying the country had become an erratic and unreliable
partner to its closest allies.
In an expansive interview with the foreign policy journal Internationale Politik,
Germany’s longest-serving post-war leader slammed his successors Gerhard
Schröder and Angela Merkel for ruining the country’s reputation overseas.
“Germany’s hasn’t been a reliable power for several years – neither domestically
nor abroad,” said Kohl. “We have to be careful not to throw everything away. We
desperately have to return to our former dependability.”
Kohl said recent events such as Germany’s decision not to support the efforts of
its closest allies to oust Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi and the lacking
German leadership during the eurozone debt crisis had left him dismayed.
“I have to ask myself, where does Germany actually stand today and where does
it want to go,” he said. “Our friends and allies abroad are naturally also asking
this question.”
The former chancellor, who presided over Germany reunification in 1990, said
the foreign policy of Merkel’s centre-right coalition under the direction of Foreign
Minister Guido Westerwelle appeared haphazard and without direction.
“If you don’t have a compass, and don’t know what you stand for or where you’re
going, and therefore lack the will to lead, then you’ve abandoned the continuity of
German foreign policy quite simply because you don’t understand such things,”
Kohl said.
Kohl also pointed to the decision last spring by US President Barack Obama to
visit France and Poland yet skip over Germany as a sign just how much the
current government had neglected transatlantic relations.
“I never dreamed that I would live to see the time when a sitting American
president comes to Europe only to fly over the Federal Republic – I could say
went around it,” he said.
The 81-year-old also warned about the dangers posed by the eurozone’s
sovereign debt crisis. Bailing out heavily indebted euro members such as Greece
was crucial to future of the European Union, he said.
“We have no choice if we don’t want Europe to break apart,” Kohl said, adding
he never would have allowed Greece to join the single currency had he still been
chancellor at the time.
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8. He said Europe needed “robust action and a package of farsighted, cleverly
balanced and non-ideological measures” to ensure the euro’s stability.
You might want to write off the criticism as personal animosity. However, Kohl’s
feelings are not his alone. As the one who brought the two Germans back
together and remained super solid in support of a united Europe, he is probably
the best spokesperson for those that wish for a more robust German foreign
policy within that framework.
I certainly would not be critical of Hr. Kohl. He knows a helluva lot more about
German foreign policy than I do. However, these are difficult times in Europe.
The financial problems of some of the Euro countries are not Chancellor Merkel’s
fault. However, she’s in command in Germany so who else is there to blame?
It’s easy for Kohl to be critical but to suggest only that, “Europe needed “robust
action and a package of farsighted, cleverly balanced and non-ideological
measures” to ensure the euro’s stability” leaves me a little up in the air. It would
have been more to the point if he had backed up his critique with some concrete
suggestions. However, there weren’t any. Maybe there will be another speech
sometime. He owes it to the public. I’ll report on it if it happens.
As reported in Spiegel On-Line, “Everyone knew that this year would be a
difficult one for Chancellor Angela Merkel. As 2010 drew to a close, her
governing coalition seemed incapable of agreeing on much of anything, a series
of state elections threatened to eat into her party's power and euro-zone debt
concerns had yet to be alleviated.
Few, though, foresaw things getting quite as bad for Merkel and her government
as they have this week. Not only is the Chancellor facing significant doubts from
within her conservative Christian Democrats regarding the Greece bailout
package recently assembled by euro-zone member states, but Berlin's decision
to stay out of the fight for Libya has never looked more short-sighted and self-
serving than now.
The criticism has been withering. In reference to Libya, media commentators
have begun referring to the Berlin "debacle" and "Germany's shame." More
concerning for Merkel, however, is the heft provided by condemnation from the
likes of German President Christian Wulff, former Interior Minister Gerhart Baum
and ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
All three have weighed in this week -- and all three have furthered the widely held
view in Germany that Merkel and her Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle do not
have a firm grip on the rudder of the ship of state.
The bad news for Merkel and Westerwelle is that things are likely to get worse for
their government before they get any better. Already, their two parties have
suffered a dismal year in State elections.
8

9. Merkel’s situation reminds me a bit of the one Pres. Obama finds himself in. Both
have their poll numbers at an all time low and the critics speak for a lot of people.
Both have non-national elections coming this year. With the results, if poor for
both, each will suffer yet more criticism and political weakening. We’ll be keeping
an eye on the situation so stay tuned!
FAREWELL TO A HORRIBLE NAME
D-W World recently reported “Stock of former Nazi chemical giant to be delisted”.
The firm, I.G. Farben, used forced labor and made poison gas during World War
II. After the Nuremberg trials, companies like BASF and Bayer were formed from
the splintered monolith. Now the IG Farben name will cease to exist.
More than 80 years after IG Farben was founded the chemicals company once
closely linked to the Nazi regime is having its stock pulled from the market. It's
the final step in a liquidation process which stretched over decades.
During World War II, IG Farben used thousands of forced laborers from the
Auschwitz-Monowitz camp at its factory there. One of the company's subsidiaries
produced Zyklon B, which was used to kill prisoners in gas chambers. A number
of Nobel-prize winning scientists also worked for the company during its history.
IG Farben was once the world's largest chemicals company and the Allied
powers ordered it dismantled after 1945. Several of IG Farben's top executives
were tried in Nuremberg and imprisoned at the time Companies including BASF,
Bayer and Hoechst (now part of French Sanofi) were formed from the fragments
of IG Farben, leaving behind a publicly-traded shell company which declared
bankruptcy in 2003.
As the facts of the Holocaust began coming out after World War II the name of
I.G. Farben became the symbol of the connection between the Nazi death
machine and German industry. Holocaust survivor victims did receive payments
in the 1950’s but the shell corporation remained as legal maneuvers and claims
worked their way through the German courts
Finally, it is being legally dispatched. However, that is not to say that history,
especially Jewish and Holocaust history, will forget it. Nor has it really gone
away. It’s just in smaller pieces and called by different names. Corporations don’t
die – only people.
SOCIAL DEMOCRATS: A BAD RESOLUTION
Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), the major “opposition” party in the
Bundestag has passed an internal resolution which on the surface appears to be
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10. pro-Palestinian and in opposition to Israel’s position on the unilateral declaration
of Palestinian statehood. I’m being kind in saying it “appears”.
The SPD has been clear in its opposition to Chancellor Merkel’s stated position
that the the unilateral declaration is counter productive and only direct
negotiations can lead to a lasting peace. In early August DW-World reported, “…
German opposition circles in parliament have criticized Merkel for taking this
position at such an early stage.
"We regret this premature move because it hinders the chance to develop a
common European position and also demand peace activities from the Israeli
position," Rolf Mützenich, a Middle East expert and foreign policy spokesman of
the opposition Social Democrats, told Deutsche Welle.
"We have to be careful that we don't get caught in a dangerous dead end in the
Middle East, in a situation with considerable risk of escalation," he said.
Therefore, Germany was doing its utmost to help avoid a confrontation in the fall.
The opposition supports this course. But it points to the long lasting deadlock in
Middle East peace negotiations.
"We've seen how far the Palestinian side would have been willing to go to meet
Israel's maximum demands," Mützenich said. "So I think that this step by the
Palestinians is a further measure to apply pressure in order to return at all to real
peace negotiations."
I think it’s pretty clear which way Hr. Mutzenich leans.
Now the SPD has passed a resolution which will be debated in the Bundestag in
early September. An AJC press release noted, “Germany’s opposition Social
Democratic Party (SPD), in a proposed resolution on the peace process, calls on
the German government to drop its opposition to UN recognition of a Palestinian
state, and demands that Israel stop all settlement activity, which the SPD asserts
is the main barrier to peace.
n a recent letter to SPD parliamentary whip Frank-Walter Steinmeier, AJC asked
the party to retract the resolution, which is scheduled for debate in the German
Parliament on September 9. The resolution puts the primary blame on Israel for
the lack of progress in peace negotiations and asks the German government to
upgrade the status of the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Berlin.
“We hope the SPD will shift from its unwarranted criticism of Israel, which is
ready to negotiate with the Palestinians a permanent peace agreement, and
acknowledge Israel’s towering security challenges, as evidenced by the latest
terror attacks,” said AJC’s Berlin Director Deidre Berger.
I want to note for the record that not every member of leader in the SPD supports
this position. Some friends in the party have made that clear. However, party
10

11. unity reigns supreme and the party’s position is the party’s position. Period!
BERLIN’S ANTI-ISRAEL PARADE
Every year an anti-Israel “parade” takes place in Berlin. According to JTA, “Al
Quds Day, a protest against Israel's existence, was established in 1979 by Iran's
Islamic revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Since then, his followers have
marked the day in cities around the world with large Muslim populations, on the
first Saturday after Ramadan. Berlin's annual demonstration has attracted
between 300 and 1,000
Islamists over the years. Men and women march separately.
This year's pro-Israel counter-protest was organized by the German-Israeli
Society; the Jewish Community of Berlin; the Anti-Defamation Center; the Jewish
Forum for Democracy and Against Anti-Semitism; the exile opposition group
Green Party of Iran; the German-Israel Society Berlin/Potsdam branch; the
activist organization Stop the Bomb; the Association of People Persecuted By
the Nazi Regime; the Coordinating Council of German Non-Governmental
Organizations Against Anti-Semitism; and others.
Police spokesperson Michael Gassen told JTA that about 600 Islamist
demonstrators and about 300 pro-Israel protesters were kept well apart from
each other during Saturday's march. There were no arrests.
The anti-Israel demonstrators chanted slogans calling Israel a terrorist state and
calling for its dissolution.
The many children among them "makes me sad," Levi Salomon, Berlin Jewish
Community representative in charge of fighting anti-Semitism, told JTA. "The
indoctrination of the children is a central problem."
Pro-Israel demonstrators came from across the mainstream political spectrum,
and included local Iranian pro-democracy activists, Salomon added.
I would imagine that since the parade emanates from an idea first propounded by
Ayatollah Khomeini, the former Iranian leader, many fewer people of Arab
background participated. There is no love lost between Arabs and Iranians. A
non-Al Quds event would have been a bigger draw. Because they only turned out
600 it should not be assumed that anti-Israelism barely exists in Germany. That
is just not the case. Anti-Israelism is strong especially at this moment in history
when a unilateral declaration of independence by the Palestinians is about to be
launched at the UN in September.
However, demonstrations are a dime a dozen in Berlin so this one probably does
not carry much weight or influence. On the bright side, a significant Jewish
counter demonstration took place. That shows that the pro-Israel side is activist
11

12. as well.
UNIVERSITY COSTS
Luckily, my wife and I are passed having to shell out large amounts of cash to get
our kids through college. When we were in that position 15 or 20 years ago it was
costing about $25K to get a kid through a good private university here in the U.S.
The cost these days, as I understand it, is over $50K at the Ivy League schools.
The situation in German universities is quite different. Until a few years ago they
were free! When costs began to rise a (very) modest tuition fee of about $700 per
year was added.
Recently an interesting German tax court ruling was described by the Editor of
The Local, Marc Young. He editorialized, “Germany fancies itself a rather
intellectual place, so it's perhaps no surprise that students here used to have a
pretty cushy existence. Freed from regular exams or other forms of rigorous
testing, many would spend the better part of decade submerged deep in thought.
But that's changed dramatically in recent years. Universities have shifted to
internationally recognized bachelor and master degrees, making it harder to
remain a student forever. Highly unpopular tuition fees were even introduced in
seven German states, but five have already decided to abolish them again.
Not that tuition of €500 a semester would matter much after a precedent-setting
court ruling this week, which determined German students should be allowed to
write off the entire cost of university from their future income taxes. Yes, that's
right - tuition fees, rent, a computer, books - everything aside from late-night beer
and pizza is now a tax break.
The only caveat is a person's studies have to be relevant to the gainful
employment they later take up in order to qualify as a work-related expense. So
those most likely to profit from the ruling are those who probably won't be
struggling anyway: doctors, lawyers and other well-paid professions.
Of course, using the court's logic couldn't someone argue they had "relevant"
costs going back to preschool? What about those remedial math classes after
school back in eight grade? Wasn't that key to becoming a civil engineer later in
life?
Now don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge German university students their tax
loophole, and I'd be the last person to argue for crushing US-style tuition here.
But I must admit I'm slightly irked the court has kyboshed my grand scheme to
save higher education in Germany. The idea I liked to trot out every few years
was offering students tuition-free access to university if they opted to do one year
12

13. of public service. In my humble opinion, solidarity is a two-way street.
With the abolition of military conscription this summer, German universities are
facing a flood of new students this autumn and it remains to be seen how the
creaky educational system copes.
Just don't expect any extra funding from the federal government. Finance
Minister Wolfgang Schäuble is probably already calculating what a deluge of
student write-offs are going to cost him in future tax revenue.”
Obviously, there is no “Jewish’ quotient to this piece of news. It does, however,
indicate the difference between the attitudes in Germany and those in the U.S.
about what the costs of higher learning should be. In the U.S., in many cases, the
costs are preclusive. No doubt poor kids are at a great disadvantage. Even in the
best schools with aid packages, etc. my guess is that they leave with large
amounts of student loan burdens. I believe, (again my guess) most middle
income students also leave owing the Government and private bank lenders
great amounts of money. What a way to begin adult life!
I doubt seriously that the American government or the tax courts would go as far
as those in Germany. Nor will this ruling make it easy to support all this university
training. However, if the U.S. is to maintain itself as a great country, etc. etc. etc.
shouldn’t we be doing something to insure the highest level of education for our
young people is more affordable?
Another story on the same subject in The Local can be accessed by clicking
here.
http://www.thelocal.de/education/20110824-37011.html
********************************************************************************************
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DuBow Digest is written and published by Eugene DuBow who can be contacted
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