Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy❤
No. of Recommendations: 12
Today marks the conclusion of the deadliest battle for U.S. forces in World War II, the Battle of the Bulge. More than 700,000 soldiers fought for the Allies during the 41-day battle. The U.S. alone suffered some 75,000 casualties that took the lives of 19,000 men, fighting throughout that bitter cold winter against fascism, a system of government that rejected the equality that defined democracy.
German fascists under leader Adolf Hitler demonized opponents into an “other” that their followers could hate, dividing their population so they could control it. Sounds familiar, eh?
Then, the Allies prevailed and defeated fascism.
After World War II allied nations created the United Nations, Congress passed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act to fund higher education for former military personnel. The Communicable Disease Center opened its doors and was later renamed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Malaria was eradicated in the Deep South, then rabies and polio and, by 1960, the spread of influenza and tuberculosis, as well as smallpox, measles, and rubella was slowed, if not stopped. Congress invested in the nation’s infrastructure with projects like the Interstate Highway System. President Harry Truman desegregated the armed forces in 1948. Congress expanded recognition of those rights with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Today, under the new Trump administration, incoming Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered a halt to almost all foreign aid. President Donald Trump is demanding that NATO members increase military spending to 5% of their nations' economies despite the U.S. falling short of that goal by $567 billion a year.
As Heather Cox Richardson writes:
Trump has undertaken to dismantle the postwar democratic government at home, too. He has stopped the funding for repairing roads, bridges, airports, and ports that passed Congress in a bipartisan vote in 2022, as well as taken away funding for new solar manufacturing plants and other new systems to address climate change.
He has frozen all travel and communications at the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. “We’ve never seen anything like this,” one researcher told Dan Diamond, Lena H. Sun, Carolyn Y. Johnson, and Mark Johnson of the Washington Post. “This is like a meteor just crashed into all of our cancer centers and research areas.”
And, of course, Trump has declared a war on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. In his revoking of LBJ’s Executive Order 11246, itself based on FDR’s Executive Order 8802, he explicitly rejected the principles for which the Americans fought in World War II.https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/januar...
No. of Recommendations: 4
Yes, his foreign policy is far worse than his domestic policy. If it's just domestic policy, he'll have push-back when the people start hurting, so we can survive that. But foreign policy? If we let go of the reins, we may not be able to get them back, and autocracy will spread far and fast. Not just China and Ukraine, but those are the most visible and obvious.
Sounds familiar, eh?
Absolutely. I've been saying that since 2016. The Atlantic even published an article on it after the election of 2016 (but I said it first!!). He is better organized this time, but his general tactics have not changed.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Please stop by every month or so and post something so we know you're still "fighting the good fight". We sure need it!
No. of Recommendations: 2
Absolutely. I've been saying that since 2016. The Atlantic even published an article on it after the election of 2016 (but I said it first!!). He is better organized this time, but his general tactics have not changed. - 1pg
---------------
Yeah, putting America First has no future. Citizens surely don't want that.
Just keep the same old system more or less rolling until we run out of the capacity to do so. The USA is usually on the losing side of treaties or trade deals. Trump will put America first by insisting on some benefit accrues to the USA before making the deal and it is expected that counter party is putting his country first as it should be.
Example - as he explained to the WEC - Make your products in the USA and you will receive the lowest corporate tax in the world (probably an exaggeration as there is some inconsequential government somewhere that has a lower tax rate.) Or make them elsewhere and pay a tariff for access to the greatest market available.
And no, buying "friends" is not a benefit as a general policy although it is sometimes necessary.
No. of Recommendations: 13
Yeah, putting America First has no future. Citizens surely don't want that.
Mike, you're better than this. And, yes, that is a compliment. Because I said you are better than that post. Your first line is a strawman. It doesn't get much better from there. I know you can do better because you have done better.
I'm happy to engage, but please spare me the fallacies and putting words in my mouth.
And no, buying "friends" is not a benefit as a general policy although it is sometimes necessary.
This is worth addressing. I'm assuming you're talking about foreign aid. There can be a LOT to unpack, depending on what you're referring to. Sometimes it's just humanitarian aid. You're not "buying friends", you're helping people not to starve (or to get clean water, etc).
Sometimes it is military aid, like Ukraine. There are a myriad of benefits, both direct and indirect. And some more obscure benefits like not tolerating the aggressive seizure of territory that belongs to someone else. One of the direct benefits is that this conflict is weakening Russia severely. It's straining their economy, they're running out of munitions and materiel, it's weakening their military. If we can keep Ukraine supplied for another 18 months or so, Russia will be a hot mess (and of no military consequence whatsoever on the international stage...except nukes, of course). Keeping an adversary weak is a good thing, and doing it without American casualties is even better. I'll trade a few billion dollars worth of mothballed tanks (i.e. tanks we hadn't scrapped, but were decommissioned in favor of newer models) for no American body bags. That's a bargain if we are keeping an adversary occupied, and weakening them.
It's very situational. Why we help the Philippines vs Ukraine vs some African nations, are all different with different objectives. But they are all in our national interests in some way. So we are putting "America First", even if it isn't always obvious at first glance.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Your first line is a strawman. It doesn't get much better from there. I know you can do better because you have done better.
I'm happy to engage, but please spare me the fallacies and putting words in my mouth. - 1pg
====================
When you posted this,
Yes, his foreign policy is far worse than his domestic policy. If it's just domestic policy, he'll have push-back when the people start hurting, so we can survive that. But foreign policy? If we let go of the reins, we may not be able to get them back, and autocracy will spread far and fast. Not just China and Ukraine, but those are the most visible and obvious. - 1pg
----
That is a popular opinion and you are welcome to hold and promote that opinion. No skin of my nose...
Now for my opinion, I took it to mean that implementation of Trumps "Put America First" policy is somehow, "letting go of the reins"...
I take exception to that assertion if that is what you were getting at. Putting America first is just bringing common sense back into the deal evaluation process.
No. of Recommendations: 4
Now for my opinion, I took it to mean that implementation of Trumps "Put America First" policy is somehow, "letting go of the reins"...
It doesn't have to be. As I said, aiding Ukraine (for example) is putting America first. It furthers our interests substantially. It's just not as obvious as some other possible actions, but arguably more impactful. But the Felon is letting go of the reins, allowing China to step into the void we left in 2017-2020 (for example). Threatening allies, as opposed to working with them, is arguably letting go of the reins. In being combative with allies, and abandoning some regions, we allow enemies to step-in, which can affect trade and alliances, and ultimately US jobs. Dealing with that with intelligence and nuance is putting America first, even if the common man doesn't really see it**.
That's a HUGE gripe I have with "America First". Most politicians want to do that, dem and rep. It can be funding infrastructure (obvious), keeping Russia busy trashing their military and economy (less obvious), and keeping China in check in the SCS and limiting their port expansions in Africa by giving Africans better deals (a lot less obvious). But they are all "putting America first".
**He would see it if he loses his job, but still probably wouldn't know where to put the blame because it's several layers of cause and effect.
No. of Recommendations: 5
Example - as he explained to the WEC - Make your products in the USA and you will receive the lowest corporate tax in the world (probably an exaggeration as there is some inconsequential government somewhere that has a lower tax rate.) Or make them elsewhere and pay a tariff for access to the greatest market available
Low tax benefits the company that will still charge whatever the market will bear. If the imported gizmo goes from $10 to 12.50 because of tariffs, the american company will charge 12.50 for its gizmo.
The only exception is to price competition out of the market. The perhaps a slighlty lower price until the competition is out of the market. Then price goes up even higher.
It's called predatory capitalism.
And there ain't gonna be no more pansy-assed consumer protection or inspector generals. Them's for commies/socialists/liberal&progressive losers.
Survival of the corruptest, baby.
