Is the USA on the road to a dictatorship?

[Gadianton]

Who will be his choice of VP?

No idea on who. There are two theories about this as I understand it. Most assume it will be the loudest and nastiest and most unscrupulous liar of a woman he can find. There is a lot of competition here in the land of the Christian right and so no shortage of options. This theory makes great sense in terms of the primary motivations behind being a republican -- shocking liberals, outrage narratives, making a scene just to make a scene, lots of Twitter views, and grifting.

However, there are a couple of problems here. The biggest problem is eclipsing Trump. There is a real possibility of these women making a bigger scene than he does and stealing his thunder. The second problem is we need to accept reality, and as a tool of the Christian right, sooner or later these right-wing women need to face the fact that they shouldn't be voting let alone holding public office. And so I'm thinking a woman like the elementary school teacher in Iron Sky, if you ever saw that movie.

I think it's decided his VP will be a woman, but the personality profile is up in the air, I think.

[Dr. Shades]

If the US withdraws military aid then it it is up to other nations.

And what, exactly, is wrong with that?

Sounds like a win-win to me.

[hauslern]

So you are an isolationist with regard to the US?

[Dr. Shades]

So you are an isolationist with regard to the US?

Have you never had to balance a checkbook?

Give me one good reason our government should give our money away when we have a multi-trillion dollar deficit.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

So you are an isolationist with regard to the US?

Have you never had to balance a checkbook?

Give me one good reason our government should give our money away when we have a multi-trillion dollar deficit.

I can give you more than one reason. The Marshall Plan kicked over billions to Europe for reconstruction which ensured securing a trading partner that has returned, and I haven’t googled just how much, but I’d hazard a guess that it’s between $15-20 trillion. Probably a good thing we didn’t let the Communists take over.

So, if your project that out with countries we’ve aided, through which we secure trading pacts, the number skyrockets.

Setting trade aside, you could probably add in easing diplomacy as a benefit. What we save in diplomacy instead of war, well, there’s no comparison.

There’s also helping nations become self-sufficient. Our government investments in Mexico, Central, and South America have resulted in increased standards of living which has increased in trade. We’ve almost totally locked down these countries as trading partners through diplomacy and aid. In other words, we probably scored another $15 trillion in aid because of these government programs.

- Doc

[Gadianton]

Give me one good reason our government should give our money away when we have a multi-trillion dollar deficit.

If we don't aid Taiwan, China will target Japan next, Kim Jong has a green light to bomb South Korea, and the world loses both J-pop and K-pop.

Would you like me to post a link to the DPRK men's choir for you to sample as a possible substitute?

[Dr. Shades]

Have you never had to balance a checkbook?

Give me one good reason our government should give our money away when we have a multi-trillion dollar deficit.

I can give you more than one reason. The Marshall Plan kicked over billions to Europe for reconstruction which ensured securing a trading partner that has returned, and I haven’t googled just how much, but I’d hazard a guess that it’s between $15-20 trillion. . . Our government investments in Mexico, Central, and South America have resulted in increased standards of living which has increased in trade. We’ve almost totally locked down these countries as trading partners through diplomacy and aid. In other words, we probably scored another $15 trillion in aid because of these government programs.

Fat lot of good it did us when the deficit is now in the double-digit trillions.

How much more money would we have netted had our politicians used the money to pay down the deficit, causing us to pay that much less on the interest maintenance thereof over the years?

[Dr. Shades]

Give me one good reason our government should give our money away when we have a multi-trillion dollar deficit.

If we don't aid Taiwan, China will target Japan next, . . .

No it won’t. Japan was never part of China, and / so China has no claim on it.

. . . Kim Jong has a green light to bomb South Korea, . . .

I’m sure you’re only joking by this point, but the two concepts are unrelated.

[Gadianton]

The US deficit is in double-digit trillions if 1.0 also counts as a double digit given 1.7 apparently does.



https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metr ... -gdp-ratio

Note that under Trump, the debt per GDP hit its all-time high in 2019 before COVID. (while I don't think this is meaningful, it's an obligatory mention if Ajax decides to post)

Notice that while high, it is going down. Thanks to Joe Biden. (another obligatory mention for Ajax land that I don't believe)

Is it too high? The credit rating of the US is determined by its global power, and if Russia, China, and and North Korea have no fear to expand, the multi-polar world will come at a cost in terms of the value of the US dollars and US bonds. But there are plenty of other risks, as Mike Johnson said:

I think that Vladimir Putin would continue marching through Europe if he were allowed. I think he might go to the Balkans next. I think he might have a showdown with Poland or one of our NATO allies.

To put it bluntly I would rather send bullets to Ukraine than American boys. My son is going to begin in the Naval academy this fall. This is a live fire exercise for me as it is for so many American families.

Why is "trillions" too much? I see no justification for it. In terms of personal finance "balance the checkbook", if my net worth is 140k (gross is 170k), and if I have a house with 30k left to pay, and a job that pays 30k per year, and I'm thinking about a car, should I refuse to finance one, insisting first on paying off the house? Adding more zeroes to all of the numbers doesn't change their proportions. A trillion in the abstract means nothing. Maybe the personal finance analogy doesn't work, but then what is the right analogy?

If 6% of GDP is too high, we could raise taxes to knock it back a little. I guarantee you, however, that while Mike Johnson would rather send bullets to Ukraine than his son, he will send his son long before he will pay for the bullets upfront.

Just like in personal finance, whether we should take on more debt or not depends on what the reasons are for taking on the debt. Simply noting the amount of debt or deficit in the abstract with no other information is NOT a reason to avoid more debt.

[hauslern]

Australia gives the US the right to have a listening base in Pine Gap Central Australia so they know if there is a missile being sent out in the pacific.

You don't mind if this guy rules Europe?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qZK ... sp=sharing

Of course this fact sets Australia to be a target of China or Russia.