Nato members increase defence spending by $100 billion after Donald Trump called them 'delinquents'

Discussion in 'United States' started by Bluesguy, Jan 28, 2019.

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  1. Pro_Line_FL

    Pro_Line_FL Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Were they 'smart' when they promised to do it in 2011?

    Everyone knows how to play Trump, so this is nothing new.
     
  2. Pro_Line_FL

    Pro_Line_FL Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    They said they would hit the mark by 2024, so it should not be a big surprise.
     
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  3. LangleyMan

    LangleyMan Well-Known Member

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    He's pandering and protecting NATO.
     
  4. Nemesis

    Nemesis Well-Known Member

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    Yep. You flatter him a little bit, and he turns to putty.

    Look at how Kim Jong Un played our simple tool of a "presuhdint".
     
  5. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    Were they smart to not do it them?
     
  6. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    As I thought, nothing.
     
  7. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    Thank you Trump for leading the way.
     
  8. Pro_Line_FL

    Pro_Line_FL Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    They said they would do it by 2024, soooo.......
     
  9. LangleyMan

    LangleyMan Well-Known Member

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    When Obama was President? :rolleyes:
     
  10. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    For now as the head of NATO clearly spoke.
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2019
  11. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    Soooooooo.........
     
  12. Pycckia

    Pycckia Well-Known Member

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    Do you really think that the best way to understand reality is to twist every fact you come across to become a denouncement of Trump?

    Do you ever employ critical thinking to any criticism of Trump that enters your consciousness?

    Do you ever wonder why Left predictions of global depression and nuclear war caused by Trump don't ever seem to pan out?
     
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  13. Pro_Line_FL

    Pro_Line_FL Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    So, they didn't need to do it in 2011. They are, and have been working towards the target, and still have 5 years to get there. Sorry, I thought it was obvious.
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2019
  14. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    They've needed to do it for years and now according to the head of NATO they finally will thanks Trump.
     
  15. Distraff

    Distraff Well-Known Member

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    I don't think tax cuts for the rich that are funded by debt really favor long-term growth and are sustainable.

    I don't think Trump put everyone back to work, the percent of the population employed has only increased modestly under Trump and is nowhere near the pre-recession levels. Its is just continuing the trend that started around 2013.

    Incomes are rising and corporate incomes are exploding but federal revenues have been growing much slower under Trump than Obama and spending has far outpaced the economy. In 2016, government spending was 3.85 trillion, and now Trump is requesting 4.75 trillion in spending, even with those very modest budget cuts, and wants to cut taxes as well. We just can't make up for this when Trump's average GDP growth has only been around 2.5%.
     
  16. Pro_Line_FL

    Pro_Line_FL Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Trump was not president when they agreed to it.

    It seems that you need to praise him with every post you make.
     
  17. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    Let's just kick Germany out of NATO and deny Europe an army.

    Nothing says we're serious like consequences.
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2019
  18. Hairball

    Hairball Well-Known Member

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    Wrong. The facts you cite undermine your argument. Under Obama they made a token increase of a mere $2 billion. Under Trump the funding dramatically increased by more than ten times that amount.
     
  19. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    Moot point, they have said for years they would and none were on target, now because of Trump's leadership and demands they will and the head of NATO praises him for it.
     
  20. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    Tax rate cuts don't "fund deficits". Tax revenues and spending and the ratio between them either produces surpluses or deficits. After the Gingrich/Kasich tax rate cuts we produced surpluses, after the Bush43 tax rate cuts we produced paltry deficits. Bush43's 15% capital gains rate of 15% produced twice the revenues as Clinton's 29%

    His POLICIES have certainly helped as we now have probably the best employment numbers in our history and that started way back in 2012 when the Republicans took back the House, then in 2016 when they tool back the Senate too and then 2017 when they took the WH.

    No one said it would be a dollar for dollar shift that money is being invested and he is the only one who has asked for spending plans that in the future will cut government spending by department 5%. Again it's not cut tax revenue but cut tax rates and growth the economy and that increases tax revenue. Proven again and again. Where tax rate increases slow the economy and slow the rate of growth of tax revenues and GDP. Right now our limiting factor is qualified workers willing to work. We still have too many who dropped out of the workforce and have not come back in, we need to put pressure on them to get back in we have THOUSANDS of jobs not being filled. Get them working and watch revenues start coming and government expenses go down.
     
  21. Pro_Line_FL

    Pro_Line_FL Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Ehmm...no, 15 members were expected to hit the target. That number has not increased with your messiah.
     
  22. ronv

    ronv Well-Known Member

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    Leaders have discovered that if you praise Trump he does really nice things for you.
    Check Bibi, he's a master of it. Pence is a distant competitor.
     
  23. Distraff

    Distraff Well-Known Member

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    I thought taxes were increased in the 90s and spending was cut.

    We added 5 trillion to the debt under Bush. Doubling the debt isn't paltry.

    I am not seeing that anywhere.
    [​IMG]

    Unemployment was already only 4.7% when Trump took office and under Obama it fell from 8% at the beginning of his second term. Trump passed his tax law when unemployment was 4.1%. Unemployment bottomed out at 3.7%. When the law came into effect unemployment was about 4%. Right now it is 3.8%. I just can't see the Trump effect on unemployment.

    So if Trump is so much into cutting budgets, then how did spending increase from 3.85 trillion to 4.75 trillion in only two years? Sounds like some interesting budgeting.

    Except for the tax cut to pay for itself we will need consistent GDP growth over 3% according to the Trump administration's own numbers. Unfortunately Trump has been averaging 2.5% and the projected GDP growth for 2019 is 2.4%. Also tax revenue during Trump has barely grown even with a booming economy. The biggest problem isn't the just 150 billion tax cut, its the 900 billion spending increases. The economy can't grow fast enough in two years to add 1.05 trillion in new revenue and make up for future spending and interest on debt increases.

    Like when? Under Bush? Where GDP growth was on average worse than under any other other modern president before him?

    But do they slow the economy enough to reduce revenue overall? Lets say that we do a 50 billion dollar tax increase. It would have to reduce total GDP by 250 billion to cut revenue enough to not pay for itself. Tax increases don't disappear money from the economy, they are spent in other parts of the economy. Basically the money moved by tax increases would have to shrink GDP by 5 times as much as their total value to reduce revenue.

    Yeah, and under Trump and Obama the workforce participation rate hasn't gone anywhere even when there are millions of unfilled jobs under both presidents. Worker shortages will actually slow growth along with rising tariffs. I think rising wages will get people back into the workforce, but I don't know if there is enough time for this to happen before the next recession. We should also work on reforming higher education to help reduce the skills gap. Unfortunately there is nothing coming from Trump on reducing the skills gap.
     
  24. CourtJester

    CourtJester Well-Known Member

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    No he just knows that flattering Trump will get the morons attention.
     
  25. CourtJester

    CourtJester Well-Known Member

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    Because of course increased military spending doesn't advance humanity in any concievable way. The US is already the major marketer of weapons of death, instability and destruction in the world and pretending more weapons, more deaths, and more instability somehow advances humankind is moronic to say the least.

    But give Trump credit for trying to move America from the shining city on the hill to the cesspool of moral principles.
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2019

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