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Raymond Tan's avatar

I liked Haley as UN Sec and I still like her ability to present her ideas clearly. I cannot vote for her because we need a hard reset with the Republican Party. Her first question was indicative that we need change: We have a country in $30t plus debt. We cannot get inflation down to the Fed target of 2% due to government spending - by both parties. We have record homeless, crumbling infrastructure and a broken education system - and yet, we sent nearly $170b to Ukraine? We fought 2 wars on the continent created in part to poor leadership there and we are walking towards a 3rd(see treaty of Versailles for the catalyst for WW2) . The EU and NATO again have failed (esp NATO who has underfunded for 20 years and cannot meet its defensive responsibilities) and they cannot render any real help to Ukraine if the Russians push as hard as we think they will. China is watching and waiting for us to engage with Russia before moving on Taiwan - not the other way around. China is the real long-term US threat. Haley is the new generation but this endless war that robs the US of lives and our long-term financial health is a hard "No" for me.

The Republican Party should be asking hard questions of Biden about our plans/goals/lines for Russia and Ukraine similar to the run up to the Iraq War - instead we get a Uniparty of crickets.

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Joe S's avatar

The only policy the Republican Party has is to deflect and distract. Look! A drag queen is over there! A trans person won a medal! What about the children ... who might read "To Kill a Mockingbird"? OMG! Woke! Woke! Woke? The horror! Now, let's pass lots of laws about these non-issues so our base won't realize that we have no idea how to solve real problems because we're horrible at governing.

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Missy's avatar

I hold no brief for the GOP establishment leadership, but those are not "non-issues."

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Lynne Morris's avatar

I pretty much agree except I would say we are horrible at reigning in those currently in power who are horribly governing us now.

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Lynne Morris's avatar

Well put. I have been rethinking China though. We have taken many actions contrary to our own self-preservation. I do not think China is to blame for exploiting that. Rather I think the Republican platform should be course-correction and state concrete plans therefor. No more finger-pointing and name-calling. I do think your assessment of China and Taiwan is spot on.

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Raymond Tan's avatar

Hi Lynne, thanks for the kind words. I agree with you that our past relationship with China has been lax enough to create a pathway for them to exploit. Going forward, we need better policy economically and militarily towards China - some have called for a "decoupling" with China and while I think complete decoupling is a mistake, we cannot rely on them as much as we did/do. PPE's during COVID was a prime example.

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ChatterW's avatar

One thing about China, I recently learned that a business or investor cannot pull their monies OUT of China. The Chinese government does not PERMIT it.

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AK's avatar

True. I remember working with Hong Kong and Malaisian colleagues who shared that, even though they conduct all their business in the mainland China, they never invest profits there

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Raymond Tan's avatar

Chatter, you are correct. More reason China should be our focus both economically and militarily. The are play both sides (Russia and US) to hope we engage so they can move more easily and freely.

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Mar 8, 2023
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Raymond Tan's avatar

I'm not sure what hypocrisy you are talking about. China should do what they think is in their best interests as should the US. My point was that China would be more likely to move on Taiwan if the US became engaged in Europe - please explain the hypocrisy I should "stuff in my bum"?

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Mar 8, 2023
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Raymond Tan's avatar

I brought up PPE's not because I thought they worked. I brought them up as we should not be relying on any country for vital needs. China protected themselves first, as they should have. It's our fault for relying on them.

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Mar 8, 2023
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Lynne Morris's avatar

Precisely.

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