Category Archives: Broken in the USA

guns & gas

Lt. General McMaster

Until now, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster has held his fire about his stint in the Trump White House. McMaster served with distinction in key American conflicts of the past decades: the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the Afghan War, but as McMaster recounts in his new book, “At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House,” in some ways, his most challenging tour as a soldier was his last one: serving as the national security adviser to a notoriously mercurial president.

In his blistering, insightful account of his time in the Trump White House, McMaster describes meetings in the Oval Office as “exercises in competitive sycophancy” during which Trump’s advisers would flatter the president by saying stuff like, “Your instincts are always right” or, “No one has ever been treated so badly by the press.” Meanwhile, Trump would say “outlandish” things like, “Why don’t we just bomb the drugs?” in Mexico or, “Why don’t we take out the whole North Korean Army during one of their parades?”

McMaster’s book, which focuses on Trump’s tenure as commander-in-chief, comes at a particularly timely moment, just as many Americans start to really consider whether Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris would make a better commander-in-chief.

For the entire story see this link.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gen-mcmaster-s-blistering-account-of-the-trump-white-house/ar-AA1poPAx?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=5320948ef15245578e7864d80022936e&ei=38

364 Lt. General McMaster

Until now, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster has held his fire about his stint in the Trump White House. McMaster served with distinction in key American conflicts of the past decades: the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the Afghan War, but as McMaster recounts in his new book, “At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House,” in some ways, his most challenging tour as a soldier was his last one: serving as the national security adviser to a notoriously mercurial president.

In his blistering, insightful account of his time in the Trump White House, McMaster describes meetings in the Oval Office as “exercises in competitive sycophancy” during which Trump’s advisers would flatter the president by saying stuff like, “Your instincts are always right” or, “No one has ever been treated so badly by the press.” Meanwhile, Trump would say “outlandish” things like, “Why don’t we just bomb the drugs?” in Mexico or, “Why don’t we take out the whole North Korean Army during one of their parades?”

McMaster’s book, which focuses on Trump’s tenure as commander-in-chief, comes at a particularly timely moment, just as many Americans start to really consider whether Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris would make a better commander-in-chief.

For the entire story see this link.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gen-mcmaster-s-blistering-account-of-the-trump-white-house/ar-AA1poPAx?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=5320948ef15245578e7864d80022936e&ei=38

Our National Debt

Our National Debt

Following are excerpts from Fox News. For a more complete version go to: https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/national-debt-growth-every-president-richard-nixon-joe-biden

The U.S. national debt surpassed $31 trillion this week and will balloon further as federal government spending continues to accelerate along with interest paid on the balance.

American leaders have been on a spending binge for decades under both Democratic and Republican administrations, and not since Republican President Calvin Coolidge, who departed the White House in 1929, has an American president reduced the national debt over their tenure in office, according to an analysis by Sound Dollar.

The dome of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite / AP Newsroom)

Both the executive and legislative branches have a say in spending: The president submits a proposed budget each year to Congress, which ultimately holds the power of the purse.

With that in mind, Sound Dollar adjusted the figures to account for the fact that in a president’s first year in office, they operate on a budget they inherited from their predecessor.

US NATIONAL DEBT NEARS $31T: HOW IT COMPARES WITH OTHER COUNTRIES

The national debt took a significant leap for the time under GOP President Richard Nixon, who racked up $121.3 billion — nearly three times the debt of Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson — before resigning during his second term in 1974. A few years prior in 1971, Nixon famously took the U.S. off the gold standard.

President Richard Nixon, left, in 1971; President Biden on April 1, 2022. (Keystone (L), Anna Moneymakers (R)/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Since that time, the debt has continued to surge.

Following Nixon, Republican Gerald Ford was able to tack another $223.8 billion onto the debt in only three years in office during a period of stagflation. Democrat Jimmy Carter added $299 million during his single term, marred by a recession.

FED GOVERNOR WARNS INFLATION FIGHT COULD TAKE ‘SOME TIME’

Ronald Reagan was the first president to push debt accumulation into the trillions, contributing $1.86 trillion to what the U.S. owed during his terms from 1981 to 1989. The Republican implemented tax cuts as part of a plan to pull the economy out of recession and boosted military spending during his time in office.

President Ronald Reagan sits at his desk in the Oval Office of the White House on March 1, 1987. (Diana Walker/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Fellow Republican George H.W. Bush nearly matched the amount of debt accumulated under Reagan but did so in a single term, adding another $1.4 trillion during his presidency due in part to U.S. involvement in the First Gulf War.

National debt growth slowed some after that during the two terms of Democratic President Bill Clinton, who famously worked with a GOP-controlled House of Representatives to balance the budget. But the debt still grew by $1.4 trillion by the time Clinton left office in 2001.

President Bill Clinton, left, and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) share a few words on June 4, 1998. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Spending surged again, however, under GOP President George W. Bush when another $6.1 trillion was added to the debt from 2001-2009. Bush was president during the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, which led to the U.S. war in Afghanistan that lasted 20 years. The U.S. also launched the Iraq War under Bush in 2003, and Congress famously passed a $700 billion bank bailout during his tenure in reaction to the financial crash of 2008.

US HOME PRICES DROP AT FASTEST PACE SINCE 2009

After George W. Bush, Democratic President Barack Obama added another $8.34 trillion during his time in the White House from 2009 until 2017. During the Obama administration, Congress implemented some tax relief proposed by the president and also passed his signature “Obamacare” health insurance reform, the Affordable Care Act.

President-elect Donald Trump, left, and President Barack Obama smile at the White House before Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017. (Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Republican President Donald Trump added nearly as much national debt during his four years in office as Obama did in eight, posting another $8.2 trillion. Trump vastly expanded the defense budget under his watch and cut taxes, but much of the debt incurred happened due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when Congress passed trillions in relief spending to combat the virus.

President Joe Biden also submitted a record military budget last year, and the Democrat-controlled Congress further passed his American Rescue Plan Act to provide additional pandemic relief. Less than two years into office, Biden has added $1.84 trillion to the national debt.

Currency Change Needed

Currency Change Needed

For about 115 years the penny has been our lowest denomination. My issue is that the quarter has less buying power today than a cent did 100 years ago. Why do we still use them.? The 1910 dollar bill had more purchasing power than a $20 bill has today. Why do we hang on to the past? How much cash is in use today vs. 115 years ago? Based on the population increase you might think we need more but the fact is that we need considerably less with the advent of debit & credit cards along with online banking.

I can make a case that change will be more efficient and save tax dollars. The plan would be that the quarter would the lowest denomination of coin and exist along with the ½ dollar, dollar, and 5-dollar coins. Cash purchases would be rounded to the nearest $.25 increment while debit, credit & electronic purchases would remain as is. Paper money only lasts for a few years at best while coins can last a hundred years or more. The largest number of paper notes are the dollar bill and replacing them with coinage will save money.

I know what you will say, “We tried the dollar coin and it did not work”. The reason is simple. We did not have the fortitude to replace the paper note, it was an optional approach.

I was reminded of our broken currency system on a recent trip to La Paz, Bolivia. Their smallest coin denomination is the equivalent of 15 US cents.