I did have a bout of sticker shock during the Trump admin when our defense spending spiked from 640B in 2016 to around 800B when Trump left, but when you look at it as a % of GDP it's actually at its lowest levels since 2000 at 3.48%. https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/military-spending-defense-budget So it's still a big bargain when you think about how the military secures global trade, our alliances, and the economic order that greatly benefits American consumers and corporations. As for the debt, I'm not sure if we have politicians and a public will to pay down the debt with taxes and efficient spending. First time's the charm or something.
Interesting to watch the Putin “interview” with Carlson. Its mostly just Putin ranting his talking points but interesting nonetheless.
@Salvy @ROXRAN @Os Trigonum @CrixusTheUndefeatedGaul I seriously doubt Biden can talk for 2 hours like Putin did
1. Putin lasted 2 hours , he could have gone 4. Biden would fallen asleep after 15 minutes 2. He didn’t word salad like Kamala or start laughing for no reason
@AroundTheWorld @basso @CrixusTheUndefeatedGaul are they boycotting them Oliver Stone movies too breh ?
66 billions more for Ukraine if they can pass the bill but only 700 bucks for Lahaina residents. Money laundering?
[Forbes] Russia Lost 10 Percent Of Its Deployed Tanks Trying To Capture Avdiivka Pyrrhic victory: noun; a victory that is not worth winning because so much is lost to achieve it
Putin’s country is decaying from the inside in just about every useful metric… from income, life expectancy, freedom index, economic growth, crime and corruption. Yet there are still assholes in love with the idea of him that gush over everything he says and does.
Putin's interview last week confirmed what I've been saying all along -- that Putin invaded Ukraine to stop NATO's eastward expansion. This is now a fact. The forever-war crowd's entire thesis is that if we don't stop Russia now, then they'll take another country in Europe. Putin said they have no plans to do that. It also defies logic that Russia would do that -- for many reasons, chief among them is that he has NATO neighbors in most locations. Second, he is already "long land" with a vast country and more than enough natural resources. The US very clearly provoked Russia with its Strategic Partnership with Ukraine in late 2021 -- basically paving the way for them to enter NATO. This had already been communicated by Russia as being their red line. Once crossed, Russia then invaded Ukraine. This was Biden's folly and 100% avoidable. Russia is now making significant gains in Ukraine and the war is looking like a lost cause. We'd be fools to continue pumping money into Ukraine, as it will quickly be lit on fire and wasted. Keep the money here and invest in American cities and in border security. Our country is being invaded at the border by Hamas, China, Iran, and many other hostile actors. Our downtowns have become crime-ridden ghettos that look like Mogadishu. Many of the people in these places appear completely incapable of self governing. Clean these areas up by investing in the communities (police, schools, extra curricular activities, churches, JOBS). $60 billion to Ukraine is a massive mistake when we have glaring needs on the homefront. AMERICA FIRST
