Your views, thoughts or simply opinions. The Economy is not well (understatement). I know there are some here that will try to link the country they are residing in as problems of the USA. Sorry the USA cannot be responsible for 100% of the problems in the world nor should they be expected to help repair all problems.
this is not for them to spend this is to go into their childs investment account so the kid will funds in the future for college or a new home or whatever.
The Trump accounts are meant to help kids both financially for their futures and to teach them investing. Something that doesn't seem to be taught at all in public schools.
If that is what it is, then I like it. I'm not against good things, just because a political adversary is doing it. Hell, if Trump only did things I liked, he wouldn't be my political adversary anymore.
You cannot teach kids "investing". You can teach kids about the economy, the financial system, logical thinking, emotional intelligence & self-control, ethics & social responsibility, and practical life skills, like goal-setting and research skills (how to gather information, evaluate sources, and make informed choices).
Investing isn't some trick you can just teach. There are some investment options for people who don't have the skills I just listed, but that is just trusting some big investment firm to invest for you. It can make you some money, but mostly you are lending you their money to make money for the big investment firm. If it goes well, you get some money too, but if it doesn't you take the loss, because the big investment firms do a very job
of taking most of the profits for them and shifting the risk onto the clients.
You can teach to a kid or anyone that if they put money into a cd or money market account it will make interest which can add to the principal and make the investment grow or do as I do and use the interest to cover monthly living cost.
I was taught early in life and if it weren't for the small investments I have, my life would suck a tiny hind tit for sure
"The deal’s inclusion of mineral exploitation and economic interests, with U.S. companies potentially entering the DRC’s critical-minerals sector, raises questions: some fear that economic incentives may overshadow justice, accountability, or genuine peacebuilding."
The Nobel Committee, a five-member body appointed by the Norwegian Parliament,
is not going to give Trump a prize for trying to steal another country's resources again,
by helping some dictator in power, even if that results in peace (temporarily).
Well if the government is to dumb to use it's natural resources to better their people then why let them go to waste when they can better the people there and everywhere else?
IF they aint fighting, maybe you can get the dictators hooked on making money instead of killing and everyone will be better off then than they are now.
A excerpt from a email I got from a state representative.
The longest Federal government shutdown in history, which deeply impacted employees who have since been made whole, gives us a few things to consider.
The government was closed, and most lives and businesses went on as usual.
There is a lot less government we can live with and save with.
Dang, we have a lot of people on SNAP and Medicaid. If we can use today’s technology to eliminate fraud and abuse, we can help those who qualify with upward mobility.
Whenever the word “funding” comes up, that is the back doorway to say they want more money from you and your neighbors. Occasionally, it makes sense; most of the time, meh.
A small group of people can hold our bloated government hostage.
About 1.25 million federal workers went unpaid during the shutdown: they missed paychecks after it began Oct 1, either because they were furloughed or working without pay.
Among them: roughly 670,000 furloughed employees, and ~730,000 who continued working without pay.
Social safety-net users were also hit hard: about 42 million Americans rely on the food-aid program Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), many of whom experienced benefit delays or disruptions during the shutdown.
Beyond direct government workers or SNAP recipients, many Americans felt economic ripple effects: cancelled flights, disrupted travel, deferred purchases, lost income or income uncertainty, which weighed on consumer confidence and spending.
Great idea, let AI spy on everyone, so you can call the slightest discrepancy fraud,
and destroy those people's lives. This is clearly what people have been asking for.
Americans LOVE government control, and permanent surveillance.
Maybe first start with letting AI check if the wealthy are doing their taxes correctly.
That might result in catching some bigger fish, don't you think?
Trump's fraud alone would easily pay for the SNAP 'fraud' they found.
I don't care if the fraudsters lives are upended and they have to find another way. Why should they be allowed to continue to cheat the system?
As for AI checking for fraud, go for it accross the board.find it all.
If you start out with a system of health insurance that is too expensive for people, then trying to fix it with subsidies is creating complexities and the possibility for waste, fraud and abuse. You can eliminate the subsidies, but then health insurance will be too expensive
for lots of, or even most, people. The logical solution is to create the simplest form of healthcare funding, which is a single payer system, that pays for everything that people need, and letting doctors decide what people need.
All these democrats claiming we live on stolen land need to set a example and just give back the land they stay on it's original owners and go the hell on back to where ever they came from. Wait ,the folks the land belonged to that traded it for liquor and guns, are dead, the 1's who cheated them out of it, are dead. The 1's living on it ,were probably born in the US, so where else would they go?
Just shut the fuck up bitch and fix real problems instead of dredging up shit. Which this particular democrat looks like a man in a dress anyway.
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Did she hurt your feefees?
Of course you ARE all living on stolen land.
You cannot give it back, because most of the original owners were genocided.
And you can also not be proud of building a nation, because the slaves did most of that.
You can still be thankful for the end of the civil war, which meant the preservation of the United States as a single nation and the triumph of freedom and equality for all its people. The values that triumphed with the Union victory were:
- National Unity
- Abolition of Slavery
- Freedom and Human Rights
- Democracy and Constitutional Government
- Communal Responsibility and Compassion
In essence, the values that "won" were the core American ideals of liberty, unity,
and justice for all, even as the nation continued (and still continues) to struggle with
the full implementation of these values.
That's something that America accomplished, instead of stealing it or making others
build it for you. That is the essence of America and what made America great.
And you can be sure that Rep. Ayanna Pressley is thankful for that.
the land I sit on was bought and paid for.in cash many years ago. So NO I don't live on stolen land .that's aside from the fact i am part indian! so maybe I am home after all!. And besides, slaves only built part of the country. they were expensive and mostly picked crops.
What were African slaves used for?
The colonial South Atlantic and Caribbean economies were particularly dependent on slave labour for the production of sugarcane and other commodities. This was viewed as crucial by those Western European states which were vying with one another to create overseas empires.
Besides the work the slaves did before 1860 has long been replaced,
While difficult to calculate, scholars estimate that much of the physical infrastructure built before 1860 in the American South was built with enslaved labor. Railways were particularly critical infrastructure.
White slaves helped build europe working with your theory, so I want my repreations!
Bullshit, maybe some land was bought, but most of it was just stolen,
and the original inhabitants murdered or put in reservations.
The slaves were used for the base commodities of the economy.
They produced most of the raw goods. That's what built up America.
The whole argument why slavery couldn't be abandoned was that it was necessary
for the development of America. Obviously America did fine without it, but the South thought it important enough to have a war over it.
Reparations are not based on skin color, but on progeny. For slavery-based reparations, the eligibility criteria would almost certainly be limited to Black Americans who can demonstrate direct lineage to enslaved people in the United States, not all Black people in general.
Europe was built on the backs of poor people, who were almost property,
but they weren't captured in one land and sold as slaves in another.
You love to rewrite history, don't you.
so do you like to rewrite history. Slaves may have built the first railroads, but by the time the rest of the infrastructure we know of and use today was started, Slavery was outlawed.
The country "did fine" as you say on the backs of poor southerners that couldn't afford slaves but were punished for simply trying to protect their homes and property and lives.
True, many of them did leave the Democrats.
And now most of them see what a big mistake that was.
If you're fired from your job, because Trump called you a DEI hire,
that tends to sting a little bit.
OMG Phart, you really are denying reality, if you don't see that Trump's heart could give out any second. His hands are severely bruised, likely from IV infusions, blood draws, or medical procedures. If it's not from that, than the only explanation is that medications that affect clotting (aspirin, blood thinners, anti-platelet drugs) are increasing his hands to bruise easily.
His ankles are swollen, which indicates severe Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI), the only thing that was officially disclosed.
There are several videos that show Trump being unable to walk in a straight line, and recently him struggling to walk at all. He is declining too, quite rapidly.
When Biden was in office, you were outraged about the lack of transparency about
his medical condition. I don't see you being concerned about that now. In fact, you swallow their obvious lies hook, line, and sinker.
I expect it because he’s a public figure who directly impacts my life by the use of his brain and, by many standards, he’s showing cognitive decline. He has the nuclear codes. He can declare war on Miami. He can eliminate my Social Security. He can order an attack on another country. That’s why I expect it. And, frankly, this is the first time in my lifetime that I have had to question if MY PRESIDENT is in the right state of mind.
Wait, I don’t know for sure if the “autopen” is a result of his failing faculties or not. But, if it was, we didn’t know until the end of his term. The Clown has over 36 months left in his term. That’s scary.
Look, in this case I’m not saying he’s a good or bad president. I’m just saying that ANY President that is not working with a full deck is a danger to the country.
There is one very important difference, Biden was supported by many competent, experienced lawmakers, diplomats and experts in their field, who he trusted and who could be trusted to do the right thing, if Biden was going to be crazy.
When Biden would order them to break the law, they would surely reject it.
Trump surrounds himself with completely unqualified, incompetent morons.
They better be loyal to Trump, no matter how stupid the things are that he wants them to do, and they never push back. Trump is ordering people to break the law, while threatening the death penalty if they refuse him. All of these people swore an oath to The Constitution and not to the president, but they are now following orders to break the law. It will require Neurenberg trials after this presidency.
The difference is that overdue bills under Biden were caused by Covid,
while overdue bills under Trump is a direct result of tariffs and the trade war.
It will become much worse, when the higher health insurance costs start hitting.
You are correct that Amy Klobuchar isn't the sharpest tool in the box.
Blaming a lefty for something he has obviously not done,
while looking away from the country going to shit.
Can you not see how you are losing all sense of reality?
You think that Trump has any principles, that's where you go wrong.
It's all political theater, to distract you. It's just a grift.
He only says the things he says, because he wants you to believe them.
He turns on a dime, on everything he ever said, if he thinks he can score with it.
He does it all the time, but because you are in a cult, you don't even realize.
Trump only cares about himself and popularity (the 'ratings').
He envies Mamdani for his overwhelming popularity.
No dumb-ass, they are corporatists; wealthy people who like the capitalist system, because it favors wealthy people.
Capitalism works for THEM, because they are the WEALTHY who exploit everyone else.
And if they are still only rich yet, they get paid by the wealthy.
How many times did I tell you that it is shear stupidity to call the Democrats "Socialists!", "Communists!", "Radical left!", "Far left!" and "Marxists!"?
Now you see it for yourself, and then you make some stupid comment about it.
HIDDEN CAMERA – Trump’s DOJ on plans to redact Republicans from Epstein Files
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Like no one thought of them doing that.
In any case, that's a clear admission that he knows that there's lots of Republicans in it.
The first released version will likely be painted black for 80%.
Trump is ILLEGALLY withholding hundreds of billions of dollars in funding from California,
while Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta are successfully fighting Trump
in court and taking back $168 billion of the money that they are owed, and now you are blaming California for their deficit? Wow, that's dishonest!
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Californians already paid about $275.6 billion more in federal taxes than they received
in federal spending, keeping afloat all those poverty stricken red states, and you have
the nerve to blame them for their Trump induced deficit? Damn!
Brooke Rollins (U.S. Secretary of Agriculture) claimed that, but provided NO underlying data publicly, in a way that independent fact-checkers could fully verify the 186,000 deceased number.
Brooke Rollins is a political figure with close ties to Trump. There are plausible motivations for her to frame SNAP-fraud data in a way that aligns with Trump-era policy goals.
Sadly no where near the highest ever for a president but still, not bad considering the amount of hatred he has to work against everyday and the obstacles he has to over come to do his job..
George bush had the highest ever at 92% after 9-11.
That's called "cherry picking": picking ONE outlier that confirms what you want to believe.
And then you act happy about a positive outlier putting him below 50%. That's funny to me.
Rasmussen’s methodology: They focus on likely voters, and their daily tracking poll is a specific type of sample. Other polls use all adults or registered voters, which can yield different results.
Polling averages show his approval is lower than 47 %. For example:
The polling aggregator Silver Bulletin (built on the work of Nate Silver) reports his approval at about 41.2 % as of Nov 22, 2025.
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A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found his approval at only 38 %
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How many biden supporters does it take to install a lightbulb?
ALOT OF PEOPLE.
1 would be a engineer to redesign the lightbulb to make it unreliable so it has to be replaced every other day because Edisons bulb works and they are jealous, And besides they want to "create" jobs.
The light bulb changers union would also require a redesign of the ladder used by the certified bulb changing person chosen by committee behind closed doors, to climb in order to reach the bulb, so that his drink can will have a holder and he can then use both hands to change the bulb.
Then it would require a disposal team to make sure all metal was removed from the glass bulb and recycled and the glass be ground and recycled by yet another team.
BUT skipping a few steps such certified bulb transporter persons, certified ladder graspers. and supervision trained in each area of expertise in the bulb changing industry, i would say we are looking at around 100 to 150 people to change that light bulb.,
By the way, who do YOU call Ananas, when you need a bulb changed? I feel sure Leo probably calls the lightbulb changers unions main office and schedules a bulb change.
Have you noticed that phart always reflects his answers by saying things like "Biden is worse". He's employing "tu quoque" tactics (without realising, of course, he's doing so and without understanding the word). As if red herring diversions aren't so well-known and, in fact, so bloody cheap! To wit, even trump uses them.
it is to expose the hypocrisy of folks like you. Folks that operate as you do, allow folks like biden to operate unrestricted because you like their tactics, but someone you don't like, oh my, you love to bring up their faults, when in fact your folks are just as bad or worse ,you just don't like being reminded of the facts,
You are arrogant person who's blinders do not allow you to see beyond the narrow path of stupidity. You only call it diversion because you can't see the patterns and precedents being set as time goes by. We did not get where we are as a world without similar events starting patterns
Spot on:
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Why is this part of US politics?
Because, currently, the US is fucking up the whole globe, not just the maga lunies.
leo, alot of pop ups are coming up, is the video showing what looks to be a beaver the subject matter? So much flashing up on the screen i backed out of the site as a precaution.
Yeah, it's the Jewish space laser broad, of course.
You didn't think she was crazy then, just now she opposes the sex offender.
Maybe learn to not pull QAnon lunatics into your ranks.
It's all fun to accuse Democrats of having a pdf file ring,
until you vote for a president who was very much part of it.
Then the people you turned crazy, might turn against you.
Of all the reasons to abandon a politician you once supported, that is a good one.
Don't you think?
Talk about crazy politics, watch the democrat party as it implodes. The U.S. will never stand for the socialist bull crap that the far left snake oil party.
You are a socialist. I bet you hate Israel. Deny it if you like. We all know you hate the USA.
I bet your little country would beg for our help if attacked (by almost any country).
Nothing of what you said is applicable to Marjorie Taylor Greene or Rachel Maddow.
Yes, I'm a socialist! No, I do not hate Israel. No, I do not hate Jewish people.
I hate the Netanyahu regime, that has committed a genocide, which has not stopped.
Many Jews, in Israel and all over the world, hate Netanyahu too.
I don't hate the USA, I hate your ideology. Your ideology is anti-American.
You are committing treason towards American values.
When our country is attacked, according to our NATO alliance, that is an attack
on all other NATO allies, including your country. You would be obligated to help.
By the way, your country is doing war posturing right in front of our borders,
because Venezuela is a neighboring country. We don't like it.
Aruba lies less than 15 miles (24 km) from Venezuela's shores.
Curaзao is about 40 miles (65 km) north of Venezuela.
Bonaire is approximately 50 miles (80 km) off the coast.
Of course you hate Rachel Maddow. She represents everything you hate.
And she makes your president look stupid and evil every day.
And of course you need to use a slur for her being lesbian,
because you're a bigot.
No, MTG is NOT unpredictable. She is doing exactly what is best for her,
long term. She hitched her wagon to Trump when he was hot, and she is now unhooking it, before he drags her into the ravine. She is stupid, but she is not as stupid to believe all the things she is saying. She just panders to stupid people. She is the alt-right candidate, a Neo-Nazi, like Nick Fuentes. Horrible people, who also hitched their wagon to Trump, but who are not in the Trump cult,
like you. They have their own cult, and they want to take over, when your cult crumbles. That's what MTG is preparing for.
Almost all Republican politicians voted to release the Epstein files.
That's them doing the same as MTG; unhooking their wagon from Trump.
Trump showed no loyalty towards ANY of them EVER, so they will kick him down when the time comes. If that happens, and MTG takes over, you will be licking
her feet in no time.
You'd NEVER say she's a nut case before.
You only say it now because your dear leader says so.
You have no independent thinking.
You just say what the dictator says.
When she came up with some bullshit a couple years ago i was done listening to her,and no i can't remember what it was,but it was sad that she was that fucking dumb is all i can remember, she has been a bad apple for a long time. Just happened to be a vote for our side once in a while
She isn't really that dumb, she is just playing it. She is absolutely useless though.
Never did anything positive for the people she represents. But, that's the type of people your side is voting for. You like the dumb, hateful rhetoric, and you have no idea
what they are actually doing.
Sorry I did not catch the remark referring to non adults sooner so I could have deleted it sooner. My bad.
By #746422 at 20,Nov,25 23:03
it doesn't matter as long as you expose my tiny cock ex boyfriend David Armishaw all over the Internet. Share him to the world. Ruin his life. Destroy him. Laugh & humiliate him. He's a loser
This is why free trade is a problem.
The deal was signed in 2005 by BUSH, and is STILL putting people out of work today 20 friggen years later.
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The simplest thing to do is just eliminate those items from our want list.
Focus on what we can grow,focus on what we NEED, not want. Coffee at star bucks is a want because of the taste and caffeine, but it is not what we need. We need clean pure water, milk, and natural fruit and berry juices.But when you have a bunch of damn liberal idiots willing to gather up in a snooty place called starbucks and pay stupid prices for coffee, you create the problem
He is giving orders to have people murdered by the military.
He doesn't have to face anyone personally. He doesn't even see the death bodies.
The most cowardly person in the world can do that. (and is)
Thr cost of health care for millions of Americans is going up.
They could soon see huge spikes in their insurance premiums.
Of all people, it's the far right-wing conspiracy theorist Marjorie Greene who says she, and millions of other people, shouldn't pay higher premiums. Millions can't afford it and they'll die.
no 1's going to die, that is hogwash. They might go bankrupt which is 2 notches from dieing but no,no deaths.that is shock and awe to scare people like you. financing is offered for health care, i should know, i am in the middle of it now.
Well, I am thankful I able to get help now. Some of that "free" care in other countries, i may had died waiting for a appointment. I was able to prompt the dr's to take action quicker than they wanted to.
..talk about exaggeration! I don't know anybody who has ever died waiting. I think you have a misconception of universal healthcare. I'm in my 60's and have had great healthcare all my life. ..for free
September 2015 – “60 Minutes” interview with Scott Pelley on CBS 60 Minutes,
Trump said: “Everybody’s got to be covered … I am going to take care of everybody.
I don’t care if it costs me votes or not. Everybody’s going to be taken care of much better than they’re taken care of now.”
When asked who would pay, he responded: “The government’s gonna pay for it.”
He added that his plan would still involve private plans, with competition:
“It’s going to be a private plan … people are going to be able to go out and negotiate great plans … they can have their doctors … they can have plans … everything.”
As president-elect, Trump told the Washington Post:
“We’re going to have insurance for everybody. … There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.”
Feb 13, 2025 – Trump signed an Executive Order to establish the “Make America Healthy Again Commission.”. According to the White House fact sheet, the commission will investigate major causes of chronic disease in America, “prioritize gold-standard research,” and develop strategies to improve health coverage flexibility.
Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” includes about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years.
According to ITEP, more than 70% of the net tax cuts go to the richest 20% of Americans.
ITEP also says the richest 5% alone will get 45% of the new tax cuts.
For the top 1%, ITEP estimates they’ll receive total tax cuts of $1.02 trillion over 10 years.
The Americans for Tax Fairness group claims Trump’s plan would cut “nearly $2 trillion from health care, mostly Medicaid.”
The CBO estimates those changes could leave 10+ million people uninsured.
Conclusion: Trump is taking away healthcare for 10+ million Americans,
to give the richest people in the US some more money.
Is that what he promised the American people?
Thanks, but it's just sad that some foreigners have to tell Americans how they are screwed.
We just had an election in the Netherlands. Healthcare was a very important topic. We had at least 6 parties debate their healthcare plans clearly. All parties had their programs analyzed, so the Dutch people can clearly understand the impact of their vote on healthcare. Some parties invest in lower costs for the people, other parties cut expenses and reduce what the basic insurance will cover.
MAGA Americans don't know shit. They refuse to understand that cutting billions
from taxes funding healthcare will make their insurance premiums higher and their coverage lower. Either they believe in fairy-tales or they just like to be lied to.
They voted for a president who clearly does the opposite of what he promised,
and they like it. I come from a country where promises matter.
Exactly. They're beyond repair.
They're hopeless.
Even when they get royally
screwed they still support those
who fuck them up.
This is rare to find in
European countries.
Of all people, this woman, the craziest of all of you extreme fascistoids, starts realising that her idol didn't do as he promised and that he may have actually done bad bad things. But you are still in denial. Which is no surprise, because your a fanatic unstable reactionary guy in the boonies.
Again, you deflect the issue. The most staunch supporter of your dear leader stopped being in 100% agreement with him. That's the issue. But you don't want to address it.
I do believe elected democrats have switched parties because of well I guess the lunacy. I think there is a lot of deflecting going on with the far left reprobates.
No, dumb-ass, it's the corruption that makes some Democrats switch party.
Also, being a Republican politician is SOOOO EASY.
You lot don't want anything and believe such childish lies.
Hurting people is your ONLY demand, and that's EASY.
I will put my head in the sand about as deep = to the height you put your head up above the clouds thinking you are so damn smart and better than everybody else.
Trump ,unlike you and others, has enough sense to know this is all a big distraction and so what if his name in in there, the rest of the names are probably those you don't want out there.like DEMOCRATS. the free for fuck it alls
So let me see if I have this Trump economics plan straight.
-Trump promises to lower grocery prices "on day one".
-Tariffs do not cause food prices to rise.
-When tariffs went on the food items the price rose.
-Tariffs are now coming off some food items in order to lower prices.
Conclusion: Donald Trump finally got it through his thick head that when the cost to the importer goes up, the cost to the consumer goes up.
Trump did achieve something; he angered all the other countries, who have now found other trading partners than the US, and made them consider to abandon the dollar
as the world's principal reserve currency.
By the way, do you want to sell me some fine Canadian products?
You can also come to Europe for your winter vacation.
I know you don't care about anything bad happening under a Republican
and you don't care about anything good happening under a Democrat.
I just don't understand what you are voting for then.
Do you understand that politicians should represent you, not the other way around?
Sure, if you throw out the immigrants that did it, Americans should.
Or you say goodbye to the small bit of production industry, you still had.
It's only 10% of the GDP, who cares? You cannot compete with China anyway.
It is getting to the point it is the quality of what comes from china that is a issue, they are CAPABLE of making good stuff but it never makes it over here.
As for American workers, I have yet to understand what gives the people nowadays the notion they are better than to do actual work than others like immigrants. EVEN YOU should be able to see that when folks check into a motel ,it is never white Americans working there, they are always from over seas. There is dignity in work, our ancestors understood it, why it hasn't been taught now I don't know.
Immigrants are the liberals replacements for slaves, that is the bottom line.
China makes everything from ridiculous scams to complete competition busters.
Some of their good products are kept from you, by your government.
There are often good reasons for it, like China using forced labor.
But, some of it is just protectionism. That might not even be a bad strategy.
However, if they have access to the cheapest electricity in the world, because
they make the best solar panels at the best price, it is not smart to keep them away
from our manufacturing, because then they pay more for electricity. That's a setback
that puts us further behind.
There is no dignity to the people who work in motels, it's exploitation. No American can life of that wage, but immigrants are forced to, out of desperation.
If you want Americans to do those jobs, you need to exploit them less, because that is bad for the economy. Those people cannot spend anything, can only live in slums, cannot afford children or if they have them accidentally, they cannot afford a decent education. Then you are losing against China even more, because they have armies of well educated, highly motivated, young people, to fill any technical position.
I'm saying this about the US, but it's getting more applicable to my country fast.
We are not educating our young people enough for the highly technical jobs.
Young people more often choose Business Administration, Commercial Economics, Finance, Medicine, Nursing, Psychology, Communication, Marketing, HR, Social Studies, Design, Media, Music, Gaming, Tourism, Pedagogy, Cybersecurity, Embedded Systems, AI Engineering, etc.
They keep pulling away to those educations, while the demand for technically educated people is skyrocketing, because we want to be less dependent on China.
I see it in my own work environment. Many of my new colleagues are from another country. I'm surprised if one gets introduced in Dutch to me. I speak more English
than Dutch at work. If the right-wingers in my country win big, and actually stop immigration and sends these people back, my employer can close up shop.
Meanwhile, the right-wing has NO strategy to invest in automation for when they stop the refugees from the horrible countries, who do the lower skilled work now, nor do they have a strategy to invest in technical education, to replace the expats who are filling
the technical jobs now. It's just blind short-term thinking: "We don't like immigrants!".
Well at least we could go in there and fix the place, get rid of the drugs, and eliminate the need for them to illegally come here to get their freebies.
How's that? If we go in there and get rid of the drug cartels and such, and then buy their oil cheaper than we can produce our own, then they will have clean money that is not corrupt and can rebuild their economy,something drug money is not used for.
What Trump wants to do, is replace Maduro with some friend,
who takes your bribes and sells out his people, by selling off
the rights to the oil to some American oil company.
The Venezuelan people will get nothing, because
the American oil company and it's shareholders will
take everything. That's what your country always does,
when it goes into some country, 'to fix the place'.
The drugs story is just an excuse to take take their oil.
Remember how Trump said "I would have taken the oil" about Iraq?
The US had no fucking reason to attack Iraq, but Trump wanted
to take their oil, to pay for your war against an innocent country.
That speaks a lot about his morality and his intent with Venezuela.
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NYC is over 75% democratic voters and incredibly liberal residents
They voted for a 34 year old trust fund socialist with no real life work experience
It’s going to be hysterical watching NYC circle the drain over the next 4 yea
Market will adjust, folks will find work in other areas that are more functional and useful than catering to people from other countries.
The way I look at it, the liberals think it is ok to expect coal miners and oil pipe line workers to find other jobs, so why not folks that cater to travelers?
I am sure that the hundreds of thousands of people in Las Vegas, Florida and California would strongly disagree with that idea. Did you know that Florida and Nevada are both Republican states?
Central Florida, where all the big attractions are like Disney, Universal, and many more, employ mostly Republicans and many are MAGA Republicans. But, what the heck, they can all go work for McDonalds.
As of late 2025, Walt Disney World Resort has approximately 80,000 employees, while Universal Orlando Resort has about 32,000 employees.
The average number of coal mining employees declined to 41,600 in 2020. This was below the previous low of 70,000 in 2003, and the lowest number of US coal miners in at least 125 years.
Those are sad numbers,
There are over 281,008 pipe welders currently employed in the United States. 4.0% of all pipe welders are women, while 96.0% are men. The average pipe welder age is 40 years old.
As of February 2023, there are 72.1k people employed in the Oil and Gas Extraction industry.
And with this number, bare in mind alot of cities and states are restricting natural gas,
Over 3.4 million jobs are connected to the direct use of natural gas in the United States and over 83% of this work happens within local communities.
So I guess in you folks eyes, these people can go to work at mcdonalds? These are people that SWEAT and do MANUAL labor for a living. Not stamping wrist and putting on costumes and answering phones.
I heard somebody say on Wednesday that Donald Trump is going to do something really really stupid(er) on Thursday to change the news cycle away from the Epstein files.
Colombia’s role is much larger, especially in production, while Venezuela
plays a more limited but still significant transit (and potentially processing) role.
The US just wants to end the Maduro government, because he nationalized, restricted and weaponized the oil exports to your country, because the US was extorting them. The US doesn't want their oil at a 'reasonable price', but very cheap. In response, of Maduro nationalizing THEIR oil, the US tried to force regime change for your buddy Juan Guaidу. To push Venezuela on their knees, the US sanctioned their oil. Because that doesn't work like you hoped, Trump has made up this lie,
that Venezuela is somehow the worst offender when it comes to drugs cartels
in South America.
It's a repeat of the US attacking Iraq, in relation to 9/11.
Why waste a reason to attack who you want to attack, even if it's false.
It's easy to sell a lie to Americans, because they don't inform themselves.
Then there are people like you, who want to believe Trump's lies and ignore him
when he runs his mouth, and tells you his real intentions.
Why are Americans stupid enough to take poison?
I can get that poison easily, but I don't.
What about people's personal responsibility?
By the way, it's nonsense, because those boats don't even have the range to reach you.
They are are being targeted thousands of miles away from the U.S. mainland.
It is a argument for sitting the head knockers down at a table and require accountability for sure. Which is what alot of us want for these free benefit programs.
They were accountable long before your side started attacking them.
Even if the claim itself is true, and lots of them were not,
it's still only a tiny fraction of the money.
The investigation reportedly lasted 11 months and involved the United States Secret Service, the Ohio Investigative Unit (which enforces SNAP fraud laws in Ohio),
and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food & Nutrition Service.
That's looking with a microscope, and they only found $100k that they can point to
as fraud. Congratulations on wasting this huge effort on peanuts, while every single billionaire is scamming the taxpayer consistently for billions.
A judge found Trump and his companies liable in a years-long scheme of inflating
asset values (for banks/insurance) and ordered a penalty of $355 million.
A review by House Judiciary Committee Democrats found that Trump’s pardons,
by canceling restitution payments owed to victims, could cost victims and ultimately taxpayers about $1.3 billion.
You couldn't care less. You only care if some poor people might have received
a couple of dollars too much.
During the US government shutdown all of the senators and house representatives have received full pay on time but air traffic controllers and other government workers have not.
Why are all of the senators at house representatives being paid now for not doing their jobs yet so many others are not?
I think a little rule change would help resolve this problem quicker the next time it happens, and it will. How about if all senators and all of the house representatives including their staff do not get paid during a shutdown? I include their staff because the people in power would be more inclined to be personally affected when their staff is not being paid because of their actions. Also their staff interacts with them every day and would definitely be doing what they can to end the shutdown.
A nice simple way to resolve the problem a lot quicker regardless of which party is in power. --------------------------------------- added after 8 hours
I believe you meant to say most senators and house reps have received their pay. You failed to mention that there are some Republicans that can say they received 0. Can you say the same about the libtards. No you say? One even proved it by showing her pay check and stub.
But you have a point, I think all the senators and representatives should receive no pay as long as they have the government is shutdown.
Let us take a closer look, Who shut the government down? Let me help you, libtard democrats and radicals.
I know and I bet you know that Trump would never sign off on supporting illegal aliens with free government help.
I am a lot like him, I would not cave on that bullshit. My only complaint is he is not removing these illegal sob lawbreakers fast enough. They came here illegally, thus lawbreakers.
Oh, how many boats have been blown to hell? Sorry I lost count. I do hope it increases though.
well, i know if i had not done my job, i would not have gotten paid, and i would have been fired.
The shut down should never have happened.
But it did.
And folks need to accept the reasons why and move forward.
Non citizens benefiting from tax dollars needs to stop, thus, alot of the problems and disagreements would stop.
I will go as far as to say neither body of government should get any time off until they present a BALANCED BUDGET to the President for his signature. that would force both sides to get rid of the pork and waste
I'm not asking you to discuss the reasons I'm asking you to discuss the solutions. Do you think it would be a good idea to not pay the senators and House representatives while the government is shut down?
So based on that statement do you agree that the air traffic controllers should have been paid during the shutdown.
President Trump gave $20 billion to Argentina during the shutdown. Based on his America first policy that he has been touting since his return to office, do you think this money would have been better spent to pay working government employees in general?
Do you also think that part of that $20 billion should have gone to pay low income Americans who are recipients of the SNAP benefits as well?
I haven't heard anything from doge in a while , don't know what is up with it.
um, sadly looks like it will go away in 2026
The U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization shall be headed by the USDS Administrator and shall be dedicated to advancing the President's 18-month DOGE agenda. The U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization shall terminate on July 4, 2026.Jan 20, 2025
Suffered from WHAT?
The same things they are still suffering from?
You just replaced one demented old fool for a worse one.
This old demented fool is destroying people's healthcare and social security.
Americans will suffer and die much more because of him.
Really? List the reasons and compare to the reason more than 65% of the American people dislike what the Clown and his bunch are doing.
Go ahead, Tecsan. Reason 1. Reason 2. Let's talk about the economy. Let's talk about all the extra taxes (tariffs) we are paying. Come on, sweety, let me have it. Tell me how my health insurance would have doubled if the old fart, Biden or if Harris would have been elected.
the reality of it is there are alot of Canadian tags on cars in parking lots in the us at the border, people tired of waiting on that free care --------------------------------------- added after 45 minutes
Nearly 70 percent of the Dutch population live in owner-occupied homes. This puts the Netherlands at the bottom of the ranking in the European Union.
57.6% of the country's 28.8 million main homes are owned by their inhabitants.france
US homeownership rate was 65.2%,
So uh, ok we don't have free health care, but your citizens don't own anymore homes than ours. And i aint even looked at tax rates yet that cover the health care you have that "prevents" the bankruptcy's.
my current situation is going to cost me about 5500 bucks out of pocket, the other 50 grand+ will be covered by insurance provided by my employer i was retired from. Medical insurance is called a benefit you get from your employer IF YOU WORK for a living and earn it.
You forget that if you lose your job you were not covered by ANY insurance. That’s why “Obamacare” was brought forth. The fact that your employer held that power over your head kept employees from being treated with fairness. I guess you could claim you were lucky that your employer provided you with health insurance, but, if the month before your accident your employer decided to lay you off, right now you’d be living under a bridge. And that’s if you would have gotten medical help to survive.
You, Phart, always hint people are lazy and that they don’t work. About 63% of the work force either have a job or are actively looking for work.
"Approximately 80,000 visits to U.S. health care facilities by Canadians occur each year, but most are for emergency care, not elective procedures." A lot of them are "snowbirds", Canadians, who migrate from the colder northern regions of North America to warmer southern destinations during the winter months. Millions of Canadians vacation or spend winters in the U.S.. Accidents and illnesses happen, and the nearest hospital is often the only immediate option. Their Canadian provincial insurance covers very little (sometimes only a fraction of the actual cost), so these travelers rely heavily on private travel insurance.
That means they are not crossing the border for YOUR healthcare, they are IN your country when they need healthcare and then are stuck with yours.
However, in some border areas, the nearest U.S. hospital is geographically closer than the nearest Canadian one. For genuine emergencies, people go to the closest facility.
A small, wealthy minority may travel for a non-emergency procedure to access specific cutting-edge treatments, particular specialists, or bypass Canadian wait times. However, this number is a small fraction of the 80,000 visits.
So, there is only a small bit of truth to your claim. I have told you before that American healthcare is ONLY good for VERY RICH people.
[In 2024, the Dutch government paid $118 Billion for healthcare related expenses.
It goes to:
- The Long-term Care Act (Wlz - Wet langdurige zorg): Care for vulnerable elderly people and people with a chronic illness or disability is largely paid from general funds.
- Youth Act and Social Support Act (Wmo - Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning): This care falls under the responsibility of municipalities, but is funded by the national government via the Municipalities Fund, which also comes from tax money.
- Healthcare allowance (Zorgtoeslag): The government pays a healthcare allowance to people with a low income to help them pay the nominal premium for healthcare insurance, which is an indirect contribution from taxes to the healthcare system.
- Income-related contribution (IAB - Inkomensafhankelijke bijdrage): Although this is called a "contribution", it is paid by employers or benefit agencies and flows via the Health Insurance Fund (Zvf) back into healthcare, which is a form of collective financing via a levy.]
ALL other care is paid for by our health insurances. My monthly premium is $194,11.
If I have an emergency, I pay NOTHING, it's all covered by my insurance. For all non-emergency care, I pay at maximum $444 in a year. My premium includes a small supplemental insurance package, which costs me less than $100/year, but pays me $173 for part of my chiropractor costs.
Your situation would cost our insurance $6,470. Our hospitals are more affordable, but provide a better quality of service than yours. However, that is considered a medical necessity. The base insurance covers it, and it will cost the patient $444. If they need anything else that is covered by the base insurance, it would be fully covered.
We don't get our health insurance from our employer, we pay for it ourselves.
We don't lose our insurance when we lose our job. Employers cannot use health insurance as a negotiation tactic, when we negotiate wages and other benefits.
The US does have lower taxes, but we get lots of tax returns, if we have a low income. And higher income people often own their home, which allows them to deduct their mortgage rent.
Don't forget that the US government also pays for healthcare with tax-dollars.
True, about 70% of Dutch people own their own home. That means the other 30%
are renting their home.
As I told you before, The Netherlands HAD a very good system of public housing. The social rental sector was massive, reaching over 40% of the total housing stock by 1990. In cities like Amsterdam, this share was even higher. Most social housing was owned and managed by "woningcorporaties" (Non-Profit Housing Associations), which operated under a strict regulatory framework and were heavily dependent on government financial support. These housing associations were created after the war, to build a large number of affordable homes to address post-war housing shortages.
My girlfriend and I lived in one of those social houses for 9 years. The rent was $380/month. It enabled us to improve ourselves, save up a lot of money, and buy a house.
Many people cannot afford to buy a house. Also a lot of people never wanted to.
Many people will regret not buying a house when we did, because the rent has at least doubled and the price of owner-occupied houses almost doubled in less than 20 years, because the right-wing parties privatized the housing market.
We would never be able to buy our house anymore, if we tried today. We have an income between 1.5x and 2x the median. We would be able to get a mortgage of up to about Ђ375,000 ($432,776). There are still houses being sold at that price, but not a lot and not ours. The mortgage would be Ђ1700/month ($1962), which would be Ђ1264 ($1459) after tax returns, if we started today. Those tax returns decline to 0 in 30 years.
However, because we bought that house in 2008/2009, and paid off a lot, our mortgage payments are now $473/month, and we still get $189 mortgage interest deduction.
That means that the $284/month we pay now is less than our rent back then.
My gosh, Not knowing where you might be living in 4 months is a headache to. IF your landlord decides to sell where you are living, he can evict you. and then you have to pickup your life and move around. kids can't stay in the same schools, your commute to work may increase, rent at a new place may be higher. so many don't knows with rent, plus you have NO equity, you try to borrow money, On what? your cell phone for collateral?
something as simple as having a vineyard for your grape vines for jellies, your garden soil that takes years to prep to get a good harvest, your hobbies? How can you have a hobby that requires a garage with stationary equipment if you don't own the building-land? how can you have live stock on rental property for milk ,eggs ,meat?
How do you folks live and actually have any concept of peace of mind ,happiness, security anything? If you rent ,you are dependent on someone for everything ,including the roof over your heads!
I can't help the dutch don't want the peace of mind of owning where they live.
Do you not understand that you are describing YOUR reality, not ours?
"Not knowing where you might be living in 4 months" Not in my country.
Our renting system might be broken, but not like that.
We still have laws to protect people from that.
It's also not a choice for most people. There is no IF you rent.
When you are not rich enough, you rent, or you live in a tent.
When I lived in NYC, most of my neighbors were renters and had been at the same place most of their adult lives. They had long term contracts and didn't want to own.
Not completely true; renting used to be just as good and more affordable. Some people still benefit from that, if they have rented the same house for decades, but for new people it's very expensive. The waiting lists for social housing are very long and the public sector is even more expensive.
That's because right-wing governments fucked up our social housing.
Since just 2010, wages climbed by 8%, while social rent house prizes climbed by 22%.
However, many of the social rent houses have been sold.
Many of them were bought up by private renters, which are MUCH more expensive.
The average rental price in the private sector varies, but in the fourth quarter of 2024
it was around Ђ1730 ($1997) per month, or Ђ18.01 ($20,79) per square meter.
That, combined with far too few houses having been built, exploded the prices.
The price of an average home was Ђ239,530 ($276,365) in 2010.
The price of an average home is around Ђ486,000 ($560,681) in 2025.
(They didn't become bigger. What they mostly build now is apartments)
I saw it coming, so I bought my house in 2008/2009, at Ђ265,000 bare ($305,710).
Neighbors are selling their house for Ђ475,000 ($547,970), but we are expecting
that people will overbid that.
You're right, of course, you live there. I haven't spent any considerable amount of time in the Netherlands during the recent years. But I used to know Amsterdam well and had friends who lived in rented apartments there. They were very happy. They raised families, they enjoyed their work, they didn't have cars, they relied on public transport and bikes, they walked a lot. Public services made life so good. They were happy. I forgot that right wing penetrator the Netherlands too and fucked it up for most of the people.
Probably your friends had enough money to rent in Amsterdam.
Everything is great in my country, for people who have enough money.
It just takes more and more money, every year, to beat the onslaught.
Too many people, who were lucky to do that, don't realize that they did.
Still, they feel the problems around them, and are misplacing blame.
They are thinking: "Our country is great, why are you complaining?
I made it, so why don't you? Go get an education and get a job!"
They don't see that people with a higher education than them,
will never be able to reach the same living standard as they did.
And the only reason is that they are just 10-20 years younger.
That's the difference, only 10-20 years.
The problem is that both the young people who are living it,
and the older people who saw it develop, don't understand it.
It requires some knowledge of politics and economics, and they don't bother.
They only listen to some loudmouth who blames immigration.
They don't want to know the cause of it, just want to stop it.
And then they think people like me LIKE immigration. WHY would I?
I think we NEED to help desperate people, but I DON'T like it.
I want to improve the world, so there are LESS desperate people.
I prefer to help desperate people, without helping them directly.
I want to improve the system, so they can help themselves.
Other people just want to close their eyes for their existence.
They don't understand that it's a sure way to let the world go to shit,
so you'll end up yourself as one of those desperate people.
It's only a matter of time, before the people who beat the onslaught,
also don't manage to beat it anymore.
It is really hard to have to live with such ignorant people.
Mostly, because it's very difficult to SOLVE the very problems
that they are angry about, even immigration, when there are
too many people who don't understand, that you need to understand
the CAUSE of a problem, if you want to FIX a problem.
What's the common root cause of most of those problems, you ask?
Mostly; exploitation and authoritarianism, the very ideals many support.
You're not making mistakes, you're INTENTIONALLY lying to yourself.
My country had its fastest development, when it was the most socialist.
My country had the biggest accumulation of problems under right-wingers.
It's the Dutch voters who should learn from their mistakes.
Your country had its “The Golden Age of Capitalism”, “The Postwar Boom”,
roughly from 1945 till 1973. That was actually your MOST SOCIALIST period.
Your economy grew rapidly because of very left-leaning policies.
This was the time when:
- Wages rose along with productivity, so the middle class flourished.
- Unions were strong and represented a large share of workers.
- Income inequality was historically low.
- The government invested heavily in public infrastructure, education, housing,
and science (e.g., the GI Bill, Interstate Highway System, and NASA).
1) High Taxes on the Wealthy
The top marginal income tax rate was over 90% during the 1950s under Republican president Eisenhower.
Corporate taxes were also much higher than today.
These taxes funded public infrastructure, education, and research.
2) Strong Labor Unions
Over one-third of workers were union members in the 1950s.
Unions negotiated better wages, pensions, and working conditions.
Collective bargaining helped distribute productivity gains fairly.
3) Massive Government Investment
The federal government financed housing for veterans, college education (GI Bill), scientific research, and public works.
These policies expanded the middle class and built national wealth.
4) Regulation and Antitrust Enforcement
Industries like banking, transportation, and energy were tightly regulated.
Antitrust laws prevented monopolies and protected small businesses.
This created a competitive but stable capitalist system.
5) Social Safety Nets
Expansion of Social Security, unemployment insurance, and public healthcare programs (later including Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960s).
These reduced poverty and stabilized consumer demand.
6) Progressive Consensus
Both major parties (Democrats and Republicans) largely accepted the New Deal consensus — the idea that capitalism should be managed to serve broad social welfare, not just corporate profit.
Your MAGA hats, Make America Great Again, are referring to your most SOCIALIST period in history, and dumb-asses like you are unable to LEARN FROM IT.
Well when a entire economy is based on a system that most money is made by gratuity and frivolous spending from travelers and people that can afford second and third homes, what did you expect?
Had florida built it's economy on manufacturing a necessary product or a service people can't be without, better LONG TERM results would happen.
You're not wrong, but how are you proposing that "Florida built it's economy on manufacturing"? That's you saying to not let the economy run by the laws of capitalism, ruled by billionaires, who are thinking only in short-term profits, but by it's government taking control. Isn't that against the principles you are always supporting?
You got what I was getting at, there is no ideal solution.
Government run, people leave and are mad, people run, people leave and are mad.
It will come out in the long term as more snow birds seek warm weather over 35 inches of snow.
I'm all for democracy run. If people don't like it, they can only blame themselves.
The only problem is making people see the consequences of what they voted for.
Phart, you really don't know anything about Florida. There's plenty of manufacturing. There's the space program. There are more military bases in Florida than five states combined. There's the cruise industry. There's the agricultural industry. Haven't you heard they Florida orange juice is know around the country? I bet you don't know that Florida is the second largest producer of beef. We have more cowboys than many states . Our fishing industry is huge. And, oh, yeah. We also have the Sun and that brings tourist. That, of course, is if there's money to spend and If the tourist feels welcomed. You always make it seem that people should be like you. The truth is you should be like other people.
It's not just due to tourists staying away, as it looks like,
the state is finding out what happens when young people
are not able to afford living there anymore.
Yes, because it's apparently very expensive. So, who are going to be the janitors, groundskeepers, pest control, handymen, cooks, dishwashers, waiters, stockers, delivery drivers, public transit drivers, garbage collectors, police, security guards, lifeguards, nurses, etc, who all take care of those old people, when young people cannot afford to live there. Do they all need to commute from the next state?
Maybe an economy can survive on just service jobs, from old money paying for it,
but people don't want to drive several hours per day to those jobs. When the service people leave, the old people leave too. They are not taking care of themselves.
Not for the locals. Young or old, the economy is what makes or breaks an area. My state is mostly regular people living paycheck to paycheck. The RICH do have their areas but they are concentrated in a few coastal strips. You have the wrong idea about Florida.
The landlords are already loosing money because they aren't collecting rent, gee,let's tax the hell out of them!
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So now, a landlord might be forced to rent a building that is in great shape to a low end business that will do much more damage than the rent will cover to repair then either leave the place all fucked up, or stop paying rent and take months to evict. Not a good equation.
If you want to fill store fronts, reduce the cost of building materials ,maintaince and electricity cost. then the landlord can reduce the rent and still make a profit, which is the entire point of being a landlord.
-Well if the renters would stop wasting money on rent and start OWNING things, landlord would loose any "power" liberals like you might think they have. For some reason, there again, just because someone can afford a bulding,liberals think folks should live in it free and tear it up and leave it to others to fix.
IF citys want to fix empty building problems, citys should rent the buildings and use them for shelters, and office staff. instead of doing like our local citys and let large buildings rot while they spend millions building taj mahals.
OMG, you are oblivious. Renters don't have the money to 'own things'.
The 'empty building problems' in cities are the result of people not being able to afford those buildings, neither for renting nor owning.
"just because someone can afford a bulding,liberals think folks should live in it free and tear it up and leave it to others to fix"
BULLSHIT! Capitalist policies have resulted in unaffordable homes and the 'empty building problems' and people are now voting for Zohran Mamdani types, because they have good ideas to force the owners to rent out their property at an affordable price.
The owners prefer to create scarcity, to leave buildings empty, to jack up the price, rather than renting them out at a reduced price. A penalty on doing that can 'fix it'.
Why can you only think in stupid straw-men? You're indoctrinated.
For a median-priced U.S. home (around $402,500) and assuming a 20% down payment + standard lending ratios, the required annual income is about US$ 118,530 (2023). That means the median family cannot afford the median house. Only 20-22% of the American families can afford the median house.
The billionaires will own more and more and everyone else will own less and less,
until you start taxing wealth significantly.
It's simple economics; what are the billionaires doing with their money?
They are BUYING 'things', that are providing them with passive income,
like houses, factories and farms.
Who are they buying from? House owners, land owners, factory owners
and farm owners.
Then those former owners are now paying rent or part of their profits,
to the new owners; the billionaires or private equity owned by billionaires.
That passive income makes the billionaires ever richer, and everyone else,
who used to own something, is now paying the billionaires to use it.
Then the billionaires have even more money to buy 'things'.
You will have trillionaires soon. They don't let those trillions go to waste in a bank,
they will BUY MORE 'THINGS'.
It's simple economics. Is it so simple that you understand it?
American family owned farms are in big trouble, due to Trump's tariffs. Bankruptcy filings specifically for family-farm restructuring (Chapter 12) are rising: 216 Chapter 12 filings in 2024, and early 2025 figures show 259 filings between April 2024–March 2025.
Then the billionaires or their private equity comes in and buys them up.
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Those farmers voted for Trump and now they are losing their farms. FAFO.
Well if the taxes are high on a property, and the up keep and utilities are high because of over regulation, how can the landlord afford to reduce the rent and still make any money?
Passive income is how people retire early instead of working till they are 90.
So why don't YOU go take out a loan for that median priced home and then rent it out for 1000 dollars a month?
Could you afford to do that?
No strawman, I am talking about YOU buying a second house, maintaining it ,paying all the taxes and expenses then out of the goodness of your heart and a liberal mayors requirements , rent it out for less than a third of your cost? the only way you might break even is if the tax laws were rewritten to allow you to write off all the cost on your taxes.
They are raising their profit margins to ridiculous numbers, without those taxes,
so you don't have any argument for your policies. They don't work.
No, just like all individual working class people, I cannot afford that. That is only
an option for the owner class, which is roughly 1% to 2% of the population.
They have that 'passive income' through exploitation, which makes it harder
for the bottom 60% of the population to retire at all.
Do you know how I can afford to own and rent out houses?
By working together with (lots of) other working class people.
Better yet, ALL of them. That's called 'public funding'.
You keep showing that you don't understand the concept.
Why is this so difficult for you?
All your arguments boil down to the idea that there are no alternatives for funding 'things', other than those wealthy people who exploit people. There are! It can be the government, it can be well regulated, profit restricted retirement funds and it can be publicly funded non-profit investment funds. It works very well, all over the world.
We had them, only a few decades ago, until our right-wing destroyed them, which resulted in the price of housing skyrocketing.
I told you this many times, but you keep ignoring reality.
Yesterday, you had 4 elections in the US. In all 4 elections, the Democrats won:
New York City Mayor: Zohran Mamdani - Democrat
Virginia Governor: Abigail Spanberger - Democrat
New Jersey Governor: Mikie Sherrill - Democrat
Proposition 50 (California – redistricting): Approved
those states have mostly been democrat for a long time. new jersey has been a bit more diverse than virgina.
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As for new york that place has been fucked up for decades.
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as for california, fuck em, other states can redistrict to and counter act what they did.
sadly politics is good against evil now,and good is going to have to start fighting dirty
You know you are basically arguing with a brick wall. Not to mention 'it' is a failed socialist. I have no idea what that hater of America pronoun's are...hell it may identify as a brick wall.
The point is that it WAS won by Democrats. It may be a brick wall but it was built by the sweat of dissatisfied voters. Voters that think The Clown and his 💩are guiding our country down the drain,
We are not alone. Read this and watch the video as well.
As your Supreme Court judges agreed upon yesterday,
tariffs are taxes; tariffs take money from the American people
and put it into the treasury. This is exactly what is going on now.
for people who are going to lose their Obama care subsidies.
The Trump accounts are meant to help kids both financially for their futures and to teach them investing. Something that doesn't seem to be taught at all in public schools.
You cannot teach kids "investing". You can teach kids about the economy, the financial system, logical thinking, emotional intelligence & self-control, ethics & social responsibility, and practical life skills, like goal-setting and research skills (how to gather information, evaluate sources, and make informed choices).
Investing isn't some trick you can just teach. There are some investment options for people who don't have the skills I just listed, but that is just trusting some big investment firm to invest for you. It can make you some money, but mostly you are lending you their money to make money for the big investment firm. If it goes well, you get some money too, but if it doesn't you take the loss, because the big investment firms do a very job
of taking most of the profits for them and shifting the risk onto the clients.
I was taught early in life and if it weren't for the small investments I have, my life would suck a tiny hind tit for sure
Did ol sleepy joe do this?
Nope.
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The Nobel Committee, a five-member body appointed by the Norwegian Parliament,
is not going to give Trump a prize for trying to steal another country's resources again,
by helping some dictator in power, even if that results in peace (temporarily).
IF they aint fighting, maybe you can get the dictators hooked on making money instead of killing and everyone will be better off then than they are now.
Winning would put Trump in the ranks with Jimmy Carter and Woodrow Wilson and Roosevelt!
The longest Federal government shutdown in history, which deeply impacted employees who have since been made whole, gives us a few things to consider.
The government was closed, and most lives and businesses went on as usual.
There is a lot less government we can live with and save with.
Dang, we have a lot of people on SNAP and Medicaid. If we can use today’s technology to eliminate fraud and abuse, we can help those who qualify with upward mobility.
Whenever the word “funding” comes up, that is the back doorway to say they want more money from you and your neighbors. Occasionally, it makes sense; most of the time, meh.
A small group of people can hold our bloated government hostage.
Among them: roughly 670,000 furloughed employees, and ~730,000 who continued working without pay.
Social safety-net users were also hit hard: about 42 million Americans rely on the food-aid program Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), many of whom experienced benefit delays or disruptions during the shutdown.
Beyond direct government workers or SNAP recipients, many Americans felt economic ripple effects: cancelled flights, disrupted travel, deferred purchases, lost income or income uncertainty, which weighed on consumer confidence and spending.
Great idea, let AI spy on everyone, so you can call the slightest discrepancy fraud,
and destroy those people's lives. This is clearly what people have been asking for.
Americans LOVE government control, and permanent surveillance.
Maybe first start with letting AI check if the wealthy are doing their taxes correctly.
That might result in catching some bigger fish, don't you think?
Trump's fraud alone would easily pay for the SNAP 'fraud' they found.
As for AI checking for fraud, go for it accross the board.find it all.
for lots of, or even most, people. The logical solution is to create the simplest form of healthcare funding, which is a single payer system, that pays for everything that people need, and letting doctors decide what people need.
Just shut the fuck up bitch and fix real problems instead of dredging up shit. Which this particular democrat looks like a man in a dress anyway.
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Of course you ARE all living on stolen land.
You cannot give it back, because most of the original owners were genocided.
And you can also not be proud of building a nation, because the slaves did most of that.
You can still be thankful for the end of the civil war, which meant the preservation of the United States as a single nation and the triumph of freedom and equality for all its people. The values that triumphed with the Union victory were:
- National Unity
- Abolition of Slavery
- Freedom and Human Rights
- Democracy and Constitutional Government
- Communal Responsibility and Compassion
In essence, the values that "won" were the core American ideals of liberty, unity,
and justice for all, even as the nation continued (and still continues) to struggle with
the full implementation of these values.
That's something that America accomplished, instead of stealing it or making others
build it for you. That is the essence of America and what made America great.
And you can be sure that Rep. Ayanna Pressley is thankful for that.
What were African slaves used for?
The colonial South Atlantic and Caribbean economies were particularly dependent on slave labour for the production of sugarcane and other commodities. This was viewed as crucial by those Western European states which were vying with one another to create overseas empires.
Besides the work the slaves did before 1860 has long been replaced,
While difficult to calculate, scholars estimate that much of the physical infrastructure built before 1860 in the American South was built with enslaved labor. Railways were particularly critical infrastructure.
White slaves helped build europe working with your theory, so I want my repreations!
and the original inhabitants murdered or put in reservations.
The slaves were used for the base commodities of the economy.
They produced most of the raw goods. That's what built up America.
The whole argument why slavery couldn't be abandoned was that it was necessary
for the development of America. Obviously America did fine without it, but the South thought it important enough to have a war over it.
Reparations are not based on skin color, but on progeny. For slavery-based reparations, the eligibility criteria would almost certainly be limited to Black Americans who can demonstrate direct lineage to enslaved people in the United States, not all Black people in general.
Europe was built on the backs of poor people, who were almost property,
but they weren't captured in one land and sold as slaves in another.
You love to rewrite history, don't you.
The country "did fine" as you say on the backs of poor southerners that couldn't afford slaves but were punished for simply trying to protect their homes and property and lives.
Carpet bagging, look it up sometime.
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through the early 1900s. It was almost slavery.
I know about carpet bagging, it's when opportunistic Northerners exploited
the poor Southerners. Why do you think I call Trump a carpetbagger?
Is that exploitation? What definition of 'exploitation' is that?
And now most of them see what a big mistake that was.
If you're fired from your job, because Trump called you a DEI hire,
that tends to sting a little bit.
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Ok Tampon Tim, where's yours Bitch!
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His ankles are swollen, which indicates severe Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI), the only thing that was officially disclosed.
There are several videos that show Trump being unable to walk in a straight line, and recently him struggling to walk at all. He is declining too, quite rapidly.
When Biden was in office, you were outraged about the lack of transparency about
his medical condition. I don't see you being concerned about that now. In fact, you swallow their obvious lies hook, line, and sinker.
Look, in this case I’m not saying he’s a good or bad president. I’m just saying that ANY President that is not working with a full deck is a danger to the country.
When Biden would order them to break the law, they would surely reject it.
Trump surrounds himself with completely unqualified, incompetent morons.
They better be loyal to Trump, no matter how stupid the things are that he wants them to do, and they never push back. Trump is ordering people to break the law, while threatening the death penalty if they refuse him. All of these people swore an oath to The Constitution and not to the president, but they are now following orders to break the law. It will require Neurenberg trials after this presidency.
while overdue bills under Trump is a direct result of tariffs and the trade war.
It will become much worse, when the higher health insurance costs start hitting.
You are correct that Amy Klobuchar isn't the sharpest tool in the box.
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while looking away from the country going to shit.
Can you not see how you are losing all sense of reality?
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It's all political theater, to distract you. It's just a grift.
He only says the things he says, because he wants you to believe them.
He turns on a dime, on everything he ever said, if he thinks he can score with it.
He does it all the time, but because you are in a cult, you don't even realize.
Trump only cares about himself and popularity (the 'ratings').
He envies Mamdani for his overwhelming popularity.
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Could it be that it just doesn't Work????
Capitalism works for THEM, because they are the WEALTHY who exploit everyone else.
And if they are still only rich yet, they get paid by the wealthy.
How many times did I tell you that it is shear stupidity to call the Democrats "Socialists!", "Communists!", "Radical left!", "Far left!" and "Marxists!"?
Now you see it for yourself, and then you make some stupid comment about it.
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Like no one thought of them doing that.
In any case, that's a clear admission that he knows that there's lots of Republicans in it.
The first released version will likely be painted black for 80%.
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And liberals want the rest of the country to be more like that!!!????
while Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta are successfully fighting Trump
in court and taking back $168 billion of the money that they are owed, and now you are blaming California for their deficit? Wow, that's dishonest!
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Californians already paid about $275.6 billion more in federal taxes than they received
in federal spending, keeping afloat all those poverty stricken red states, and you have
the nerve to blame them for their Trump induced deficit? Damn!
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Brooke Rollins is a political figure with close ties to Trump. There are plausible motivations for her to frame SNAP-fraud data in a way that aligns with Trump-era policy goals.
Trump at a 47% approval rating
Sadly no where near the highest ever for a president but still, not bad considering the amount of hatred he has to work against everyday and the obstacles he has to over come to do his job..
George bush had the highest ever at 92% after 9-11.
And then you act happy about a positive outlier putting him below 50%. That's funny to me.
Rasmussen’s methodology: They focus on likely voters, and their daily tracking poll is a specific type of sample. Other polls use all adults or registered voters, which can yield different results.
Polling averages show his approval is lower than 47 %. For example:
The polling aggregator Silver Bulletin (built on the work of Nate Silver) reports his approval at about 41.2 % as of Nov 22, 2025.
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A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found his approval at only 38 %
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None.... Trump says it's fixed, so they sit in the dark and cheer.
ALOT OF PEOPLE.
1 would be a engineer to redesign the lightbulb to make it unreliable so it has to be replaced every other day because Edisons bulb works and they are jealous, And besides they want to "create" jobs.
The light bulb changers union would also require a redesign of the ladder used by the certified bulb changing person chosen by committee behind closed doors, to climb in order to reach the bulb, so that his drink can will have a holder and he can then use both hands to change the bulb.
Then it would require a disposal team to make sure all metal was removed from the glass bulb and recycled and the glass be ground and recycled by yet another team.
BUT skipping a few steps such certified bulb transporter persons, certified ladder graspers. and supervision trained in each area of expertise in the bulb changing industry, i would say we are looking at around 100 to 150 people to change that light bulb.,
By the way, who do YOU call Ananas, when you need a bulb changed? I feel sure Leo probably calls the lightbulb changers unions main office and schedules a bulb change.
you and your 2 dollar words.
Spell check is trying to make me look stupid I guess. Must be a liberal run program.
Or does he just sit in the dark?
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Why is this part of US politics?
Because, currently, the US is fucking up the whole globe, not just the maga lunies.
bitten by Rachel Maddow?"
-The Daily Show
You didn't think she was crazy then, just now she opposes the sex offender.
Maybe learn to not pull QAnon lunatics into your ranks.
It's all fun to accuse Democrats of having a pdf file ring,
until you vote for a president who was very much part of it.
Then the people you turned crazy, might turn against you.
Of all the reasons to abandon a politician you once supported, that is a good one.
Don't you think?
You are a socialist. I bet you hate Israel. Deny it if you like. We all know you hate the USA.
I bet your little country would beg for our help if attacked (by almost any country).
Yes, I'm a socialist! No, I do not hate Israel. No, I do not hate Jewish people.
I hate the Netanyahu regime, that has committed a genocide, which has not stopped.
Many Jews, in Israel and all over the world, hate Netanyahu too.
I don't hate the USA, I hate your ideology. Your ideology is anti-American.
You are committing treason towards American values.
When our country is attacked, according to our NATO alliance, that is an attack
on all other NATO allies, including your country. You would be obligated to help.
By the way, your country is doing war posturing right in front of our borders,
because Venezuela is a neighboring country. We don't like it.
Aruba lies less than 15 miles (24 km) from Venezuela's shores.
Curaзao is about 40 miles (65 km) north of Venezuela.
Bonaire is approximately 50 miles (80 km) off the coast.
Yep, now I know who you sound like now...iran's ayatollah.
Iran's ayatollah is a Far-right, ultraconservative, dumb-ass.
You're also a dumb-ass for calling the Democrats "far left".
Damn, you don't know, nor understand, anything!
You know I hate that dyke bitch rm. As for MTG, she is unpredictable.
Remember we too have a few weird ones in the party like liz c, glad she left the party for the time being.
Oh, both MTG and rm probably have some sort of brain injuries beyond their control.
And she makes your president look stupid and evil every day.
And of course you need to use a slur for her being lesbian,
because you're a bigot.
No, MTG is NOT unpredictable. She is doing exactly what is best for her,
long term. She hitched her wagon to Trump when he was hot, and she is now unhooking it, before he drags her into the ravine. She is stupid, but she is not as stupid to believe all the things she is saying. She just panders to stupid people. She is the alt-right candidate, a Neo-Nazi, like Nick Fuentes. Horrible people, who also hitched their wagon to Trump, but who are not in the Trump cult,
like you. They have their own cult, and they want to take over, when your cult crumbles. That's what MTG is preparing for.
Almost all Republican politicians voted to release the Epstein files.
That's them doing the same as MTG; unhooking their wagon from Trump.
Trump showed no loyalty towards ANY of them EVER, so they will kick him down when the time comes. If that happens, and MTG takes over, you will be licking
her feet in no time.
You only say it now because your dear leader says so.
You have no independent thinking.
You just say what the dictator says.
Never did anything positive for the people she represents. But, that's the type of people your side is voting for. You like the dumb, hateful rhetoric, and you have no idea
what they are actually doing.
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I hope they can recover at least Some of the money she took.
that is money that could have helped Helen victims last year.
The deal was signed in 2005 by BUSH, and is STILL putting people out of work today 20 friggen years later.
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America first damn it.
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TACO
Focus on what we can grow,focus on what we NEED, not want. Coffee at star bucks is a want because of the taste and caffeine, but it is not what we need. We need clean pure water, milk, and natural fruit and berry juices.But when you have a bunch of damn liberal idiots willing to gather up in a snooty place called starbucks and pay stupid prices for coffee, you create the problem
-Bill Maher
That also may explain why the nieghbor down the road started growing Zucchini's!
He doesn't have to face anyone personally. He doesn't even see the death bodies.
The most cowardly person in the world can do that. (and is)
Thr cost of health care for millions of Americans is going up.
They could soon see huge spikes in their insurance premiums.
Of all people, it's the far right-wing conspiracy theorist Marjorie Greene who says she, and millions of other people, shouldn't pay higher premiums. Millions can't afford it and they'll die.
Trump said: “Everybody’s got to be covered … I am going to take care of everybody.
I don’t care if it costs me votes or not. Everybody’s going to be taken care of much better than they’re taken care of now.”
When asked who would pay, he responded: “The government’s gonna pay for it.”
He added that his plan would still involve private plans, with competition:
“It’s going to be a private plan … people are going to be able to go out and negotiate great plans … they can have their doctors … they can have plans … everything.”
As president-elect, Trump told the Washington Post:
“We’re going to have insurance for everybody. … There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.”
Feb 13, 2025 – Trump signed an Executive Order to establish the “Make America Healthy Again Commission.”. According to the White House fact sheet, the commission will investigate major causes of chronic disease in America, “prioritize gold-standard research,” and develop strategies to improve health coverage flexibility.
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Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” includes about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years.
According to ITEP, more than 70% of the net tax cuts go to the richest 20% of Americans.
ITEP also says the richest 5% alone will get 45% of the new tax cuts.
For the top 1%, ITEP estimates they’ll receive total tax cuts of $1.02 trillion over 10 years.
The Americans for Tax Fairness group claims Trump’s plan would cut “nearly $2 trillion from health care, mostly Medicaid.”
The CBO estimates those changes could leave 10+ million people uninsured.
Conclusion: Trump is taking away healthcare for 10+ million Americans,
to give the richest people in the US some more money.
Is that what he promised the American people?
We just had an election in the Netherlands. Healthcare was a very important topic. We had at least 6 parties debate their healthcare plans clearly. All parties had their programs analyzed, so the Dutch people can clearly understand the impact of their vote on healthcare. Some parties invest in lower costs for the people, other parties cut expenses and reduce what the basic insurance will cover.
MAGA Americans don't know shit. They refuse to understand that cutting billions
from taxes funding healthcare will make their insurance premiums higher and their coverage lower. Either they believe in fairy-tales or they just like to be lied to.
They voted for a president who clearly does the opposite of what he promised,
and they like it. I come from a country where promises matter.
They're hopeless.
Even when they get royally
screwed they still support those
who fuck them up.
This is rare to find in
European countries.
Also, being a Republican politician is SOOOO EASY.
You lot don't want anything and believe such childish lies.
Hurting people is your ONLY demand, and that's EASY.
That's not so good for maga...
The *Republican*-led U.S. Congress voted overwhelmingly in favour of forcing the Justice Department to release its files on the late sex offender.
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If the files are innocent, why did trump not want their release?
Why did the lunatic MTG disagree?
How do you think phart will react to that?
Oh, yes, I know.
He'll blame the far left or something for drugging all but one republicans.
Hope deep will phart bury his head into the ground like an ostrich?
Trump ,unlike you and others, has enough sense to know this is all a big distraction and so what if his name in in there, the rest of the names are probably those you don't want out there.like DEMOCRATS. the free for fuck it alls
-Trump promises to lower grocery prices "on day one".
-Tariffs do not cause food prices to rise.
-When tariffs went on the food items the price rose.
-Tariffs are now coming off some food items in order to lower prices.
Conclusion: Donald Trump finally got it through his thick head that when the cost to the importer goes up, the cost to the consumer goes up.
as the world's principal reserve currency.
By the way, do you want to sell me some fine Canadian products?
You can also come to Europe for your winter vacation.
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and you don't care about anything good happening under a Democrat.
I just don't understand what you are voting for then.
Do you understand that politicians should represent you, not the other way around?
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Never heard of these sources but oh man, if this has 1 ounce of truth to it, wouldn't that be sweet? Prove the democrats to be the real crooks!
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Or you say goodbye to the small bit of production industry, you still had.
It's only 10% of the GDP, who cares? You cannot compete with China anyway.
As for American workers, I have yet to understand what gives the people nowadays the notion they are better than to do actual work than others like immigrants. EVEN YOU should be able to see that when folks check into a motel ,it is never white Americans working there, they are always from over seas. There is dignity in work, our ancestors understood it, why it hasn't been taught now I don't know.
Immigrants are the liberals replacements for slaves, that is the bottom line.
Some of their good products are kept from you, by your government.
There are often good reasons for it, like China using forced labor.
But, some of it is just protectionism. That might not even be a bad strategy.
However, if they have access to the cheapest electricity in the world, because
they make the best solar panels at the best price, it is not smart to keep them away
from our manufacturing, because then they pay more for electricity. That's a setback
that puts us further behind.
There is no dignity to the people who work in motels, it's exploitation. No American can life of that wage, but immigrants are forced to, out of desperation.
If you want Americans to do those jobs, you need to exploit them less, because that is bad for the economy. Those people cannot spend anything, can only live in slums, cannot afford children or if they have them accidentally, they cannot afford a decent education. Then you are losing against China even more, because they have armies of well educated, highly motivated, young people, to fill any technical position.
I'm saying this about the US, but it's getting more applicable to my country fast.
We are not educating our young people enough for the highly technical jobs.
Young people more often choose Business Administration, Commercial Economics, Finance, Medicine, Nursing, Psychology, Communication, Marketing, HR, Social Studies, Design, Media, Music, Gaming, Tourism, Pedagogy, Cybersecurity, Embedded Systems, AI Engineering, etc.
They keep pulling away to those educations, while the demand for technically educated people is skyrocketing, because we want to be less dependent on China.
I see it in my own work environment. Many of my new colleagues are from another country. I'm surprised if one gets introduced in Dutch to me. I speak more English
than Dutch at work. If the right-wingers in my country win big, and actually stop immigration and sends these people back, my employer can close up shop.
Meanwhile, the right-wing has NO strategy to invest in automation for when they stop the refugees from the horrible countries, who do the lower skilled work now, nor do they have a strategy to invest in technical education, to replace the expats who are filling
the technical jobs now. It's just blind short-term thinking: "We don't like immigrants!".
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**state
who takes your bribes and sells out his people, by selling off
the rights to the oil to some American oil company.
The Venezuelan people will get nothing, because
the American oil company and it's shareholders will
take everything. That's what your country always does,
when it goes into some country, 'to fix the place'.
The drugs story is just an excuse to take take their oil.
Remember how Trump said "I would have taken the oil" about Iraq?
The US had no fucking reason to attack Iraq, but Trump wanted
to take their oil, to pay for your war against an innocent country.
That speaks a lot about his morality and his intent with Venezuela.
NYC is over 75% democratic voters and incredibly liberal residents
They voted for a 34 year old trust fund socialist with no real life work experience
It’s going to be hysterical watching NYC circle the drain over the next 4 yea
The way I look at it, the liberals think it is ok to expect coal miners and oil pipe line workers to find other jobs, so why not folks that cater to travelers?
As of late 2025, Walt Disney World Resort has approximately 80,000 employees, while Universal Orlando Resort has about 32,000 employees.
Those are sad numbers,
There are over 281,008 pipe welders currently employed in the United States. 4.0% of all pipe welders are women, while 96.0% are men. The average pipe welder age is 40 years old.
As of February 2023, there are 72.1k people employed in the Oil and Gas Extraction industry.
And with this number, bare in mind alot of cities and states are restricting natural gas,
Over 3.4 million jobs are connected to the direct use of natural gas in the United States and over 83% of this work happens within local communities.
So I guess in you folks eyes, these people can go to work at mcdonalds? These are people that SWEAT and do MANUAL labor for a living. Not stamping wrist and putting on costumes and answering phones.
If No one came here from overseas or over the border, we would still need to mine coal, pump oil and so forth.
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Watch this space.
You can be to the right of fucking Dzjengis Khan,
and still know that Trump is a filthy pe.do.
You wouldn't care, but you would still know.
Oh damn, I just described you.
Venezuela has the worlds largest oil reserves
so of course the US must have that.
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How about your principle of not taking what doesn't belong to you?
but it seems they want to sell dope behind our backs, to hell with them.
So the drug war has been taken to the shores of the invader
Colombia’s role is much larger, especially in production, while Venezuela
plays a more limited but still significant transit (and potentially processing) role.
The US just wants to end the Maduro government, because he nationalized, restricted and weaponized the oil exports to your country, because the US was extorting them. The US doesn't want their oil at a 'reasonable price', but very cheap. In response, of Maduro nationalizing THEIR oil, the US tried to force regime change for your buddy Juan Guaidу. To push Venezuela on their knees, the US sanctioned their oil. Because that doesn't work like you hoped, Trump has made up this lie,
that Venezuela is somehow the worst offender when it comes to drugs cartels
in South America.
It's a repeat of the US attacking Iraq, in relation to 9/11.
Why waste a reason to attack who you want to attack, even if it's false.
It's easy to sell a lie to Americans, because they don't inform themselves.
Then there are people like you, who want to believe Trump's lies and ignore him
when he runs his mouth, and tells you his real intentions.
I can get that poison easily, but I don't.
What about people's personal responsibility?
By the way, it's nonsense, because those boats don't even have the range to reach you.
They are are being targeted thousands of miles away from the U.S. mainland.
Is that an argument for not funding it anymore?
Even if the claim itself is true, and lots of them were not,
it's still only a tiny fraction of the money.
The investigation reportedly lasted 11 months and involved the United States Secret Service, the Ohio Investigative Unit (which enforces SNAP fraud laws in Ohio),
and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food & Nutrition Service.
That's looking with a microscope, and they only found $100k that they can point to
as fraud. Congratulations on wasting this huge effort on peanuts, while every single billionaire is scamming the taxpayer consistently for billions.
A judge found Trump and his companies liable in a years-long scheme of inflating
asset values (for banks/insurance) and ordered a penalty of $355 million.
A review by House Judiciary Committee Democrats found that Trump’s pardons,
by canceling restitution payments owed to victims, could cost victims and ultimately taxpayers about $1.3 billion.
You couldn't care less. You only care if some poor people might have received
a couple of dollars too much.
Why are all of the senators at house representatives being paid now for not doing their jobs yet so many others are not?
I think a little rule change would help resolve this problem quicker the next time it happens, and it will. How about if all senators and all of the house representatives including their staff do not get paid during a shutdown? I include their staff because the people in power would be more inclined to be personally affected when their staff is not being paid because of their actions. Also their staff interacts with them every day and would definitely be doing what they can to end the shutdown.
A nice simple way to resolve the problem a lot quicker regardless of which party is in power.
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phart what do you think?
But you have a point, I think all the senators and representatives should receive no pay as long as they have the government is shutdown.
Let us take a closer look, Who shut the government down? Let me help you, libtard democrats and radicals.
I know and I bet you know that Trump would never sign off on supporting illegal aliens with free government help.
I am a lot like him, I would not cave on that bullshit. My only complaint is he is not removing these illegal sob lawbreakers fast enough. They came here illegally, thus lawbreakers.
Oh, how many boats have been blown to hell? Sorry I lost count. I do hope it increases though.
I suggest you shut up.
The shut down should never have happened.
But it did.
And folks need to accept the reasons why and move forward.
Non citizens benefiting from tax dollars needs to stop, thus, alot of the problems and disagreements would stop.
I will go as far as to say neither body of government should get any time off until they present a BALANCED BUDGET to the President for his signature. that would force both sides to get rid of the pork and waste
President Trump gave $20 billion to Argentina during the shutdown. Based on his America first policy that he has been touting since his return to office, do you think this money would have been better spent to pay working government employees in general?
Do you also think that part of that $20 billion should have gone to pay low income Americans who are recipients of the SNAP benefits as well?
I also want the snap checked over for fraud.
um, sadly looks like it will go away in 2026
The U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization shall be headed by the USDS Administrator and shall be dedicated to advancing the President's 18-month DOGE agenda. The U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization shall terminate on July 4, 2026.Jan 20, 2025
that even he cannot be forgiven for.
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".. you just lie a lot .."
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If Tucker is motivated to do a good job, he's a damn good interviewer.
NORWAY - 0
UK - 0
FRANCE - 0
SPAIN - 0
DENMARK - 0
ICELAND - 0
ITALY - 0
FINLAND - 0
IRELAND - 0
GERMANY - 0
NETHERLANDS - 0
SWEDEN - 0
JAPAN - 0
UNITED STATES - 643K
Fake news of the radical left.
I think the answer to my question is TMTC.
The same things they are still suffering from?
You just replaced one demented old fool for a worse one.
This old demented fool is destroying people's healthcare and social security.
Americans will suffer and die much more because of him.
Go ahead, Tecsan. Reason 1. Reason 2. Let's talk about the economy. Let's talk about all the extra taxes (tariffs) we are paying. Come on, sweety, let me have it. Tell me how my health insurance would have doubled if the old fart, Biden or if Harris would have been elected.
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Nearly 70 percent of the Dutch population live in owner-occupied homes. This puts the Netherlands at the bottom of the ranking in the European Union.
57.6% of the country's 28.8 million main homes are owned by their inhabitants.france
US homeownership rate was 65.2%,
So uh, ok we don't have free health care, but your citizens don't own anymore homes than ours. And i aint even looked at tax rates yet that cover the health care you have that "prevents" the bankruptcy's.
my current situation is going to cost me about 5500 bucks out of pocket, the other 50 grand+ will be covered by insurance provided by my employer i was retired from. Medical insurance is called a benefit you get from your employer IF YOU WORK for a living and earn it.
You, Phart, always hint people are lazy and that they don’t work. About 63% of the work force either have a job or are actively looking for work.
"Approximately 80,000 visits to U.S. health care facilities by Canadians occur each year, but most are for emergency care, not elective procedures." A lot of them are "snowbirds", Canadians, who migrate from the colder northern regions of North America to warmer southern destinations during the winter months. Millions of Canadians vacation or spend winters in the U.S.. Accidents and illnesses happen, and the nearest hospital is often the only immediate option. Their Canadian provincial insurance covers very little (sometimes only a fraction of the actual cost), so these travelers rely heavily on private travel insurance.
That means they are not crossing the border for YOUR healthcare, they are IN your country when they need healthcare and then are stuck with yours.
However, in some border areas, the nearest U.S. hospital is geographically closer than the nearest Canadian one. For genuine emergencies, people go to the closest facility.
A small, wealthy minority may travel for a non-emergency procedure to access specific cutting-edge treatments, particular specialists, or bypass Canadian wait times. However, this number is a small fraction of the 80,000 visits.
So, there is only a small bit of truth to your claim. I have told you before that American healthcare is ONLY good for VERY RICH people.
[In 2024, the Dutch government paid $118 Billion for healthcare related expenses.
It goes to:
- The Long-term Care Act (Wlz - Wet langdurige zorg): Care for vulnerable elderly people and people with a chronic illness or disability is largely paid from general funds.
- Youth Act and Social Support Act (Wmo - Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning): This care falls under the responsibility of municipalities, but is funded by the national government via the Municipalities Fund, which also comes from tax money.
- Healthcare allowance (Zorgtoeslag): The government pays a healthcare allowance to people with a low income to help them pay the nominal premium for healthcare insurance, which is an indirect contribution from taxes to the healthcare system.
- Income-related contribution (IAB - Inkomensafhankelijke bijdrage): Although this is called a "contribution", it is paid by employers or benefit agencies and flows via the Health Insurance Fund (Zvf) back into healthcare, which is a form of collective financing via a levy.]
ALL other care is paid for by our health insurances. My monthly premium is $194,11.
If I have an emergency, I pay NOTHING, it's all covered by my insurance. For all non-emergency care, I pay at maximum $444 in a year. My premium includes a small supplemental insurance package, which costs me less than $100/year, but pays me $173 for part of my chiropractor costs.
Your situation would cost our insurance $6,470. Our hospitals are more affordable, but provide a better quality of service than yours. However, that is considered a medical necessity. The base insurance covers it, and it will cost the patient $444. If they need anything else that is covered by the base insurance, it would be fully covered.
We don't get our health insurance from our employer, we pay for it ourselves.
We don't lose our insurance when we lose our job. Employers cannot use health insurance as a negotiation tactic, when we negotiate wages and other benefits.
The US does have lower taxes, but we get lots of tax returns, if we have a low income. And higher income people often own their home, which allows them to deduct their mortgage rent.
Don't forget that the US government also pays for healthcare with tax-dollars.
are renting their home.
As I told you before, The Netherlands HAD a very good system of public housing. The social rental sector was massive, reaching over 40% of the total housing stock by 1990. In cities like Amsterdam, this share was even higher. Most social housing was owned and managed by "woningcorporaties" (Non-Profit Housing Associations), which operated under a strict regulatory framework and were heavily dependent on government financial support. These housing associations were created after the war, to build a large number of affordable homes to address post-war housing shortages.
My girlfriend and I lived in one of those social houses for 9 years. The rent was $380/month. It enabled us to improve ourselves, save up a lot of money, and buy a house.
Many people cannot afford to buy a house. Also a lot of people never wanted to.
Many people will regret not buying a house when we did, because the rent has at least doubled and the price of owner-occupied houses almost doubled in less than 20 years, because the right-wing parties privatized the housing market.
We would never be able to buy our house anymore, if we tried today. We have an income between 1.5x and 2x the median. We would be able to get a mortgage of up to about Ђ375,000 ($432,776). There are still houses being sold at that price, but not a lot and not ours. The mortgage would be Ђ1700/month ($1962), which would be Ђ1264 ($1459) after tax returns, if we started today. Those tax returns decline to 0 in 30 years.
However, because we bought that house in 2008/2009, and paid off a lot, our mortgage payments are now $473/month, and we still get $189 mortgage interest deduction.
That means that the $284/month we pay now is less than our rent back then.
He doesn't realise, for instance, that the Dutch don't care to own a property because renting is just as good.
I rent too and I'm very happy. Owning is a headache.
something as simple as having a vineyard for your grape vines for jellies, your garden soil that takes years to prep to get a good harvest, your hobbies? How can you have a hobby that requires a garage with stationary equipment if you don't own the building-land? how can you have live stock on rental property for milk ,eggs ,meat?
How do you folks live and actually have any concept of peace of mind ,happiness, security anything? If you rent ,you are dependent on someone for everything ,including the roof over your heads!
I can't help the dutch don't want the peace of mind of owning where they live.
"Not knowing where you might be living in 4 months" Not in my country.
Our renting system might be broken, but not like that.
We still have laws to protect people from that.
It's also not a choice for most people. There is no IF you rent.
When you are not rich enough, you rent, or you live in a tent.
That's because right-wing governments fucked up our social housing.
Since just 2010, wages climbed by 8%, while social rent house prizes climbed by 22%.
However, many of the social rent houses have been sold.
Many of them were bought up by private renters, which are MUCH more expensive.
The average rental price in the private sector varies, but in the fourth quarter of 2024
it was around Ђ1730 ($1997) per month, or Ђ18.01 ($20,79) per square meter.
That, combined with far too few houses having been built, exploded the prices.
The price of an average home was Ђ239,530 ($276,365) in 2010.
The price of an average home is around Ђ486,000 ($560,681) in 2025.
(They didn't become bigger. What they mostly build now is apartments)
I saw it coming, so I bought my house in 2008/2009, at Ђ265,000 bare ($305,710).
Neighbors are selling their house for Ђ475,000 ($547,970), but we are expecting
that people will overbid that.
Everything is great in my country, for people who have enough money.
It just takes more and more money, every year, to beat the onslaught.
Too many people, who were lucky to do that, don't realize that they did.
Still, they feel the problems around them, and are misplacing blame.
They are thinking: "Our country is great, why are you complaining?
I made it, so why don't you? Go get an education and get a job!"
They don't see that people with a higher education than them,
will never be able to reach the same living standard as they did.
And the only reason is that they are just 10-20 years younger.
That's the difference, only 10-20 years.
The problem is that both the young people who are living it,
and the older people who saw it develop, don't understand it.
It requires some knowledge of politics and economics, and they don't bother.
They only listen to some loudmouth who blames immigration.
They don't want to know the cause of it, just want to stop it.
And then they think people like me LIKE immigration. WHY would I?
I think we NEED to help desperate people, but I DON'T like it.
I want to improve the world, so there are LESS desperate people.
I prefer to help desperate people, without helping them directly.
I want to improve the system, so they can help themselves.
Other people just want to close their eyes for their existence.
They don't understand that it's a sure way to let the world go to shit,
so you'll end up yourself as one of those desperate people.
It's only a matter of time, before the people who beat the onslaught,
also don't manage to beat it anymore.
It is really hard to have to live with such ignorant people.
Mostly, because it's very difficult to SOLVE the very problems
that they are angry about, even immigration, when there are
too many people who don't understand, that you need to understand
the CAUSE of a problem, if you want to FIX a problem.
What's the common root cause of most of those problems, you ask?
Mostly; exploitation and authoritarianism, the very ideals many support.
One thing you overlooked is that we are all human and prone to mistakes.
Some learn from them and those like you that think your way is the best. socialism = failure.
My country had its fastest development, when it was the most socialist.
My country had the biggest accumulation of problems under right-wingers.
It's the Dutch voters who should learn from their mistakes.
Your country had its “The Golden Age of Capitalism”, “The Postwar Boom”,
roughly from 1945 till 1973. That was actually your MOST SOCIALIST period.
Your economy grew rapidly because of very left-leaning policies.
This was the time when:
- Wages rose along with productivity, so the middle class flourished.
- Unions were strong and represented a large share of workers.
- Income inequality was historically low.
- The government invested heavily in public infrastructure, education, housing,
and science (e.g., the GI Bill, Interstate Highway System, and NASA).
1) High Taxes on the Wealthy
The top marginal income tax rate was over 90% during the 1950s under Republican president Eisenhower.
Corporate taxes were also much higher than today.
These taxes funded public infrastructure, education, and research.
2) Strong Labor Unions
Over one-third of workers were union members in the 1950s.
Unions negotiated better wages, pensions, and working conditions.
Collective bargaining helped distribute productivity gains fairly.
3) Massive Government Investment
The federal government financed housing for veterans, college education (GI Bill), scientific research, and public works.
These policies expanded the middle class and built national wealth.
4) Regulation and Antitrust Enforcement
Industries like banking, transportation, and energy were tightly regulated.
Antitrust laws prevented monopolies and protected small businesses.
This created a competitive but stable capitalist system.
5) Social Safety Nets
Expansion of Social Security, unemployment insurance, and public healthcare programs (later including Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960s).
These reduced poverty and stabilized consumer demand.
6) Progressive Consensus
Both major parties (Democrats and Republicans) largely accepted the New Deal consensus — the idea that capitalism should be managed to serve broad social welfare, not just corporate profit.
Your MAGA hats, Make America Great Again, are referring to your most SOCIALIST period in history, and dumb-asses like you are unable to LEARN FROM IT.
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To be clear, I wanted them to blow those little venezuela boats to hell.
Good way to get that Nobel Peace Prize, General Bone Spurs!
And DESTROYS Her Business
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BREAKING: Florida’s Job Market COLLAPSE in 2025
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$12.5B Paradise MELTDOWN - Florida’s Tourism Industry Is on the Verge of Total Collapse
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Florida Is Facing the Biggest Collapse in U.S. History
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Florida’s Tourism Collapse: Florida’s Economic Disaster Explained in 10 Minutes
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Floridians are hurtling towards economic disaster
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Had florida built it's economy on manufacturing a necessary product or a service people can't be without, better LONG TERM results would happen.
Government run, people leave and are mad, people run, people leave and are mad.
It will come out in the long term as more snow birds seek warm weather over 35 inches of snow.
The only problem is making people see the consequences of what they voted for.
the state is finding out what happens when young people
are not able to afford living there anymore.
Maybe an economy can survive on just service jobs, from old money paying for it,
but people don't want to drive several hours per day to those jobs. When the service people leave, the old people leave too. They are not taking care of themselves.
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So now, a landlord might be forced to rent a building that is in great shape to a low end business that will do much more damage than the rent will cover to repair then either leave the place all fucked up, or stop paying rent and take months to evict. Not a good equation.
If you want to fill store fronts, reduce the cost of building materials ,maintaince and electricity cost. then the landlord can reduce the rent and still make a profit, which is the entire point of being a landlord.
You gobble up all the propaganda from the wealthy they feed you.
IF citys want to fix empty building problems, citys should rent the buildings and use them for shelters, and office staff. instead of doing like our local citys and let large buildings rot while they spend millions building taj mahals.
The 'empty building problems' in cities are the result of people not being able to afford those buildings, neither for renting nor owning.
"just because someone can afford a bulding,liberals think folks should live in it free and tear it up and leave it to others to fix"
BULLSHIT! Capitalist policies have resulted in unaffordable homes and the 'empty building problems' and people are now voting for Zohran Mamdani types, because they have good ideas to force the owners to rent out their property at an affordable price.
The owners prefer to create scarcity, to leave buildings empty, to jack up the price, rather than renting them out at a reduced price. A penalty on doing that can 'fix it'.
Why can you only think in stupid straw-men? You're indoctrinated.
For a median-priced U.S. home (around $402,500) and assuming a 20% down payment + standard lending ratios, the required annual income is about US$ 118,530 (2023). That means the median family cannot afford the median house. Only 20-22% of the American families can afford the median house.
The billionaires will own more and more and everyone else will own less and less,
until you start taxing wealth significantly.
It's simple economics; what are the billionaires doing with their money?
They are BUYING 'things', that are providing them with passive income,
like houses, factories and farms.
Who are they buying from? House owners, land owners, factory owners
and farm owners.
Then those former owners are now paying rent or part of their profits,
to the new owners; the billionaires or private equity owned by billionaires.
That passive income makes the billionaires ever richer, and everyone else,
who used to own something, is now paying the billionaires to use it.
Then the billionaires have even more money to buy 'things'.
You will have trillionaires soon. They don't let those trillions go to waste in a bank,
they will BUY MORE 'THINGS'.
It's simple economics. Is it so simple that you understand it?
American family owned farms are in big trouble, due to Trump's tariffs. Bankruptcy filings specifically for family-farm restructuring (Chapter 12) are rising: 216 Chapter 12 filings in 2024, and early 2025 figures show 259 filings between April 2024–March 2025.
Then the billionaires or their private equity comes in and buys them up.
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Those farmers voted for Trump and now they are losing their farms. FAFO.
Passive income is how people retire early instead of working till they are 90.
So why don't YOU go take out a loan for that median priced home and then rent it out for 1000 dollars a month?
Could you afford to do that?
No strawman, I am talking about YOU buying a second house, maintaining it ,paying all the taxes and expenses then out of the goodness of your heart and a liberal mayors requirements , rent it out for less than a third of your cost? the only way you might break even is if the tax laws were rewritten to allow you to write off all the cost on your taxes.
so you don't have any argument for your policies. They don't work.
No, just like all individual working class people, I cannot afford that. That is only
an option for the owner class, which is roughly 1% to 2% of the population.
They have that 'passive income' through exploitation, which makes it harder
for the bottom 60% of the population to retire at all.
Do you know how I can afford to own and rent out houses?
By working together with (lots of) other working class people.
Better yet, ALL of them. That's called 'public funding'.
You keep showing that you don't understand the concept.
Why is this so difficult for you?
All your arguments boil down to the idea that there are no alternatives for funding 'things', other than those wealthy people who exploit people. There are! It can be the government, it can be well regulated, profit restricted retirement funds and it can be publicly funded non-profit investment funds. It works very well, all over the world.
We had them, only a few decades ago, until our right-wing destroyed them, which resulted in the price of housing skyrocketing.
I told you this many times, but you keep ignoring reality.
besides simplistic thinking as "A enemy of a free country".
It's just a stupid straw-man, not an actual argument.
I am a socialist. What am I ignoring?
What freedom are you giving up, if you replace the wealthy people who exploit you with public funding from the bottom up?
New York City Mayor: Zohran Mamdani - Democrat
Virginia Governor: Abigail Spanberger - Democrat
New Jersey Governor: Mikie Sherrill - Democrat
Proposition 50 (California – redistricting): Approved
Americans are done with the MAGA traitors.
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As for new york that place has been fucked up for decades.
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as for california, fuck em, other states can redistrict to and counter act what they did.
sadly politics is good against evil now,and good is going to have to start fighting dirty
He should be in prison for his treason, the second time.
I know you believe bullshit. There is nothing I can do about that.
Canada talked big a few months ago, um, how does it feel now?
As your Supreme Court judges agreed upon yesterday,
tariffs are taxes; tariffs take money from the American people
and put it into the treasury. This is exactly what is going on now.
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They don't want to be your cuck, because that would hurt more.
he is just a mayor but look what these folks demand that he do.
crazy