Politics

[freefall]

No shame anymore.
Explains our whole society.

 

[Altitude sickness]

When NAFTA was established, theoretically there was free trade throughout North America. Most products made in Canada, Mexico and America were made in those respective countries. Over the past 25 years things have changed dramatically. Canada and Mexico decided to stop manufacturing products made entirely in their countries, and start substituting products made in other countries, primarily China and the western Pacific Rim. In many cases now, products are only assembled in Mexico and Canada.

Lets use China as an example. America has not been able to get free trade with China because China sends their manufactured products to Canada and Mexico, assemble it, and get free trade into America through the NAFTA Treaty. China then puts a tariff on American made goods. Over the years this has led to a growing imbalance of trade. In 2017, America imported $507 billion from China and only exported $130 billion to China. This deficit is virtually all due to NAFTA.

Trump has tried to work things out with Canada and Mexico for over a year. Neither Canada or Mexico wanted to make things work. That led to the situation that exists today. The only way Trump can get around the House and the Senate is to declare steel and aluminum as vital to national defense. Trump isn't looking to take advantage of either Canada or Mexico. Just have free trade between each country individually. Canada's problem is that they don't make many products anymore. They buy things from other countries and assemble them, thus Canada is going to have a problem adjusting.

Regarding the EU. @Red Leg covered this pretty well. America allowed Europe and Japan to have an advantageous trade balance after the war to help them rebuild. There is no need now to allow this imbalance to continue. Currently America imports $434 billion from the EU and export $283 billion. This is due to the EU having higher overall tariffs on products coming from America than America has on products coming from the EU. Trump wants free trade. Zero tariffs going each way. There is nothing sinister about this. Trump is not trying to get an advantage. Tusk, Junker and the other bureaucrats in the EU acted like no changes would be accepted, at least until Junker went to Washington this week with a change of heart.

All Trump is doing is keeping America from being taken advantage of. Since WWII by Europe and Japan, or since the mid 90's, by Canada and Mexico, due to NAFTA.

Canada has taken advantage of America since they started using foreign made products to export into America, changing NAFTA from it's original intent. This is all easily understandable with an hour or two of research. It is unfortunate that Freeland and Trudeau are inept. They are just making things much more difficult for the average Canadian. Hopefully Freeland and Trudeau will figure things out before things get to bad for our friends in the great white north.

This is where we were a few short years ago.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Biden’s press secretary yesterday said with a straight face that Biden has gotten all NATO partners to cough up their 2%

Someone should play them a recording of them crying foul for Trump demanding everybody pay their percentage. He was upsetting our European NATO partners.

Biden is also now trying to take credit for Sweden and Finland meeting all the criteria and finally being allowed to join NATO. Apparently they just heard about NATO n the last three years and he allowed them in.


In 2024 we all know 2% isn’t enough to fight the Ukraine war.

 

[Red Leg]

Biden’s press secretary yesterday said with a straight face that Biden has gotten all NATO partners to cough up their 2%

Someone should play them a recording of them crying foul for Trump demanding everybody pay their percentage. He was upsetting our European NATO partners.

Biden is also now trying to take credit for Sweden and Finland meeting all the criteria and finally being allowed to join NATO. Apparently they just heard about NATO n the last three years and he allowed them in.


In 2024 we all know 2% isn’t enough to fight the Ukraine war.

In fairness, no one has achieved that yet, though Putin has come closer than anyone.

In 2014, only three of the then 29 members, met the 2% expenditure for defense goal. Trump can take credit for a meaningful increase to 10 members by 2020, but far from all of them. As of the NATO conference today, 18 of the now 31 member states will meet that threshold, though the alliance as a whole now meets it for the first time from a collective GDP perspective.

Europe is also contributing a great deal of its GDP on Ukraine, only a portion of which is captured in regular defense spending. For instance Poland is spending 3.9% of its GDP on defense (compared to 3.49 for the US) including the purchase of the F-35, while also providing the largest percentage of GDP to Ukraine at .5% (compared to the US contribution of .23%) No one is coming remotely close to or considering contributing 2% of their GDP to Ukraine. That would be NATO's complete collective defense budget less the US and more than half of ours.

I think Putin can take full credit for Sweden and Finland joining the alliance.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Remember how the elites were wetting themselves that Trump was “offending” our “partners for not spending enough on defense for decades.


And in those offending countries defense.
Why would they. They have heavy socialists spending to pay for. And now “refugee” costs.

 

[Saul]

I had dinner with a rather generous Democratic donor last night. He was livid not only at Biden, but Democratic leadership at large. If Biden remains on the ticket, I suspect there will be a reckoning for many politicians. Interesting times.

 

[Tanks]

Interesting explanation for Biden staying in the race at least until the convention.

Opinion | Biden Has 100 Million Reasons to Stay In — The Wall Street Journal

He can’t legally shift his campaign war chest to Harris until he’s the official Democratic nominee.

apple.news

 

[Red Leg]

Pretty funny. He is pretty good at equal opportunity ridicule.

 

[Tanks]

Pretty funny. He is pretty good at equal opportunity ridicule.

I have always enjoyed him despite his politics. A modern day Johnny Carson.

 

[HookMeUpII]

Interesting explanation for Biden staying in the race at least until the convention.

Opinion | Biden Has 100 Million Reasons to Stay In — The Wall Street Journal

He can’t legally shift his campaign war chest to Harris until he’s the official Democratic nominee.

apple.news

They're (dems) squirming. It will be interesting to see what they do.

- Biden replacement...clearly the smart move. But where do all the campaign funds go?

- Harris doesn't get the nod...they just passed over a black/woman presidential nominee candidate.

- Harris poll numbers next to Trump? Even worse than Biden's. A couple pre-lim polls came out and Trump has a double digit lead over her.

My bet? They prop up Newsom and/or Whitmer.

Either way, this will be an interesting one.

 

[Brent in Az]

They're (dems) squirming. It will be interesting to see what they do.

- Biden replacement...clearly the smart move. But where do all the campaign funds go?

- Harris doesn't get the nod...they just passed over a black/woman presidential nominee candidate.

- Harris poll numbers next to Trump? Even worse than Biden's. A couple pre-lim polls came out and Trump has a double digit lead over her.

My bet? They prop up Newsom and/or Whitmer.

Either way, this will be an interesting one.

Don't count out big Mike.....lol

 

[Brent in Az]

Heard a short video clip the other day of Biden claiming he built NATO......LOL
50 Year's of being a political grifter, and all he's accomplished is lining his families pockets

 

[skydiver386]

I had dinner with a rather generous Democratic donor last night. He was livid not only at Biden, but Democratic leadership at large. If Biden remains on the ticket, I suspect there will be a reckoning for many politicians. Interesting times.

It fascinates me how Democrats can delude themselves into believing something that clearly isn't true. The entire Democrat machine, including the wealthy donors, are acting as if Joe Biden's dementia problems popped out of the woodwork during the debate, and that there were no indicators prior to that time. The Democrat media's belief that they control the minds of voters is well founded.

 

[Red Leg]

This was on NBC.

This doctor's comments are almost identical to those a physician colleague.

x.com

x.com

 

[Brent in Az]

Pretty ironic, when the Whitehouse demanded Covid Vaccine cards for people to keep their jobs, but are demanding medical privacy when asked about Bidens neurological issues.

If there's one thing that Democrats excel at...... its hypocrisy

 

[barryk]

No shame anymore.
Explains our whole society.

I agree freefall.......but I wish there was a stronger word than "shame"....it seems so mild and it is used often to note "democrats have no shame". Some of you more educated than I and world travelers...do the French or Italians have some other word with more "guts and delivery to it"?

 

[Red Leg]

The democrats are in the process of providing the nation with a laboratory example of one history's recurrent lessens. As Machiavelli wrote in "The Prince," "men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries ..." Ralph Waldo Emerson modernized the sentiment when he wrote, "when you strike at a king, you must kill him"

Following the debate fiasco, many democrats and most of the press decided Biden needed to be removed from the ticket or the party would face disaster in the fall. Unfortunately for both the party's leadership and the fourth estate, neither could organize a political course of action quick enough to forestall Biden's commitment to stay in it. All they have accomplished is commit the single most bizarre act of attempted political fratricide in the history of this country. They have wounded the man who is apparently going to remain their candidate. They now will be forced to somehow defend his candidacy through November.

Assuming Biden has obtained the services of a food taster or the onset of a major medical emergency, their only remaining recourse is action by the cabinet. I find that extremely unlikely.

 

[HookMeUpII]

Heard a short video clip the other day of Biden claiming he built NATO......LOL
50 Year's of being a political grifter, and all he's accomplished is lining his families pockets

He has basically done nothing in his entire life, as a career politician.

It fascinates me how Democrats can delude themselves into believing something that clearly isn't true. The entire Democrat machine, including the wealthy donors, are acting as if Joe Biden's dementia problems popped out of the woodwork during the debate, and that there were no indicators prior to that time. The Democrat media's belief that they control the minds of voters is well founded.
View attachment 618629

Said this at the onset of all the drama: Anyone who needed 3.5 years to figure out Biden lost the last of his marbles either a) lives under a rock b) is a moron c) is blind/deaf or d) in denial.

 

[skydiver386]

The democrats are in the process of providing the nation with a laboratory example of one history's recurrent lessens. As Machiavelli wrote in "The Prince," "men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries ..." Ralph Waldo Emerson modernized the sentiment when he wrote, "when you strike at a king, you must kill him"

Following the debate fiasco, many democrats and most of the press decided Biden needed to be removed from the ticket or the party would face disaster in the fall. Unfortunately for both the party's leadership and the fourth estate, neither could organize a political course of action quick enough to forestall Biden's commitment to stay in it. All they have accomplished is commit the single most bizarre act of attempted political fratricide in the history of this country. They have wounded the man who is apparently going to remain their candidate. They now will be forced to somehow defend his candidacy through November.

Assuming Biden has obtained the services of a food taster or the onset of a major medical emergency, their only remaining recourse is action by the cabinet. I find that extremely unlikely.

I think most of us can agree, this is a disaster of the Democrats own making. The Democrat machine that so effectively silences internal dissent, is now it's own worst enemy.

 

[Tanks]

Assuming Biden has obtained the services of a food taster or the onset of a major medical emergency, their only remaining recourse is action by the cabinet. I find that extremely unlikely.

It would also require a 2/3 majority of Congress. The GOP would be fools to go along with it.