"But his policies and actions seem to be catering towards his billionaire amigos."

I don't think so. Unless you think that the collapse of the dollar and trade wars are good for billionaires. Those things almost exclusively affect people of means.

"It always seems to me that you defend Trump/MAGA on a regular basis and decry Dems and Liberals personally."

I don't know where you stand on the political spectrum, but I think you may be selectively viewing my comments. The only thing I like about Trump is his approach to immigration policy and the deportation of illegal immigrants. Even then, I'm only about half in favor, as this country desperately needs immigrants. From the dudes who mow our lawns to the dudes who will plan the next mission to mars. But it needs to be both legal and organized. There were some incredibly positive aspects of DOGE, including encouraging government agencies to relocate from high-cost areas, such as Washington D.C., to lower cost areas where the taxpayers wouldn't be paying so much.

But other than that, no. I don't like Trump. I don't even really like Republicans, because they refuse to grow a spine and stand up to him. Like I said, if you want a historical analog to Trump, it's probably going to be a Democrat. Huey Long. Dennis Kucinich. Someone like that. And because I don't like Trump doesn't mean I like progressives. Most of them would use Trumpian tactics to achieve a different ideological end state.

"So why do you seem to support the party that spends like drunken sailors on golden ballrooms and private jets instead of the one that constantly lowers deficits and wants the kind of programs that Germany has?"

I don't know what party you seem to think I support. Neither party is even remotely fiscally responsible, although it seems that the Dems have chosen to adopt that mantle. Trump's populist policies are more like Dennis Kucinich or Huey Long than they are a fiscal conservative. And the last fiscally conservative prez this country had was Bill Clinton. That said, the Dems have cast a wide net, that has caught up populists on it's own side. Very unfortunate.

If you want to know what sort of politician I would support, Google Jake Auchincloss. He's a Dem, but depending on what flavor of Dem you are, you'll either love him or hate him.

#21

I despise that song.

My neighborhood here in Kaiserslautern, Germany was absolutely crazy. Hundreds of kids running around. Fire pits everywhere. Lots of booze. It was more fun that the Halloweens I remember back in the US.

What was on your Halloween playlist? Here is mine:

Partytime-45 Grave
Everyday is Halloween-Ministry
Witchcraft-Book of Love
Big Black Witchcraft Rock-The Cramps
I Put a Spell on You-Nina Simone
Heads Will Roll-Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Season of the Witch-Lana del Rey
Halloween Theme (from the Movie)
Tubular Bells (from the Exorcist)
Thriller-Michael jackson
This is Halloween (from Nightmare Before Christmas)
Oogie Boogie's Song (from Nightmare Before Christmas)
Timewarp (RHPS)
I can make you a Man (RHPS)
Sweet Transvestite (RHPS)
The Number of the Beast-Iron Maiden
Dead Souls-Nine Inch nails
Burn-The Cure
Lucretia My Reflection-Sisters of Mercy
Bloodletting-Concrete Blonde
Dead Man's Party-Oingo Boingo
Cities in the Dust-Siouxsie and the Banshees
A Nightmare on My Street-DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
Lux Aeterna (from Requiem for a Dream)
The Rains of Castamere (from Game of Thrones)
Cry Little Sister (from The Lost Boys)
Bela Lugosi's Dead-The Bauhaus
I Want Candy-Bow Wow Wow
Tear You Apart-She Wants Revenge
Don't Fear The Reaper-Blue Oyster Cult
Bark at the Moon-Ozzy

#14

Mamdani is unable to do by himself much of what he wants to do. Tax hikes, for instance, require the consent of the State House and the governor.

As an Econ geek, I'm fairly excited to see how this thing plays out. Socialism is a system where the workers own the means of production. That's OK, but if you own the means of production, you also own the risk that comes with ownership of capital. Democratic Socialism, as best as I can tell, leaves the risk of ownership with capital, but transfers the rewards to labor. This means that capital must willingly accept that risk, knowing that the rewards will be lower. The big question is whether or not capital will be willing to do that. That's the question I want to see answered. Not that New York is representative of the entire US, but the impact of any Policy Mamdani enacts might be representative of potential outcomes elsewhere.

I was always a small-government, low tax libertarian kind of guy, until I moved to Germany. Higher taxes and social programs are OK and can be very beneficial, provided that the government is a good steward of taxpayer dollars. It seems to me that people in the US, and progressives in particular, are very much against any sort of tax reform that would more closely mirror European systems.

#42

Um...when did Netanyahu do butchery in Bethlehem?

#37

Like the US, Israel is not trying to extirpate minority citizens.

Compare that to other Arab / Muslim countries.

Actually, they don't need to either. They've already completed the final solution to the Jewish question.

"Why am I comparing that? Are they related?"

You've made no mention of it.

Should Jews have the right of return to every other country in the middle east?

#14

I'm with you, buddy. And it's her personality more than her looks that make her hot.

#32

Another interesting thing to ponder. Many of the cities in Israel were established after the creation of Israel. Assume by some means, the Palestinians were able to achieve their goal of establishing a state that stretched from the river to the sea. What would they do with it? The capital wealth-the banks-would leave the country. Even if they managed to implement the final solution to the Jewish question and kill them all, it's not like their overseas holdings or investments would be handed over to the Palestinians. And it's not like the Palestinians would be able to assume control of the industrial base or run companies like Elbit or NICE Systems. Assuming the Israelis didn't reduce the cities they established to their pre-Nakba states, the new Palestinian government would be left responsible for cities and infrastructure that would immediately begin to decay.

Most likely, they would wind up selling it back to the Jews. Or the Chinese. But there is no foreseeable outcome where some sort of Palestinian government assumed control of the property and assets and is able to manage it.

#32

Oh, and do you remember that time the Israeli government extirpated their Arab Palestinian population?

If not, it's because it never happened.

Compare that to the extirpation of the Jewish population in virtually every Arab country, as well as many Muslim countries.

I'm not sure the sill propals rioting on college campuses know this untidy little fact. I'm not sure many of the handwringers here at the DR know that.

"Israel claims the land From The River To The Sea, and then some."

I don't recall millions of Israeli protesters demanding "from the river to the sea." In Israel or anywhere else.

"The Hamas charter is a response to the Zionist charter."

The Hamas charter is just the latest iteration of a codified policy of genocide that began with the Arab nationalists in 1948, that was continued by the socialists when the nationalists fell out of favor, and adopted by the Islamists far more recently.

It's also worth noting that 20% of the population is Palestinian. I know you don't like this, it conflicts with your white, colonial perspective on Israel's existence. But it's fact.

Fleetwood Mac was one of the few older bands that I felt had staying power into the 1990s and 2000s.

#9

I'm with you. I think Stevie is great. In fact I think Tom petty was the one with the annoying, mediocre voice. Fleetwood Mac was way better. Still is.

"Or, you're just obtuse idiots who don't get it. *shrug*"

Would you have an issue if service members who took some of this $130M were required to pay it back once the budget was signed and back pay was distributed?

"Now, outright paying the salaries of our military with private money? Yeah....easy to see the slippery slope there."

I don't think that is possible. The money would have to be transferred over to DFAS.

In the past, USAA just deposited money into the accounts of service members with the understanding they would recover the funds once back pay was distributed. But technically that is an example of a private organization paying the military.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and hazard a guess that most of you ATM smashers don't even know what USAA is...

"So, which are you willfully stupid or evil? Let's start with the fact that it is illegal."

USAA offered to cover paychecks during shutdowns the entire time I was on active duty.

So...I'm pretty sure it's not illegal.

Would you have an issue if a private donor was willing to fund COVID subsidies for ACA?

#10

Yeah. I'm a bit confused as well.

I told some of the military dudes I work with that I can probably cover them if they don't get a paycheck. I know I didn't have a lot of money when I was a Major.

It's a nice gesture, but it probably would have been better to divert the money to USAA. In the past USAA has covered members paychecks during government shut-downs. This time, they are not.

"No. $612 a year increases to $26,784 a year."

So...the taxpayers have previously been covering $26k of their healthcare premiums?

The average monthly premium for someone age 60 is $1208.

Bob and Leslie need to find a new insurance company.

Examples like these remind me of when I'm booking airline tickets, and one airline is charging $13k while the others are charging $3k. If you think you can get $13k, go for it. I don't think you will.

I wish there were more articles like this posted on DR.

"Wouldn't we be fighting the next war with the last wars munitions? Now I know brand new state of the art ships would be a massive ego boost for the admirals and captains, but would it really make sense?"

I normally wouldn't link a YouTube video, but this is a pretty well constructed wargame of a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan. If you're interested.