Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
My understanding is that this is the strategy: First, understand that GDP is composed of four factors; consumer spending, business investment, government spending, and net trade deficit.
The consumer has been under stress since COVID, and since the consumer lost purchasing power during Biden’s inflation. The trade deficit was minus $578 bils. in Biden’s first year, almost $1 trillion last year ($978 bils.). During that time, consumer spending went from $14.4 trillion to $17.8 trillion, but consumer debt went up by $4 trillion in that time…in other words, net consumer spending stalled, only going up $3.4 trillion. And collective business investment shrank because of COVID and inflation.
The only factor that increased was government spending. It was the only factor that could increase. So we’re in the nightmare scenario, three of the four elements of GDP were going in the wrong direction.
Trump is doing the responsible thing. He’s trying to either accelerate or add to trends in the opposite, positive direction. Businesses were already re-shoring into America. We’re no longer the world’s policeman, so military investment (NATO investment) — and government spending — needs to decrease. Consumers need jobs and net income increases to boost their spending (which happened in Trump’s first term), thereby increasing both consumer spending and business investment, leading to a shrinking trade deficit.
Ergo, tariffs, less military spend and DOGE. Generates revenue for the government. Consumers are incentivized to buy American, which should be less expensive. Businesses are incentivized to build/manufacture here. And we go arm’s length with the rest of the world who were accustomed to benefiting from American largesse and protection.
Audaces fortuna iuvat
I’ll stand with my advice. You should consider your own.
I agree. Now, I just need a name for it…do any of these grab you?
- The Radical Middle
- Militant Moderation
- Both Sides Now (But Actually)
- Goldilocks Politics
- The Centrist Manifesto
- Middle of the Rant
- Equally Disappointing Everyone
- The Bipartisan Heckler
- Lukewarm Takes
- The Compromise Chronicles
- Common Sense Extremism
- The Overton Window Shopper
- Purple Pilled
- Neither Here Nor There
- Zero Sum Fun
- Mildly Radical
- Fence-Sitting with Style
- The Sensible Insurrection
- Meet Me in the Middle (or Else)
- Half Left, Half Right, All Wrong
- The Moderate Menace
- Nuance or Never
- The Radical Squish
- The Contrarian Compromise
- The Golden Mean Times
- Holding the Center Hostage
- Centrists Without Borders
- The Partisan Whisperer
- Extremist for Balance
- The Civil War Referee
- Moderation: Impossible
- The Policy Porcupine (Hard to Hug, But Worth It)
- Middle Ground or Bust
- Both Sides Against the Middle
- The Bell Curve Battalion
- Pox on Both Houses Weekly
- Split Ticket Circus
- Centrism Is My Co-Pilot
- The Swamp Drain Plug
- The Sensible Zealot
- The Rational Middle Rager
- Moderation Nation
- The 51/49 Newsletter
- Gray Matter Politics
- Independents’ Day, Every Day
- No Sacred Cows, Just Medium-Rare Takes
- Boring Yet Correct
- Swing State of Mind
- The Common Ground Pounder
- Live Free & Compromise
Audaces fortuna iuvat
Renz wrote it on his own Substack. The Left has already fact-checked it with their own unique(ly skewed) perspective:
What is DOGE? Exploring the initiative’s creation, legality and purpose | Snopes.com
Fact Check: Did Barack Obama create DOGE and Donald Trump just renamed it? – MEAWW News
A DOGE Origin Story: How Barack Obama Laid The Groundwork For Elon Musk
Audaces fortuna iuvat
Obviously I’m speculating. But what else would explain Trump’s obsequious behavior and pro Russian politics. I suppose he’s just a willing Russian stooge, which is worse. At least he would have an excuse if Putin had some dirt on him. Trump said he’s “pissed off”. I guess that’s not obsequious. But it’s about the least threatening choice of words I can imagine. Let’s see if Trump actually stands up to Putin or if he continues bending over backwards for him.
I’m trying to square your last comment with the fact that the Americans and the West have over 16,500 separate sanctions on Russia, which Trump has not lifted a finger to remove or reduce. Russia’s economy is declining and Putin is desperate for relief.
You have a curious definition of “not standing up to” and “continues bending over backwards for…”
Audaces fortuna iuvat
NATO has been tracking defense expenditures as a percentage of GDP since its inception. Here’s a link from 1963 tracking those expenditures since 1949.
The resolution by the NATO defense ministers in 2006 to commit to a 2.0% threshold of GDP was intended to be binding. It was renewed when Russia stole Croatia in 2014. Here’s the expenditure ratios in 2021. Note how few meet the threshold. Why? Because the USA always, ALWAYS pays, in blood and treasure:
I always admire a good cherry-picked stat, really I do, but your cherry-picking of the NATO-countries-paying-more-than-the-USA really takes the cake. Yes, those countries, on the geographic threshold of Russia realize that if Ukraine wasn’t supported in defense, many of them would be next. Oh, and BTW….the USA provides 70% of the collective defense. The Euros fund Ukraine because we protect them. We’re
$31T, $32%, $33T, $34T, $35T,$36.665 trillion in debt.The neocons aren’t in charge anymore, the Obama/Biden war machine isn’t in charge anymore. Trump signaled it in his first term, war-as-a-business is not his priority. Defense, sure. But the Euros really should be fighting their own battles, four generations after the close of WWII and two generations since the Berlin wall fell.
Audaces fortuna iuvat
No Malarkey, my ass. Schiff had proof on Trump too. So did Hillary. How’d that turn out? All BS. . . .That’s what this Trump Russia stuff is.
Let’s add Jim Baker to that mess. Baker was a longtime friend of Michael Sussmann, a lawyer for the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, and a key figure in the dissemination of Clinton-funded disinformation to the FBI that falsely tied Trump to Russia. He was DGC at Twitter when they held back on Hunter Biden’s laptop. Very effective Democratic operative, I’m sure Malarkey-is-welcome-at-all-times is pleased with his efforts.
Schiff was censured by Congress for claiming he had evidence that Trump colluded with Russia. If he wasn’t in Congress, he’d likely be liable for libel, but of course, Congress exempts itself from these laws.
Audaces fortuna iuvat
I had a girlfriend in college who was just ruined when John Lennon was shot right before our Christmas break. When Reagan was shot three and a half months later, she couldn’t care less.
Audaces fortuna iuvat
Here’s a fun video. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez states that Capitalism is unsustainable and irredeemable, among other things. Her lack of knowledge of basic economics and capitalism is breathtaking.
But don’t listen to me, take it from Hoover Institution Fellow Thomas Sowell. Hi indicates that she’s particularly ill-informed, and he deconstructs her absolute lack of knowledge here:
BTW, a trivia question for you. AOC graduated from Boston University, a good school, currently ranked #41 by USNWR. She graduated cum laude, with degrees in International Relations…and Economics.
Audaces fortuna iuvat
You mean like Democratic president Truman threatening the Dutch in 1949?
Denmark is a founding member of NATO, signatory to the original charter, mandating that the participants participate equally by spending at least 2% of GDP on defense. Want to know the last time Denmark hit that 2% benchmark? It’s been two generations. Want to know the lowest percentage of American GDP allocated to the military in the last sixty years? 3.09% in 1999. Our “allies” have let us spend our hard-earned wealth at a far higher percentage than they have for literally generations. Who bailed out Europe twice last century? Americans. And Trump is tired of it, particularly as we have such a huge deficit.
We’re tired of being the world’s policeman and the world’s last refuge of residency. Was he clumsy? Yes but he wasn’t the first president to threaten an ally or express an interest in acquiring Greenland.
Not only is Trump not hostile, but the Danish leader has indicated an interest in driving a closer relationship with America.
Audaces fortuna iuvat
I don’t think so. I rather suspect that Thomas Matthew Crooks chose this rally because he lived so close to Butler, PA (about 35 minutes) determined his selection of shooting location.
To be fair, CNN says they televised it live because they were anticipating Trump would announce his VP pick. Makes sense.
Total coincidence.
Audaces fortuna iuvat
Steve Bannon admitting Trump is just going to say he won
It’s interesting to me to hear the audacity of Democrats talk about Trump jailing his political opponents.
Steve Bannon served a four-year prison sentence. Know the actual crime? Contempt of Congress.
Eric Holder, Obama’s Attorney General, was also found in Contempt of Congress. It was never litigated, there was no court case, he wasn’t put in jail.
Merrick Garland directed the FBI to go after regular parents who attended school board meetings and treat them as domestic terrorists using the Patriot Act.
Yeah. It’s Trump that jails his political opponents.
Incidentally, if you get a chance, you might want to listen to the closing arguments of the prosecutors in New York case against Trump brought by Letitia James. They begged the five judge panel not to sanction them for bringing the case in the first place. Each of the five judges cast doubt on the case; e.g., (1) it was a private transaction between sophisticated entities (2) no one was hurt, the loan was paid off, (3) other commercial developers do the same thing and you’ve never prosecuted them, (4) no impact on the public marketplace, (5) mission creep (clear overcharging with state law being used for an unintended purpose), (6) the valuations were entirely subjective, (7) neither party complained about the other party’s valuations, (8) the supposed wrongdoer advised the supposed victim to do their own due diligence, (9) the supposed victim did their own due diligence, (10) the loan was made based upon the supposed victim’s valuation, and (11) the judges demanded to see cases of equal nature from the prosecutors which they were unable to supply.
Sounds like the Democrats weaponizing the courts against political opponents. Of course, it ticks off Republicans. But it ticks off Independents, too. The courts aren’t supposed to work like that.
Audaces fortuna iuvat
I am a registered independent and have been since 2004.
By the way, if you really want to sxxt your pants, you should know that 27% of Americans identify as Democrats (a record low), 27% of Americans identify as Republicans…and 43% of Americans identify as Independents, a historical high, per Gallup:
Independent Party ID Tied for High; Democratic ID at New Low
Audaces fortuna iuvat
Glad to hear it. As a good first step, please stop voting for the party that has spent decades making it easy to mix money and politics.
No.
Advising anyone to start or stop voting for a specific party is ridiculous and asinine, and a request only made by dolts.
I am a registered independent and have been since 2004.
I know this is going to sound incredibly bizarre in your world, incomprehensible and beyond the pale, but I’m going to try to make a dent anyway.
Here goes (deep breath):
I look at the issue or the candidate, I research the most likely outcomes, strain it through my BS filter and vote accordingly.
Weird thought, isn’t it?
I realize that slavish devotion to a collection of Far Left or Far Right lunatics is the preferred way to go for room temp IQs, but I think I’m going to access my higher brain function and vote/support based upon what’s best for me and best for society. And society’s interests trump my interest. If there’s — oh, I don’t know, let’s say a virus — that originates steps away from a virus creation lab, I won’t automatically assume that it didn’t come from that lab. Second, if its mortality rate affects people like me (senior citizen, overweight, diseases, etc.) and the cost is shutting down the economy, throwing millions out of work and ensuring that children don’t learn properly for two years? Well…nice knowing you. I’ll take the hit, as I said at the time (and was roundly pilloried for doing so).
Audaces fortuna iuvat
And you’re implying that wanting to acquire Greenland is so bizarre
Mick, the fact that you’re even pretending this is all perfectly normal is mind blowing. I mean WTF? I don’t even know if this warrants much of a response.
It’s out of the box, for sure. Access to Greenland would be helpful from a variety of angles. Four different American presidents since Democrat Andrew Johnson have expressed an interest in it, and given the Russian and Chinese interest in Arctic defense installations, coupled with unexplored mineral rights, it doesn’t seem so bizarre.
We’re obviously not going to mount a military adventure to seize Greenland. But buying it for literally 11 days’ worth of additional debt? Works for me. Nice to have a President who thinks about interesting options.
By the way, you never answered why wanting to acquire Greenland is bizarre. Why is wanting to add to the United States a bizarre interest?
Audaces fortuna iuvat
“Alright, folks, we got four identical posts on the board, FOUR identical posts, count ‘em—one, two, three, four! But why stop there? Do I hear FIVE? That’s right, five identical posts! Who’s got the energy? Who’s got the dedication? Who’s got that commitment to redundancy? Going once, going twice—come on now, don’t let repetition fatigue stop you—FIVE identical posts, SOLD to the loudest voice in the room!”
Audaces fortuna iuvat
