U.S. Politics

[Royell Storing]

I can understand now why you have a Ukrainian flag instead of a US flag.  The America last days are over.   Trump has put the US first.  That's some tough medicine for the America haters who want failure and endless handouts to fund endless wars, illegal immigrants, and support the economies of other countries around the world while the US falls further into debt.  The US is in ruins because we pay for the national defense of much of the world.  Canada, "Europe", Japan etc don't have to pay anything for their own national defense because they rely on the US.  That is not sustainable.  Sticking your head in the sand because you hate Trump and ignoring the national debt is just accepting the coming economic catastrophe.

   "...support the economies of Other Countries around the world..........."? How about America Supporting California? The outright Graft now being exposed in that state rivals Tammany Hall. And that state also admits to being OVER $30 BILLION in Debt. 

[Martin Weidmann]

I can understand now why you have a Ukrainian flag instead of a US flag.  The America last days are over.   Trump has put the US first.  That's some tough medicine for the America haters who want failure and endless handouts to fund endless wars, illegal immigrants, and support the economies of other countries around the world while the US falls further into debt.  The US is in ruins because we pay for the national defense of much of the world.  Canada, "Europe", Japan etc don't have to pay anything for their own national defense because they rely on the US.  That is not sustainable.  Sticking your head in the sand because you hate Trump and ignoring the national debt is just accepting the coming economic catastrophe.

Canada, "Europe", Japan etc don't have to pay anything for their own national defense because they rely on the US.  That is not sustainable.

It's also not true.

[Richard Smith]

The US spends approximately $1 trillion dollars or 3.5% of its GDP on national defense.   Canada spends approximately $27 billion or 1.3 of GDP.  Germany 1.5%, England 2.3%. Japan 1.2%, France 2.1%., Italy 1.6% and so on.   These countries are effectively defended by the US and therefore spend almost nothing on defense.  These are many of the same countries leftists tell us are under an imminent threat of invasion from Russia.  And yet they still choose to have the US pay to protect them.  What do we get in return?  They place tariffs and unfair trade practices that make it difficult to impossible to sell US made goods in their countries.  They run into the arms of China when the US suggests that we have a fair playing field.  Those days are done.  Not a sustainable situation with a $38 trillion and counting debt.  Something has to give.  Either take the medicine now are suffer a disaster in the coming years.

[Royell Storing]

 Agree. Time to bite the bullet and get the debt way down and eventually eliminated. Gotta start NOW! Canada is a joke. The best thing Canada ever did for the USA is providing a haven for draft age males fleeing the USA during the Vietnam War. The only worse "friend" the USA has is France. Anytime France starts blowing off about how valuable France is to the USA, they need to be reminded of those photos of Hitler standing in front of the Eiffel Tower.

[Martin Weidmann]

The US spends approximately $1 trillion dollars or 3.5% of its GDP on national defense.   Canada spends approximately $27 billion or 1.3 of GDP.  Germany 1.5%, England 2.3%. Japan 1.2%, France 2.1%., Italy 1.6% and so on.   These countries are effectively defended by the US and therefore spend almost nothing on defense.  These are many of the same countries leftists tell us are under an imminent threat of invasion from Russia.  And yet they still choose to have the US pay to protect them.  What do we get in return?  They place tariffs and unfair trade practices that make it difficult to impossible to sell US made goods in their countries.  They run into the arms of China when the US suggests that we have a fair playing field.  Those days are done.  Not a sustainable situation with a $38 trillion and counting debt.  Something has to give.  Either take the medicine now are suffer a disaster in the coming years.

The US spends approximately $1 trillion dollars or 3.5% of its GDP on national defense.   Canada spends approximately $27 billion or 1.3 of GDP.  Germany 1.5%, England 2.3%. Japan 1.2%, France 2.1%., Italy 1.6% and so on.   These countries are effectively defended by the US and therefore spend almost nothing on defense.

BS... The NATO agreement was a spending level of 2% of GDP. The bigger the country the higher the money value of a percentage point is. It is true that most countries did not meet the target, but even if they did, they would still be paying more in actual money than the US. If you want the US to pay less, shrink the country!

These are many of the same countries leftists tell us are under an imminent threat of invasion from Russia.

No. Only a few countries that border directly to Russia fear the possibility of an invasion if the West let's Putin get away with what he is doing in Ukraine.

And yet they still choose to have the US pay to protect them. 

Again, not true. The US is paying to protect it's own interests, for two reasons. The first one is that if Russia attacks a NATO country, all other NATO members will have to join the fight which means a massive escalation at very short notice and that would cost the US a hell of a lot more than what they are paying now. And secondly, the US doesn't want to lose it's bases in other countries all over the world.

If you want the US to save money on defense, just remove the hundreds US bases in countries where they don't belong. That will do the trick. In fact, doing away with Ramstein alone would save a large sum of money.  But it won't happen because the big bully wants to play the world's police man.

What do we get in return?  They place tariffs and unfair trade practices that make it difficult to impossible to sell US made goods in their countries.

Again, more BS. A friend of mine is a Harley Davidson dealer and he never had any problems. As for US made cars, simply follow the Asian's lead and start building cars that are suitable for Europe.

They run into the arms of China when the US suggests that we have a fair playing field.

Of course they do, because when Trump puts a tariff of 104% on Chinese goods, other countries see opportunities to make better deals with China. It's the idiot in the White House who is pushing the Chinese to new markets.
And btw the US did not suggest that there should be a fair playing field. Instead the launched a full blown attack on the world's economy and it backfired. It's the Brexit effect all over again.

America may be the biggest economic force in the world, but China and the EU are a very close second and third. Anybody with half a brain could predict that those two would join forces if Trump went ahead with his crazy plans.

Those days are done.  Not a sustainable situation with a $38 trillion and counting debt.

The debt would have been a lot less if Trump had not given a massive tax break to large companies and millionaires. And the spending bill which has now run into opposition of some Republicans in the House has another big tax break for the rich hidden in it. So much for wanting to reduce the National Debt.

Either take the medicine now are suffer a disaster in the coming years.

The disaster is already upon us. He lives in the White House. And better take the medicine now, because it will become very expensive if Trump gets his way

[Martin Weidmann]

Agree. Time to bite the bullet and get the debt way down and eventually eliminated. Gotta start NOW! Canada is a joke. The best thing Canada ever did for the USA is providing a haven for draft age males fleeing the USA during the Vietnam War. The only worse "friend" the USA has is France. Anytime France starts blowing off about how valuable France is to the USA, they need to be reminded of those photos of Hitler standing in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Ever wondered why there is a city in Louisiana called Lafayette and where New Orleans gets it's name from?

[Royell Storing]

Ever wondered why there is a city in Louisiana called Lafayette and where New Orleans gets it's name from?

   Is that the guy known as "The Barefoot Pirate" we see on Cap'n Crunch commercials?