OpEdNews - Page 4 of Article: Full Moon Rising: Consumer Financial Protection

people with the burden of debt while the "banking elite" profit at any cost.

A consciousness is starting to gel in the minds of lawmakers and the public. Ordinary borrowers and working people have basic civil

rights. Lately, President Obama has been stirring up some tremors in the banking industry. The idea of making less than a 150%

profit and leveling the credit-debt playing field is disturbing the sensibilities of out-of-control bankers. Affordable home loans,

credit card fees, and lower cost healthcare are just a few of the initiatives on the table. Citizens should not have to decide

between paying their mortgage or a life-saving surgery.

Back to my German friends...Sitting around a New York café, we talked of life and work in Germany and America. "We pay half our

salaries to the government," my automaker engineer friend said. German citizens pay 14%-45% of wages in taxes

(click here the United States, the top 2008 marginal tax rate is 35%. President Obama wants to raise it to 39% to pay for all the banking

and financial institution bailouts. Currently, federal, state and local taxes average 40% for Americans. Thus the average German

citizen earning $75,000 to $320,000 annually pays 2% more than the average American. Yet what they get in return is mind-blowing!
A 42% tax base gives ordinary German citizens access to one of the best educational systems in the world with free undergraduate,

technical, and graduate education for all citizens. If you want a law degree, medical degree, PhD or anything else, it is paid for

by the German citizenry under an ethic of "we are all in this together." Germans value top education; big brains are their bread

and butter. So the education you get is as good as anything you would find in the U.S. Ivy League. The common view is that to

advance one's career and livelihood, free access to top-notch education is fundamental to national stability. In other words, how

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