Last night I was grocery shopping. The checkout person was 80 years old, nearly deaf, could barely stand in a half stoop and was in constant pain. What was she doing lifting bags of food? Trying to survive. Multiply her by millions and then think about Secretary of Commerce Lutnick saying that only fraudsters would miss getting their Social Security checks on time. I knew his father, who was a decent human being and don't understand how such a terrible disconnect happened between common humanity and the empty love of power. But there you have it, writ large.
Medicaid is often not exactly "free". It is available only after you have exhausted every penny. THEN in most states, you must sign forms that allow the state to sell your home. The state claws-back the funds they spent on your care, and if anything is left, it will go to your heirs.
We are talking $10,000 a month for a nursing home, so you do the math. There is no keeping any family land or house needed by another relative. Once again this has to do with going broke and getting something similar to a reverse mortgage.
The optics of the citizens in wheelchairs being escorted out for disrupting the committee at our Capitol yesterday while the billionaires and Trump are treated lavishly was as ugly as it gets.
The oligarchs of the Trump Administration are ugly, GREEDY, and inhumane. The Republicans are aiding and abetting these psychopaths. We deserve better. Add health care as a human right on that protest sign. See you in the streets!
The flip side is that without it, medical providers and many other vendors lose their livlihoods. For most of rural America, Medicaid and SSI are the sources of MOST income.
You're correct and that $10K nursing home cost in many places is the lowest around. Many of the places charging that $10K/month aren't great, are understaffed and their buildings are in various states of disrepair. Growing old for many in this country is an undignified and sorrowful experience.
Americans, from the get-go, have been in a race war interlaced with a class war, which is how rich whites make common cause with poor whites. The Great Depression created an opening for establishing the social safety net we have come to expect as our due (it is), but once racial equality began to be codified into law, that was the last straw for the likes of Lewis Powell and Charles Koch. They set the stage for the Reagan (counter-)Revolution and all the ugly retribution since then.
When I was entering the world of work, I was often warned that there would be no Social Security when I turned 65. Nevertheless, I gladly paid into the system because it ensured that my aging folks would not suffer in retirement. Ironically, it also motivated investing for my own old age without SSA.
Sadly, it appears that most Americans prefer to live beyond their means (P2P) rather than live below their means like I did so I could set a little money aside for retirement. I guess few Americans consider what life might be like living on less than $2000/month.
When I go to Walmart, or Lowes, or Publix, most of the cashiers and sales staff are well over 70.
Do we honor our social contract or abandon it to greed?
The idiologues, i.e. Heritage, Hoover Institue, CATO, etc see elimination of government "benefits" as their primary mission: kill the administrative state. The religious fenatics see it as the impetus to make most of us "Christian," defined as subservient to church authority rather than government rule.
"We" don't have much power. We need to do jujisu and coopt Republicans....
From AI
Recent Republican budget reconciliation efforts have faced significant dissension within the party, particularly regarding the extent of spending cuts and the potential impact on popular programs.
Areas of Republican Dissension:
Spending Cuts: A major point of contention lies in the differing targets for spending cuts between the House and Senate.
The House initially aimed for $1.5 trillion in cuts, while the Senate proposed a floor of only $4 billion. This discrepancy highlights a fundamental divide between fiscal hawks and more moderate Republicans.
Medicaid: Proposed changes to Medicaid, including work requirements and potential benefit reductions, have sparked strong opposition from some Republicans, according to NPR.
A group of House Republicans warned against any cuts to Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations.
Tax Cuts: While there's broad support for extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the specifics of how to offset the cost of these extensions have led to disagreements.
Some Republicans prioritize deficit reduction, while others are more focused on maintaining the tax cuts, notes KBKG.
Defense Spending: Disagreements have also emerged regarding the level of defense spending, with some Republicans pushing for increases while others advocate for fiscal restraint.
Procedural Issues: Even the process of passing the budget resolution has faced challenges, with some House Republicans expressing frustration over a lack of transparency and consultation, according to Government Executive httpsorganisations.
Impact of Dissension:
The deep divisions within the Republican party have made it difficult to reach a consensus on a budget reconciliation bill. This has the potential to:
Delay or derail the reconciliation process: Without Republican unity, it may be challenging to pass a bill through both the House and Senate.
Force compromises: To gain enough support, Republican leaders may have to make concessions on certain provisions, potentially weakening the overall impact of the bill.
Undermine public confidence: The inability to agree on a budget can damage the party's reputation for fiscal responsibility.
The ongoing negotiations and compromises will determine the final shape of the Republican budget reconciliation bill.
This is a window of opportunity. If they can't get a budget, the 2017 tax cuts expire December 31, 2025. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
I want to discuss the Defense Budget. Given that I am a retired regular officer getting a pension, with some VA disability .
I see no need or justification for expanding defense spending, especially when Hegseth is taking a chain saw to the officer corps, and reducing and remodeling the Army, emphasizing special ops, de emphasizing regular war, firing 120 Generals and senior officers, discharging all non hetero normative personnel., he has destroyed combat readiness, not reinforced it, he also wants to expand the Navy, at the expense of the Army, and thus my question:
WTF is the game plan, what are the long range objectives, does he foresee a war as Trump invades Greenland?
If so this puzzling as Trump is lusting after the Nobel Peace Prize, very badly. He wants to claim that he brought peace to Ukraine and Gaza. Fat chance.
I've always felt the defense budget was mostly subrosa. Of my 183 kinds of cases at DOL, #1 were Defense Base Act cases mostly involving mercenaries. Most weren't US citizens. This increased dramatically after 9/11.
I've been told that we had 3 trillion in war related expenses off budget. That includes bribes we paid to war lords.
DBA insurance costs are calculated by a company's annual payroll for the employees working overseas. Minimum premium (for even one employee) for non-War Risk DBA is $6,000 and for most Middle East War Risk Countries it is $9,000.
As # 45 Trump toyed with privatizing most of the military, Erik Prince's idea,was to replace troops with private military contractors who would work for a special U.S. envoy and who would report directly to the president. From AI In 2017, the Department of Defense (DoD) was allocated $582.7 billion, including both base budget funding and Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding. The base budget itself was $523.9 billion. This base budget was larger than any previous budget under GWB. The total allocation was comprised of $523.9 billion for base budget and $58.8 billion for OCO funding. The 2017 budget also included $11.5 billion for the fight against ISIS.
The proposed budget for DOD in 2025 is $850 billion. This includes both discretionary spending for military programs and mandatory spending for DOD military programs. The Defense Base Act (DBA) budget for 2025 is not explicitly mentioned in the provided search results.
I've always taken the position that the govenment, generally is top heavy. Too many chiefs -- not enough Indians. More so in the military. We could have consolidated services -- E.G. the Marines duplicate virtually everything the Army has in it's T, O, & E. Mechanically, auditors keep accurate records for every line item and those that match can be consolidated.
On the other hand, most of the privization has NOT been cost productive. I've seen this up close and personal. In addition to my own exeriences I heard stuff like Service Contract Act cases, also known as the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act, a federal law requiring contractors and subcontractors providing services to the U.S. government to pay service employees no less than prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits, or those in a predecessor's collective bargaining agreement. It primarily applies to federal service contracts exceeding $2,500. We could debar contractors who violate the rules from any government contract.
I do agree that the military is top heavy,, However My intuition is telling me that Hegseth is cutting slots, that he can't control, the fewer generals and senior officers, the slimmer the chain of command and the easier to control. all he has to do is fill berths with craven careerists of which they are without number or loyalists of which there are many.
As regards conttact army (mercs) I knew a couple. Two of my subordinates, real smug assholes, signed up with Wakenhut, Transferred to Blackwater, went to Iraq, a few years later both of them died, very close to each other of the same thing that claimed Bo Hunter, brain cancer.
Military trains them, spends the money, then Prince hires them and uses them.
Back in the late 1990's I knew a guy who had been a merc in Rhodesia, when I met him he was disabled with a back injury, couldn't work, lived in a small apartment with a wife who supported his addiction to opioids.
But he had a few years of feeling manly and accumulating bragging rights, which did him no good.
A lot of Arabs, Pashkans, but also Africans and South Americans.
The Biden administration VA covered "Iraqui crud" which may/may not have been from radiation. But I was long gone by that time.
For a time, Prince had relocated to Abu Dhabi, but looks like he's back and that Trump relies on him. He and his sister are trust fund babies -- Amway.
They're cutting everything... but here's the scenario.....
The Department of Defense (DoD) has proposed significant budget cuts, primarily focusing on streamlining programs and reducing waste. These cuts, totaling around $50 billion annually, aim to redirect funds to higher-priority areas, such as those related to China, Southern border security, and military modernization. The cuts also include eliminating specific programs and grants deemed not aligned with DoD priorities.
However, if Musk is involved.....Musk Adviser May Make as Much as $1 Million a Year While Helping to Dismantle Agency that Regulates Tesla and X
What Happened: Chris Young, a Musk adviser, is being paid up to $1 million a year by a Musk-linked firm while working inside unauthorized DOGE. He’s led the charge to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—an agency that regulates Musk’s companies like Tesla and X. Records show he purged staff, canceled contracts, and diverted enforcement funds.
Why It Matters: This is a textbook case of corrupt self-dealing. A Musk-paid adviser is embedded in the government to destroy a watchdog agency overseeing Musk’s businesses.
I really hate him for cutting the consumer protection bureau. The first day they cut it we received a check for $890 ! A greatly appreciated bit of change!
Congress is expected to significantly increase the defense budget. A budget resolution, currently under consideration, proposes a $150 billion increase for national defense between FY 2025 and FY 2034. This would be directed by the armed services committees and include funding for strengthening the Navy, supporting the defense industrial base, and modernizing strategic nuclear forces.
I requested that this article be reprinted as a guest editorial by the local newspaper (Las Vegas Sun) where my letters to the editor are frequently published. I have assumed that in offering it to be shared that there is no problem of copyright infringement with proper attribution. I recommend that subscribers here all copy the link and send it to their local newspapers. Hopefully, some are progressive or unbiased enough to reprint it for their readers. This is urgent and the article is an eloquent and astute summary of the current crisis which should be given maximum exposure.
Thom's post begs the question of where are the liberal billionaires to offset this tsunami of greed and entitlement? They seem to be preoccupied with kicking David Hogg off the DNC for being an upity young man rather than fighting to protect democracy. They might reason, "Well, we've had a couple of good days on the NYSE, so things are back to normal."
Nobody earns a billion dollars. They take a billion dollars by underpaying employees and overcharging for goods and services. That applies to all but a very few billionaires. Surely not Trump and his techy henchmen.
Instead of giving his $200BN away to the world's poor. Gates might use it to help restore American democracy in his own backyard, which would restore global aid to the world. Maybe he thinks $200BN is the price of a Monopoly 'Get out of Hell free card' or a Golden Visa to enter heaven.
I praise their objective, but if they were truly spending serious coin, Trump would not be flying about in a 400M graft gift. He would be in court all day. Nobody in America would be worth 200-400 Billion, Amazon would have serious competitors, Microsoft too. I am sure the patriotic millionaires sleep more soundly having written a check now and then.
Thing is, one can live comfortably by age 65 - debt-free, big house with 12ft ceilings, on the beach, Mercedes in the drive, big pool out back, killer views, and a summer house and SUV in Europe all on $5M in net worth. So why amass $100M - much less $1,000 million dollars? Greed comes to mind.
The US is a playground for billionaires. Nobody will be able to survive if they are not multi millionaires and or billionaires. Thats why my wife and I are seriously thinking about moving to Canada. Canada is living the American dream now more than Americans are. Canada's immigration policy reflects what is on the Statue of Liberty more than what America is doing.
Let’s see, how many of us see ourselves as needing nursing home or long-term care someday, raise your hands…
That’s the problem—denial. Most of us just won’t go there in our heads. After all, it’s way too depressing and it’s so far from now. Many of us can hardly imagine severe pain or a feeling of helplessness. What happens when the body you always took for granted and even took good care of is suddenly out of commission, breaking down?
How many of us can honestly depend upon others to take care of us when we’re unable to do it for ourselves? Maybe it’s because there are no easy answers to questions that place more responsibility not only on us but possibly to families who feel stretched and to the max, already. Even those who have diligently saved can’t imagine what paying for care assistance for those in physical or mental need costs, and how quickly savings can be drained.
It takes not only $$$ but time, energy, and compassion. Three things that are in serious short supply these days.
There are those who can pay for nanny’s for the young and nurses for the older who are unable to care for themselves. Money, energy and time are no longer major factors for these people, but how many of us are in that category or position ?
Then we read about those facilities that are paid by Medicaid and we shudder. Many of them don’t sound like nice places to be, at all. These are places where people are forgotten. Where meager possessions are stolen and neglect is the name of the game until you die of the neglect more than the disease. So what’s the answer?
We desperately hang into Medicaid for the basic medical needs but they aren’t even adequate. We need better than just sticking someone in a place that is designed to be inadequate. These facilities are so basic in care that these monthly Medicaid payments to the care facility, paid by us taxpayers, just aren’t enough to support the adequate. Where’s the trained therapist and adequate nursing staff to treat those constant problems that untrained and often uncaring staff don’t do? Where’s the good quality, special diet that’s required to bring comfort and health to an ailing body?
What’s the answer? This is about a country in denial about anyone in need, and this includes children. Our so called middle class is no longer middle at all. We have been bumped down to less-than, and yet, we shoulder vast majority of the cost.
There appears to be plenty of money that most of us are taxed for with each and every paycheck. But where does it all go to?
Now we’ve got criminals in charge of making our various systems “efficient”. When a convicted criminal and their organized crime are in charge, presumably we receive less—much less than before—because they are helping themselves to our much needed mandatory contributions to these systems.
Those of us who have had relatives in a nursing home and visited them, ,know what a hell hole they are. Diabetes, they feed you simple carbs and sugary deserts, aggravating and accelerating your diabetes.
Nursing home doctors encourage patients to have unnecessary and even harmful operations, because it fattens their wallet.
I am 86 wife is 72, we both have our problems, but we take care of each other, I fill in her gaps and she fills in mine, but back at the end of March I tripped and fell, landed on my knee, caused some serious damage and it wasn't until May 5th and finally an MRI, that they discovered green stick fracture of my tibia, we already had a walker, and my wife was taking cae of me, putting on and taking off the leg braces, then she tripped and fell and hurt her hand, now she is going for an MRI, and in insufferable pain. Lots of chores to be one, chores I use to do, but can't, chores she use to do, but can't.
It is the shitz and reality eventually catches up with us.
I am old enough to remember the poor farm in my home town. I can remember what it was like before Medicare and Medicaid... I've worked with this stuff off and on most of my life. I was around when SSI and Medicaid were extended under Nixon. I am either the founder or the godfather of legal services in about 7 counties in Pa when Nixon/Ford tried to pass off costs to the states . Court appointed in deprivation cases.guardian ad litem
It depends. The cost of private care is prohibitive. We were primary for my mother, mother in law, and an uncle.... At the end, both my mom and my uncle were in ACLFs in Maryland. Highly efficient, but very expensive. There are worse.... In some states, nursing homes can't operate unless they pass strict scrutiny.
I shutter to think of spending down my small savings and selling my house so I can even get on Medicaid so I can go to a nursing home so I don’t burden my children, doesn’t sound like an American dream to me. So what’s the answer to the to the many elderly who are in this position? Maybe universal healthcare? We are so far away from that now, even though it would probably cost the country less and see people though the last days of their lives.
Because of our experiences with our relatives, my wife and I are in the federal long term care program.... expensive and they dictate premium cost....but I was a boy scout and plan ahead. https://www.ltcfeds.gov/
I was an officer in several organizations that contemplated enrichment of benefits programs. None of my suggestions ever came to pass, but in a nutshell, our government has trust funds that can be endowed just like charities. Had SSA advertised that the retirement and disability trust funds could be enriched, there would not be a threat of default. https://www.ssa.gov/agency/donations.html
No. We are a nation that vilifies groups of people to justify our refusal to provide basic care and support to those in need. Poor people, old people, people who are of a different race, nationality, or whatever.
It's shameful. It's horrifying. I find myself near tears most mornings reading what greedy, outrageous thing our so-called leaders have done.
The Republicans know this truth, that there voters are feckless, inattentive and easily mind controlled.
They know that corporations and plutocrats pay close attention and control the all important purse strings, a fact that many in the DNC are also aware of, but they also know that the mentality of the voting base is easily swayed by effective applications of propaganda.
I read recently why the big lie works,, it works because it is repeated often and frequently. At first it is not believed, but with repetition, it becomes accepted as fact. The second time you hear it, if you aren't paying attention and using your pre frontal cortex, it overlays the first time you heard or read it, and it is something like "oh yeh" I've heard that before.
The masses are easily swayed. The story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin is a parable., sing the song,play the tune,give the speech that activities the lizard brain of fulfills a need and you have a cult.
We talk about cults, but no in depth examination of why they exist and how they are created.
Jim Jones, David Koresh, Heavens Gate, Joseph Smith all sensed a need, which he alone could fulfill, and then inculcated fear, consolidating his power and togetheness, by portraying themselves as, or actually making themselves and their cult as victims.
Hitler created a cult of victims, victims of the international Jew, victim of Versaille and even had a martyr ..Horst Wessel, for whom a hymn, the Horst Wessel Lied, was created.
My step father was Pennsylvania Dutch. He was a friend of Grace Kelley's father John B Kelley. Johh B was "the" contractor in Phillie. Russ was fallen away, and I didn't live with him, my sisters did, and one of them hated him.
When he was dating my mother, and before I left home, we went for Thanksgiving to his family. I will never forget it, primarily the smell of roast duck made me gag., I think there is a gland in the ass, which they cook and eat, that makes it smell so bad, if not then I can't understand eating duck.
I got a kick out of them using horses to pull a Model T..If they are so opposed to modernism, then stop being hypocrites and live in Yurts, starting fires with flint.
"Our seniors didn’t fight in World War II and build the greatest economy in human history so that their grandchildren could watch them die in poverty. They fought to create a country where everyone — everyone — has a shot at the American Dream."
Consider the real life Monopoly game that is about to play out. You kick out migrants and put Farmers out of business. Then you trade Boardwalk and Park place to the Saudis and cronies for the land.
America has always been at war with the right wingers who want to dismiss Jesus as a bleeding heart liberal. They think the left is taking away their freedoms to not care about anyone but themselves. Karmic right wing nuts will never understand basic civil responsibilities. Their wealth is based on taking what is rightfully anothers such as stolen wages. They cannot conceive of wealth by righteous effort. Where do they think the abundance of Jesus came from? Spiritual righteousness is beyond karmics. The day is coming when the karmics lose everything they unjustly took. The balance of energy applies justice not greed. This is the law of God. You will see it happen with your own eyes. Then you will see dragons.
Even back in the Reagan era, when "redistribution of wealth" through massive tax reductions for the wealthy began in earnest, the underlying justification was the "trickle down" benefits to all Americans that would result from the wealthy becoming wealthier. Forty years later we recognize the absolute folly of this philosophy. I don't recall any serious economist giving us concrete, factual evidence that the Trump tax reduction giveaway of 2017 benefitted anyone but the "morbidly rich," while adding $ 2 trillion to the national debt. The current Republican race in the House to enact Trump's "beautiful bill" that includes the giveaway of $4 to $5 trillion in deficit spending carries no hint of overall economic benefit to anyone but billionaires. Would some credible economist please provide us with the true facts of how this latest billionaire giveaway bill will impact the economy and our fast-shrinking middle class?
Last night I was grocery shopping. The checkout person was 80 years old, nearly deaf, could barely stand in a half stoop and was in constant pain. What was she doing lifting bags of food? Trying to survive. Multiply her by millions and then think about Secretary of Commerce Lutnick saying that only fraudsters would miss getting their Social Security checks on time. I knew his father, who was a decent human being and don't understand how such a terrible disconnect happened between common humanity and the empty love of power. But there you have it, writ large.
Medicaid is often not exactly "free". It is available only after you have exhausted every penny. THEN in most states, you must sign forms that allow the state to sell your home. The state claws-back the funds they spent on your care, and if anything is left, it will go to your heirs.
We are talking $10,000 a month for a nursing home, so you do the math. There is no keeping any family land or house needed by another relative. Once again this has to do with going broke and getting something similar to a reverse mortgage.
The optics of the citizens in wheelchairs being escorted out for disrupting the committee at our Capitol yesterday while the billionaires and Trump are treated lavishly was as ugly as it gets.
The oligarchs of the Trump Administration are ugly, GREEDY, and inhumane. The Republicans are aiding and abetting these psychopaths. We deserve better. Add health care as a human right on that protest sign. See you in the streets!
The flip side is that without it, medical providers and many other vendors lose their livlihoods. For most of rural America, Medicaid and SSI are the sources of MOST income.
The Trump voters among them have not lost their jobs......YET. They will. They can count themselves as part of the suckers that soon will be losers.
It is a shame that so many have become dependent on the Government. Was this the Plan?
It is a shame that you do not spend your efforts here talking about the The Sermon On The Mount.
Yes, if Christians' priorities for their time and money were Scriptural, the Government wouldn't have to do it!
You're correct and that $10K nursing home cost in many places is the lowest around. Many of the places charging that $10K/month aren't great, are understaffed and their buildings are in various states of disrepair. Growing old for many in this country is an undignified and sorrowful experience.
Americans, from the get-go, have been in a race war interlaced with a class war, which is how rich whites make common cause with poor whites. The Great Depression created an opening for establishing the social safety net we have come to expect as our due (it is), but once racial equality began to be codified into law, that was the last straw for the likes of Lewis Powell and Charles Koch. They set the stage for the Reagan (counter-)Revolution and all the ugly retribution since then.
When I was entering the world of work, I was often warned that there would be no Social Security when I turned 65. Nevertheless, I gladly paid into the system because it ensured that my aging folks would not suffer in retirement. Ironically, it also motivated investing for my own old age without SSA.
Sadly, it appears that most Americans prefer to live beyond their means (P2P) rather than live below their means like I did so I could set a little money aside for retirement. I guess few Americans consider what life might be like living on less than $2000/month.
When I go to Walmart, or Lowes, or Publix, most of the cashiers and sales staff are well over 70.
Do we honor our social contract or abandon it to greed?
The idiologues, i.e. Heritage, Hoover Institue, CATO, etc see elimination of government "benefits" as their primary mission: kill the administrative state. The religious fenatics see it as the impetus to make most of us "Christian," defined as subservient to church authority rather than government rule.
"We" don't have much power. We need to do jujisu and coopt Republicans....
From AI
Recent Republican budget reconciliation efforts have faced significant dissension within the party, particularly regarding the extent of spending cuts and the potential impact on popular programs.
Areas of Republican Dissension:
Spending Cuts: A major point of contention lies in the differing targets for spending cuts between the House and Senate.
The House initially aimed for $1.5 trillion in cuts, while the Senate proposed a floor of only $4 billion. This discrepancy highlights a fundamental divide between fiscal hawks and more moderate Republicans.
Medicaid: Proposed changes to Medicaid, including work requirements and potential benefit reductions, have sparked strong opposition from some Republicans, according to NPR.
A group of House Republicans warned against any cuts to Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations.
Tax Cuts: While there's broad support for extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the specifics of how to offset the cost of these extensions have led to disagreements.
Some Republicans prioritize deficit reduction, while others are more focused on maintaining the tax cuts, notes KBKG.
Defense Spending: Disagreements have also emerged regarding the level of defense spending, with some Republicans pushing for increases while others advocate for fiscal restraint.
Procedural Issues: Even the process of passing the budget resolution has faced challenges, with some House Republicans expressing frustration over a lack of transparency and consultation, according to Government Executive httpsorganisations.
Impact of Dissension:
The deep divisions within the Republican party have made it difficult to reach a consensus on a budget reconciliation bill. This has the potential to:
Delay or derail the reconciliation process: Without Republican unity, it may be challenging to pass a bill through both the House and Senate.
Force compromises: To gain enough support, Republican leaders may have to make concessions on certain provisions, potentially weakening the overall impact of the bill.
Undermine public confidence: The inability to agree on a budget can damage the party's reputation for fiscal responsibility.
The ongoing negotiations and compromises will determine the final shape of the Republican budget reconciliation bill.
This is a window of opportunity. If they can't get a budget, the 2017 tax cuts expire December 31, 2025. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
I want to discuss the Defense Budget. Given that I am a retired regular officer getting a pension, with some VA disability .
I see no need or justification for expanding defense spending, especially when Hegseth is taking a chain saw to the officer corps, and reducing and remodeling the Army, emphasizing special ops, de emphasizing regular war, firing 120 Generals and senior officers, discharging all non hetero normative personnel., he has destroyed combat readiness, not reinforced it, he also wants to expand the Navy, at the expense of the Army, and thus my question:
WTF is the game plan, what are the long range objectives, does he foresee a war as Trump invades Greenland?
If so this puzzling as Trump is lusting after the Nobel Peace Prize, very badly. He wants to claim that he brought peace to Ukraine and Gaza. Fat chance.
I've always felt the defense budget was mostly subrosa. Of my 183 kinds of cases at DOL, #1 were Defense Base Act cases mostly involving mercenaries. Most weren't US citizens. This increased dramatically after 9/11.
I've been told that we had 3 trillion in war related expenses off budget. That includes bribes we paid to war lords.
DBA insurance costs are calculated by a company's annual payroll for the employees working overseas. Minimum premium (for even one employee) for non-War Risk DBA is $6,000 and for most Middle East War Risk Countries it is $9,000.
As # 45 Trump toyed with privatizing most of the military, Erik Prince's idea,was to replace troops with private military contractors who would work for a special U.S. envoy and who would report directly to the president. From AI In 2017, the Department of Defense (DoD) was allocated $582.7 billion, including both base budget funding and Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding. The base budget itself was $523.9 billion. This base budget was larger than any previous budget under GWB. The total allocation was comprised of $523.9 billion for base budget and $58.8 billion for OCO funding. The 2017 budget also included $11.5 billion for the fight against ISIS.
The proposed budget for DOD in 2025 is $850 billion. This includes both discretionary spending for military programs and mandatory spending for DOD military programs. The Defense Base Act (DBA) budget for 2025 is not explicitly mentioned in the provided search results.
I've always taken the position that the govenment, generally is top heavy. Too many chiefs -- not enough Indians. More so in the military. We could have consolidated services -- E.G. the Marines duplicate virtually everything the Army has in it's T, O, & E. Mechanically, auditors keep accurate records for every line item and those that match can be consolidated.
On the other hand, most of the privization has NOT been cost productive. I've seen this up close and personal. In addition to my own exeriences I heard stuff like Service Contract Act cases, also known as the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act, a federal law requiring contractors and subcontractors providing services to the U.S. government to pay service employees no less than prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits, or those in a predecessor's collective bargaining agreement. It primarily applies to federal service contracts exceeding $2,500. We could debar contractors who violate the rules from any government contract.
I do agree that the military is top heavy,, However My intuition is telling me that Hegseth is cutting slots, that he can't control, the fewer generals and senior officers, the slimmer the chain of command and the easier to control. all he has to do is fill berths with craven careerists of which they are without number or loyalists of which there are many.
As regards conttact army (mercs) I knew a couple. Two of my subordinates, real smug assholes, signed up with Wakenhut, Transferred to Blackwater, went to Iraq, a few years later both of them died, very close to each other of the same thing that claimed Bo Hunter, brain cancer.
Military trains them, spends the money, then Prince hires them and uses them.
Back in the late 1990's I knew a guy who had been a merc in Rhodesia, when I met him he was disabled with a back injury, couldn't work, lived in a small apartment with a wife who supported his addiction to opioids.
But he had a few years of feeling manly and accumulating bragging rights, which did him no good.
A lot of Arabs, Pashkans, but also Africans and South Americans.
The Biden administration VA covered "Iraqui crud" which may/may not have been from radiation. But I was long gone by that time.
For a time, Prince had relocated to Abu Dhabi, but looks like he's back and that Trump relies on him. He and his sister are trust fund babies -- Amway.
Is there any chance the GOP would not raise DoD budget and possibly even cut it to fund the tax cut?
They're cutting everything... but here's the scenario.....
The Department of Defense (DoD) has proposed significant budget cuts, primarily focusing on streamlining programs and reducing waste. These cuts, totaling around $50 billion annually, aim to redirect funds to higher-priority areas, such as those related to China, Southern border security, and military modernization. The cuts also include eliminating specific programs and grants deemed not aligned with DoD priorities.
However, if Musk is involved.....Musk Adviser May Make as Much as $1 Million a Year While Helping to Dismantle Agency that Regulates Tesla and X
What Happened: Chris Young, a Musk adviser, is being paid up to $1 million a year by a Musk-linked firm while working inside unauthorized DOGE. He’s led the charge to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—an agency that regulates Musk’s companies like Tesla and X. Records show he purged staff, canceled contracts, and diverted enforcement funds.
Why It Matters: This is a textbook case of corrupt self-dealing. A Musk-paid adviser is embedded in the government to destroy a watchdog agency overseeing Musk’s businesses.
Source: ProPublica
I really hate him for cutting the consumer protection bureau. The first day they cut it we received a check for $890 ! A greatly appreciated bit of change!
Congress is expected to significantly increase the defense budget. A budget resolution, currently under consideration, proposes a $150 billion increase for national defense between FY 2025 and FY 2034. This would be directed by the armed services committees and include funding for strengthening the Navy, supporting the defense industrial base, and modernizing strategic nuclear forces.
Renewable energy taking a huge hit too. This from Paul Krugman.
https://mail.yahoo.com/n/list/folders=1&listFilter=ALL_INBOX/messages/1084688?.src=ym&reason=myc
I requested that this article be reprinted as a guest editorial by the local newspaper (Las Vegas Sun) where my letters to the editor are frequently published. I have assumed that in offering it to be shared that there is no problem of copyright infringement with proper attribution. I recommend that subscribers here all copy the link and send it to their local newspapers. Hopefully, some are progressive or unbiased enough to reprint it for their readers. This is urgent and the article is an eloquent and astute summary of the current crisis which should be given maximum exposure.
Thom's post begs the question of where are the liberal billionaires to offset this tsunami of greed and entitlement? They seem to be preoccupied with kicking David Hogg off the DNC for being an upity young man rather than fighting to protect democracy. They might reason, "Well, we've had a couple of good days on the NYSE, so things are back to normal."
Nobody earns a billion dollars. They take a billion dollars by underpaying employees and overcharging for goods and services. That applies to all but a very few billionaires. Surely not Trump and his techy henchmen.
Instead of giving his $200BN away to the world's poor. Gates might use it to help restore American democracy in his own backyard, which would restore global aid to the world. Maybe he thinks $200BN is the price of a Monopoly 'Get out of Hell free card' or a Golden Visa to enter heaven.
Look up The Patriotic Millionaires to find your answer.
I praise their objective, but if they were truly spending serious coin, Trump would not be flying about in a 400M graft gift. He would be in court all day. Nobody in America would be worth 200-400 Billion, Amazon would have serious competitors, Microsoft too. I am sure the patriotic millionaires sleep more soundly having written a check now and then.
Thing is, one can live comfortably by age 65 - debt-free, big house with 12ft ceilings, on the beach, Mercedes in the drive, big pool out back, killer views, and a summer house and SUV in Europe all on $5M in net worth. So why amass $100M - much less $1,000 million dollars? Greed comes to mind.
Looking the gift horse in the mouth, Tom.
The US is a playground for billionaires. Nobody will be able to survive if they are not multi millionaires and or billionaires. Thats why my wife and I are seriously thinking about moving to Canada. Canada is living the American dream now more than Americans are. Canada's immigration policy reflects what is on the Statue of Liberty more than what America is doing.
Let’s see, how many of us see ourselves as needing nursing home or long-term care someday, raise your hands…
That’s the problem—denial. Most of us just won’t go there in our heads. After all, it’s way too depressing and it’s so far from now. Many of us can hardly imagine severe pain or a feeling of helplessness. What happens when the body you always took for granted and even took good care of is suddenly out of commission, breaking down?
How many of us can honestly depend upon others to take care of us when we’re unable to do it for ourselves? Maybe it’s because there are no easy answers to questions that place more responsibility not only on us but possibly to families who feel stretched and to the max, already. Even those who have diligently saved can’t imagine what paying for care assistance for those in physical or mental need costs, and how quickly savings can be drained.
It takes not only $$$ but time, energy, and compassion. Three things that are in serious short supply these days.
There are those who can pay for nanny’s for the young and nurses for the older who are unable to care for themselves. Money, energy and time are no longer major factors for these people, but how many of us are in that category or position ?
Then we read about those facilities that are paid by Medicaid and we shudder. Many of them don’t sound like nice places to be, at all. These are places where people are forgotten. Where meager possessions are stolen and neglect is the name of the game until you die of the neglect more than the disease. So what’s the answer?
We desperately hang into Medicaid for the basic medical needs but they aren’t even adequate. We need better than just sticking someone in a place that is designed to be inadequate. These facilities are so basic in care that these monthly Medicaid payments to the care facility, paid by us taxpayers, just aren’t enough to support the adequate. Where’s the trained therapist and adequate nursing staff to treat those constant problems that untrained and often uncaring staff don’t do? Where’s the good quality, special diet that’s required to bring comfort and health to an ailing body?
What’s the answer? This is about a country in denial about anyone in need, and this includes children. Our so called middle class is no longer middle at all. We have been bumped down to less-than, and yet, we shoulder vast majority of the cost.
There appears to be plenty of money that most of us are taxed for with each and every paycheck. But where does it all go to?
Now we’ve got criminals in charge of making our various systems “efficient”. When a convicted criminal and their organized crime are in charge, presumably we receive less—much less than before—because they are helping themselves to our much needed mandatory contributions to these systems.
Those of us who have had relatives in a nursing home and visited them, ,know what a hell hole they are. Diabetes, they feed you simple carbs and sugary deserts, aggravating and accelerating your diabetes.
Nursing home doctors encourage patients to have unnecessary and even harmful operations, because it fattens their wallet.
I am 86 wife is 72, we both have our problems, but we take care of each other, I fill in her gaps and she fills in mine, but back at the end of March I tripped and fell, landed on my knee, caused some serious damage and it wasn't until May 5th and finally an MRI, that they discovered green stick fracture of my tibia, we already had a walker, and my wife was taking cae of me, putting on and taking off the leg braces, then she tripped and fell and hurt her hand, now she is going for an MRI, and in insufferable pain. Lots of chores to be one, chores I use to do, but can't, chores she use to do, but can't.
It is the shitz and reality eventually catches up with us.
I am old enough to remember the poor farm in my home town. I can remember what it was like before Medicare and Medicaid... I've worked with this stuff off and on most of my life. I was around when SSI and Medicaid were extended under Nixon. I am either the founder or the godfather of legal services in about 7 counties in Pa when Nixon/Ford tried to pass off costs to the states . Court appointed in deprivation cases.guardian ad litem
It depends. The cost of private care is prohibitive. We were primary for my mother, mother in law, and an uncle.... At the end, both my mom and my uncle were in ACLFs in Maryland. Highly efficient, but very expensive. There are worse.... In some states, nursing homes can't operate unless they pass strict scrutiny.
I shutter to think of spending down my small savings and selling my house so I can even get on Medicaid so I can go to a nursing home so I don’t burden my children, doesn’t sound like an American dream to me. So what’s the answer to the to the many elderly who are in this position? Maybe universal healthcare? We are so far away from that now, even though it would probably cost the country less and see people though the last days of their lives.
Because of our experiences with our relatives, my wife and I are in the federal long term care program.... expensive and they dictate premium cost....but I was a boy scout and plan ahead. https://www.ltcfeds.gov/
I was an officer in several organizations that contemplated enrichment of benefits programs. None of my suggestions ever came to pass, but in a nutshell, our government has trust funds that can be endowed just like charities. Had SSA advertised that the retirement and disability trust funds could be enriched, there would not be a threat of default. https://www.ssa.gov/agency/donations.html
No. We are a nation that vilifies groups of people to justify our refusal to provide basic care and support to those in need. Poor people, old people, people who are of a different race, nationality, or whatever.
It's shameful. It's horrifying. I find myself near tears most mornings reading what greedy, outrageous thing our so-called leaders have done.
Dell C.
What you mean, "we?"
The Republicans know this truth, that there voters are feckless, inattentive and easily mind controlled.
They know that corporations and plutocrats pay close attention and control the all important purse strings, a fact that many in the DNC are also aware of, but they also know that the mentality of the voting base is easily swayed by effective applications of propaganda.
I read recently why the big lie works,, it works because it is repeated often and frequently. At first it is not believed, but with repetition, it becomes accepted as fact. The second time you hear it, if you aren't paying attention and using your pre frontal cortex, it overlays the first time you heard or read it, and it is something like "oh yeh" I've heard that before.
The masses are easily swayed. The story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin is a parable., sing the song,play the tune,give the speech that activities the lizard brain of fulfills a need and you have a cult.
We talk about cults, but no in depth examination of why they exist and how they are created.
Jim Jones, David Koresh, Heavens Gate, Joseph Smith all sensed a need, which he alone could fulfill, and then inculcated fear, consolidating his power and togetheness, by portraying themselves as, or actually making themselves and their cult as victims.
Hitler created a cult of victims, victims of the international Jew, victim of Versaille and even had a martyr ..Horst Wessel, for whom a hymn, the Horst Wessel Lied, was created.
Norman Rockwell version for American NAZI party https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUguJTrR5xI
How about the cult of Trump?
Having lived among the Amish, I have a good idea.....
My step father was Pennsylvania Dutch. He was a friend of Grace Kelley's father John B Kelley. Johh B was "the" contractor in Phillie. Russ was fallen away, and I didn't live with him, my sisters did, and one of them hated him.
When he was dating my mother, and before I left home, we went for Thanksgiving to his family. I will never forget it, primarily the smell of roast duck made me gag., I think there is a gland in the ass, which they cook and eat, that makes it smell so bad, if not then I can't understand eating duck.
I got a kick out of them using horses to pull a Model T..If they are so opposed to modernism, then stop being hypocrites and live in Yurts, starting fires with flint.
"Our seniors didn’t fight in World War II and build the greatest economy in human history so that their grandchildren could watch them die in poverty. They fought to create a country where everyone — everyone — has a shot at the American Dream."
Thom, thank you.
Consider the real life Monopoly game that is about to play out. You kick out migrants and put Farmers out of business. Then you trade Boardwalk and Park place to the Saudis and cronies for the land.
America has always been at war with the right wingers who want to dismiss Jesus as a bleeding heart liberal. They think the left is taking away their freedoms to not care about anyone but themselves. Karmic right wing nuts will never understand basic civil responsibilities. Their wealth is based on taking what is rightfully anothers such as stolen wages. They cannot conceive of wealth by righteous effort. Where do they think the abundance of Jesus came from? Spiritual righteousness is beyond karmics. The day is coming when the karmics lose everything they unjustly took. The balance of energy applies justice not greed. This is the law of God. You will see it happen with your own eyes. Then you will see dragons.
Even back in the Reagan era, when "redistribution of wealth" through massive tax reductions for the wealthy began in earnest, the underlying justification was the "trickle down" benefits to all Americans that would result from the wealthy becoming wealthier. Forty years later we recognize the absolute folly of this philosophy. I don't recall any serious economist giving us concrete, factual evidence that the Trump tax reduction giveaway of 2017 benefitted anyone but the "morbidly rich," while adding $ 2 trillion to the national debt. The current Republican race in the House to enact Trump's "beautiful bill" that includes the giveaway of $4 to $5 trillion in deficit spending carries no hint of overall economic benefit to anyone but billionaires. Would some credible economist please provide us with the true facts of how this latest billionaire giveaway bill will impact the economy and our fast-shrinking middle class?
Call your Congressman/woman and protest.
What will it take for our military to stage a coup to save our democracy?