Trump II

[Alan Goldhammer]

Of course we don't spend all of our military budget in Europe.  We have troops and ships all around the world.  My point was we're spending all of our money not leaving enough to take care of our people medically.   But they're spending their money on their health while we're spending our money protect them.  Why do we need 65-70,000 troops in Europe?  The point is Europe is rich and should defend itself.

It's not a question of spending here or there but how much military spending is enough.  We have more aircraft carriers than the rest of the world combined yet they are now considering building one or two more.  Trump wants to increase funding for defense yet the types of wars that we end up fighting are unconventional ones (Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, etc.).  these require different strategies and commitments.  the US quickly tires of these kinds of wars and we don't put the right kind of forces in place or else we make major strategic mistakes in terms of how to handle things after the fighting is done.  this is the primary reason that Afghanistan and Iraq are in the situations they are.  ISIS was a direct outgrowth of the defeat of Sadam Hussein and was formed by Army officers that were loyal to him but ones the Americans didn't want to have anything to do with.  The entire region is a quagmire that both the English and Russians discovered over the years.  This area is of absolutely ZERO strategic importance to the long term interests of the US.

In the meantime, we have a State Department that is hamstrung by totally ignoring the career people who have seen it all over the years and a President who doesn't seem to know what he wants.  the whole thing is a total mess and there will be some major geopolitical missteps before long.  Of course there is always Jared Kushner to rely one!!!

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Nice post Russell. 

+1

[jeremyrh]

Oh, we have closer to 100,000 troops in Europe and we're spending $66 billion there.

No you're not - you're spending that IN TOTAL. If you quit invading places for no reason you'll have all sorts of money left over. Then take into account that there is a big chunk of money spent developing kit that you then sell to others.

[Otto Phocus]

There is simply too much money to be made with the MIC to reduce it.

And with the advent of DHS we have a new market "domestic" MIC that brings in money.

We have morphed from "war is good for business" to "war is good business".

War or OOTW should be a last resort, not a primary investment opportunity.

[JoeKitchen]

Couldn't agree more. The US health system seems to be seriously flawed if you look at the statistics (see attached chart, I've shown it before in Reply #1825 of this thread).

Just fixing that imbalance, taking out the inefficiency and the needless cost would already do a lot of good to the population.

One could also question the amount spent of Defence, maybe there are similar inefficiencies involved. US Politicians should start doing their job for the people of the USA, not just to get lobbyist funding for reelection. Since it's unlikely that they will self-correct, the population should take initiatives, naming and shaming does work if that's the only way.

The solution often is not throwing more money at it, but spending more wisely. Then one can use the savings for improvements and allocation to other and changing priorities.

Take out the perverse stimuli that only drive up cost but achieve nothing for the benefit of the people, financing and improving quality of health care is a major and growing problem where lots of progress can be made.

Cheers,
Bart

Bart, the diet in the USA sucks. 

The overall American eats some of the unhealthiest foods you could imagine.  Of all the people I know, only a handful actually know how to cook for themselves (which I find so weird since I started cooking at age 8 & almost went to culinary school), so they eat out, eat fast food, or eat processed food, none of which are good. 

Also, not 100% sure on the stats currently, but I remember a few years ago, over 80% of the USA does not exercise at all. 

On top of this, we now teach people that they should be comfortable with their bodies, regardless of how they look.  Now I'm not for ostracizing someone for being overweight, but if the number one, and most costly, health issue in America is obesity, teaching people to be okay with being overweight kind of works against the solution.  No one should be comfortable with being overweight, especially since it leads to so many health issues, and, if your overweight, you should pay more for health insurance.

Money talks and BS walks.  Digging into someone's wallet certainly helps make the point. 

Until this gets fixed, I doubt any savings in efficiency is going to help much. 

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Bart, the diet in the USA sucks. 

Until this gets fixed, I doubt any savings in efficiency is going to help much.

Joe, I agree that obesity doesn't help, but why not do both? One could address food habits as prevention, and reform the reimbursement system to not honor quantities of referrals and prescribed medicine, but rather the quality of the cure.

I know it won't be easy, but the current path only leads to more disaster.

Cheers,
Bart

[LesPalenik]

The overall American eats some of the unhealthiest foods you could imagine.  Of all the people I know, only a handful actually know how to cook for themselves (which I find so weird since I started cooking at age 8 & almost went to culinary school), so they eat out, eat fast food, or eat processed food, none of which are good. 

Without those willing participants the big business would greatly suffer.
Food industry, soft drinks, chain restaurants, pharma industry, diet book and exercise publishing, stomach reduction surgeries, and other healthcare departments taking care of cancers, heart bypasses and stents, diabetes, etc.

[JoeKitchen]

Without those willing participants the big business would greatly suffer.
Food industry, soft drinks, chain restaurants, pharma industry, diet book and exercise publishing, stomach reduction surgeries, and other healthcare departments taking care of cancers, heart bypasses and stents, diabetes, etc.

My, my, my, you're defending big business.  There's hope after all.   

I have no problem with businesses failing so long as it was due to personal choice of the people, not government intervention.  Not to mention, less money spent on bad food, would open up more money for other markets, maybe healthier foods, giving others opportunities. 

This is how markets works.  It is natural for businesses to come and go, look at a Kodak.   

On top of that, decreasing all of those healthcare procedures you listed would certainly do a lot for reducing healthcare costs overall, a net positive.  Skinner people are easier to treat as well, leading to less complications. 

I had a hernia removed a few years ago and the doctor told me I was one of the most active people he ever worked on.  He said it would be a breeze for him, probably a 0.1% chance of complications because of it. 

[JoeKitchen]

Joe, I agree that obesity doesn't help, but why not do both? One could address food habits as prevention, and reform the reimbursement system to not honor quantities of referrals and prescribed medicine, but rather the quality of the cure.

I know it won't be easy, but the current path only leads to more disaster.

Cheers,
Bart

Yes, both could help, but I doubt efficiencies will have a big effect, compared to getting people to eat right. 

Of course the problem is how do you get people to eat right without making it feel like big brother.  This is part of the problem with the soda tax in Philly.  Those who are healthy probably don't drink soda anyway, so for them, it doesn't matter.  Those city soda drinkers though, are just developing resentment for it, which does not fix anything since they can easily drive out of the city to get their soda ... and do the rest of their shopping there too hurting city business. 

PS

Insofar as the quality vs. quantity, this is a complicated subject over here and comes down to tort reform, which no one really wants to touch.  People are sue happy and sue over any thing, so doctors perform every test and prescribe every drug possible to keep from getting sued. 

Diagnosing can be more difficult then what people think.  I had Mono when I was 28, but since it's rare for non-teenagers to get Mono, they initially thought it was just a bad cold.  So it's easy to misdiagnose, but people don't want to except this and sue when things go array. 

[Otto Phocus]

Then there is the issue of "food deserts" in some of our cities.

I don't know what the solution is. 

[LesPalenik]

My, my, my, you're defending big business.  There's hope after all.   

I have no problem with businesses failing so long as it was due to personal choice of the people, not government intervention.  Not to mention, less money spent on bad food, would open up more money for other markets, maybe healthier foods, giving others opportunities.

Joe, I'm the last one to defend the big business (especially the kind listed in my post).
 

I had a hernia removed a few years ago and the doctor told me I was one of the most active people he ever worked on.  He said it would be a breeze for him, probably a 0.1% chance of complications because of it.

Speaking about hernia (and the costs of those surgeries). The Shouldice Clinic in Toronto does nothing else, only the hernia repairs, and half the patients come from US because it's cheaper to fly to Toronto and get it done there than in USA. They are also very good.

[JoeKitchen]

Then there is the issue of "food deserts" in some of our cities.

I don't know what the solution is.

This is true, and this topic is being raised due to the soda tax. 

Since so many more people are now shopping out of the city, not the majority mind you but enough to make an impact, local small grocers are starting to shut down operations and a few will probably go out of business, adding to the problem. 

Of course this is more of an issue in lower economic neighborhoods since the wealthier neighborhoods can afford the tax.  It certainly seems that taxing is not the solution, especially when the ease of visiting another jurisdiction is high. 

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Trump to speak with Germany's Merkel, Japan's Abe: White House
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-germany-japan-idUSKBN1771SH

Well, if Trump doesn't like existing trade deals, others will forge new ones ...
Tough luck.

Cheers,
Bart

[Alan Klein]

...The entire region is a quagmire that both the English and Russians discovered over the years.  This area is of absolutely ZERO strategic importance to the long term interests of the US.

In the meantime, we have a State Department that is hamstrung by totally ignoring the career people who have seen it all over the years and a President who doesn't seem to know what he wants.  the whole thing is a total mess and there will be some major geopolitical missteps before long.  Of course there is always Jared Kushner to rely one!!!

I agree that the middle east is a quagmire which is why I say we shouldn't get involved in Syria.  It is a shame to see all that destruction and death, especially children, it breaks your heart, but we can't allow that to get us pulled in like we usually do.  They'll have to figure it out themselves.

Regarding "geopolitical mistakes" possible by Trump, well, we can't say that the presidents before him and the State dept. have done too good of a job.  With all their so-called brilliance, I recall it was Prof McNamara, part of the whiz kids, who got us into Vietnam.  Then there was Iraq.  Libya is a disaster; Iran is an adversary (remember the Shah and our captives), North Korea got nukes despite the agreement former presidents made, Syria's a mess, we got ISIS, terrorism throughout the world, Russian expansionism, China moving into the South China Sea with militarized islands threatening their neighbors,  etc etc.  Then there's all the trade and monetary issues we have with China and others.  The idea that Trump is going to screw things up is silly.  He's inherited a mess. 

In order to change things for the better, we may need someone, like Trump, who will ty something different.  Defend American interests first.  Frankly, we can't afford to keep doing what we've been doing.  My concern is that Trump will just become part of the bureaucracy acting in the same way as his predecessors.  If that happens, we would have lost a good opportunity to correct a lot of things. 

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Trump revamps National Security Council, drops adviser Bannon: official
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-security-idUSKBN17724S

"U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday overhauled his National Security Council, dropping his chief strategist, Steven Bannon, according to a White House official."

Interesting development, with very little background info. Maybe something to do with upcoming revelations?

Cheers,
Bart

P.S. some more info is trickling in:
"The official said Bannon had been placed on the NSC originally as a check on Flynn and had only ever attended one of the NSC's regular meetings."

Hmm. Sounds strange, exclude security briefings, but include Bannon, only to keep an eye on Flynn ...

[Otto Phocus]

We have not heard a lot from Bannon in the past few weeks. I wonder if he is on the way totally out.

Trump may prefer his family as advisers.

[JoeKitchen]

I agree that the middle east is a quagmire which is why I say we shouldn't get involved in Syria.  It is a shame to see all that destruction and death, especially children, it breaks your heart, but we can't allow that to get us pulled in like we usually do.  They'll have to figure it out themselves.

Regarding "geopolitical mistakes" possible by Trump, well, we can't say that the presidents before him and the State dept. have done too good of a job.  With all their so-called brilliance, I recall it was Prof McNamara, part of the whiz kids, who got us into Vietnam.  Then there was Iraq.  Libya is a disaster; Iran is an adversary (remember the Shah and our captives), North Korea got nukes despite the agreement former presidents made, Syria's a mess, we got ISIS, terrorism throughout the world, Russian expansionism, China moving into the South China Sea with militarized islands threatening their neighbors,  etc etc.  Then there's all the trade and monetary issues we have with China and others.  The idea that Trump is going to screw things up is silly.  He's inherited a mess. 

In order to change things for the better, we may need someone, like Trump, who will ty something different.  Defend American interests first.  Frankly, we can't afford to keep doing what we've been doing.  My concern is that Trump will just become part of the bureaucracy acting in the same way as his predecessors.  If that happens, we would have lost a good opportunity to correct a lot of things.

And now it seems Nikki Haley wants to pull us into that mess as well.  When will this stop!

I remember watching a news conference given by Putin before the election, and I am not a Putin fan, so don't get me wrong.  He asked if the US ever got it, if they ever learned from their mistakes of intervention. 

I seem to think we will not until we're bankrupt. 

[Alan Klein]

And now it seems Nikki Haley wants to pull us into that mess as well.  When will this stop!

I remember watching a news conference given by Putin before the election, and I am not a Putin fan, so don't get me wrong.  He asked if the US ever got it, if they ever learned from their mistakes of intervention. 

I seem to think we will not until we're bankrupt. 

Listening to a bellicose Trump today,  I'm afraid he's going to get sucked in to Syria.  He's not listening to his own best thinking.   Like I said on my last post,  ha going to become part of the beuracracy he railed against.

[Schewe]

Wait...did somebody just fart and leave the room?

I could have sworn somebody came in and posted for the first time on page 106. Well, ok...welcome to the discussion. I was with ya on a lot of what you said, but then you seemed to get personal.

While you edited the page and the Wayback Machine doesn't have a snapshot, I'm pretty sure you were taking a shot at somebody, personally. Pretty sure other people saw it too...now it says this...

Not stupid cartoons, from angry people that read what that want to read, want a new election cause they’re like kids that didn’t get the toy they wanted  and disregard any forms of logic. 

And to think, we've gotten to page 106 and nearly 40K views without any nasty personal stuff being tossed out and then you go and fart in the room then leave.

Used to think pretty highly of you bud...took a notch down though by tossing your hat in the ring the way you did particularly since you weren't even taking your own medicine.

That’s the problem, too much hate, not enough compassion, surely not enough open mindedness.

Easy to preach, hard to practice...

Ice Up Baby.

Good advice...I'm actually pretty chill which is why I can keep writing without being nasty (something I'm very familiar with doing) for the express purpose of exchanging views.

Peace out, Ice out man and the last conversation we have.

BC

And Elvis has left the building...

[Alan Klein]

And now it seems Nikki Haley wants to pull us into that mess as well.  When will this stop!

I remember watching a news conference given by Putin before the election, and I am not a Putin fan, so don't get me wrong.  He asked if the US ever got it, if they ever learned from their mistakes of intervention. 

I seem to think we will not until we're bankrupt. 

First off, I don't believe the chemical bomb was Assad's.  It doesn't make sense.  To explode one of these knowing the effect it would do on America.  I think it was one of Assad's enemies. And they got that Syrian girl who was in the news before to tweet a picture showing all those children dead from the chemical.  It smelled  like a setup.   And they got the exact response they wanted drawing America into action against Assad. 

In any case, it could also be an excuse for Trump to go off unilaterally to impress China's Xi who he's going to meet and ask them  to rein in N.Korea.  He wants to show them he's serious about America doing it on their own, something China does not want to see.  So maybe he'll get more cooperation from Xi.