CdnFox Posted February 23 Report Posted February 23 37 minutes ago, Aristides said: Respect is a two way street. Don't expect it if you aren't prepared to show it. Doesn't that mean we have to show up if we expect it then? I'm just not convinced that hostility is entirely the way to go Quote
eyeball Posted February 23 Report Posted February 23 3 hours ago, Videospirit said: Mutual respect is not the only thing to warrant respect. Respect for power and authority are also valid reasons, so while the US has tossed Mutual Respect out the window, we still have reason to respect their power. Trump wants our fear. 1 Quote A government without public oversight is like a nuclear plant without lead shielding.
CdnFox Posted February 23 Report Posted February 23 2 hours ago, eyeball said: Trump wants our fear. That much we can agree on. I think we should show respect to American people if not trump or the American government, but not out of fear. We're in a good position as far as that goes, america is bigger and stronger than we are but trump has midterms. And the American people wants stability and prosperity after the years of inflation and out of control spending, they don't want war. If war happens and it affects them trump will be in danger Which means we don't actually have to win a war with the Americans. We just have to hang on long enough and do enough damage that we don't lose. And we can do that 1 Quote
cannuck Posted March 6 Report Posted March 6 Put me square into the "cut them some slack" camp. The US is $37 trillion in debt - a debt that has to be serviced by a very broken economy. Wall Street speculators have taken over the government and economy and pay next to nothing in tax for the trillions they pocket. The government mechanism has bloated to the point of sinking the ship. Many industries left the country long ago and those that remain must bear the burden of oppressive regulation and enforcement that results in an army of lawyers and insurance execs bleeding of what little profit is left. Wealth is not being and can not be created by redistribution - whether under socialist or casino capitalist mechanisms - it can only come from actually producing goods and required services. IMHO the first signal that the status quo of government-by-finance-and-banking is going wrong was when Brexit took place. Handing off the legislative, regulatory and enforcement to masses of bureaucrats simply doesn't work. Nations have national cultures that MUST be observed and respected to survive. The US has become much more like an EU and wokism, illegal immigration, bloat of government, runaway drug dependence, and on, and on it goes make for a powder keg - and Donald Trump is lighting the fuse. Always remember - he was actually elected - unlike his personal hero in Moscow. Quote
Barquentine Posted March 6 Report Posted March 6 2 hours ago, cannuck said: Many industries left the country long ago Why did they leave? To increase the shareholder's profits. And while they may make promises or token gestures to "America First", they'll continue to go where the profits are. Quote
User Posted March 6 Report Posted March 6 10 minutes ago, Barquentine said: Why did they leave? To increase the shareholder's profits. And while they may make promises or token gestures to "America First", they'll continue to go where the profits are. They leave to provide a cheaper product and to remain competitive. This is not only an American thing, this is a world wide thing where countries do not enact other protective measures on industry. Quote
Moonbox Posted March 6 Report Posted March 6 3 hours ago, cannuck said: The US is $37 trillion in debt - a debt that has to be serviced by a very broken economy. Wall Street speculators have taken over the government and economy and pay next to nothing in tax for the trillions they pocket. By broken, you mean the strongest in the world? That's not what's broken. It's their government and their politics that are. There are two sides to finance: revenue and expenditure. US news media and politicians have been able to delude their voters into the myth of trickle-down economics for the last ~40 years, and the results have been predictable. Trump's 2017 tax cuts led to record-low (non recession) revenues, and he's about to compound the problem and make it far worse. The rich have become far richer, the middle-class has been squeezed, and US federal finances are a looming disaster. This is self-inflected pain. 1 Quote "A man is no more entitled to an opinion for which he cannot account than he does for a pint of beer for which he cannot pay" - Anonymous
User Posted March 6 Report Posted March 6 34 minutes ago, Moonbox said: By broken, you mean the strongest in the world? That's not what's broken. It's their government and their politics that are. There are two sides to finance: revenue and expenditure. US news media and politicians have been able to delude their voters into the myth of trickle-down economics for the last ~40 years, and the results have been predictable. Trump's 2017 tax cuts led to record-low (non recession) revenues, and he's about to compound the problem and make it far worse. The rich have become far richer, the middle-class has been squeezed, and US federal finances are a looming disaster. This is self-inflected pain. Except, revenues are up. They continued to go up, even after the tax cuts. The issue is spending. After those tax cuts, we continued to spend. Both Republicans and Democrats, increased spending by hundreds of billions of dollars during Trumps term. Then we had the pandemic, and we all teamed up to spend trillions more we didn't have. Then Biden was elected and the Democrats spent trillions more again in increases we did not have. Even then, long before Trump, Obama was spending us into the ground as was Bush. Spending is the problem. Quote
cannuck Posted March 6 Report Posted March 6 2 hours ago, Moonbox said: By broken, you mean the strongest in the world? Let me take a wild guess that you have never owned or operated a manufacturing business that has to compete internationally? If you were to do so, you would know that the costs of compliance with the myriad of regulations, and the insurance to protect you from the massive army of ambulance chasers and the management compensation to compete with the incredibly distorted industry standards means you simply can't compete from a US base. Add to that that in some industries, the talent pool to be effective is no longer there. Quote
Moonbox Posted March 6 Report Posted March 6 2 hours ago, User said: Except, revenues are up. They continued to go up, even after the tax cuts. Nominally, yes, and I'm sure that helps you wrap yourself in your comfy Trumpian fantasy. Relatively speaking, adjusted for inflation and GDP growth, federal revenue is down, while expenses have grown with a growing (and aging) population. Four years from now, when the tax cuts have blown up US deficits further, when the goofy tariffs don't pay for anything and Elon's clown parade at DOGE don't deliver anywhere near the cuts they say they will, you'll still be blaming Biden! 🤣 1 Quote "A man is no more entitled to an opinion for which he cannot account than he does for a pint of beer for which he cannot pay" - Anonymous
User Posted March 6 Report Posted March 6 5 minutes ago, Moonbox said: Nominally, yes, and I'm sure that helps you wrap yourself in your comfy Trumpian fantasy. Relatively speaking, adjusted for inflation and GDP growth, federal revenue is down, while expenses have grown with a growing (and aging) population. Four years from now, when the tax cuts have blown up US deficits further, when the goofy tariffs don't pay for anything and Elon's clown parade at DOGE don't deliver anywhere near the cuts they say they will, you'll still be blaming Biden! 🤣 I give you facts. It is not the tax cuts blowing up the debt; it is the continued out-of-control spending, which, has far exceeded inflation, as you falsely claim it is not. I blame Biden for exactly what he is to blame for. The massive spending he engaged in. I also blamed Bush, Obama, and Trump too. Quote
cannuck Posted March 13 Report Posted March 13 On 3/6/2025 at 10:17 AM, Barquentine said: Why did they leave? To increase the shareholder's profits. And while they may make promises or token gestures to "America First", they'll continue to go where the profits are. In many cases it is to be profitable at all - i.e. to survive. I look at this through the eyes of one of the companies I work with in aerospace. We will NEVER produce within the US since to do so - or even try to do so in our little sector all but one company in the last 30 years that has tried to enter "through the FAA front door" has burned through tens of millions EACH and ended up bankrupt. Between government, insurance and lawyers it is simply not a place we could ever likely make our product, and if we were to be that one in a dozen that DID succeed, our pricing would be (just as with our one and only successful competitor in this space) ridiculously uncompetitive due not only to cost - but also engineering features locked in by the certification process. Now that reality TV has arrived back in the White House, we can all see how ridiculous what normally goes on from the back room can actually get. Seems nobody down there ever did HS history class and are blissfully unaware of what Smoot-Hawley did to deepen the last Great Depression - so are bound to repeat it once more. Worth noting the 2025 economy looks very much like that of 1925 - where speculative gain drove massive re-distribution of wealth leading to a total collapse of Main Street (where ALL wealth is created) under the thumb of the greediest SOBs on the planet. 1 Quote
Zeitgeist Posted March 14 Report Posted March 14 (edited) On 2/17/2025 at 11:28 AM, User said: Repeated what? What specifically did he say that was so threatening? Trump said in a press conference that he would use economic pressure to make Canada the 51st state. It was very clear. He doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with hurting families and populations in order to subjugate them to American control against the will of the people. His statements are undemocratic and promote oppression. You don’t need a political science degree to see the obvious. That Trump is willing to try this with America’s closest ally and biggest buyer of American goods illustrates what he’s about as a person and president. The world is watching. The U.S. under Trump is not trustworthy or supportive of a world that’s safe for democracy. Smaller countries are most at risk, because Trump’s foreign and domestic policy appears to be, More power to the powerful at the expense of those with less power. Russia is taking Trump at his word and seeing how far inside Ukraine they can push without the supposed “leader of the free world” caring. It appears that they can push very far without regard to the will of Ukrainians. Is that Trump’s vision for how the world should work? No thanks. Unfortunately Trump acts based on how he feels in the moment, and the people around him won’t question or keep him in check. The Congress and courts are not reeling him in enough, which raises questions about how well the U.S. government system works. I don’t respect warmongering and undermining democratically elected foreign governments. No doubt that was done to Ukraine and Biden contributed to that. Nevertheless, the answer isn’t to give green lights to undemocratic invasion. If Trump has an argument to make for why Canada becoming the 51st state is beneficial to Canadians and Americans, he should make it to the peoples of both countries and let the people decide through their respective governments. Disregarding trade agreements and threatening economic coercion won’t win Canadians over. If anything it will make them distrust the US. It also makes the possibility of brokering a better economic partnership for both countries harder. Why get further enmeshed with a partner who can renege on agreements and crush you without concern for your wellbeing? It sucks because Trump has disappointed many people who wanted to believe in him. He has essentially revived the Liberals in Canada because of their association with US opposition to Trump, damaging conservatism in the West at a time when countries like Canada desperately needed to pivot from radical left ideology. Edited March 14 by Zeitgeist 2 Quote
Nationalist Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 On 2/16/2025 at 11:33 PM, Aristides said: Sorry, not cutting them any slack. I have no problem with booing their anthem and considering the contempt they have shown us, could care less if they boo ours. At least that would be honest. Indeed such childish acts are the hallmark of Libbies. Quote Its so lonely in m'saddle since m'horse died.
eyeball Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 9 hours ago, Nationalist said: Indeed such childish acts are the hallmark of Libbies. Does that make Trump the hallmark of conservatism? MAGA lefties think he's the bees knees too. Quote A government without public oversight is like a nuclear plant without lead shielding.
Nationalist Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 59 minutes ago, eyeball said: Does that make Trump the hallmark of conservatism? MAGA lefties think he's the bees knees too. No. It just means Libbies are childish. Quote Its so lonely in m'saddle since m'horse died.
Chrissy1979 Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 13 hours ago, Nationalist said: No. It just means Libbies are childish. Do they like to call people names? Quote
Nationalist Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 Just now, Chrissy1979 said: Do they like to call people names? Yes. They do. And when confronted, they get nasty. But as a previous thread of mine proved, it's generally the Libbies who start the mud-slinging. Quote Its so lonely in m'saddle since m'horse died.
Chrissy1979 Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 38 minutes ago, Nationalist said: Yes. They do. And when confronted, they get nasty. But as a previous thread of mine proved, it's generally the Libbies who start the mud-slinging. And it's always the conservatives who are weak victims? Quote
Nationalist Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 1 hour ago, Chrissy1979 said: And it's always the conservatives who are weak victims? I wouldn't say "weak victims". I'd say "staunch believers in common sense" or "staunch opposers to 'The New Normal'". Quote Its so lonely in m'saddle since m'horse died.
CdnFox Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 3 hours ago, Chrissy1979 said: Do they like to call people names? ROFLMAO!!! It was literally their entire last election campaign. When they weren't giggling Quote
Barquentine Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 On 3/17/2025 at 9:02 AM, Nationalist said: Indeed such childish acts are the hallmark of Libbies. Wait, you think all those booing hockey fans were all Liberals? If that were true, that's a pretty representative cross-section of Canadians, therefore the Liberals will crush PeePee in the election. Quote
herbie Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 I have a simpler solution. Stop the stupidity of singing National Anthems at NHL games. They're TEAMS not NATIONS. When they are, like the 4 nations tournament, remain quietly seated with both middle fingers raised for the US anthem. 1 Quote
Chrissy1979 Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 3 hours ago, CdnFox said: ROFLMAO!!! It was literally their entire last election campaign. When they weren't giggling You're referring to Carbon Tax Carney and the Libtards or Sleepy Joe and the Demoncrats? Quote
CdnFox Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 1 hour ago, Chrissy1979 said: You're referring to Carbon Tax Carney and the Libtards or Sleepy Joe and the Demoncrats? Carney has never been in an election. Not even for his own seat. No would more likely be referring to "white supremisist" Andrew Scheer or "anti vax" erin otoole, or "hilter" trump. cuckservatives or republicrats, take your pick. The main difference is most of the time conservatives pick a joke name for somebody that's harmless and usually based in truth. Carbon tax Carney isn't terribly insulting, and in fact Carney is a massive supporter of Carbon taxes. Calling Andrew Scheer a white supremacist has no basis in truth and is just designed to be hurtful and a personal attack. Calling Trump Hitler constantly is very obviously false and tacky as hell and an insult to the millions who died under the real thing But as always you like to ignore but the democrats have done and pretend that somehow the republicans are conservatives are the only ones who do it when in fact the left and the democrats tend to do it worse Shall we go over some of the names you've called people around here? Quote
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