Netanyahu said "we are at war,"

194,561 Views | 4329 Replies | Last: 4 hrs ago by boognish_bear
historian
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Redbrickbear said:

boognish_bear said:




Remember when Trump got impeached for delaying weapons (still ended up giving the weapons) to Ukraine?

The fascists don't care. They will never vote to impeach a Dem although arguably there are plenty of grounds for impeaching Biden: taking bribes, treason (multiple examples for the "big guy"), covering up Hunter's crimes (including cocaine in the White House), smuggling illegal aliens into the U.S., etc.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
historian
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The Babylon Bee's satire is more accurate than our mainstream media:

https://babylonbee.com/news/israel-warns-civilians-to-evacuate-rafah-in-most-incompetent-genocide-ever
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
whiterock
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historian said:

whiterock said:

historian said:

whiterock said:

historian said:

whiterock said:

FLBear5630 said:

whiterock said:

Doc Holliday said:

whiterock said:

Doc Holliday said:

whiterock said:

Doc Holliday said:

historian said:

Unfortunately, that is true. Social Security is the largest Ponzi scheme in history. They all have insane obligations that will not all be possible at some point. If you think our national debt is insane, look at our unfunded liabilities (lower right):

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

It is unsustainable and our incompetence Congress just voted to send another $61 billion of your grandkids' money to the Ukraine forever war.
They'll have to print money which will lead to even more inflation,

Inflation is legal counterfeiting and counterfeiting is criminal inflation. Central banking is a coordinated currency counterfeiting cartel that runs the world.

Milton Friedman said money printing is just like alcoholism: you feel good at first and then you eventually have the hangover. The same is true about inflation, every time there's a crisis you have to print an exponential amount of money because there's an exponential amount of liabilities from the last round of printing.

It will eventually hyperinflate into worthlessness if they continue doing this.
Remember, there is a method to the madness = Inflation services debt.\

And one more even less well understood concept. We do not have to maintain a terribly tidy financial house; it just has to be tidier than anyone else's.

We can do whatever the hell we want, and as long as EU, Germany, Japan, UK, France, etc.....are in worse shape.......everyone will flock to the dollar and keep it alive.

You don't have to outrun the lion.
You just have to outrun your buddy.
I'm not saying all debt is bad or unnecessary…but the current expenditures are insane.

The US govt raises $5 trillion per year in revenue. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest on the debt cost $5 trillion per year. Everything else requires debt to pay for. Defense, State Dept, Agriculture, Education, NASA ... everything.

The level of inflation we've been dealing with is far outpacing wages. The idiotic Keynesian economists claim otherwise, but buying power is in major decline and that stems directly from printing money which causes inflation. We can't continue to go down the current path.

If debt really doesn't matter then you could print unlimited amounts of money. We know that doesn't work and countries like Venezuela have tried and it resulted in chaos.




They're gonna raise SS to age 70 which is 35 years before I turn 70. Im barely gonna get anything out of it after paying for a lifetime. It sucks ass man.


We should raise SS to 72 as full retirement.

Extending out the retirement age will slow the decline of the workforce by retaining our most highly skilled workers. That will also retain our most highly compensated workers (an incremental add to the wage tax base). More to the point, though, SS was not intended to be a two-decade long defined benefit plan. we waited way too long to start nudging it up. And nudging it up is indeed the way they will fix it. The worse the demographic tree looks, the more they'll have to nudge it up. You need X number of workers to pay for Y number of retirees......

I have no plan to retire to read books & watch bobbers in the creek. The stuff I like to do costs money.....
Us average life expectancy for a male is 73. Lifespan is also rapidly declining because of our diets and lack of exercise.

If they keep raising it then everyone who could qualify for it will be dead. So what the hell is the point of SS if the vast majority of people don't ever get it?
in 1935, when Social Security was enacted, life expectancy was 61.7 years.
in 1935, when Social Security was enacted, full retirement age was 65

Today, SS full retirement is 67.
Look at what's happened to life expectancy.

Full retirement age has not kept pace with life expectancy. Fix that, and you fix social security.


Haley said that, but she is a NeoCom. You a closet NeoCom, Whiterock?? : )
Beware the mixing of political metaphors...... NeoCon is a foreign policy epithet; SS is a domestic policy issue.

(wink)

Neoconservatism has domestic aspects too. Unfortunately, they are all based upon Keynesian economics with the corresponding results.
The policy makers have to balance a budget regardless whether they are looking to Keynes or Hayek for inspiration.

If they are inspired by Keynes, they will almost never balance the budget. Hayek would inspire more responsible governance.
"responsible governance." oxymoron much? (ha) This nation was founded on the notion that it is the nature of mankind NOT to have responsible governance, ergo our extraordinary constitutional limitations on government power.

as a matter of mathematics, small budget deficits (a percentage point or two) don't matter so much, as long as they don't exceed inflation (typically 2-3%). The inflation effectively services the debt, which is never "paid off" in the context of paying off a mortgage to own your house outright. There's always something that really does need doing that requires another bond right after you paid off the prior one. So the reality is, we really just manage debt by ratios (which right now are seriously out of whack).



Historically, that has been the case and the debt was more manageable, or at least seemed so, but it kept growing dramatically. Now, it's totally out of whack. The reality is that it always was out of whack considering how rapidly it grew. It's more obvious now that our national debt has become more astronomical & the politicians no longer have excuses. Amazingly, they don't make them anymore and the voters still don't hold them to account because too few people don't understand how dangerous it is and too many people get government checks and don't want to see those reduced or cut off. But a real solution will require some of that.

People don't realize that the insane debt is one of the main reasons for inflation being such a problem.
The inflation will make prior debt worth less.

Inflation services debt. It's why politicians are not as afraid of it as most presume...... Sure, they understand it's a problem on election day, but otherwise it makes their job easier in many respects.
Realitybites
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historian said:

Thus is not very surprising about Islam or about modern Leftists. It's not really a secret that what's driving their perverted agenda is their desire to legitimize pedophilia in the West. You can see it in the entire alphabet mafia agenda: trans insanity, puberty blockers & mutilation of children, persecuting parents who try to protect their children, the indoctrination of the trans & perverted lies in schools, pornography in schools as curriculum, etc. These are evil, demonic people and we Americans need to stand up to them everywhere and always.


That's a pretty good take on what I always considered to be a strange alliance. I always chalked it up to a mutual hatred of Christ, but adding the "P" to the LGBT list is just as likely.

Of course the cutoff in Islam is 9, in Judaism it is 3.
whiterock
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Realitybites said:

Quote:

you completely miss the point. Cutting foreign aid out of the budget is not going to have any impact on the border whatsoever. Dems are not going to spend the savings to repel illegals at the border. All you accomplish is to reduce our influence abroad, which hastens the advance of a wide range of problems to our own borders, to include even more illegal aliens headed our way.

If you are giving out no aid, you have no leverage other than use of your military or use of sanctions (which hurts your own economy, too).

Isolationism sounds fine in theory, but it really sucks in practice.

The argument isn't for "isolationism" so much as it is for "regionalism". Just as we have no vested interest in what happens in Ukraine, we have a tremendous vested interest in what happens in Canada, Mexico, and the Panama Canal. Unfortunately, we gave the Canal away decades ago. It's easy to make the argument that what is going on in Canada under the Trudeau government is far worse for America than anything in Ukraine.

The reality is that we can no longer afford the role of Team America, Globocop. Your argument is one to protect the sacred cow in the budget that you and your daughter profit(ed) from. Everything must be cut - including social security and medicare - but as these are moral commitments to American citizens by governments that these citizens have paid for, these are the last to go.
No, you are arguing for isolationism.

As a simple matter of fact, we are a member of Nato and obligated to respond if/when/where an ally partner is attacked. So what happens in Ukraine is indeed a vested interest for us. Ukraine affects Poland, et al, as much as Mexico affects us, so what happens in either Mexico or Ukraine is equally important to all Nato members. Now, one can argue we have no business being in Nato, or Asia, for sure, but one would be making an explicitly isolationist argument that we have no interests in what happens to our largest trading partners, who without engagement-oriented policy from the USA would be dominated by larger regional powers who very much see America as a rival to destroy.

Same line of thinking applies to the "get us out of the UN" movement. Sure, UN is a waste of money and is all too often a tool for the true globalist nutjobs. But abandoning the institution removes our influence over it. It would quickly evolve into a relentlessly hostile anti-American entity dominated by Russia and China. You have to play the game or someone else will use the game to get all up in your business.

Foreign policy realism, buddy. It's Game of Thrones every day. Nobody is content with what they have. Everybody wants your stuff, and some are big enough to take it if they want tot. You are on your own to stop them. When you get in trouble, the only cavalry coming is the one you've already built.
FLBear5630
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whiterock said:

historian said:

whiterock said:

historian said:

whiterock said:

historian said:

whiterock said:

FLBear5630 said:

whiterock said:

Doc Holliday said:

whiterock said:

Doc Holliday said:

whiterock said:

Doc Holliday said:

historian said:

Unfortunately, that is true. Social Security is the largest Ponzi scheme in history. They all have insane obligations that will not all be possible at some point. If you think our national debt is insane, look at our unfunded liabilities (lower right):

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

It is unsustainable and our incompetence Congress just voted to send another $61 billion of your grandkids' money to the Ukraine forever war.
They'll have to print money which will lead to even more inflation,

Inflation is legal counterfeiting and counterfeiting is criminal inflation. Central banking is a coordinated currency counterfeiting cartel that runs the world.

Milton Friedman said money printing is just like alcoholism: you feel good at first and then you eventually have the hangover. The same is true about inflation, every time there's a crisis you have to print an exponential amount of money because there's an exponential amount of liabilities from the last round of printing.

It will eventually hyperinflate into worthlessness if they continue doing this.
Remember, there is a method to the madness = Inflation services debt.\

And one more even less well understood concept. We do not have to maintain a terribly tidy financial house; it just has to be tidier than anyone else's.

We can do whatever the hell we want, and as long as EU, Germany, Japan, UK, France, etc.....are in worse shape.......everyone will flock to the dollar and keep it alive.

You don't have to outrun the lion.
You just have to outrun your buddy.
I'm not saying all debt is bad or unnecessary…but the current expenditures are insane.

The US govt raises $5 trillion per year in revenue. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest on the debt cost $5 trillion per year. Everything else requires debt to pay for. Defense, State Dept, Agriculture, Education, NASA ... everything.

The level of inflation we've been dealing with is far outpacing wages. The idiotic Keynesian economists claim otherwise, but buying power is in major decline and that stems directly from printing money which causes inflation. We can't continue to go down the current path.

If debt really doesn't matter then you could print unlimited amounts of money. We know that doesn't work and countries like Venezuela have tried and it resulted in chaos.




They're gonna raise SS to age 70 which is 35 years before I turn 70. Im barely gonna get anything out of it after paying for a lifetime. It sucks ass man.


We should raise SS to 72 as full retirement.

Extending out the retirement age will slow the decline of the workforce by retaining our most highly skilled workers. That will also retain our most highly compensated workers (an incremental add to the wage tax base). More to the point, though, SS was not intended to be a two-decade long defined benefit plan. we waited way too long to start nudging it up. And nudging it up is indeed the way they will fix it. The worse the demographic tree looks, the more they'll have to nudge it up. You need X number of workers to pay for Y number of retirees......

I have no plan to retire to read books & watch bobbers in the creek. The stuff I like to do costs money.....
Us average life expectancy for a male is 73. Lifespan is also rapidly declining because of our diets and lack of exercise.

If they keep raising it then everyone who could qualify for it will be dead. So what the hell is the point of SS if the vast majority of people don't ever get it?
in 1935, when Social Security was enacted, life expectancy was 61.7 years.
in 1935, when Social Security was enacted, full retirement age was 65

Today, SS full retirement is 67.
Look at what's happened to life expectancy.

Full retirement age has not kept pace with life expectancy. Fix that, and you fix social security.


Haley said that, but she is a NeoCom. You a closet NeoCom, Whiterock?? : )
Beware the mixing of political metaphors...... NeoCon is a foreign policy epithet; SS is a domestic policy issue.

(wink)

Neoconservatism has domestic aspects too. Unfortunately, they are all based upon Keynesian economics with the corresponding results.
The policy makers have to balance a budget regardless whether they are looking to Keynes or Hayek for inspiration.

If they are inspired by Keynes, they will almost never balance the budget. Hayek would inspire more responsible governance.
"responsible governance." oxymoron much? (ha) This nation was founded on the notion that it is the nature of mankind NOT to have responsible governance, ergo our extraordinary constitutional limitations on government power.

as a matter of mathematics, small budget deficits (a percentage point or two) don't matter so much, as long as they don't exceed inflation (typically 2-3%). The inflation effectively services the debt, which is never "paid off" in the context of paying off a mortgage to own your house outright. There's always something that really does need doing that requires another bond right after you paid off the prior one. So the reality is, we really just manage debt by ratios (which right now are seriously out of whack).



Historically, that has been the case and the debt was more manageable, or at least seemed so, but it kept growing dramatically. Now, it's totally out of whack. The reality is that it always was out of whack considering how rapidly it grew. It's more obvious now that our national debt has become more astronomical & the politicians no longer have excuses. Amazingly, they don't make them anymore and the voters still don't hold them to account because too few people don't understand how dangerous it is and too many people get government checks and don't want to see those reduced or cut off. But a real solution will require some of that.

People don't realize that the insane debt is one of the main reasons for inflation being such a problem.
The inflation will make prior debt worth less.

Inflation services debt. It's why politicians are not as afraid of it as most presume...... Sure, they understand it's a problem on election day, but otherwise it makes their job easier in many respects.
Inflation and increased Debt Service limit the real assets that can be brought to bear. It may not bother Politicians, but it sure limits what they can do. You are seeing a third of the infrastructure that should be being built in the field, now moved out into future years. That is a real, tangible issue with the current economic state. We are seeing cost estimates being 40% low, consistently.
whiterock
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FLBear5630 said:

whiterock said:

historian said:

whiterock said:

historian said:

whiterock said:

historian said:

whiterock said:

FLBear5630 said:

whiterock said:

Doc Holliday said:

whiterock said:

Doc Holliday said:

whiterock said:

Doc Holliday said:

historian said:

Unfortunately, that is true. Social Security is the largest Ponzi scheme in history. They all have insane obligations that will not all be possible at some point. If you think our national debt is insane, look at our unfunded liabilities (lower right):

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

It is unsustainable and our incompetence Congress just voted to send another $61 billion of your grandkids' money to the Ukraine forever war.
They'll have to print money which will lead to even more inflation,

Inflation is legal counterfeiting and counterfeiting is criminal inflation. Central banking is a coordinated currency counterfeiting cartel that runs the world.

Milton Friedman said money printing is just like alcoholism: you feel good at first and then you eventually have the hangover. The same is true about inflation, every time there's a crisis you have to print an exponential amount of money because there's an exponential amount of liabilities from the last round of printing.

It will eventually hyperinflate into worthlessness if they continue doing this.
Remember, there is a method to the madness = Inflation services debt.\

And one more even less well understood concept. We do not have to maintain a terribly tidy financial house; it just has to be tidier than anyone else's.

We can do whatever the hell we want, and as long as EU, Germany, Japan, UK, France, etc.....are in worse shape.......everyone will flock to the dollar and keep it alive.

You don't have to outrun the lion.
You just have to outrun your buddy.
I'm not saying all debt is bad or unnecessary…but the current expenditures are insane.

The US govt raises $5 trillion per year in revenue. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest on the debt cost $5 trillion per year. Everything else requires debt to pay for. Defense, State Dept, Agriculture, Education, NASA ... everything.

The level of inflation we've been dealing with is far outpacing wages. The idiotic Keynesian economists claim otherwise, but buying power is in major decline and that stems directly from printing money which causes inflation. We can't continue to go down the current path.

If debt really doesn't matter then you could print unlimited amounts of money. We know that doesn't work and countries like Venezuela have tried and it resulted in chaos.




They're gonna raise SS to age 70 which is 35 years before I turn 70. Im barely gonna get anything out of it after paying for a lifetime. It sucks ass man.


We should raise SS to 72 as full retirement.

Extending out the retirement age will slow the decline of the workforce by retaining our most highly skilled workers. That will also retain our most highly compensated workers (an incremental add to the wage tax base). More to the point, though, SS was not intended to be a two-decade long defined benefit plan. we waited way too long to start nudging it up. And nudging it up is indeed the way they will fix it. The worse the demographic tree looks, the more they'll have to nudge it up. You need X number of workers to pay for Y number of retirees......

I have no plan to retire to read books & watch bobbers in the creek. The stuff I like to do costs money.....
Us average life expectancy for a male is 73. Lifespan is also rapidly declining because of our diets and lack of exercise.

If they keep raising it then everyone who could qualify for it will be dead. So what the hell is the point of SS if the vast majority of people don't ever get it?
in 1935, when Social Security was enacted, life expectancy was 61.7 years.
in 1935, when Social Security was enacted, full retirement age was 65

Today, SS full retirement is 67.
Look at what's happened to life expectancy.

Full retirement age has not kept pace with life expectancy. Fix that, and you fix social security.


Haley said that, but she is a NeoCom. You a closet NeoCom, Whiterock?? : )
Beware the mixing of political metaphors...... NeoCon is a foreign policy epithet; SS is a domestic policy issue.

(wink)

Neoconservatism has domestic aspects too. Unfortunately, they are all based upon Keynesian economics with the corresponding results.
The policy makers have to balance a budget regardless whether they are looking to Keynes or Hayek for inspiration.

If they are inspired by Keynes, they will almost never balance the budget. Hayek would inspire more responsible governance.
"responsible governance." oxymoron much? (ha) This nation was founded on the notion that it is the nature of mankind NOT to have responsible governance, ergo our extraordinary constitutional limitations on government power.

as a matter of mathematics, small budget deficits (a percentage point or two) don't matter so much, as long as they don't exceed inflation (typically 2-3%). The inflation effectively services the debt, which is never "paid off" in the context of paying off a mortgage to own your house outright. There's always something that really does need doing that requires another bond right after you paid off the prior one. So the reality is, we really just manage debt by ratios (which right now are seriously out of whack).



Historically, that has been the case and the debt was more manageable, or at least seemed so, but it kept growing dramatically. Now, it's totally out of whack. The reality is that it always was out of whack considering how rapidly it grew. It's more obvious now that our national debt has become more astronomical & the politicians no longer have excuses. Amazingly, they don't make them anymore and the voters still don't hold them to account because too few people don't understand how dangerous it is and too many people get government checks and don't want to see those reduced or cut off. But a real solution will require some of that.

People don't realize that the insane debt is one of the main reasons for inflation being such a problem.
The inflation will make prior debt worth less.

Inflation services debt. It's why politicians are not as afraid of it as most presume...... Sure, they understand it's a problem on election day, but otherwise it makes their job easier in many respects.
Inflation and increased Debt Service limit the real assets that can be brought to bear. It may not bother Politicians, but it sure limits what they can do. You are seeing a third of the infrastructure that should be being built in the field, now moved out into future years. That is a real, tangible issue with the current economic state. We are seeing cost estimates being 40% low, consistently.
inflation increases tax base, buddy..... It makes wages grow (payroll tax, SS tax, etc....), it makes excise taxes grow (anything levied as a percentage of sales), etc...... The tax rate stays the same, but the value of the things being taxed rises, so more money is raised BEFORE anything happens to rates.

We have a property tax in Texas, based on values of appraisals done by a govt entity. As inflation increases the values of real estate, the tax base grows.....

You have to FIRST have revenue to solve problems.....

Realitybites
How long do you want to ignore this user?
whiterock said:


As a simple matter of fact, we are a member of Nato and obligated to respond if/when/where an ally partner is attacked. So what happens in Ukraine is indeed a vested interest for us. Ukraine affects Poland, et al, as much as Mexico affects us, so what happens in either Mexico or Ukraine is equally important to all Nato members.


You've made an excellent argument for getting out of NATO. As I have said before, the threat that NATO was intended to confront is gone.

Quote:

Now, one can argue we have no business being in Nato, or Asia, for sure, but one would be making an explicitly isolationist argument that we have no interests in what happens to our largest trading partners


Speaking of trading partners, which do you think does a better job of securing our national interest: funding a proxy war in Ukraine and kicking Russia out of SWIFT or banning all Chinese imports, getting our supply chains back home, and banning Chinese nationals from our universities?

Quote:

It would quickly evolve into a relentlessly hostile anti-American entity


That describes the current state of the UN with us as members and funding it.

Quote:

Foreign policy realism, buddy.


I'm not the one making arguments to keep the boomer death grip on last century institutions and policies.

Quote:

It's Game of Thrones every day.


If you are getting your understanding of foreign policy from an HBO series set in the middle ages, it explains a lot.
FLBear5630
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whiterock said:

FLBear5630 said:

whiterock said:

historian said:

whiterock said:

historian said:

whiterock said:

historian said:

whiterock said:

FLBear5630 said:

whiterock said:

Doc Holliday said:

whiterock said:

Doc Holliday said:

whiterock said:

Doc Holliday said:

historian said:

Unfortunately, that is true. Social Security is the largest Ponzi scheme in history. They all have insane obligations that will not all be possible at some point. If you think our national debt is insane, look at our unfunded liabilities (lower right):

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

It is unsustainable and our incompetence Congress just voted to send another $61 billion of your grandkids' money to the Ukraine forever war.
They'll have to print money which will lead to even more inflation,

Inflation is legal counterfeiting and counterfeiting is criminal inflation. Central banking is a coordinated currency counterfeiting cartel that runs the world.

Milton Friedman said money printing is just like alcoholism: you feel good at first and then you eventually have the hangover. The same is true about inflation, every time there's a crisis you have to print an exponential amount of money because there's an exponential amount of liabilities from the last round of printing.

It will eventually hyperinflate into worthlessness if they continue doing this.
Remember, there is a method to the madness = Inflation services debt.\

And one more even less well understood concept. We do not have to maintain a terribly tidy financial house; it just has to be tidier than anyone else's.

We can do whatever the hell we want, and as long as EU, Germany, Japan, UK, France, etc.....are in worse shape.......everyone will flock to the dollar and keep it alive.

You don't have to outrun the lion.
You just have to outrun your buddy.
I'm not saying all debt is bad or unnecessary…but the current expenditures are insane.

The US govt raises $5 trillion per year in revenue. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest on the debt cost $5 trillion per year. Everything else requires debt to pay for. Defense, State Dept, Agriculture, Education, NASA ... everything.

The level of inflation we've been dealing with is far outpacing wages. The idiotic Keynesian economists claim otherwise, but buying power is in major decline and that stems directly from printing money which causes inflation. We can't continue to go down the current path.

If debt really doesn't matter then you could print unlimited amounts of money. We know that doesn't work and countries like Venezuela have tried and it resulted in chaos.




They're gonna raise SS to age 70 which is 35 years before I turn 70. Im barely gonna get anything out of it after paying for a lifetime. It sucks ass man.


We should raise SS to 72 as full retirement.

Extending out the retirement age will slow the decline of the workforce by retaining our most highly skilled workers. That will also retain our most highly compensated workers (an incremental add to the wage tax base). More to the point, though, SS was not intended to be a two-decade long defined benefit plan. we waited way too long to start nudging it up. And nudging it up is indeed the way they will fix it. The worse the demographic tree looks, the more they'll have to nudge it up. You need X number of workers to pay for Y number of retirees......

I have no plan to retire to read books & watch bobbers in the creek. The stuff I like to do costs money.....
Us average life expectancy for a male is 73. Lifespan is also rapidly declining because of our diets and lack of exercise.

If they keep raising it then everyone who could qualify for it will be dead. So what the hell is the point of SS if the vast majority of people don't ever get it?
in 1935, when Social Security was enacted, life expectancy was 61.7 years.
in 1935, when Social Security was enacted, full retirement age was 65

Today, SS full retirement is 67.
Look at what's happened to life expectancy.

Full retirement age has not kept pace with life expectancy. Fix that, and you fix social security.


Haley said that, but she is a NeoCom. You a closet NeoCom, Whiterock?? : )
Beware the mixing of political metaphors...... NeoCon is a foreign policy epithet; SS is a domestic policy issue.

(wink)

Neoconservatism has domestic aspects too. Unfortunately, they are all based upon Keynesian economics with the corresponding results.
The policy makers have to balance a budget regardless whether they are looking to Keynes or Hayek for inspiration.

If they are inspired by Keynes, they will almost never balance the budget. Hayek would inspire more responsible governance.
"responsible governance." oxymoron much? (ha) This nation was founded on the notion that it is the nature of mankind NOT to have responsible governance, ergo our extraordinary constitutional limitations on government power.

as a matter of mathematics, small budget deficits (a percentage point or two) don't matter so much, as long as they don't exceed inflation (typically 2-3%). The inflation effectively services the debt, which is never "paid off" in the context of paying off a mortgage to own your house outright. There's always something that really does need doing that requires another bond right after you paid off the prior one. So the reality is, we really just manage debt by ratios (which right now are seriously out of whack).



Historically, that has been the case and the debt was more manageable, or at least seemed so, but it kept growing dramatically. Now, it's totally out of whack. The reality is that it always was out of whack considering how rapidly it grew. It's more obvious now that our national debt has become more astronomical & the politicians no longer have excuses. Amazingly, they don't make them anymore and the voters still don't hold them to account because too few people don't understand how dangerous it is and too many people get government checks and don't want to see those reduced or cut off. But a real solution will require some of that.

People don't realize that the insane debt is one of the main reasons for inflation being such a problem.
The inflation will make prior debt worth less.

Inflation services debt. It's why politicians are not as afraid of it as most presume...... Sure, they understand it's a problem on election day, but otherwise it makes their job easier in many respects.
Inflation and increased Debt Service limit the real assets that can be brought to bear. It may not bother Politicians, but it sure limits what they can do. You are seeing a third of the infrastructure that should be being built in the field, now moved out into future years. That is a real, tangible issue with the current economic state. We are seeing cost estimates being 40% low, consistently.
inflation increases tax base, buddy..... It makes wages grow (payroll tax, SS tax, etc....), it makes excise taxes grow (anything levied as a percentage of sales), etc...... The tax rate stays the same, but the value of the things being taxed rises, so more money is raised BEFORE anything happens to rates.

We have a property tax in Texas, based on values of appraisals done by a govt entity. As inflation increases the values of real estate, the tax base grows.....

You have to FIRST have revenue to solve problems.....




Revenue has to have value or you are Greece. Pay 4i million drachma for a loaf of bread. Your revenue is worthless if it does not buy real goods. Been hanging around round table games and simulations too much. If all your revenue buys less services, your local Govt is F-ed. No matter what the books say.
Realitybites
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I have to say that it is more than a bit amusing watching a government-american move from a defense of military adventurism to a defense of inflation.
Bestweekeverr
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Redbrickbear said:

boognish_bear said:




Remember when Trump got impeached for delaying weapons (still ended up giving the weapons) to Ukraine?
Trump was impeached for tying that aid to investigating his political opponent, thus soliciting Ukraine's interference in the 2020 presidential election and then obstruction of the House impeachment investigation.

Big difference.
FLBear5630
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Bestweekeverr said:

Redbrickbear said:

boognish_bear said:




Remember when Trump got impeached for delaying weapons (still ended up giving the weapons) to Ukraine?
Trump was impeached for tying that aid to investigating his political opponent, thus soliciting Ukraine's interference in the 2020 presidential election and then obstruction of the House impeachment investigation.

Big difference.
That is what scares me about Trump, not his policies, his perfect phone calls...
whiterock
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Realitybites said:

whiterock said:


As a simple matter of fact, we are a member of Nato and obligated to respond if/when/where an ally partner is attacked. So what happens in Ukraine is indeed a vested interest for us. Ukraine affects Poland, et al, as much as Mexico affects us, so what happens in either Mexico or Ukraine is equally important to all Nato members.


You've made an excellent argument for getting out of NATO. As I have said before, the threat that NATO was intended to confront is gone.
LOL that exact threat is on the march in Ukraine!

"There are no lions about."
--"Uh, buddy, I'm watching a really big one trying to eat the guy in the tent next to us."
"No problem. It's not eating us."
--"why don't we go help that guy kill that lion?"
"That might make the lion mad at us. Leave it alone."
--"Uh, buddy, that lion will need to eat tomorrow, too. Shouldn't we try to stop him?"
"If you don't shut up about that lion, he's gonna get mad and come eat us tomorrow. SHUSH!"


Quote:

Now, one can argue we have no business being in Nato, or Asia, for sure, but one would be making an explicitly isolationist argument that we have no interests in what happens to our largest trading partners

Speaking of trading partners, which do you think does a better job of securing our national interest: funding a proxy war in Ukraine and kicking Russia out of SWIFT or banning all Chinese imports, getting our supply chains back home, and banning Chinese nationals from our universities?
I have long argued for policies that re-shore of much of what has gone to China over the last few decades. I have no problem revisiting restrictions on all foreign students, either. Where we differ is on the implicit isolationism of your position that it is wise/safe to just draw inward and ignore the rest of the world. That never makes problems go away. It makes them draw closer.
Quote:

It would quickly evolve into a relentlessly hostile anti-American entity

That describes the current state of the UN with us as members and funding it.
So how would withdrawing from it altogether make that better? (other than the momentary emotional release of the hissy fit).

Quote:

Foreign policy realism, buddy.

I'm not the one making arguments to keep the boomer death grip on last century institutions and policies.
Foreign policy realism existed well before the boomers came along. You would be better served understanding the concept before criticizing it.

Quote:

It's Game of Thrones every day.


If you are getting your understanding of foreign policy from an HBO series set in the middle ages, it explains a lot.
I've read all the books, actually. One of the reasons it is such good literature is that captures the dynamics of statecraft and human ambitions so well. The middle ages is quite instructive in what we are witnessing in Ukraine = very old dynamics, war as a quest for empire. Every empire that's ever existed started around a campfire somewhere. When one starts to rise, something will eventually contain it. It's just a matter of when & where & how & who. Using Ukrainians to stop Russia in Ukraine is wise policy, on multiple levels - substantial upside at minor cost against negligible risks.

the fatal flaw of most isolationist arguments is that they cannot admit there is any benefit to foreign engagement, or risks associated with eschewing it. On the other end of the spectrum, the globalists can find no risk/cost to engagement in everything. The balance is to understand when/where to engage, and how.

Our imperative is basically the same of that as Britain - not to seek to dominate, but rather to deny others the ability to dominate. That is clearly the aim of Nato, and it has worked very well (despite problems). Support for Ukraine falls under that penumbra - to prevent Russia from dominating our neighbors.

boognish_bear
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muddybrazos
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boognish_bear said:


Why? Israel cant do a war without us paying for it? F that, call the Rothschilds and get some money.
boognish_bear
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historian
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But that's an illusion: inflation is actually a hidden tax. Everything we buy is more expensive because if it. It's also very dangerous & destructive. If it continues to grow unchecked it eventually become hyperinflation and that leads to total economic collapse.

Germany in the 1920s & Zimbabwe in the early 2000s ard cautionary tales.

“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
nein51
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boognish_bear said:



Israel is losing the media war on this one in a bad way.

At some point the discussion is going to have to turn from "winning" to an acceptable solution and I'm not sure either side is willing to do that.

Pressure from the international community needs to ramp up on both sides to start looking for solutions. There's no scenario where there is no Palestine or no Israel so they better start figuring out what the two state solution looks like or we will end up in WW3 that I don't think anyone really wants to fight.
historian
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Israel has always lost "the media war" because most of the media or a bunch of fascist who hate them and are more sympathetic to the terrorists.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
historian
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Biden & the rest of the fascists are more concerned about Ukraine than Israel but Ukraine is so corrupt:

https://babylonbee.com/news/zelensky-says-he-survived-an-assassination-attempt-and-hell-tell-us-the-thrilling-details-for-only-45-billion-dollars
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
muddybrazos
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nein51 said:

boognish_bear said:



Israel is losing the media war on this one in a bad way.

At some point the discussion is going to have to turn from "winning" to an acceptable solution and I'm not sure either side is willing to do that.

Pressure from the international community needs to ramp up on both sides to start looking for solutions. There's no scenario where there is no Palestine or no Israel so they better start figuring out what the two state solution looks like or we will end up in WW3 that I don't think anyone really wants to fight.
If the solution they come up with is Bibi's plan to send 1 million Gazans to the US then he can just go straight to hell now. They should make Israel pay to rebuild Gaza in exchange for Hamas being eliminated.
nein51
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muddybrazos said:

nein51 said:

boognish_bear said:



Israel is losing the media war on this one in a bad way.

At some point the discussion is going to have to turn from "winning" to an acceptable solution and I'm not sure either side is willing to do that.

Pressure from the international community needs to ramp up on both sides to start looking for solutions. There's no scenario where there is no Palestine or no Israel so they better start figuring out what the two state solution looks like or we will end up in WW3 that I don't think anyone really wants to fight.
If the solution they come up with is Bibi's plan to send 1 million Gazans to the US then he can just go straight to hell now. They should make Israel pay to rebuild Gaza in exchange for Hamas being eliminated.

Hamas isn't going to be eliminated. It's the duly elected government of Palestine. That's not even a realistic outcome.
boognish_bear
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FLBear5630
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boognish_bear said:


As it should be. Biden is destroying 75 years of being our best, closest allie in the Middle East. But, Israel will take care of it and will cut a deal with China for the weapons they need. Xi won't care. Biden is a disaster.
muddybrazos
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boognish_bear said:


This snub by Biden is actually really good for Trump. I've thought for awhile that Israel and AIPAC will get behind Trump bc he will support them more than Joe and that will help army recruiting in case this thing turns into a war with Iran.
boognish_bear
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Realitybites
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muddybrazos said:

If the solution they come up with is Bibi's plan to send 1 million Gazans to the US then he can just go straight to hell now.


I would rather see Iran nuke Israel out of existence than be party to an agreement that sent a million more Muslims here.
whiterock
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muddybrazos said:

boognish_bear said:


This snub by Biden is actually really good for Trump. I've thought for awhile that Israel and AIPAC will get behind Trump bc he will support them more than Joe and that will help army recruiting in case this thing turns into a war with Iran.
it's not going to swing the Jewish vote red, but it's going to move it 10 points or so, and in a close election that is a big deal. Could cost Dems a swing state or two.

It's going to harm Biden perhaps even more beyond the Jewish vote. The anti/never-Trump vote is a larger demographic and it is staunchly pro-Israel. This will give a lot of them the moral cover to vote Trump. The Foreign Policy implications of abandoning an ally are profound (see Shapiro's post below).

Desperation move by Democrats. Tells you their victory model needs MI so badly that it's willing to put several other states at risk.

historian
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David Jeremiah sermon: America Will Turn It's Back on Israel:


“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
Redbrickbear
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muddybrazos said:

boognish_bear said:


Why? Israel cant do a war without us paying for it? F that, call the Rothschilds and get some money.


I do wonder how Israel and can be a 1st world state with a strong economy and nuclear weapons…but it just can't seem to fund a military without massive infusions of American taxpayer cash
Osodecentx
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Redbrickbear said:

muddybrazos said:

boognish_bear said:


Why? Israel cant do a war without us paying for it? F that, call the Rothschilds and get some money.


I do wonder how Israel and can be a 1st world state with a strong economy and nuclear weapons…but it just can't seem to fund a military without massive infusions of American taxpayer cash
https://babylonbee.com/news/with-biden-stalling-israel-announces-they-will-just-get-american-weapons-from-taliban

With Biden Stalling, Israel Announces They Will Just Get American Weapons From Taliban
sombear
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Redbrickbear said:

muddybrazos said:

boognish_bear said:


Why? Israel cant do a war without us paying for it? F that, call the Rothschilds and get some money.


I do wonder how Israel and can be a 1st world state with a strong economy and nuclear weapons…but it just can't seem to fund a military without massive infusions of American taxpayer cash


Keep in mind virtually all "aid" is military funding the vast majority of which Israel must use to purchase back from U.S. and it's a low % of Israel's defense budget. Israel is surrounded by hostiles, and it takes a lot. Could they do it in their own? Sure. But we help many of our allies without the same reciprocal requirements. And we get a lot from Israel in return - intel, tech, and economic.
historian
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For their entire history as a modem State, Israel has been surrounded by enemies who want to destroy them & annihilate them. They are also vastly outnumbered & outgunned. That requires a greater than usual military strength.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
Redbrickbear
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historian said:

For their entire history as a modem State, Israel has been surrounded by enemies who want to destroy them & annihilate them. They are also vastly outnumbered & outgunned. That requires a greater than usual military strength.


Well they are welcome to pay for that themselves

American taxpayers should not be on the hook to support a tiny settler state who can't stay on good terms with its neighbors
The_barBEARian
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sombear said:

Redbrickbear said:

muddybrazos said:

boognish_bear said:


Why? Israel cant do a war without us paying for it? F that, call the Rothschilds and get some money.


I do wonder how Israel and can be a 1st world state with a strong economy and nuclear weapons…but it just can't seem to fund a military without massive infusions of American taxpayer cash


Keep in mind virtually all "aid" is military funding the vast majority of which Israel must use to purchase back from U.S. and it's a low % of Israel's defense budget. Israel is surrounded by hostiles, and it takes a lot. Could they do it in their own? Sure. But we help many of our allies without the same reciprocal requirements. And we get a lot from Israel in return - intel, tech, and economic.


Please explicitly detail what we recieve in return from Israel. I want hard numbers and citations.
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