[...] to help businesses set up and manufacture back in the US again,with US workers with good paying jobs?
Globalization happened. You can't rewind the clock and pretend it didn't. The situation we operate under now is different than what we had in the mid-20th century.
We *can't fucking afford to buy everyone lunch any more*.
You know I don't disagree but two things are also true; 1. I have been hearing this for *my entire life* and the date or the number or the metric keeps moving forward so for the debt chicken little's, get your facts together it's wearing thin, particularly because...
2. Those same people who cry about the debt my whole life continue to elect the same people who just run it up even more. Or the last two times leave office with a huge mess that the now Democrat president has to spend to clean up (Obama in 2008, Biden with Covid) nevermind the military ventures we also had to pay for, thank you Mr Bush.
And now we have this fine Big Beautiful Bill that spends more money for not much in return and is taking on debt for fucking tax cuts so maybe all Republicans and Conservatives can shut it about the debt for a couple decades. Let the adults raise some revenue (Like Biden was doing)
Russian sphere of influence
Firstly, was the Budapest Memorandum not real and signed by Russia? Those nukes they got back seemed pretty real. That lease on Sevastapol was treated as real.
Guess what, that concept also went out the window after the cold war and even under your own view all you are saying here is "Hey Ukraine, Croatia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and folks. You don't get to decide which sphere you belong to. You are not actually independent nations which is the position of Mr Putin and friends, conveniently.
You don't get to be countries, you don't get to decide your leaders, you don't choose who you trade with because Russia's feelings will be hurt.
Yeah Arafat kinda sucked shit at being a state leader instead of a commander.
The way to peace is to stop fucking antagonizing near-peer countries like Russia and China.
I'm sorry but this is bullshit, Russia has zero reasons to fear unprovoked invasion from NATO, that's cope. Those "formally neutral" countries lobbies and voted to join NATO because just like the USSR Russia still liked fucking with it's neighbors in the 90's and 2000's. The Baltics are feeling pretty good right now, they're not getting invaded despite sharing a border.
They're (Putin and his oligarchs) mad because all these nations have gone towards the EU just like they started invading Ukraine with paramilitary right after Euromaidan, Ukraine wanted to join the EU trade group instead of their bloc.
This is absolutely unjustified Russian aggression against a neighboring country. Russia can go back to respecting Ukraines borders like they agreed to in 1994 and then we can talk about who's antagonizing who here.
After the 'fall of the wall', Europe, particularly Germany, believed that war on European soil was unimaginable, and that Russia would turn into an at least semi-democratic state, with economic ties motivating political reforms. So they stopped spending on defense, started buying Russian energy, and generally positioned themselves to their current position. (I visualize an ostrich, head in the sand, ass exposed to the air!)
It sounds like you believe that the Russian practice of setting up buffer states was a US lie.
Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and errrrm East Germany. They might have a different opinion on Russian peacefulness, and for at least some of us, there was a reason that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was set up.
Europe is pretty clear - they don't like us. Maybe Europe should consider rejuvenating the Warsaw pact, or more accurately the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. Sounds like a much nicer deal.
What is not said enough about this post-WWII security arrangement in which the US plays a large role in transatlantic defense, is that this is not simply just a "cost" that the US absorbs. The US has profited ENORMOUSLY off of this arrangement, in multiple ways.
First of all, much of the defense spending goes back into the American economy.
Awesome. I'm with you - the US should;d get out of Europe today, and if you become buffer states for Russia, I believe that is exactly what EU citizens want. You deserve it, and get your Cyrillic dictionary out.
I mean - what should the USA protect countries that hate us? In fact, rathe than fight a war with Russia, why don't you just surrender peacefully and then you will be happy. I'm with you - US pull out of all Europe, and let what happens happen.
I appreciate the average American's sentiment who want Europe to pay for its own defense. However, there's a lot of American history in the 20th century and before which brought us to this point deliberately. After being drawn into two huge world wars, started by member states of a continent that had continually been at war with themselves, the United States came up with a plan to prevent it from happening again. They invited everyone into an alliance structure where anyone could trade with anyone else, and the US would guarantee free navigation of the oceans so they didn't need big navies, and would provide security guarantees so that the countries of Europe didn't feel the need to arm themselves to the teeth. This arrangement is expensive for the US, but not so expensive as a world war 3. And it worked to prevent WW3 for many decades. Now that the generations who fought those wars are gone, we've forgotten the lessons, and I'm afraid we're doomed to repeat them. European have not evolved. Their geographic and political reality encourages wars among their own states. And as much as the US wants to stay out of it, they invariably get dragged back in every time.
Well, as the EU becomes buffer states of Russia, will the US need to help? It is apparent that the EU and its citizens believe that the US is a backwater country, full of fat stupid people who are the most evil humans on th planet. We are treated every day to EU supremacy, where any topic about Rooshia or China gets turned into our fault or a whataboutism within a few posts.
You will come a buffer state, and you will be happier, because the US will leave you alone. You won!, You are no longer under the heels of the worst country on earth. I suggest learning Cyrillic, you'll need it.
Joe Biden when speaking to the Senate in 1995 about American getting involved in Bosnia; This part is at 12:58 but really the whole thing is really compelling, Biden makes a very enthusiastic case for America's role as you describe (and really it also lines up to Ukraine today in my opinion, particularly since Europe is uniting around it and we should be supporting them for the effort.)
https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.c-span.org%2Fclip%2Fse...
What is the message we send to the world if we stand by and we say we will let it continue to happen here in this place but it is not in our interest? We do not fear that it will spread? I am not here to tell you that, if we do not act, it will spread and cause a war in Europe--tomorrow or next year. But I am here to tell you that within the decade, it will cause the spread of war like a cancer, and the collapse of the Western alliance. What is so important about the Western alliance? NATO for NATO's sake so that we can beat our breast?
What I am about to say is going to cause me great difficulty if I am reelected and come back here as the ranking member or chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. But Europe cannot stay united without the United States. There is no moral center in Europe.
When in the last two centuries have the French, or the British, or the Germans, or the Belgians, or the Italians moved in a way to unify that continent to stand up to this kind of genocide? When have they done it? The only reason anything is happening now is because the United States of America finally--finally--is understanding her role.
Oh Israel has a lot of different populations still and the West Bank settler's are fuckin' nuts. If you're American you hear about those out there ethno nationalist militia groups, that is kinda their version of it. Really while everyone focuses on Gaza the worst shit is consistently happening out there.
When a cop asks you what time it is, simply respond: "I do not answer questions and I invoke my to remain silent."
Maybe in the future we can use this test to differentiate between replicants and real humans...
Oh dear, I might find myself in a bit of trouble then.
Yeah my bad, I thought they were commenting why everyone is surprised by the inspection, I figured everyone in the UK knows they have inspections but some folk don't even know of the concept around here. .
I would hope most every folk understand why such a tax is necessary and good but I guess I've never seen the logistical and privacy costs of tracking the miles driven worth the benefits over just flat rating the EV at registration, or making it based on vehicle weight or some other fact of the vehicle and driver. The best taxes tend to be the ones that are the simplest to comply with.
Don't know where you are from but here in America(TM) we let the states decide how and whether at all vehicles get inspected, despite the fact there are zero restrictions for driving between state borders.
I live in a no inspection state and while when I did it was annoying to have to take it in every year or two the number of tires in the parking lot I see with the belt wires poking out tells me they're probably a good thing.
The fires can be worse but gas cars catch on fire like 2-20x as often.
This is also a problem that is only going to get better over time, most companies are moving away from lithium-ion and they are making more and more stable. In 20 years all the batteries will be solid state and those vehicles will effectively be inert, the only flammable device will be the airbags.
This was more interesting counterpoint back in the 2010's where every Tesla that caught fire made the national news but the stats just don't back it up.
The only perfect science is hind-sight.
