German friend of mine used to say "if you believe in official inflation numbers published by government, you probably also believe in easter bunny and Santa Claus".
For last 20 years, inflation has been running rampant, home and rents have become unaffordable. If you are in early 20ties or 30thies there is huge probability that you will n…
German friend of mine used to say "if you believe in official inflation numbers published by government, you probably also believe in easter bunny and Santa Claus".
For last 20 years, inflation has been running rampant, home and rents have become unaffordable. If you are in early 20ties or 30thies there is huge probability that you will never own home. Prices are simply absurd. Even with 2 incomes, it is getting more and more difficult to cover basic necessities, let alone dream about homeownership.
For 2 decades we have been told that middle class is well an alive, but it is just "squeezed", but at this point it is clear, that US middle class has been sold by the Congress to the highest bidder and is dying painful death.
Sad thing is, that this will be probably, one of the last blows US middle class will be able to endure, when this is over there wont be any left anymore. It is safely to say, that US middle class has been outsourced to China together with manufacturing jobs.
And every time I see, US politicians mention Russia and need to help Ukraine, I just shake my head. War in Ukraine has been going for 2 Months now, and US Congress has appropriated over $35 Billion of Aid, this is almost 1% of US budget for 2022. At the same time, we are being told, that there is absolutly no money for issues at home and that any additional spending will just aggravate inflation. How is it possible, that there is never money for Americans, but there is money for everyone else, be it defense of our rich allies in Europe (Germany, UK, US, Sweden, Norway and other rich states) and now Ukraine. While for Americans, there is absolutly nothing. At this point, more US politicians have been to Kyiv than to US southern border.
I read a funny comment other day on YouTube, that people of Detroit and other poor areas in US should hang couple of Ukrainian flags around the area, so some US politician would mistake them for Ukraine and do something for them, since as it seems that Money Printer for Ukraine is working 24/7.
No wonder that US middle class is dying, because for Congress, everything else is more important.
PS. please don't get me wrong, this is not against Ukraine or our allies, but against US Congress, who will do everything except take care for Americans
It’s corporate welfare and less we forget a majority of that money is used for weapons that a number of US defense contractors build. And the companies do employ a lot of workers here in the US so in a way we are helping America.
All the while our infrastructure is crumbling. Money that military contractors get, could be put to much better use at home in USA. That would yield benefits to USA for generations to come. Money spent on military industrial complex is wasted in long run. Roads, bridges, ports can be used for productive purposes. Military stuff has only on non productive use.
As for us helping America trough funding Military industrial complex, just look Iraq and Afghanistan wars. If used that money for anything else at home, would be much better, that that we gave to military contractors.
That is drop in the bucket. As someone how has been living and working in China, US infrastructure looks like third world country, and it will require seruis investment over decade just to catch up. Without it, US will decline even further.
Thus this $1 Trillion that they pass will be drop in the bucket, since we didn't do anything for last 50 years, and it will be beardly enough to stop bridges from collapsing and fix existing one.
At same time we spend $773 billion each year on Military and further aggravate our debt.
Money spend on infrastructure is Investment, money spend on Military is expense.
China already has light years better infrastructure than USA. And look what they are doing,
You miss the point. If Congress (and the rest of government everywhere) would just get out of the way, Americans could and would take care of themselves just fine.
The government WAS out of the way until FDR, who "saved" us by transforming a normal and overdue economic contraction into a protracted depression that he used to remake the entire economy along Wilsonian lines. We went from a country of hardworking individuals and families (because they had to be) to one where half of the country pays no income tax and 1 in 5 of those in the prime working age group (25-54) isn't working or even looking for work. Washington has grown from a footnote in daily life in the early 20th century to the largest, richest and most powerful "industry" in the country today.
So sad and so true. In 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville was struck by the boundless optimism and characteristic self-reliance of the average American. Eighty years later, progressives began the process of killing it. Twenty years after that, FDR finished the job. Security and the desire to be "taken care of" by others are human instincts; while freedom is not. We're steadily losing the freedoms necessary for making our way as a nation. Our major institutions are captured by the chaos-machine of the left, all in the name of equity. A nation which values equality of outcome above freedom ends up with neither.
FDR also introduced the minimum wage (part of the FLSA) which was originally designed to price black laborers out of the construction market in NYC. It succeeded.
Search for the "1931 Davis-Bacon Act, requiring ‘prevailing’ wages on federally assisted construction projects, supported by the idea that it would keep contractors from using ‘cheap colored labor’ to underbid contractors using white labor.”
Admittedly, this was Hoover, not FDR, but FDR did his part to enshrine min wage and lock out blacks for another generation.
Not buying the foreign spending angle is the cause. We have wasted Trillions on Americans, Biden bucks for nothing, Trump bucks, excessive govt pensions that arent funded, war on poverty trillions, fake social security disability payments, people who dont pay any taxes or enough taxes (half the population), Trillions is a lot more than billions. The 30 billion right now for Ukrane is bit much right now but not overall problem.
why do you lump Trump in? Trump shut down the foreign wars i.e. Syria and refrained from going to war with Iran after their missile strike on a base. He threatened N.K. with nuclear annihilation, then met the leader and signed a deal. He also fostered the strongest economy probably since the 1950s. Look he wasn't perfect but just assigning him false equivalency to Dems and RINOs is completely inaccurate.
While I think you're right, JPM, you do have to start somewhere, otherwise the problem is so huge you can't get your head around it.
US aid is, today, primarily a tool to promote secular liberalism at the expense of native countries traditional cultures. Foreign aid isn't altruism; it's colonialism. Both butter to feed allies or guns to overthrow enemies serve the same goal: promote the American-led international, liberal order. We've been doing that at least since Commodore Perry sailed his black fleet into Edo Bay.
For one who wants to downsize the American empire, attacking the validity of US expenditures abroad is ideal. Those expenditures mostly go to feed people who aren't our citizens or to kill people who aren't our citizens. In either case, they are easy political targets, and eliminating them strikes at the heart of American imperialism.
(Note, I'm not suggesting that we as successful human beings shouldn't be helping to feed people who aren't our citizens, only that our current way of doing so is mostly about our interests instead of theirs.)
Sir, worst is the money abroad is not going to feed people abroad, but in most cases to fund ideological "spreading of democracy" and unaccountable NGOs.
I was born in one poorest countries in southern Europe. And and by irony of fate, my sister in law works of one of those NGOs and she in in charge for the region where my birth country is.
She is constantly baffeled why people at old country like China and dislike USA. Well, answer is quite easy. China showed up several years ago, is funding and building absolutely all major infrastructure project (some are aid, some are development loans => be not confused, China is not doing this because they like us, but because they have their interests).
At the same time what is US doing, well they are running around with NGOs and doing presentation how we need more gender studies on our universities or some stupid woke agenda that nobody cares.
Also ambassadors of China and US have completely different approach, the American one is acting like colonial governor, constantly meddling in internal politics of country, while Chinese ambassador just shows' up on opening of large infrastructure projects and says "China and your country are friends".
If we are not helping people abroad with our money, then better stop wasting, because current approach is clearly not working. And it is not about our interests at all, but about interests of NGOs and other unaccountable agencies.
Raziel, this is why commenters on these newsletters are often so good: varied life experience. I have been hearing the same thing from a few journalists covering African diplomatic missions. What those African diplomats are saying is "China requires us to not actively work against their interests; the US requires us to turn out societies upside down adopting their ethical compass and governing system."
Due to history, Africans have finely tuned colonialism detectors. It's not surprising they are choosing China.
"At the same time what is US doing, well they are running around with NGOs and doing presentation how we need more gender studies on our universities or some stupid woke agenda that nobody cares."
Embarrassed American here. They forgot to include stolen land acknowledgements, which in Southern Europe could take a while ....
US Debt is over 30 Trillion. Majority of that has been spent on Bank Bailouts, 20 years of Wars in Middle east and bases all over the worlds (everything else but on Americans). So Trump bucks and Biden buck are drop in the bucket (as insane as it sounds). Current inflation is caused by years of mismanagement by Congress and FED. Also real inflation has been much higer for years now, that the official figures, only difference now, is that it is get so out of hand, that it is not possible to hide it with calculation tricks.
Also my example of Ukraine is, not that it is what is causing inflation, but that US congress, very happy to provide helping hand, with no question ask to one of most corrupt nations in Europe. At the same time we have several major crisis brewing at home, one is Inflation, but social security will go run out of money in next 15 years, we have student loans crisis, opioid crisis, infrastructure is falling apart and several others that have been going for years. Congress has done nothing for that, if one half of the money that was wasted in Afghanistan's infrastructure was spent in US, we would have been much better of.
Also just wait when they start with Marshal Plan 2.0 for Ukraine, there will be much more billions for them. at the same time, parts of US are literary falling apart, bridges are collapsing due to lack of maintenance infrastructure is stuck in last century.
In 2021, Social Security expenses were $1.151 trillion. Medicare was $722 billion. Medicaid was $448 billion. Interest payments on the national debt were $378 billion. Other mandatory, non-discretionary spending was $645 billion.
$33 billion to help Ukraine is almost budget dust.
Social security is not a handout, people have been paying in to it for years.
Medicare and Medicaid are programs for Americans, yes we can discuss if they need to be reformed or not but that is other topic.
Ukraine is just one extreme example of how congress is ok with wasting money abroad. War in Ukraine has been going for 60 days, and we are already shilling $35 billion, which is almost 1% of US budget. For $35 Billion we could solve some problems back at home, for example situation with Insulin, so people wouldn't have to smuggle it from Canada.
US has several crisis happening for years now, and Congress is not doing anything, but for Ukraine (one of most corrupted nations in Europe) we will give as much money with no questions asked.
Raziel -- seems like you really want to blame the U.S.'s dire budget situation on defense spending and foreign aid. The numbers just don't support this.
TxFrog's numbers are correct: Uncle Sam is spending $81 billion per day on entitlements (including weekends and holidays), of which around $41 billion is Social Security. The average Social Security recipient recoups his or her lifetime contributions in about 8 years, and lives about 20 years.
Defense spending dropped from 8-9% of GDP for most of the 1960s, to 5-6% of GDP for most of the 1970s and 1980s. It dropped further to 3-5% of GDP through the 1990s and 2000s, reflecting the "peace dividend" of the Soviet Union disbanding. Since 2014 it's been under 4% of GDP, under both Democratic and GOP presidents. It's currently around 3.25%.
The good news is that if you think defense spending should be lower as a percentage of federal spending, it is. Your point of view is winning.
The bad news is that if you think the U.S. severe budget problems are caused by defense spending, this simply is not accurate.
Raziel -- I'm afraid some of your statements do not square with actual U.S. budget expenditures.
More than 70% of federal spending is transfer payments to individuals. (Social Security, Medicare. Medicaid, AFDC, food stamps, etc.) And this percentage goes up about a point per year. In the 1960s it was something like 20%.
We got to $30 trillion -- or more to the point we went from $4 trillion in 2001 to nearly $31 trillion today -- by collecting 16-17% of GDP in revenue, and committing to 24% of GDP in spending, which is on its way to 28% because of continuing "automatic" increases in entitlement spending.
Singling out foreign aid or defense spending as the primary cause does not present an accurate picture of the massive (and bipartisan) failure of government leadership that has caused the U.S. to go from the world's largest creditor to the world's largest debtor in just 40 years.
And the reason for increasing poverty, increasing year after year, is the outsourcing of our middle class to China. The outsourcing of our nation's wealth. The Chinese continue to get richer and richer and richer, year after year. Their middle class is growing leaps & bounds & larger than the US population. They are the top buyers for Luxury brands.
Due to corporations outsourcing good jobs to China.
My issue with military spending is that at this point, it is a drain with 0 accountability. Pentagon has no idea where the money is going. Also large part of military spending is for bases in Europe, in rich European countries like Germany. Why do we need to foot the bill for Germany, Italy and other countries that have much higher social spending than USA?
As for foreign aid, I am not against foreign aid, but for last 30 years it has been mismanaged that it is not even funny. Best comparison is how China is using the aid and how we are doing it.
I will repost one of the answers I posted below:
Sir, worst is the money abroad is not going to feed people abroad, but in most cases to fund ideological "spreading of democracy" and unaccountable NGOs.
I was born in one poorest countries in southern Europe. And and by irony of fate, my sister in law works of one of those NGOs and she in in charge for the region where my birth country is.
She is constantly baffeled why people at old country like China and dislike USA. Well, answer is quite easy. China showed up several years ago, is funding and building absolutely all major infrastructure project (some are aid, some are development loans => be not confused, China is not doing this because they like us, but because they have their interests).
At the same time what is US doing, well they are running around with NGOs and doing presentation how we need more gender studies on our universities or some stupid woke agenda that nobody cares.
Also ambassadors of China and US have completely different approach, the American one is acting like colonial governor, constantly meddling in internal politics of country, while Chinese ambassador just shows' up on opening of large infrastructure projects and says "China and your country are friends".
If we are not helping people abroad with our money, then better stop wasting, because current approach is clearly not working. And it is not about our interests at all, but about interests of NGOs and other unaccountable agencies.
No question EU governments and other NATO members have been welching on Uncle Sam, for far too long. Only good thing about Ukraine invasion is it's prompting them to find religion very quickly on this.
Also, I don't know about every country China helps, but for the few countries I am familiar with, China's "aid" comes at a very high price. When China helped to bail out Greece, it demanded collateral in the form of ownership of its ports. In Portugal, China provided tens of billions of dollars in relief after the 2008 financial crisis. In return it now owns the Portugal's national airline, 28% of Portugal's national energy company, and Chinese nationals pay no income or business taxes to live in Portutal.
When Jamaica ran out of money to complete its cross-country turnpike, China stepped to "help" and provided necessary funding. Guess who gets the toll money?
In Ecuador, China put up some $35 billion to rebuild and update the country's waterworks, promising to provide jobs to Ecuadorians in the process. Guess who now owns and essentially rents the waterworks in Ecuador? And guess who got all the good jobs created?
Can't speak for other countries, but the people I deal with in these four countries have little good to say about China, and with good reason.
Federal government revenues have lost some trillions of dollars over the previous 20 years from the tax cuts, tax holidays, and rebates of previous administrations. Some of the tax holidays were arguably justified, but the permanent tax cuts, not at all. The "Covid relief bills" passed in 2020 with overwhelming bipartisan support were...int'risting. It's going to require some more time to evaluate the impact of the novel virus pandemic wave, and the impacts of what was or wasn't done as a response to it.
I'm just pointing out facts, here. I think the tax code should be reformed with a shift away from reliance on income taxes toward a national sales tax- but the Democrats are too ideologically rigid to even consider such a proposal, and I don't trust the Republicans to craft one that's fair and honest.
I agree with most of that, particularly the waste on Iraq and Afghanistan., but my point was we have wasted and are wasting the vast majority on lazy ass Americans, not foreigners. Pointing to dont spend on Ukraine is a slogan not a solution, sometimes used effectively by the isolationists.
Red States are welfare states that contribute little, or nothing, and suck off the teat of the "liberal/Blue" states that provide the federal money for them.
Really? You went to Red States? Want to talk about how people in every state have been suckered into putting themselves into massive amounts of debt to fund (mostly) irrelevant colleges and universities so they can pay their tenured professors and bloated administrations to not teach people how to succeed in the real world? I suggest we don't talk about that. Instead, how about we focus on what's great about all of our states and all of our citizens, and motivate people to be proud to be Americans and to work to help each other succeed rather than tear each other down ?
That's not journalism. That's cherry-picking a quote to fit a biased narrative. The person who wrote that would have major cognitive dissonance if he spoke to people I know who voted for Trump. None of them would ever want anybody to be hurt, and they'd say the same thing I'm saying: that is a hit piece, not journalism. It's divisive and dishonest, and it's why the media has lost so much credibility. Please have more respect for yourself and this forum than to post links to that type of content. You can do better.
Let me share another one....I'll try and limit it to one a day from here on out. I'll try to have more respect for the forum, although it seems others have little respect for reality. You can do better.
Lol. Only 1 in 5 faculty member are tenured. LOL! You guys have a really skewed fantasy of what academia is like. Let me guess, Fox News? Yes, Engineering, Chemistry, Biology, Business....yes, all great for the "fantasy world" and not the "real world" - WHERE YE GOTTA WERK WIT YA HANDS!!!
Colleges and universities serve in invaluable purpose to society. Unless you think it would be better that there were no more doctors, scientists, engineers, chemical engineeers, etc. - and those were only produced by universities overseas. Yeah....America would be in great shape.
Red States contribute very little, if anthing at all. The only contribution comes from the small pockets of "blue" which SURPRISE - tend to be around the major state university. Red state mouthbreathers claim EVERYONE else is "lazy" and a "taker" - when they only exist due to the tax revenues of others.
This is a standard case of projection. He hates his own bigotry, but instead of coming to terms with it and addressing it, he finds another group of bigoted people and projects his attention on them. It's a classic narcissistic behavior. You'll notice he only points fingers and blame, he doesn't try to solve the perceived problem. Like the "mouth breathers" he hates so much, he is single-minded and refuses to learn and grow.
Can't stand Fox News. Or any major news network, for that matter. Their sole purpose is to spread fear and divide people to keep them angry and dialed in so they can sell ads. Not a MAGA fan, hope he doesn't run again. Not a Big Food fan. Not a Big Pharma fan. And not a Big Student Debt fan. Own a small software business. Live in a "purple" state. Personally pay six figures in taxes every year. Came from a broken home and bankruptcy and went to a top 10 liberal arts school almost entirely on financial aid and student loans. And like *most people*, I'm in the middle on most issues.
A trillion dollars in student loan debt is a disgrace because it has disproportionality benefited administrators and faculty and real estate developers, and left an overwhelming majority of loan bearers with degrees that don't mean much in the marketplace and saddled with debts they will struggle for the rest of their lives to pay. I understand you hate red states. Ok. You've made that clear. Well I don't like lazy people, couldn't care less what state they live in. Totally agree we need social safety nets for a small minority of the population who through some confluence of bad luck and bad timing fall into a plan they can't lift themselves out of without help. That might be 5-10% of the population. Just a guess. But when you run with a crowd of people who came from tough socio-economic backgrounds and decided to use mindset, grit, optimism, hustle, risk-taking, and determination to make their own way, it's hard to watch people who point fingers and blame others and refuse to have personal responsibility and accountability for their outcomes in life and not feel like they are lazy. Nevertheless, I believe we were great once and can be again. And I'm incredibly thankful to live here in this country, and I would have your back if it came down to it. I hope you find a way to focus on being a force for positively working to unify this country and not let the small, vocal, intolerant minorities on both extremes wield so much influence. We could use intelligent people like you helping that cause right now.
You may be right on the Blue Red thing or just reading biased NYT activist talking points from a Paul Krugman Robert Reich article. Baltimore?, welfare queen crime ridden city , without JH and Bloomberg support to JH, a net taker x 100.
Actually, not a "leftist" at all. That term now means anyone who didn't vote for Trump, doesn't think teachers are pedophiles and doesn't believe history should be sanitized/ignored in the classroom to protect the feelings/identity of white children.
Lol. No, federal statistics, noy NYT, etc. Red Stateas are welfare states that contribute practically nothing and take far more out via tax dollars than they contribute.
Nah, West. Baltimore is rough. Everywhere else is fine. Without JH & Bloomberg? Well...we'll never know, will we - beacuse that's not reality.
I seem to have hit a nerve regarding the Red welfare states. Sorry. It's simple reality.
You wanna get into a discussion of reality? Sorry, "my friend," You wouldn't recognize it if it hit You in the smacker. Or You read and understood what I've written in reply to Your nonsense.
Honestly, if we have to waste money on someone, than better on lazy people at home, than corrupt people abroad, because in second case, money ends up in some offshore havens on bank account of corrupt polititans.
Exactly! How much of that "aid" money will come back to politicians, lobbyists, weapons providers, etc.? *Money laundering at scale*.
Also agree with j p m that Americans are generally lazy. People walk around staring at $1000 computers in the palms of their hands watching TikTok or tweeting about gender identification when they could literally learn nearly anything they want to learn about any topic. But that takes hard work and diligence and persistence, and people won't do that if they think they can get more $ from Big Gov.
Most people would rather be treated like children and be told what to do. It's why the allure of communism is taking root. But we still have a chance to turn this thing around, we just need the right leaders who have moxie and vision and persuasion skills to remind us that we were a great nation and can be again. We get to choose how this ends!
We need a party and leaders that prioritizes American interests and Americans interest. Trump was (and is) wrestling with the disgusting Republican Party trying to move it in that direction. I am not sure the Republicans are redeemable but have no hope for the Democrats
When Trump was in office, he wrestled so hard that the bottom half of households in America paid 24.2%, which was 1.2% higher than the wealthiest 400 families in America; now that’s real social justice For you!
For an individual to think they know more than the Council of Economic Advisers and Office of Management and Budget is a fair definition of hubris. Why do you find it unreasonable for me to accept them and not you?
Golfer, what do people who paid no taxes have to do with “…bottom half of households in America paid 24.2%,….” Inherit within the statement is the fact that they pay taxes!
You mean the 'successful businessman' who blurted out early on campaigning in 2016 that the US should just not pay it's debt obligations in full to bond holders around the world (doing wonders to our stellar credit rating!), renegotiating what was owed and giving creditors a haircut - that one?
So much whataboutism: (the technique or practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counteraccusation or raising a different issue.) So little relevance!
"whataboutism" is otherwise known as compare and contrast analysis. It is one of the most basic forms of rational thought - something I'm not sure you're familiar with.
so what? Trump blurted out all kinds of things. But what he DID is what counts. He even said it himself: "Who cares about personality? It's what I do that matters."
True enough. I'd love to know what he 'blurted out' to his hero Vladimir in that closed door meeting in Helsinki a few years back with no one but a translator present. Putin must have licked his chops on that one.
Lee, we are used to taking our politicians literally but not always seriously. Trump is best taken seriously but not always literally. I prefer the former, but I do have to admit that he managed to make the latter work reasonably well (mostly controlled borders, no new wars, great economy pre COVID, minimal inflation). But taking every phrase he utters as evidence of policy is a mistake.
Based on the number of staff walk-backs of the President's off-the-cuff comments, it appears to be a mistake with Biden too, Take his ideas seriously but not literally.
Sigh. Whatever happened to the English language? Where what is said is what is meant? Taken to its logical extreme the 'not literally' but 'seriously' might give cover to all the half truths and utter falsehoods to come out of Trump's mouth.
brucey...somehow you got a little off base, but what do i know...i am thinking that trumpty had a 2% inflation rate with a GDP of 4%, without covid.
Now it is easy to consider the debt (Bush $5 Trillion, the BO went to $20 Trillion and Trumpty goes for 27 Trill), so the "D" was not halved, but his policies if followed would cut the "D". Tough part for many, because of the News Media, is the fact that since the previous administrations Raised the Debt for future administrations...so, it might appear that the debt was not cut, because the pathway had automatic increases...in short, since the BO went up over 3 (5 to 20) times in debt , that gives Trumpty, if he took the same option, to put the debt @$60 Trillion. But, he keeps it under $30...impute the Trumpster. thanks.
Trump did sign budgets that increased the military by a hundred billion or so, and signed the emergency stimulus in 2020.
Should he not have? He admitted, himself, that these were inflationary measures, but the alternative was a weakened military and the possibility, though unproven, of an economic crash resulting from the pandemic.
Recall also, that in those days, people were sterilizing their groceries, wiping down the steering wheel and wearing cloth masks in their own cars. It all turned out to be unfounded rubbish. Were we conned? Perhaps we were, but not by Trump.
Prior to the pandemic, which could scarcely be blamed on Trump though the Democrats tried mightily, the economy was growing rapidly, employment was full and job participation rates were at record highs, black and Hispanic and female employment rates at record highs, hundreds of billions of dollars had been repatriated, energy was cheap, domestic steel production was rebounding, the trade deficit was being repaired by means of net energy export and a rebounding manufacturing sector... all of this led to record government tax receipts.
I believe that had the China virus not been released from that lab in Wuhan, or at least had the Communist regime not allowed travelers to leave the country and spread it around the world even after they were aware of the problem... the U.S. was on track to reduced deficits or even a budget surplus within 5 years, give or take.
Bruce, Trump fought with the DC Republican as much as he fought with anyone. He didn’t have their support. But, that’s the problem. No single person is going to fix our country’s problems. Yet, we fixate on the executive branch as if it’s a “fix all” for our issues.
I'm old enough to remember that individual families were expected to have saved one quarter of a home's selling price before a bank would allow them to get a mortgage.
Such were the attitudes during an era marked by personal responsibility.
Back in the 40s when I was growing up, if older boys in shop class were picking on the younger boys, it was expected that at least one of us would pick up a shop stool and use it as a tool to explain to the bigger kid that he and his pals had better back off.
Back then, the bullies tended to have wealthy parents, or at least a very inflated superiority complex.
Such behavior nowadays would lead to the bullies getting off Scott free while the younger boy would be expelled from school.
Laissez-faire back then was not just an economic term.
My granddad, 1900-1991, told me that when he was growing up in Brooklyn, there was a gang on every block, and if 2+ boys were beating on someone, other boys would intervene because it was considered unfair.
Sadly, this ethic has disappeared, replaced with the idea that my gang will beat you into brain damage if you "disrespect" me.
Well, if America-first Republicans get a super-majority of both houses of Congress, and an America-First President in the White House, they can probably dismantle a considerable chunk of the New Deal/Great Society agencies. The sticking point will be pensions for millions of civil servants. I would offer them a nice package of six months of salary + benefits, then off they go to the Walmart or Starbucks where they *might* have enough of a work ethic to find a job though not too likely. At least, Starbucks is full of socialistic left wingers so they'll fit right in.
"We let people be more self-reliant and take care of themselves and their families, so there was no need for social security and medicaid."
Fixed that for you.
I question that we need a Dept. of Education, EPA, or Energy Dept.
How many people even know what these massive, bloated, over-budgeted agencies even do? They're largely just money laundering machines for the various states in which they are situated.
Don't get me started on Dept of Ed., elevated from lesser agencies by Jimmy Carter to "show we mean business" when it comes to fixing education. Since that time, it's cost about $1.7 trillion (inflation-adjusted) and in every year the agency has existed, student academic performance has declined. We now have entire cities, such as Baltimore, where a majority of students are graduating high school without the ability to read, write, and do basic arithmetic. Universities have become political indoctrination camps instead of centers of academic inquiry and research as they once at least aspired to.
Trump did that. He and his Administration were undermined every step of the way and ultimately he was cheated out of office via massive fraudulent balloting in 2020, as were several Senators and Congressmen. Without that, the Republicans had been on track to retake the House and we'd be in an entirely different situation today -- less inflation, less likelihood of a war, stronger economy... That's the strategic plan. Cut the fat and let the economy rip. Who knows? Maybe we'll return to that growth economy in 2024 when we get rid of the socialists.
If that's true, God help us. I voted for the man twice, and I'm glad I did, but if he's the best our culture has to offer, we deserve to go the way of Rome.
Are you kidding? Trump put us on the right path to prosperity. If only he had been given 4 more years to finish the job. The alternative is a lunatic dementia patient pushing us toward World War Three. I'll take Trump any time over that.
Terry, my problems with Trump aren't generally policy. As I said, I'm not sorry I voted for him, and if 2024 were a rerun of 2020, I would likely (reluctantly) do so again as the Democrats have gone completely insane.
But... Donald Trump is a narcistic blowhard with the attention span of a gnat who was consistently hamstrung by an inability to followup on anything, an unwillingness to compromise, an obsessive need to never admit error, and an aversion to legislative or bureaucratic processes. These attributes made it possible for the "lunatic dementia patient" (your words), who (unlike Trump) has a competent and experienced staff, to systematically undo 4 years of Trump's executive orders in less than 60 days.
I've met a number of die hard Trump-istas who have a hard time accepting that both of those things can be true at once: 1) Trump did a good job for who he is, 2) A Trump with less emotional baggage and more experience could probably have done better.
Effective Presidents need to push legislation. I see no evidence that Donald Trump has learned to do that, and as a result, I am far more interested in more competent candidates in 2024. (Thankfully, Joe Biden appears to have lost the legislative gab as well, so he's also stuck with EOs too.)
However, as I said above, if Trump's name darkens my ballot in November of 2024, I will likely end up pulling his lever.
"I've met a number of die hard Trump-istas who have a hard time accepting that both of those things can be true at once: 1) Trump did a good job for who he is, 2) A Trump with less emotional baggage and more experience could probably have done better.
"Effective Presidents need to push legislation. I see no evidence that Donald Trump has learned to do that, and as a result, I am far more interested in more competent candidates in 2024."
"Effective Presidents need to push legislation." Nope. Effective presidents dismantle bureaucracy and government as fast as possible. If it requires legislation to do so, OK.
I was actually quoting Brian Villanueva. But I have a lotta respect for his views. They're a lot like mine, tho he's more conservative on some issues. Read the rest-a what he's said.
But as far as what You say, I didn't notice Trump dismantling any bureaucracy. And it probably *would* take legislation. Didn't see much-a that either.
Trump and the Republican Congress did pass a lot of legislation during his first two years. When the Democrats took over the House in 2018 is when things went south as they spent all of their time on witch hunts instead of working to help the American people.
Yeah, I knew about the tax cuts. Glad he cut back on SALT.
But I'm not sure of two things about that. One is, all things considered, whether it increased the debt. Second is to what extent the benefits were spread out evenly amongst high- and low-earners. Dunno. No big deal. "Ancient history" now.
That's actually the only thing I could think of, as far as major legislation. I was hoping to find more, but I think he did a lot *more* by Executive Orders which didn't last 60 days into Biden's administration. More fool Biden, but there it is.
At the risk of contradicting Lee, it sounds like DeSantis is your guy. If Trump doesn’t run, we will get instead a man with a brilliant intellect, articulate speaking style, tough as nails, and a fantastic track record (and military service as the cherry on top… though most liberals now despise the military).
At this point, DeSantis is the only Republican candidate who appears willing and able to use state power in support of conservative ideology. Conservatives have historically not done that well; we prefer the "war of ideas". With all other centers of power in America now held by either the Left or the insane-woke-Left though, we'd better get comfortable with using political power to combat them.
There's a reason many conservatives are watching Victor Orban. It isn't because we want to make America like Hungary. It's not because we think Orban's corruption is a good thing. It's because Orban has successfully used state power to enforce conservative ideology. American conservatives need lessons in how to do that.
Great comment, Brian. But please, if your ballot is darkened - do not succumb. Abstain from voting. I will abstain if Biden runs again. Our non votes will cancel each other out.
:)
Even a De Santis run would be better than a Trump resurgence. And I say that heavily.
Terry, Trump didn't know what the nuclear triad meant when asked about it during the Republican primary debates in 2016. But I think you do. How could he not have?
As a candidate he wanted to discount trillions of $ in US Treasury debt in order to lower our overall debt burden (until he was mercifully talked out of it), forcing our worldwide creditors to take a haircut. What do you think that would have done to our dollar and our credibility? He would have turned us into Argentina.
Trump exhibited a paucity of knowledge that was just breathtaking when he ran for President. Biden might have dementia, I grant you that. But any other candidate on that Republican stage for President was more intelligent and more studied than Trump. With the possible exception of hapless Ben Carson, who was a complete and utter idiot (his surgical skills notwithstanding).
What "idiotic" policies did Trump actually implement? Can you be specific? Note that he hired experts, REAL ones versus the bozos under Biden. For example, DOT was headed by an actual transportation logistics expert from the private sector. DofEd headed by an entrepreneur who pushed charter schools and other reforms (okay, not an "expert" in education but who wants an education "expert" anyway? look what harm they've caused). Etc. several others. He also listened to his advisors.
His one mistake was bringing in several retired generals for example chief of staff; they turned out to be fools and autocrats, so he one-by-one fired them and replaced them with better people. He also gradually rooted out all the traitors and leakers who were undermining them at every step.
Considering what he had to put up with, it's a miracle what he accomplished.
Most of us are not crazies , qanons or what ever nonsense is being labeled , we see what's going on and it is tearing us apart , most of all people who we are supposedly protecting have had enough as well, even Ukrainians are saying if America would stop giving weapons and forcing us to fight , this war would be over already.
So if a U.S. state were attacked we should just let the attacker have it and not try to defend ourselves? That makes no sense. Ukraine is a separate country that was invaded by Russia and, so far, has done very well in a David vs. Goliath battle.
Also, what is the source for your statement that Ukranians want Americans to stop giving them weapons and forcing them to fight?
Ukraine is not even an ally. It was and is the most corrupt country in Europe, comparable to Russia itself. It is NOT a strategic priority for the U.S.
The only reason we are turning it into a surrogate war with Russia, is that the regime of Biden, the Democrats, and the military-industrial oligarchy in this country have it in their interest. Nothing like a good war to distract Americans from disastrous economic policy, catastrophic missteps in Afghanistan, wide-open border flooded with interlopers from all over the world, crumbling inner cities with skyrocketing crime, etc. etc. ad nauseam.
"Ukraine has done very well in a David vs Goliath..." No not really. The country is in ruins. The U.S., Poland, and Nato are keeping it going, in the same way you keep a vegetative patient alive on machines. Ukraine is no longer a country, but a battlefield.
Even if the Russians just give up and leave tomorrow, it's no victory for the West. It will cost probably a trillion dollars to rebuild the place... and if the Democrats have their way, a lot of that money will come from my pocket and yours, or rather from our descendants' pockets since they will borrow it. But many parasites attached to the government will get rich.
Given this awful situation, a Trumpian deal would have been a much better option. Putin refrained from aggressive military actions during Trump's tenure, and I believe that had Trump not been shackled by the phony Russia-Russia-Russia accusations, he could have negotiated a peaceful resolution; he's a deal maker after all, which Biden most certainly is not.
Sorry, AB, I wasn't trying to tar you as a loon at all.
In 2008 I said that if HIllary won the presidency, we would have spent 25 years being governed by members of only 2 families. My feeling today is the same: are Joe Biden and Donald Trump really the best the world leading superpower can come up with among our 300M citizens?
-How did we end up with $30 Billion debt and ballooning deficits? If not by years of mismanagement by Congress (they have power of purse).
FED has kept Interests rates low for far to long., this made home ownership for young people a dream by now.
-Entire article that you are commenting is about now inflation calculations have been adjusted for years now to hid real impact of inflation.
- War in Ukraine has been going for 60 Days now, we are already shilling $35 Billion with no questions asked to one of most corrupt nations in Europe. And if our experience from Afghanistan and Iraq, more billions will flow.
- Are you calming that Industry heartlands of US are doing great and that our infrastructure is great? Every couple of months we have news about bridges collapsing due to old age and lack of maintenance.
I live and work in China, and believe me, US infrastructure is stuck in 1970, and is looking like third world country by the day. Yes we can stick our head in sand and claim that that is no so, but reality looks different.
German friend of mine used to say "if you believe in official inflation numbers published by government, you probably also believe in easter bunny and Santa Claus".
For last 20 years, inflation has been running rampant, home and rents have become unaffordable. If you are in early 20ties or 30thies there is huge probability that you will never own home. Prices are simply absurd. Even with 2 incomes, it is getting more and more difficult to cover basic necessities, let alone dream about homeownership.
For 2 decades we have been told that middle class is well an alive, but it is just "squeezed", but at this point it is clear, that US middle class has been sold by the Congress to the highest bidder and is dying painful death.
Sad thing is, that this will be probably, one of the last blows US middle class will be able to endure, when this is over there wont be any left anymore. It is safely to say, that US middle class has been outsourced to China together with manufacturing jobs.
And every time I see, US politicians mention Russia and need to help Ukraine, I just shake my head. War in Ukraine has been going for 2 Months now, and US Congress has appropriated over $35 Billion of Aid, this is almost 1% of US budget for 2022. At the same time, we are being told, that there is absolutly no money for issues at home and that any additional spending will just aggravate inflation. How is it possible, that there is never money for Americans, but there is money for everyone else, be it defense of our rich allies in Europe (Germany, UK, US, Sweden, Norway and other rich states) and now Ukraine. While for Americans, there is absolutly nothing. At this point, more US politicians have been to Kyiv than to US southern border.
I read a funny comment other day on YouTube, that people of Detroit and other poor areas in US should hang couple of Ukrainian flags around the area, so some US politician would mistake them for Ukraine and do something for them, since as it seems that Money Printer for Ukraine is working 24/7.
No wonder that US middle class is dying, because for Congress, everything else is more important.
PS. please don't get me wrong, this is not against Ukraine or our allies, but against US Congress, who will do everything except take care for Americans
It’s corporate welfare and less we forget a majority of that money is used for weapons that a number of US defense contractors build. And the companies do employ a lot of workers here in the US so in a way we are helping America.
All the while our infrastructure is crumbling. Money that military contractors get, could be put to much better use at home in USA. That would yield benefits to USA for generations to come. Money spent on military industrial complex is wasted in long run. Roads, bridges, ports can be used for productive purposes. Military stuff has only on non productive use.
As for us helping America trough funding Military industrial complex, just look Iraq and Afghanistan wars. If used that money for anything else at home, would be much better, that that we gave to military contractors.
We did recently pass an infrastructure bill in the trillion dollar range. What more do we need here?
That is drop in the bucket. As someone how has been living and working in China, US infrastructure looks like third world country, and it will require seruis investment over decade just to catch up. Without it, US will decline even further.
Thus this $1 Trillion that they pass will be drop in the bucket, since we didn't do anything for last 50 years, and it will be beardly enough to stop bridges from collapsing and fix existing one.
At same time we spend $773 billion each year on Military and further aggravate our debt.
Money spend on infrastructure is Investment, money spend on Military is expense.
China already has light years better infrastructure than USA. And look what they are doing,
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-06/china-infrastructure-push-dwarfs-u-s-spending
Many erroneous beliefs in your reply.
Like what?
That inflation is not rampant?
That many young people will never own home?
That middle class has been decimated in last 30 years? That US jobs have been shipped overseas?
That congress doesn't give 2 cents for issues of Americans but will shill money on foreign wars with no issues?
That Germany and many European countries are rich and have social spending that is much higher than ours, while we foot their defense bill?
You miss the point. If Congress (and the rest of government everywhere) would just get out of the way, Americans could and would take care of themselves just fine.
The government WAS out of the way until FDR, who "saved" us by transforming a normal and overdue economic contraction into a protracted depression that he used to remake the entire economy along Wilsonian lines. We went from a country of hardworking individuals and families (because they had to be) to one where half of the country pays no income tax and 1 in 5 of those in the prime working age group (25-54) isn't working or even looking for work. Washington has grown from a footnote in daily life in the early 20th century to the largest, richest and most powerful "industry" in the country today.
So sad and so true. In 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville was struck by the boundless optimism and characteristic self-reliance of the average American. Eighty years later, progressives began the process of killing it. Twenty years after that, FDR finished the job. Security and the desire to be "taken care of" by others are human instincts; while freedom is not. We're steadily losing the freedoms necessary for making our way as a nation. Our major institutions are captured by the chaos-machine of the left, all in the name of equity. A nation which values equality of outcome above freedom ends up with neither.
FDR also introduced the minimum wage (part of the FLSA) which was originally designed to price black laborers out of the construction market in NYC. It succeeded.
I don't doubt You, M. Terry. Do You have a link that says such, or a book to recommend? (If You have time/interest that is. :)
Search for the "1931 Davis-Bacon Act, requiring ‘prevailing’ wages on federally assisted construction projects, supported by the idea that it would keep contractors from using ‘cheap colored labor’ to underbid contractors using white labor.”
Admittedly, this was Hoover, not FDR, but FDR did his part to enshrine min wage and lock out blacks for another generation.
Thank You SIR! Will look into. :)
Not buying the foreign spending angle is the cause. We have wasted Trillions on Americans, Biden bucks for nothing, Trump bucks, excessive govt pensions that arent funded, war on poverty trillions, fake social security disability payments, people who dont pay any taxes or enough taxes (half the population), Trillions is a lot more than billions. The 30 billion right now for Ukrane is bit much right now but not overall problem.
why do you lump Trump in? Trump shut down the foreign wars i.e. Syria and refrained from going to war with Iran after their missile strike on a base. He threatened N.K. with nuclear annihilation, then met the leader and signed a deal. He also fostered the strongest economy probably since the 1950s. Look he wasn't perfect but just assigning him false equivalency to Dems and RINOs is completely inaccurate.
While I think you're right, JPM, you do have to start somewhere, otherwise the problem is so huge you can't get your head around it.
US aid is, today, primarily a tool to promote secular liberalism at the expense of native countries traditional cultures. Foreign aid isn't altruism; it's colonialism. Both butter to feed allies or guns to overthrow enemies serve the same goal: promote the American-led international, liberal order. We've been doing that at least since Commodore Perry sailed his black fleet into Edo Bay.
For one who wants to downsize the American empire, attacking the validity of US expenditures abroad is ideal. Those expenditures mostly go to feed people who aren't our citizens or to kill people who aren't our citizens. In either case, they are easy political targets, and eliminating them strikes at the heart of American imperialism.
(Note, I'm not suggesting that we as successful human beings shouldn't be helping to feed people who aren't our citizens, only that our current way of doing so is mostly about our interests instead of theirs.)
Sir, worst is the money abroad is not going to feed people abroad, but in most cases to fund ideological "spreading of democracy" and unaccountable NGOs.
I was born in one poorest countries in southern Europe. And and by irony of fate, my sister in law works of one of those NGOs and she in in charge for the region where my birth country is.
She is constantly baffeled why people at old country like China and dislike USA. Well, answer is quite easy. China showed up several years ago, is funding and building absolutely all major infrastructure project (some are aid, some are development loans => be not confused, China is not doing this because they like us, but because they have their interests).
At the same time what is US doing, well they are running around with NGOs and doing presentation how we need more gender studies on our universities or some stupid woke agenda that nobody cares.
Also ambassadors of China and US have completely different approach, the American one is acting like colonial governor, constantly meddling in internal politics of country, while Chinese ambassador just shows' up on opening of large infrastructure projects and says "China and your country are friends".
If we are not helping people abroad with our money, then better stop wasting, because current approach is clearly not working. And it is not about our interests at all, but about interests of NGOs and other unaccountable agencies.
Raziel, this is why commenters on these newsletters are often so good: varied life experience. I have been hearing the same thing from a few journalists covering African diplomatic missions. What those African diplomats are saying is "China requires us to not actively work against their interests; the US requires us to turn out societies upside down adopting their ethical compass and governing system."
Due to history, Africans have finely tuned colonialism detectors. It's not surprising they are choosing China.
"At the same time what is US doing, well they are running around with NGOs and doing presentation how we need more gender studies on our universities or some stupid woke agenda that nobody cares."
Embarrassed American here. They forgot to include stolen land acknowledgements, which in Southern Europe could take a while ....
US Debt is over 30 Trillion. Majority of that has been spent on Bank Bailouts, 20 years of Wars in Middle east and bases all over the worlds (everything else but on Americans). So Trump bucks and Biden buck are drop in the bucket (as insane as it sounds). Current inflation is caused by years of mismanagement by Congress and FED. Also real inflation has been much higer for years now, that the official figures, only difference now, is that it is get so out of hand, that it is not possible to hide it with calculation tricks.
Also my example of Ukraine is, not that it is what is causing inflation, but that US congress, very happy to provide helping hand, with no question ask to one of most corrupt nations in Europe. At the same time we have several major crisis brewing at home, one is Inflation, but social security will go run out of money in next 15 years, we have student loans crisis, opioid crisis, infrastructure is falling apart and several others that have been going for years. Congress has done nothing for that, if one half of the money that was wasted in Afghanistan's infrastructure was spent in US, we would have been much better of.
Also just wait when they start with Marshal Plan 2.0 for Ukraine, there will be much more billions for them. at the same time, parts of US are literary falling apart, bridges are collapsing due to lack of maintenance infrastructure is stuck in last century.
In 2021, Social Security expenses were $1.151 trillion. Medicare was $722 billion. Medicaid was $448 billion. Interest payments on the national debt were $378 billion. Other mandatory, non-discretionary spending was $645 billion.
$33 billion to help Ukraine is almost budget dust.
https://www.thebalance.com/current-u-s-federal-government-spending-3305763
TxFrog -- I wish I could give your post 100 likes.
Social security is not a handout, people have been paying in to it for years.
Medicare and Medicaid are programs for Americans, yes we can discuss if they need to be reformed or not but that is other topic.
Ukraine is just one extreme example of how congress is ok with wasting money abroad. War in Ukraine has been going for 60 days, and we are already shilling $35 billion, which is almost 1% of US budget. For $35 Billion we could solve some problems back at home, for example situation with Insulin, so people wouldn't have to smuggle it from Canada.
US has several crisis happening for years now, and Congress is not doing anything, but for Ukraine (one of most corrupted nations in Europe) we will give as much money with no questions asked.
Raziel -- seems like you really want to blame the U.S.'s dire budget situation on defense spending and foreign aid. The numbers just don't support this.
TxFrog's numbers are correct: Uncle Sam is spending $81 billion per day on entitlements (including weekends and holidays), of which around $41 billion is Social Security. The average Social Security recipient recoups his or her lifetime contributions in about 8 years, and lives about 20 years.
Defense spending dropped from 8-9% of GDP for most of the 1960s, to 5-6% of GDP for most of the 1970s and 1980s. It dropped further to 3-5% of GDP through the 1990s and 2000s, reflecting the "peace dividend" of the Soviet Union disbanding. Since 2014 it's been under 4% of GDP, under both Democratic and GOP presidents. It's currently around 3.25%.
The good news is that if you think defense spending should be lower as a percentage of federal spending, it is. Your point of view is winning.
The bad news is that if you think the U.S. severe budget problems are caused by defense spending, this simply is not accurate.
All true, but 2/3 of all Federal outlays go to entitlement programs, up from zero a hundred years ago.
Raziel -- I'm afraid some of your statements do not square with actual U.S. budget expenditures.
More than 70% of federal spending is transfer payments to individuals. (Social Security, Medicare. Medicaid, AFDC, food stamps, etc.) And this percentage goes up about a point per year. In the 1960s it was something like 20%.
We got to $30 trillion -- or more to the point we went from $4 trillion in 2001 to nearly $31 trillion today -- by collecting 16-17% of GDP in revenue, and committing to 24% of GDP in spending, which is on its way to 28% because of continuing "automatic" increases in entitlement spending.
Singling out foreign aid or defense spending as the primary cause does not present an accurate picture of the massive (and bipartisan) failure of government leadership that has caused the U.S. to go from the world's largest creditor to the world's largest debtor in just 40 years.
Yes.
And the reason for increasing poverty, increasing year after year, is the outsourcing of our middle class to China. The outsourcing of our nation's wealth. The Chinese continue to get richer and richer and richer, year after year. Their middle class is growing leaps & bounds & larger than the US population. They are the top buyers for Luxury brands.
Due to corporations outsourcing good jobs to China.
The US exported wealth & imported poverty.
My issue with military spending is that at this point, it is a drain with 0 accountability. Pentagon has no idea where the money is going. Also large part of military spending is for bases in Europe, in rich European countries like Germany. Why do we need to foot the bill for Germany, Italy and other countries that have much higher social spending than USA?
As for foreign aid, I am not against foreign aid, but for last 30 years it has been mismanaged that it is not even funny. Best comparison is how China is using the aid and how we are doing it.
I will repost one of the answers I posted below:
Sir, worst is the money abroad is not going to feed people abroad, but in most cases to fund ideological "spreading of democracy" and unaccountable NGOs.
I was born in one poorest countries in southern Europe. And and by irony of fate, my sister in law works of one of those NGOs and she in in charge for the region where my birth country is.
She is constantly baffeled why people at old country like China and dislike USA. Well, answer is quite easy. China showed up several years ago, is funding and building absolutely all major infrastructure project (some are aid, some are development loans => be not confused, China is not doing this because they like us, but because they have their interests).
At the same time what is US doing, well they are running around with NGOs and doing presentation how we need more gender studies on our universities or some stupid woke agenda that nobody cares.
Also ambassadors of China and US have completely different approach, the American one is acting like colonial governor, constantly meddling in internal politics of country, while Chinese ambassador just shows' up on opening of large infrastructure projects and says "China and your country are friends".
If we are not helping people abroad with our money, then better stop wasting, because current approach is clearly not working. And it is not about our interests at all, but about interests of NGOs and other unaccountable agencies.
No question EU governments and other NATO members have been welching on Uncle Sam, for far too long. Only good thing about Ukraine invasion is it's prompting them to find religion very quickly on this.
Also, I don't know about every country China helps, but for the few countries I am familiar with, China's "aid" comes at a very high price. When China helped to bail out Greece, it demanded collateral in the form of ownership of its ports. In Portugal, China provided tens of billions of dollars in relief after the 2008 financial crisis. In return it now owns the Portugal's national airline, 28% of Portugal's national energy company, and Chinese nationals pay no income or business taxes to live in Portutal.
When Jamaica ran out of money to complete its cross-country turnpike, China stepped to "help" and provided necessary funding. Guess who gets the toll money?
In Ecuador, China put up some $35 billion to rebuild and update the country's waterworks, promising to provide jobs to Ecuadorians in the process. Guess who now owns and essentially rents the waterworks in Ecuador? And guess who got all the good jobs created?
Can't speak for other countries, but the people I deal with in these four countries have little good to say about China, and with good reason.
With friends like China, who needs loan sharks?
Federal government revenues have lost some trillions of dollars over the previous 20 years from the tax cuts, tax holidays, and rebates of previous administrations. Some of the tax holidays were arguably justified, but the permanent tax cuts, not at all. The "Covid relief bills" passed in 2020 with overwhelming bipartisan support were...int'risting. It's going to require some more time to evaluate the impact of the novel virus pandemic wave, and the impacts of what was or wasn't done as a response to it.
I'm just pointing out facts, here. I think the tax code should be reformed with a shift away from reliance on income taxes toward a national sales tax- but the Democrats are too ideologically rigid to even consider such a proposal, and I don't trust the Republicans to craft one that's fair and honest.
I'd like a national sales tax, myself. If it was like in Ohio with carve-outs for food. Mebbe clothing and suchlike. Just IMO.
I agree with most of that, particularly the waste on Iraq and Afghanistan., but my point was we have wasted and are wasting the vast majority on lazy ass Americans, not foreigners. Pointing to dont spend on Ukraine is a slogan not a solution, sometimes used effectively by the isolationists.
Lol. You're on the government dole, too.
yes we all get bennies from Uncle Sugar. I sense your share exceeds the average.
Red States are welfare states that contribute little, or nothing, and suck off the teat of the "liberal/Blue" states that provide the federal money for them.
Very ungrateful, overall.
Really? You went to Red States? Want to talk about how people in every state have been suckered into putting themselves into massive amounts of debt to fund (mostly) irrelevant colleges and universities so they can pay their tenured professors and bloated administrations to not teach people how to succeed in the real world? I suggest we don't talk about that. Instead, how about we focus on what's great about all of our states and all of our citizens, and motivate people to be proud to be Americans and to work to help each other succeed rather than tear each other down ?
That's cute little sentiment at the end, though. "Work to help each other succeed."
Sorry, pal. MAGA has permanently changed that paradigm.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/trump-shutdown-voter-florida
That's not journalism. That's cherry-picking a quote to fit a biased narrative. The person who wrote that would have major cognitive dissonance if he spoke to people I know who voted for Trump. None of them would ever want anybody to be hurt, and they'd say the same thing I'm saying: that is a hit piece, not journalism. It's divisive and dishonest, and it's why the media has lost so much credibility. Please have more respect for yourself and this forum than to post links to that type of content. You can do better.
Let me share another one....I'll try and limit it to one a day from here on out. I'll try to have more respect for the forum, although it seems others have little respect for reality. You can do better.
https://psmag.com/news/new-study-confirms-again-that-race-not-economics-drove-former-democrats-to-trump
Enjoy! I'll keep them coming if you want.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/537A8ABA46783791BFF4E2E36B90C0BE/S1049096518000367a.pdf/explaining_the_trump_vote_the_effect_of_racist_resentment_and_antiimmigrant_sentiments.pdf
Didn't just go...born and raised, my friend.
Lol. Only 1 in 5 faculty member are tenured. LOL! You guys have a really skewed fantasy of what academia is like. Let me guess, Fox News? Yes, Engineering, Chemistry, Biology, Business....yes, all great for the "fantasy world" and not the "real world" - WHERE YE GOTTA WERK WIT YA HANDS!!!
Colleges and universities serve in invaluable purpose to society. Unless you think it would be better that there were no more doctors, scientists, engineers, chemical engineeers, etc. - and those were only produced by universities overseas. Yeah....America would be in great shape.
Red States contribute very little, if anthing at all. The only contribution comes from the small pockets of "blue" which SURPRISE - tend to be around the major state university. Red state mouthbreathers claim EVERYONE else is "lazy" and a "taker" - when they only exist due to the tax revenues of others.
If You think bald-faced prejudice only involves race, reread Your own comment.
You're one-a the biggest parts of the PROBLEM: Class prejudice.
No TV. Don't follow the media. Neither MSM nor social. What's Your excuse?
This is a standard case of projection. He hates his own bigotry, but instead of coming to terms with it and addressing it, he finds another group of bigoted people and projects his attention on them. It's a classic narcissistic behavior. You'll notice he only points fingers and blame, he doesn't try to solve the perceived problem. Like the "mouth breathers" he hates so much, he is single-minded and refuses to learn and grow.
Can't stand Fox News. Or any major news network, for that matter. Their sole purpose is to spread fear and divide people to keep them angry and dialed in so they can sell ads. Not a MAGA fan, hope he doesn't run again. Not a Big Food fan. Not a Big Pharma fan. And not a Big Student Debt fan. Own a small software business. Live in a "purple" state. Personally pay six figures in taxes every year. Came from a broken home and bankruptcy and went to a top 10 liberal arts school almost entirely on financial aid and student loans. And like *most people*, I'm in the middle on most issues.
A trillion dollars in student loan debt is a disgrace because it has disproportionality benefited administrators and faculty and real estate developers, and left an overwhelming majority of loan bearers with degrees that don't mean much in the marketplace and saddled with debts they will struggle for the rest of their lives to pay. I understand you hate red states. Ok. You've made that clear. Well I don't like lazy people, couldn't care less what state they live in. Totally agree we need social safety nets for a small minority of the population who through some confluence of bad luck and bad timing fall into a plan they can't lift themselves out of without help. That might be 5-10% of the population. Just a guess. But when you run with a crowd of people who came from tough socio-economic backgrounds and decided to use mindset, grit, optimism, hustle, risk-taking, and determination to make their own way, it's hard to watch people who point fingers and blame others and refuse to have personal responsibility and accountability for their outcomes in life and not feel like they are lazy. Nevertheless, I believe we were great once and can be again. And I'm incredibly thankful to live here in this country, and I would have your back if it came down to it. I hope you find a way to focus on being a force for positively working to unify this country and not let the small, vocal, intolerant minorities on both extremes wield so much influence. We could use intelligent people like you helping that cause right now.
Actually not. Fully employed at Johns Hopkins. You, however, probably receive more benefits than you're aware of.
You may be right on the Blue Red thing or just reading biased NYT activist talking points from a Paul Krugman Robert Reich article. Baltimore?, welfare queen crime ridden city , without JH and Bloomberg support to JH, a net taker x 100.
8 out of the 10 states with the highest murder rate voted for Trump. Stop watching Fox News.
It's good Bari still attracts some NYT Leftists..diversity is good. as u can tell the new Right pro trump types have been taking over the comments
Actually, not a "leftist" at all. That term now means anyone who didn't vote for Trump, doesn't think teachers are pedophiles and doesn't believe history should be sanitized/ignored in the classroom to protect the feelings/identity of white children.
Lol. No, federal statistics, noy NYT, etc. Red Stateas are welfare states that contribute practically nothing and take far more out via tax dollars than they contribute.
Nah, West. Baltimore is rough. Everywhere else is fine. Without JH & Bloomberg? Well...we'll never know, will we - beacuse that's not reality.
I seem to have hit a nerve regarding the Red welfare states. Sorry. It's simple reality.
You wanna get into a discussion of reality? Sorry, "my friend," You wouldn't recognize it if it hit You in the smacker. Or You read and understood what I've written in reply to Your nonsense.
The reality is that Trump did not get a massive number of black voters, especially black women. That's the reality. Sorry.
Honestly, if we have to waste money on someone, than better on lazy people at home, than corrupt people abroad, because in second case, money ends up in some offshore havens on bank account of corrupt polititans.
A good part of every Javelin we send to Ukraine is paid for by borrowed money - put on the backs of our kids and grandkids. Think about that.
Exactly! How much of that "aid" money will come back to politicians, lobbyists, weapons providers, etc.? *Money laundering at scale*.
Also agree with j p m that Americans are generally lazy. People walk around staring at $1000 computers in the palms of their hands watching TikTok or tweeting about gender identification when they could literally learn nearly anything they want to learn about any topic. But that takes hard work and diligence and persistence, and people won't do that if they think they can get more $ from Big Gov.
Most people would rather be treated like children and be told what to do. It's why the allure of communism is taking root. But we still have a chance to turn this thing around, we just need the right leaders who have moxie and vision and persuasion skills to remind us that we were a great nation and can be again. We get to choose how this ends!
"How much of that "aid" money will come back to politicians, lobbyists, weapons providers, etc.?"
10% to the Big Guy
We need a party and leaders that prioritizes American interests and Americans interest. Trump was (and is) wrestling with the disgusting Republican Party trying to move it in that direction. I am not sure the Republicans are redeemable but have no hope for the Democrats
When Trump was in office, he wrestled so hard that the bottom half of households in America paid 24.2%, which was 1.2% higher than the wealthiest 400 families in America; now that’s real social justice For you!
Your whataboutism isn’t relevant to the facts!
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/23/americas-richest-400-families-pay-a-lower-tax-rate-than-average-taxpayer.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/10/08/first-time-history-us-billionaires-paid-lower-tax-rate-than-working-class-last-year/
Golfer, you are obviously not lacking in Hubris, but I think I’ll take their word, not yours!
For an individual to think they know more than the Council of Economic Advisers and Office of Management and Budget is a fair definition of hubris. Why do you find it unreasonable for me to accept them and not you?
Golfer, what do people who paid no taxes have to do with “…bottom half of households in America paid 24.2%,….” Inherit within the statement is the fact that they pay taxes!
Don't bother "Just me" with facts. His mind is closed.
smits3, methinks you well may be the one with a closed mind! But, please do show me the error of my ways.
How do we elect politicians who promise to give us less?
Great question! Try running on THAT platform. Unfortunately, we're getting the government we deserve, or at least the one we've elected.
That's not true, soon schools will have tampons in boys bathrooms, that is clearly more not less
Excuse me, they aren't "boys"...you must be trans-phobic!!! They are future non-menstruating but possible birthing humans.
You mean the 'successful businessman' who blurted out early on campaigning in 2016 that the US should just not pay it's debt obligations in full to bond holders around the world (doing wonders to our stellar credit rating!), renegotiating what was owed and giving creditors a haircut - that one?
So much whataboutism: (the technique or practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counteraccusation or raising a different issue.) So little relevance!
"whataboutism" is otherwise known as compare and contrast analysis. It is one of the most basic forms of rational thought - something I'm not sure you're familiar with.
Smits3, explain to me how it’s not a counter-accusation or raising a different issue!
Yep. The one that gave us several good years prior to the COVID. Not the senile corrupt moron we had foisted on us
Oh, poor you, the majority of the electorate, imposing Pres. Biden on you; that's democracy, after all!
Aren't you happy he changed his mind? (Or that someone in his inner circle told him he couldn't say stuff like that)
Otherwise our dollar would have been worthless in a year - you think inflation is bad now..
so what? Trump blurted out all kinds of things. But what he DID is what counts. He even said it himself: "Who cares about personality? It's what I do that matters."
True enough. I'd love to know what he 'blurted out' to his hero Vladimir in that closed door meeting in Helsinki a few years back with no one but a translator present. Putin must have licked his chops on that one.
Wouldn't you like to know too?
Among other things, apparently he warned him not to invade Ukraine. And Putin listened.
And how does anyone know that?
Lee, we are used to taking our politicians literally but not always seriously. Trump is best taken seriously but not always literally. I prefer the former, but I do have to admit that he managed to make the latter work reasonably well (mostly controlled borders, no new wars, great economy pre COVID, minimal inflation). But taking every phrase he utters as evidence of policy is a mistake.
Based on the number of staff walk-backs of the President's off-the-cuff comments, it appears to be a mistake with Biden too, Take his ideas seriously but not literally.
Really like Ya, M. Brian. But how do You take this man seriously when he says the following:
"Are you talking about disinformation or are you talking about lies? There is a more beautiful word called disinformation.”
~ Leonnig and Philip: "I Alone Can Fix It" (p. 516).
You were being played by a Reality TV star, my friend.
Sigh. Whatever happened to the English language? Where what is said is what is meant? Taken to its logical extreme the 'not literally' but 'seriously' might give cover to all the half truths and utter falsehoods to come out of Trump's mouth.
Do you mean the guy who said he’d cut the deficit in half if he was elected and then did the opposite?
He’s a con artist - don’t believe a word he says.
brucey...somehow you got a little off base, but what do i know...i am thinking that trumpty had a 2% inflation rate with a GDP of 4%, without covid.
Now it is easy to consider the debt (Bush $5 Trillion, the BO went to $20 Trillion and Trumpty goes for 27 Trill), so the "D" was not halved, but his policies if followed would cut the "D". Tough part for many, because of the News Media, is the fact that since the previous administrations Raised the Debt for future administrations...so, it might appear that the debt was not cut, because the pathway had automatic increases...in short, since the BO went up over 3 (5 to 20) times in debt , that gives Trumpty, if he took the same option, to put the debt @$60 Trillion. But, he keeps it under $30...impute the Trumpster. thanks.
Trump did sign budgets that increased the military by a hundred billion or so, and signed the emergency stimulus in 2020.
Should he not have? He admitted, himself, that these were inflationary measures, but the alternative was a weakened military and the possibility, though unproven, of an economic crash resulting from the pandemic.
Recall also, that in those days, people were sterilizing their groceries, wiping down the steering wheel and wearing cloth masks in their own cars. It all turned out to be unfounded rubbish. Were we conned? Perhaps we were, but not by Trump.
Prior to the pandemic, which could scarcely be blamed on Trump though the Democrats tried mightily, the economy was growing rapidly, employment was full and job participation rates were at record highs, black and Hispanic and female employment rates at record highs, hundreds of billions of dollars had been repatriated, energy was cheap, domestic steel production was rebounding, the trade deficit was being repaired by means of net energy export and a rebounding manufacturing sector... all of this led to record government tax receipts.
I believe that had the China virus not been released from that lab in Wuhan, or at least had the Communist regime not allowed travelers to leave the country and spread it around the world even after they were aware of the problem... the U.S. was on track to reduced deficits or even a budget surplus within 5 years, give or take.
But back to the topic....
Bruce, Trump fought with the DC Republican as much as he fought with anyone. He didn’t have their support. But, that’s the problem. No single person is going to fix our country’s problems. Yet, we fixate on the executive branch as if it’s a “fix all” for our issues.
I'm old enough to remember that individual families were expected to have saved one quarter of a home's selling price before a bank would allow them to get a mortgage.
Such were the attitudes during an era marked by personal responsibility.
Back in the 40s when I was growing up, if older boys in shop class were picking on the younger boys, it was expected that at least one of us would pick up a shop stool and use it as a tool to explain to the bigger kid that he and his pals had better back off.
Back then, the bullies tended to have wealthy parents, or at least a very inflated superiority complex.
Such behavior nowadays would lead to the bullies getting off Scott free while the younger boy would be expelled from school.
Laissez-faire back then was not just an economic term.
My granddad, 1900-1991, told me that when he was growing up in Brooklyn, there was a gang on every block, and if 2+ boys were beating on someone, other boys would intervene because it was considered unfair.
Sadly, this ethic has disappeared, replaced with the idea that my gang will beat you into brain damage if you "disrespect" me.
Well, if America-first Republicans get a super-majority of both houses of Congress, and an America-First President in the White House, they can probably dismantle a considerable chunk of the New Deal/Great Society agencies. The sticking point will be pensions for millions of civil servants. I would offer them a nice package of six months of salary + benefits, then off they go to the Walmart or Starbucks where they *might* have enough of a work ethic to find a job though not too likely. At least, Starbucks is full of socialistic left wingers so they'll fit right in.
"We let people be more self-reliant and take care of themselves and their families, so there was no need for social security and medicaid."
Fixed that for you.
I question that we need a Dept. of Education, EPA, or Energy Dept.
How many people even know what these massive, bloated, over-budgeted agencies even do? They're largely just money laundering machines for the various states in which they are situated.
Don't get me started on Dept of Ed., elevated from lesser agencies by Jimmy Carter to "show we mean business" when it comes to fixing education. Since that time, it's cost about $1.7 trillion (inflation-adjusted) and in every year the agency has existed, student academic performance has declined. We now have entire cities, such as Baltimore, where a majority of students are graduating high school without the ability to read, write, and do basic arithmetic. Universities have become political indoctrination camps instead of centers of academic inquiry and research as they once at least aspired to.
Trump did that. He and his Administration were undermined every step of the way and ultimately he was cheated out of office via massive fraudulent balloting in 2020, as were several Senators and Congressmen. Without that, the Republicans had been on track to retake the House and we'd be in an entirely different situation today -- less inflation, less likelihood of a war, stronger economy... That's the strategic plan. Cut the fat and let the economy rip. Who knows? Maybe we'll return to that growth economy in 2024 when we get rid of the socialists.
Only hope is trump
If that's true, God help us. I voted for the man twice, and I'm glad I did, but if he's the best our culture has to offer, we deserve to go the way of Rome.
Are you kidding? Trump put us on the right path to prosperity. If only he had been given 4 more years to finish the job. The alternative is a lunatic dementia patient pushing us toward World War Three. I'll take Trump any time over that.
Terry, my problems with Trump aren't generally policy. As I said, I'm not sorry I voted for him, and if 2024 were a rerun of 2020, I would likely (reluctantly) do so again as the Democrats have gone completely insane.
But... Donald Trump is a narcistic blowhard with the attention span of a gnat who was consistently hamstrung by an inability to followup on anything, an unwillingness to compromise, an obsessive need to never admit error, and an aversion to legislative or bureaucratic processes. These attributes made it possible for the "lunatic dementia patient" (your words), who (unlike Trump) has a competent and experienced staff, to systematically undo 4 years of Trump's executive orders in less than 60 days.
I've met a number of die hard Trump-istas who have a hard time accepting that both of those things can be true at once: 1) Trump did a good job for who he is, 2) A Trump with less emotional baggage and more experience could probably have done better.
Effective Presidents need to push legislation. I see no evidence that Donald Trump has learned to do that, and as a result, I am far more interested in more competent candidates in 2024. (Thankfully, Joe Biden appears to have lost the legislative gab as well, so he's also stuck with EOs too.)
However, as I said above, if Trump's name darkens my ballot in November of 2024, I will likely end up pulling his lever.
Yeah, #metoo:
"I've met a number of die hard Trump-istas who have a hard time accepting that both of those things can be true at once: 1) Trump did a good job for who he is, 2) A Trump with less emotional baggage and more experience could probably have done better.
"Effective Presidents need to push legislation. I see no evidence that Donald Trump has learned to do that, and as a result, I am far more interested in more competent candidates in 2024."
"Effective Presidents need to push legislation." Nope. Effective presidents dismantle bureaucracy and government as fast as possible. If it requires legislation to do so, OK.
I was actually quoting Brian Villanueva. But I have a lotta respect for his views. They're a lot like mine, tho he's more conservative on some issues. Read the rest-a what he's said.
But as far as what You say, I didn't notice Trump dismantling any bureaucracy. And it probably *would* take legislation. Didn't see much-a that either.
Trump and the Republican Congress did pass a lot of legislation during his first two years. When the Democrats took over the House in 2018 is when things went south as they spent all of their time on witch hunts instead of working to help the American people.
I'm lame and ignorant. Enlighten me, if You wanna.
Search for "Trump tax cuts". They passed significant legislation to lower tax burdens on businesses and individual earners.
TY for reply.
Yeah, I knew about the tax cuts. Glad he cut back on SALT.
But I'm not sure of two things about that. One is, all things considered, whether it increased the debt. Second is to what extent the benefits were spread out evenly amongst high- and low-earners. Dunno. No big deal. "Ancient history" now.
That's actually the only thing I could think of, as far as major legislation. I was hoping to find more, but I think he did a lot *more* by Executive Orders which didn't last 60 days into Biden's administration. More fool Biden, but there it is.
At the risk of contradicting Lee, it sounds like DeSantis is your guy. If Trump doesn’t run, we will get instead a man with a brilliant intellect, articulate speaking style, tough as nails, and a fantastic track record (and military service as the cherry on top… though most liberals now despise the military).
At this point, DeSantis is the only Republican candidate who appears willing and able to use state power in support of conservative ideology. Conservatives have historically not done that well; we prefer the "war of ideas". With all other centers of power in America now held by either the Left or the insane-woke-Left though, we'd better get comfortable with using political power to combat them.
There's a reason many conservatives are watching Victor Orban. It isn't because we want to make America like Hungary. It's not because we think Orban's corruption is a good thing. It's because Orban has successfully used state power to enforce conservative ideology. American conservatives need lessons in how to do that.
Great comment, Brian. But please, if your ballot is darkened - do not succumb. Abstain from voting. I will abstain if Biden runs again. Our non votes will cancel each other out.
:)
Even a De Santis run would be better than a Trump resurgence. And I say that heavily.
Terry, Trump didn't know what the nuclear triad meant when asked about it during the Republican primary debates in 2016. But I think you do. How could he not have?
As a candidate he wanted to discount trillions of $ in US Treasury debt in order to lower our overall debt burden (until he was mercifully talked out of it), forcing our worldwide creditors to take a haircut. What do you think that would have done to our dollar and our credibility? He would have turned us into Argentina.
Trump exhibited a paucity of knowledge that was just breathtaking when he ran for President. Biden might have dementia, I grant you that. But any other candidate on that Republican stage for President was more intelligent and more studied than Trump. With the possible exception of hapless Ben Carson, who was a complete and utter idiot (his surgical skills notwithstanding).
What "idiotic" policies did Trump actually implement? Can you be specific? Note that he hired experts, REAL ones versus the bozos under Biden. For example, DOT was headed by an actual transportation logistics expert from the private sector. DofEd headed by an entrepreneur who pushed charter schools and other reforms (okay, not an "expert" in education but who wants an education "expert" anyway? look what harm they've caused). Etc. several others. He also listened to his advisors.
His one mistake was bringing in several retired generals for example chief of staff; they turned out to be fools and autocrats, so he one-by-one fired them and replaced them with better people. He also gradually rooted out all the traitors and leakers who were undermining them at every step.
Considering what he had to put up with, it's a miracle what he accomplished.
Re your chief of staff comment. Do you mean Mr. Meadows - he of Electoral College hanky panky fame? Quite the improvement over all the others, yes.
I was referring to John Kelly.
Hard to argue with you ....
Good comment. Trump and the word 'culture' just cannot be used in the same sentence. As for Rome, we are very close.
Most of us are not crazies , qanons or what ever nonsense is being labeled , we see what's going on and it is tearing us apart , most of all people who we are supposedly protecting have had enough as well, even Ukrainians are saying if America would stop giving weapons and forcing us to fight , this war would be over already.
So if a U.S. state were attacked we should just let the attacker have it and not try to defend ourselves? That makes no sense. Ukraine is a separate country that was invaded by Russia and, so far, has done very well in a David vs. Goliath battle.
Also, what is the source for your statement that Ukranians want Americans to stop giving them weapons and forcing them to fight?
False equivalence. Was a U.S. state attacked? No.
Ukraine is not even an ally. It was and is the most corrupt country in Europe, comparable to Russia itself. It is NOT a strategic priority for the U.S.
The only reason we are turning it into a surrogate war with Russia, is that the regime of Biden, the Democrats, and the military-industrial oligarchy in this country have it in their interest. Nothing like a good war to distract Americans from disastrous economic policy, catastrophic missteps in Afghanistan, wide-open border flooded with interlopers from all over the world, crumbling inner cities with skyrocketing crime, etc. etc. ad nauseam.
"Ukraine has done very well in a David vs Goliath..." No not really. The country is in ruins. The U.S., Poland, and Nato are keeping it going, in the same way you keep a vegetative patient alive on machines. Ukraine is no longer a country, but a battlefield.
Even if the Russians just give up and leave tomorrow, it's no victory for the West. It will cost probably a trillion dollars to rebuild the place... and if the Democrats have their way, a lot of that money will come from my pocket and yours, or rather from our descendants' pockets since they will borrow it. But many parasites attached to the government will get rich.
Given this awful situation, a Trumpian deal would have been a much better option. Putin refrained from aggressive military actions during Trump's tenure, and I believe that had Trump not been shackled by the phony Russia-Russia-Russia accusations, he could have negotiated a peaceful resolution; he's a deal maker after all, which Biden most certainly is not.
My own relative who lives in Kiev who had to leave is my source
Sorry, AB, I wasn't trying to tar you as a loon at all.
In 2008 I said that if HIllary won the presidency, we would have spent 25 years being governed by members of only 2 families. My feeling today is the same: are Joe Biden and Donald Trump really the best the world leading superpower can come up with among our 300M citizens?
I agree
Like what?
That inflation is rampant?
That many young people will never own home?
That middle class has been decimated in last 30 years? That US jobs have been shiped overseas?
That congress doesn't give 2 cents for issues of Americans but will shill money on foreign wars with no isses?
That Germany and many European countries are rich and have social spending that is much higher than ours, while we foot their defense bill?
Mate those are all facts :D.
-How did we end up with $30 Billion debt and ballooning deficits? If not by years of mismanagement by Congress (they have power of purse).
FED has kept Interests rates low for far to long., this made home ownership for young people a dream by now.
-Entire article that you are commenting is about now inflation calculations have been adjusted for years now to hid real impact of inflation.
- War in Ukraine has been going for 60 Days now, we are already shilling $35 Billion with no questions asked to one of most corrupt nations in Europe. And if our experience from Afghanistan and Iraq, more billions will flow.
- Are you calming that Industry heartlands of US are doing great and that our infrastructure is great? Every couple of months we have news about bridges collapsing due to old age and lack of maintenance.
I live and work in China, and believe me, US infrastructure is stuck in 1970, and is looking like third world country by the day. Yes we can stick our head in sand and claim that that is no so, but reality looks different.