Since 1999, the US empire has been doing the things that empires do when they get long in the tooth and short in the purse — with unnecessary military spending and unnecessary wars.
As a Canadian ,I am not qualified to comment on the politics of America but I will say that over time if anyone , either a country or an individual spends more than they earn that the roof will fall in . Not a question of if but of when and how .
How worried about the "law of the land" were the "judges" when the Biden Administration was busy wrecking the country? I'm deeply moved. Best always. PM
Lessons from the past for us and our leaders today. Thank you Bill, Elon, and Kurt. And Donald! I'm getting the idea that Trump isn't that happy with it either. A good start would be to close all the 7-800 symbols of aggression and hatred that we operate all over the world.
Exactly Paul, we have a Big, Beautiful World War on it’s way and the Big, Ugly and Demented Globalist past administration to thank for it! Of course the European Big, Beautiful Moronic Globalist will be burning for their crimes, but hey, it’s a start…
I hate to burst Bill's historian prose date about the year when the US empire started to get long in the tooth. It actually started when Nixon took us off the gold standard in 1971. That single event allowed the military/industrial complex, along with power hunger politicians, to do there thing. just like Eisenhower predicted. My prediction! If you youngsters aren't prepared financially (as best you can be). when this debt causes all hell to break loose, you're going to be praying you had.
It started long before that. Nixon was just dealing with the consequences. FDR's expansion of government power set the stage, although the Progressive ideology that had taken root set the stage for FDR.
Several solutions to decrease the spending could be the following:
1. Increase the retirement age to 70
2. Bring back our military from other countries except for necessary camps
3. Automatically CUT 20% of the military budget
4. Ban all lobbying, advocacy groups, and limit campaign contributions
5. Have 2 term limits for all politicians
6. Work for welfare
7. Have across the board of a 10% tax for all
8. No Lifetime pensions, no retirement benefits, etc
9. The congressional politicians are no better than the average American, their salaries should be reduced to a more reasonable amount (depending on how much work they do-most do very little)
10. Do not give funds to ANY country that hates America
11. Remove political PORK
As we know, politicians won’t do any of these things because they are afraid to lose their votes (this would not have an effect if there were term limits).
While I voted for Trump - Kamelface Harris and the Marxist anti-Founding racist sexist depraved Democrat Party was NO choice - every time I hear, “big, beautiful, bill”, I want to puke. Wanted to puke the first time I heard Trump bloviate that phrase.
Good grief. Is there no fiscal sanity in Washington?! (don’t answer; rhetorical question, the answer is obvious)
My hunch is that for Musk, those 130 days couldn’t have ended soon enough.
If only the people would…but what we’ve always seen is voters talk a great “throw the bums out” game, but push-come-to-shove, it’s, “let’s throw YOUR bum out; I like mine” because he/she is bringing home that oh so addictive DC pork.
I like to read Bill's prose for the history. I would not think of Myself. Maybe He has TDS, I do not care . That is for those that want to see things according to their own views. And mostly the views of the readers that are printed on this site give Me in sites as to thoughts of others. Thanks to all of the members!
Oh my! It's so refreshing To hear an intellectual comment. I'm having the vapors! Someone said that someone is a certified moron. Oh clutch my pearls. What's next the certified retard?
Not only is economic policy all wrong, we have a Great Helmsman who is a certified idiot and moron whose only skill is in the art of corruption. All the more reason to invest in the precious metals. It's an absolute no-brainer.
You’ve described the behaviours of a late stage degenerate empire Bill ( and as a Brit I should know as we ran the last one). There’s always some event or someone to tip it over the edge and Donald Trump seems to be just the ticket in the case of the US.
I draft my responses in notepad, (been burned too many times typing in the comment window, accidentally clicking on another shortcut in my shortcut bar and losing my 3 page reply), then ask ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, Claude or even (gasp) CoPilot to clean it up. As I go, I'm finding that I'm starting to write more cogently than ever before, as I have these fabulous editor(s) sitting to either side of me. Drafts come back, with less and less changes, as I'm starting to pick up the tiny nuances of language that I never really had a good grasp of, in the past.
I find that I am learning more today, than I ever did as a high school or even college student. Possibly, and perhaps this thinking is misplaced, but something deep inside me thinks that I can make a difference.
Last night I was coding in Python, to sort thru my playlists in Spotify, as I was trying to figure out how to create custom Beats Per Minute playlists, without having to use my mouse to tap out the beat. Manually. Turns out Spotify kneecapped small developers back in Nov 2024 (who knew?) by setting the bar for devs to 250,000 MAU (Monthly Active Users). Small devs, creating apps from scratch haven't a chance. Who starts developing anything with a fanbase of a quarter of a million users?
So I keep on learning. And teaching. To my kids. And wife (though a quick sideways glance usually gets me on the straight and narrow there). Friends (insert laugh here). Anyone who will listen in fact.
This forum is fabulous. Hundreds, if not thousands of individuals with the same goal. Not to lose everything they have, in the next big reset.
And along the way, some humbling and often times intriguing dialogue.
Just for you, though I was tempted, I left this response, grammatically incorrect as it might be, out of the hands of AI. Sometimes, you just gotta believe. :)
To be fair, real reform (MAGA, MAHA, DOGE,etc.) would always have been a years long battle against very entrenched interests. That said, it always seemed a mirage bound to succumb to those playing the stronger hand in this game. Sad that there won't even be much of a fight but predictable given what Trump 1.0 did during COVID.
The beaurocratic blob plays the long game. So too should investors. BPR has gotten a lot right in 3+ years that I've been a subscriber and I think they've nailed this too. Pretty much game over for team swamp drainer.
not giving up; lowering the bar to improve the probability of an upside surprise. but though the gov't spending ship has, indeed, sailed, there is still time and will to make lasting impacts on the 3 letter agencies. i'll take wins where we can get them at this point.
Well, one of the solutions isn't a US$2T deficit and the corruption found by Musk and the DOGE Team still there in the BBBB. Reality is hard not only to consider but accept and clearly impossible IF your comparison bias is Trump is wonderful. Trump had a chance and there are plenty of possible solutions to turn America around, but it just didn't happen - 1.) Ukraine war continues and still sending weapons and money, 2.) Gaza and the continuing genocide - no issues from Trump and continued support of the nut in Jerusalem - horrific, and 3.) the first budget with over a $2T deficit surpassing the spending of the Biden Administration or more. The US$ is tanking - foreign buyers in Treasury auctions are becoming fewer and fewer with the FED picking up the slack. This will continue to grow. Oh - yeah - and ol' Bill should be thinking of solutions to clean-up this mess - just shaking my head and LOL! That is a good one, rkf!
Another solution, try applying old school Austrian economics. Bill has suggested that over time. Sadly it is too awkward and soundly eschewed by both republicans and democrats.
Sadly, rKf, those inside the beltway, have no desire to implement a solution. Trump and his minions certainly understand the debt crisis and the coming credit bubble implosion. They know the various SOLUTIONS and it doesn't matter. Their view is to keep kicking the can down the road as far as possible as long as possible. Up the Debt Ceiling by $4T so the public doesn't have to hear the every other year buffoonery out of Congress squawking then passing a rise in the Debt Ceiling. We minions and peons are not their concern - those narcissistic elites living in a delusional reality see only one course - Full Speed Ahead and protect themselves and feed their donors. The World has awakened to the evil and corruption spewing out of Washington and are rapidly starting to prepare to protect themselves. They have come to realize what America has become.
"The rich in the U.S. pay a significant portion of federal income taxes, with million-dollar earners 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝟯𝟵% 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝟭𝟱% 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻'𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲. On average, those making over a million dollars pay an effective tax rate that is much higher than that of middle-income earners, often exceeding 25% of their income when considering various taxes."
Not to speak for Don but I'm sure he meant that if the average hamburger flipper is paying $1000 in taxes a year then that is what Bill Gates and his ilk should be paying. Nice try! By the way what's wrong with everyone paying, say 12% (could be lower or higher) in federal income tax.
If money can truly be printed out of nothing, there is no need for taxes. Taxes at that point are merely a means of control. Conversely, what good are taxes paid by citizens, if government cannot control its spending and favor-buying, vote-buying ways? The knife cuts both ways. Best always. PM
What is their "fair share", Dots? Please don't reply until you read my post above, or better yet, look up the numbers yourself. Quit believing the Idiot Box and let me know what you think is "fair"...
SE: As you know, taxes for the various groups, ie., corporations or highly paid individuals depend on many conditions, which are too numerous to list. Granted, we are not always privilege to know all the facts. We can only hope they are paying what they should compared to what we are paying.
As a Canadian ,I am not qualified to comment on the politics of America but I will say that over time if anyone , either a country or an individual spends more than they earn that the roof will fall in . Not a question of if but of when and how .
How worried about the "law of the land" were the "judges" when the Biden Administration was busy wrecking the country? I'm deeply moved. Best always. PM
Lessons from the past for us and our leaders today. Thank you Bill, Elon, and Kurt. And Donald! I'm getting the idea that Trump isn't that happy with it either. A good start would be to close all the 7-800 symbols of aggression and hatred that we operate all over the world.
Don't worry; they'll get closed one way or another. Best always. PM
Exactly Paul, we have a Big, Beautiful World War on it’s way and the Big, Ugly and Demented Globalist past administration to thank for it! Of course the European Big, Beautiful Moronic Globalist will be burning for their crimes, but hey, it’s a start…
I thought you like our wars
Deficit reduction and a Balanced Budget?
Never, until Congress quits getting rich off their position (vote) either via ‘insider trading’ or it’s cousin bribery.
No Congress person will ‘bell the fat cat.’
Nevertheless, someone needs to expose exactly how an incoming Congress person with a net worth of X, quickly has a net worth of 10X.
I think you just explained 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘆 how that happens, Laurin...
I hate to burst Bill's historian prose date about the year when the US empire started to get long in the tooth. It actually started when Nixon took us off the gold standard in 1971. That single event allowed the military/industrial complex, along with power hunger politicians, to do there thing. just like Eisenhower predicted. My prediction! If you youngsters aren't prepared financially (as best you can be). when this debt causes all hell to break loose, you're going to be praying you had.
It started long before that. Nixon was just dealing with the consequences. FDR's expansion of government power set the stage, although the Progressive ideology that had taken root set the stage for FDR.
FDR introduced vote-buying on a macro scale to the country. Best always. PM
Several solutions to decrease the spending could be the following:
1. Increase the retirement age to 70
2. Bring back our military from other countries except for necessary camps
3. Automatically CUT 20% of the military budget
4. Ban all lobbying, advocacy groups, and limit campaign contributions
5. Have 2 term limits for all politicians
6. Work for welfare
7. Have across the board of a 10% tax for all
8. No Lifetime pensions, no retirement benefits, etc
9. The congressional politicians are no better than the average American, their salaries should be reduced to a more reasonable amount (depending on how much work they do-most do very little)
10. Do not give funds to ANY country that hates America
11. Remove political PORK
As we know, politicians won’t do any of these things because they are afraid to lose their votes (this would not have an effect if there were term limits).
While I voted for Trump - Kamelface Harris and the Marxist anti-Founding racist sexist depraved Democrat Party was NO choice - every time I hear, “big, beautiful, bill”, I want to puke. Wanted to puke the first time I heard Trump bloviate that phrase.
Good grief. Is there no fiscal sanity in Washington?! (don’t answer; rhetorical question, the answer is obvious)
My hunch is that for Musk, those 130 days couldn’t have ended soon enough.
Hmmm - now where have I heard this before? Even in the last week or so?
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/06/elon-musk-urges-voters-fire-all-politicians-who/
If only the people would…but what we’ve always seen is voters talk a great “throw the bums out” game, but push-come-to-shove, it’s, “let’s throw YOUR bum out; I like mine” because he/she is bringing home that oh so addictive DC pork.
I like to read Bill's prose for the history. I would not think of Myself. Maybe He has TDS, I do not care . That is for those that want to see things according to their own views. And mostly the views of the readers that are printed on this site give Me in sites as to thoughts of others. Thanks to all of the members!
Oh my! It's so refreshing To hear an intellectual comment. I'm having the vapors! Someone said that someone is a certified moron. Oh clutch my pearls. What's next the certified retard?
My soul is weeping over such a bigotry.
Not only is economic policy all wrong, we have a Great Helmsman who is a certified idiot and moron whose only skill is in the art of corruption. All the more reason to invest in the precious metals. It's an absolute no-brainer.
You’ve described the behaviours of a late stage degenerate empire Bill ( and as a Brit I should know as we ran the last one). There’s always some event or someone to tip it over the edge and Donald Trump seems to be just the ticket in the case of the US.
TACO (is a) Best Idea Trump Can Have (acronym)
-
Trump creates boogiemen knowing others will "make a deal" to remove it...
We are in process...
Patience is a big part of investment protocol, why are we so quick to pass doom and gloom judgement now?
These are exiting times... too early to make definitive calls...
Some quick math and one realizes that this conversation, with this Prussian aristocrat took place 30 years ago.
Some things change. But one thing is certain.
History tends to repeat itself.
Human nature is the constant (k). Sooner or later, everything fails. Best always. PM
True. True.
My comment should have been,
Where humanity is concerned, history tends to repeat itself.
Lucas, I can’t help but think of AI whenever I read your comments.
I definitely use it a lot.
I draft my responses in notepad, (been burned too many times typing in the comment window, accidentally clicking on another shortcut in my shortcut bar and losing my 3 page reply), then ask ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, Claude or even (gasp) CoPilot to clean it up. As I go, I'm finding that I'm starting to write more cogently than ever before, as I have these fabulous editor(s) sitting to either side of me. Drafts come back, with less and less changes, as I'm starting to pick up the tiny nuances of language that I never really had a good grasp of, in the past.
I find that I am learning more today, than I ever did as a high school or even college student. Possibly, and perhaps this thinking is misplaced, but something deep inside me thinks that I can make a difference.
Last night I was coding in Python, to sort thru my playlists in Spotify, as I was trying to figure out how to create custom Beats Per Minute playlists, without having to use my mouse to tap out the beat. Manually. Turns out Spotify kneecapped small developers back in Nov 2024 (who knew?) by setting the bar for devs to 250,000 MAU (Monthly Active Users). Small devs, creating apps from scratch haven't a chance. Who starts developing anything with a fanbase of a quarter of a million users?
So I keep on learning. And teaching. To my kids. And wife (though a quick sideways glance usually gets me on the straight and narrow there). Friends (insert laugh here). Anyone who will listen in fact.
This forum is fabulous. Hundreds, if not thousands of individuals with the same goal. Not to lose everything they have, in the next big reset.
And along the way, some humbling and often times intriguing dialogue.
Just for you, though I was tempted, I left this response, grammatically incorrect as it might be, out of the hands of AI. Sometimes, you just gotta believe. :)
Funny, As I was reading your reply I was wondering if you had AI do it. :)
Yes I enjoy reading the comments as much as I enjoy reading BB 's article. Thanks for your reply. Enjoy the day!
Uni-party madness.
“There is a great deal of ruin in a nation”.
Yep, the greater the nation the greater deal of ruin.
To be fair, real reform (MAGA, MAHA, DOGE,etc.) would always have been a years long battle against very entrenched interests. That said, it always seemed a mirage bound to succumb to those playing the stronger hand in this game. Sad that there won't even be much of a fight but predictable given what Trump 1.0 did during COVID.
The beaurocratic blob plays the long game. So too should investors. BPR has gotten a lot right in 3+ years that I've been a subscriber and I think they've nailed this too. Pretty much game over for team swamp drainer.
You're giving up in the top of the 2nd, Scott....
not giving up; lowering the bar to improve the probability of an upside surprise. but though the gov't spending ship has, indeed, sailed, there is still time and will to make lasting impacts on the 3 letter agencies. i'll take wins where we can get them at this point.
Spur of the moment:
Calling It Something Other Than What It Is.
Labels bumper stickers memes
nothing’s ever what it seems;
one liners emotions reactions
absolutions and fumbling distractions;
much too much trouble
to sort the gems from the rubble
easier to shout TDS
than think of solutions
to clean up the mess. rKf 04 June 2025
Well, one of the solutions isn't a US$2T deficit and the corruption found by Musk and the DOGE Team still there in the BBBB. Reality is hard not only to consider but accept and clearly impossible IF your comparison bias is Trump is wonderful. Trump had a chance and there are plenty of possible solutions to turn America around, but it just didn't happen - 1.) Ukraine war continues and still sending weapons and money, 2.) Gaza and the continuing genocide - no issues from Trump and continued support of the nut in Jerusalem - horrific, and 3.) the first budget with over a $2T deficit surpassing the spending of the Biden Administration or more. The US$ is tanking - foreign buyers in Treasury auctions are becoming fewer and fewer with the FED picking up the slack. This will continue to grow. Oh - yeah - and ol' Bill should be thinking of solutions to clean-up this mess - just shaking my head and LOL! That is a good one, rkf!
Another solution, try applying old school Austrian economics. Bill has suggested that over time. Sadly it is too awkward and soundly eschewed by both republicans and democrats.
Sadly, rKf, those inside the beltway, have no desire to implement a solution. Trump and his minions certainly understand the debt crisis and the coming credit bubble implosion. They know the various SOLUTIONS and it doesn't matter. Their view is to keep kicking the can down the road as far as possible as long as possible. Up the Debt Ceiling by $4T so the public doesn't have to hear the every other year buffoonery out of Congress squawking then passing a rise in the Debt Ceiling. We minions and peons are not their concern - those narcissistic elites living in a delusional reality see only one course - Full Speed Ahead and protect themselves and feed their donors. The World has awakened to the evil and corruption spewing out of Washington and are rapidly starting to prepare to protect themselves. They have come to realize what America has become.
Interesting that so far, at least, the GOP folks who object to the bill claim it doesn't cut
spending enough - I don't see suggestions to raise taxes on the rich. Supposedly over
half the tax cuts go to people making over $400,000 per year.
I sort of agree with taxation. But if one group is taxed more than another , is that fair?
What, Bill Gates should pay the same in taxes as a McDonald's hamburger flipper?
AI Query (emphasis mine):
"How much taxes do the rich pay?"
"The rich in the U.S. pay a significant portion of federal income taxes, with million-dollar earners 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝟯𝟵% 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝟭𝟱% 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻'𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲. On average, those making over a million dollars pay an effective tax rate that is much higher than that of middle-income earners, often exceeding 25% of their income when considering various taxes."
Y'all need a new horse - this one is dead...
Not to speak for Don but I'm sure he meant that if the average hamburger flipper is paying $1000 in taxes a year then that is what Bill Gates and his ilk should be paying. Nice try! By the way what's wrong with everyone paying, say 12% (could be lower or higher) in federal income tax.
If money can truly be printed out of nothing, there is no need for taxes. Taxes at that point are merely a means of control. Conversely, what good are taxes paid by citizens, if government cannot control its spending and favor-buying, vote-buying ways? The knife cuts both ways. Best always. PM
The same percentage of income, yes.
JF: And sadly you probably never will see the rich pay their fair share.
What is their "fair share", Dots? Please don't reply until you read my post above, or better yet, look up the numbers yourself. Quit believing the Idiot Box and let me know what you think is "fair"...
You can’t reason with Dorothy, EVER.
MW: Never say Ever."
SE: As you know, taxes for the various groups, ie., corporations or highly paid individuals depend on many conditions, which are too numerous to list. Granted, we are not always privilege to know all the facts. We can only hope they are paying what they should compared to what we are paying.