Donald Trump seemed unaware of it, but he had only a few days to accomplish something too. And he faced one critical objective: to stop the federal government’s perennial deficits.
Not all that surprising, really — once you realize which side their bread is buttered on. Not just theirs, but their kids' and grandkids' too.
Want to fix it? Make deficit spending unconstitutional.
Here’s how: start by forcing taxpayers to pay for the deficit in the same year it’s incurred. As Bill Bonner points out, that’s about $1,500 per citizen. So when a family of four gets hit with a $6,000 bill out of nowhere, the question will finally be asked:
“What the hell is this for?”
And once people start asking that question — really asking — the days of unchecked deficit spending will be over. That road will be paved with the careers of Congressmen and women who voted for it.
It's a nice concept, but if the "working poor" get exempted then they'd need to multiply by 10. Lucas means well, and if his number were actually accurate I'd ask where do we mail our $3,000.00 check? (Hell, I'd take care of my twin sons, their wives and my new baby grand daughter.) This old saying comes to mind, "If it sounds too good to be true it probably is."
Sadly, I have to agree with that. Sad for our Country, not because I am forced to agree with Bill Bonner. :)
It appears the "plan" is to keep spending more than we have, but to "grow" our way out of the deficit. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. That's not really the point - we need a change in Thinking and Doing by our "leaders", even if what we have now is light years better than the alternative.
Fun Fact - 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙔 member of the House and Senate is up for re-election in 2026. I say THROW THEM ALL OUT. Each and EVERY one...
PS - Apologies to Massie and few others - but all y'all gotta go...
PPS - Sen. Scott talks a good game, but I lived under him as Governor of FLA, so...
Actually, until we follow the farewell advice of the President Eisenhower in 1961, we're stuck. It's precisely our failure to do so that has created BOTH the financial BK of the country and it's deserved mistrust by all but one country in the world. Trump had the chance to show his promise of peace AND moving toward balancing the budget merely by closing our warmongering 800 foreign military bases, but he chose to INCREASE the military budget!
Snort. You'd be bitching about Trump no matter WHAT he did or does. Your proven TDS has removed most of your credibility and you brought it on yourself.
And there, my friend, is our fatal flaw: our blueprint didn't foresee "servants of the people" finding a way to make a "career" out of fleecing the very ones they were elected or appointed to serve! Now, we can clearly see that the representatives, drawn by lot, should have been by appointment for a single, two-year term, and the office of senator should never have been turned over to the voting public, and that appointment should have been restricted to one term. Doing so would have taken care of the need for turnover, and it would have obviated the eventual failure of elections. Oh, sure, there is a remedy here: we can simply rewrite the Constitution to reflect the necessary changes, right? We/re toast, all right, but it's not on account of President Trump. Best always. PM
Many voted for Trump saying he is a businessman and would run the government efficiently …sadly that has not been the case…deficits in 2019 with the promised growth from the tax cuts and this is even worse
Well, we are seeing some pushback on the spending from some of the Senate Republicans. Let's see where that goes. On the other hand, if the Trump administration policies do grow the economy allowing money making opportunities for all, and thereby getting more GOP members elected, that would be the best excuse for cutting back on all the welfare programs as it could be argued they would no longer be needed. Welfare has to be totally phased out and spending on the military has to be efficient. I wouldn't be surprised if 30-50% of military spending is wasteful.
Agree John, and the extreme waste in all government programs is so evident. If hundreds of billions of our moneys are being wasted on illegal aliens every year, most from our social security and Medicaid system, and add on the amount wasted on our government created entitled citizens, non of who contribute to the system, it’s not only no wonder it’s broke, but the truth is it’s highly illegal and should be considered treason. So much to fix and burn down to rebuild. Most here can’t handle the truth or the fix, so it’s extremely unlikely anything will change, Especially since every attempt is attacked by not only the leftist and globalist, but even by the Mr Bills of the world🤔
Want to fix it? Make deficit spending unconstitutional.
Here’s how: start by forcing taxpayers to pay for the deficit in the same year it’s incurred. As Bill Bonner points out, that’s about $1,500 per citizen. So when a family of four gets hit with a $6,000 bill out of nowhere, the question will finally be asked:
“What the hell is this for?”
And once people start asking that question — really asking — the days of unchecked deficit spending will be over. That road will be paved with the careers of Congressmen and women who voted for it.
Bill gives a schoolboy rendition of Barbarossa. There is an 800-page book; “The wages of destruction” Adam Tooze, that gives a extensive picture of the German rearmament and war effort under the economic constraints that existed. It also describes the economic manufacturing self sufficient juggernaut of entrepreneurial innovation that was America.
It was an imperative for Germany to invade Russia; Hitler wrote it in Mein Kamph. They needed basic natural resources, food, and oil.
The Russians used the tactics of retreat, either purposefully or inadvertently, it extended German supply lines. If the Germans had put their entire force into the South, the oil, they might have been effective, but they would have dug a hole and been surrounded.
Germany was a controlled economy, like all economies today, a few made the decisions. Germany produced the wrong weapons. They lost the Battle of Britain because their aircraft were the wrong type and their fighters inferior.
I was under the impression that the US supplied Russia with armaments; Russia produced their own and the tanks, aircraft and artillery were eventually better and produced in greater number than the Germans that lacked basic resources.
You can also read the Russian novel, “Stalingrad.”
80% of the Russian population, until the 1860’s were serfs. They had no opportunity. Those people had an opportunity to become educated, even with the disaster of revolution, civil war and Stalin killing 30 million the human force of that opportunity created something substantial that disintegrated into a moribund bureaucracy.
The US is a moribund bureaucracy ruled by a brain-dead elite. The question is: does the US have the human potential to achieve anything worthwhile? The state of the average citizen is deplorable.
Man, you absolutely nailed the Russian "scorched earth" strategy. The Soviets burned it all—crops, villages, everything—as they retreated, leaving the Germans scrambling with only the supplies they hauled from the Fatherland. Nothing along the way to keep them going. Brutal, but pure genius.
On the Battle of Britain, equipment wasn’t the whole story. The Germans’ Bf 109s, and later the Focke-Wulf Fw 190s, had range issues, sure, but they had more than enough to hit their main targets—coastal radar stations and RAF fighter bases. What flipped the script was August 24, 1940, when Luftwaffe bombers botched their mission and accidentally hit central London, against Hitler’s no-civilian-targets order. That set the RAF off, and the next night, August 25-26, Bomber Command—guys from No. 149 Squadron in Hampdens and Wellingtons—bombed Berlin’s factories and bases. It barely dented anything, but it made Hitler look like a fool after he swore Berlin was untouchable. He went nuts, shifting the Luftwaffe from pounding RAF airfields to bombing London, starting the Blitz on September 7. That gave the RAF room to hold the skies and crush Germany’s invasion plans. The 1969 "Battle of Britain" movie, with Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier, and Christopher Plummer, lays out the whole drama—definitely worth a watch.
Can the U.S. still do something that matters? That’s on US voters. The USG has gotta stop deficit spending—make it unconstitutional. Picture a $1,500 bill showing up in every citizen’s mailbox, your share of the deficit, due now. No more piling IOUs on our kids’ kids. Politicians have run up this insane loan—our deficit—with no clue how to pay it back, just handing cash to their buddies. It’s a disgrace.
US citizens need to push their reps to focus on what counts: build mass transit, tackle poverty, homelessness, joblessness, addiction. But not by just tossing money around.
The real problem, the world over, is we’ve lost love and compassion for each other. Check out "Humankind" by Rutger Bregman—he shows people can be amazing when we lift each other up. And "Hidden Potential" by Adam Grant? It’s about unlocking what’s inside us when we actually care.
Bob, fully agree the ballgame is over for the American Empire and the US$ is toast. Nothing is changing that. The worldwide debt is well over $300T in US$ and climbing at lightning speed. Derivatives are out-of-sight. When the bubble bursts - and it is coming - this financial system joins the other on the garbage pile. And, thinking the current leaders are going to be able to "reset" the system so they can stay in power is delusional as well. Oh, sure - they definitely are going to try and want you to back their effort and believe in their new system. And, do that at your own peril. No one knows what the "new" system will be like but it won't be anything like the current one. Hunker down......get some PMs.......and a few bottles of wine......and enjoy the show because there is nothing you can do about it!
Bill Bonner has the financial independence and independence of thought enabling him to have immunity from the disapproval of others. We are very fortunate to have access to his ideas.
You're absolutely right Don and I'm sure in some nefarious, back door, invisible to me way I am paying my fair share. That's more devious but less insulting than in your face highway robbery.
I’ve been boycotting my favorite ice cream since the Obamanation was supported by them, and I still cheat once in a while because some things we just can’t get enough of 🤔. I believe even if all 70% of Americans stopped financing the leftist agenda, the democrats and RINOs would compensate with the crony capitalism we’ve witnessed for many decades now…USAID
Your tax dollars through USAID (which the repugnicants have refused to cut) contributed GREATLY to propping up the MSM - and apparently will continue to do so....
PS - Do your own research, crying leftardes. The DOGE findings in this area have been published and confirmed, so STFU....
In the book, 'When Titans Clashed" (Glanz, House) - perhaps the most detailed study of the Eastern Front, the authors pointed out the German logisticians had predicted almost to the exact date and depth of the invasion when the Germans would be forced to stop (it was sometime around September 1941). But the high command either ignored them or didn't believe them - so their supply chain was not capable or ready to support the offensive.
Similar to doing a U-Turn with a battleship, eliminating a $2Tr deficit quickly was never really in the cards in any immediate sense and the notion of going after Medicare or Medicaid is a "third-rail" issue that Trump had already been accused of violating by democrats, simply for looking into obvious abuse and waste.
However, giving credit where credit is due, Musk did find $50Bn of the DOGE +/- $150Bn in waste - Enough to finish the Wall, albeit now with a far higher price tag from the original $5Bn price tag from Trumps first term. It's a start. It will serve to staunch the bleeding that has resulted from Bidens border fiasco with an estimated cost over the last four years of $1Tr.
Slowing down that battleship.... preparing to make that wide arcing turn....
Any genuine chance for elimination of our deficit will take a decade or so and would have to involve a reinvigorated economy. Reshoring manufacturing, regulatory reform and tax policy reform will certainly be required. Anyone care to share the democrats alternative plan for doing any of this? No?... (I didn't think so...)
The tariff negotiations aren't over. Already we read in the WSJ, that China is now trying to develop their own domestic consumer base in response to Trumps tariff threats. This has macroeconomic implication for the world. All to the good if Trump is now making them reconsider their current world markets destabilizing mercantilist trade policy.
But the real advantage is that, for the first time in about a decade, we have an energetic patriotic President committed to making change where change was needed. One who is attempting to think outside of the box and fight for us. One more concerned with the business of the nation - which is business - rather than having to deal with an ever shape-shifting gaggle of lying, corrupted, Potemkin figurehead, autocrats, angling for themselves and their political cronies.
It's been my impression that the current president is a lying, corrupted, Potenkin figurehead, autocrat, angling for himself and his cronies, as exemplified in his recent "pardons" of his corrupt acolytes. What else is he except an ignorant, bumbling, corrupt, arrogangt boob.
B-29 Superfortresses carried the 2 atomic bombs to their destination, as B-52's didn't enter service until the 50's. But you still get marks for the fact that the atomic drops were the biggest reason for Japan's surrender.
As I mentioned prior, the ultimate reason Hirohito surrendered is debated by many...I disagree with your opinion that the Soviets had no logistical or naval resources to invade, as WWII ended the Soviets had their way in Korea...
While it's true the Soviet invasion of Manchuria on August 9, 1945, was a significant development, it's important to clarify a few things. The Japanese had already lost control of their conquests in China, and by that point, their military position was untenable. More importantly, the Soviet Union had no real capacity—logistical or naval—to launch an amphibious invasion across the Sea of Japan. The Japanese leadership feared something far more immediate and devastating: a third atomic bomb.
The first two bombings, on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), caused unprecedented destruction. U.S. messages hinted at more to come. That looming threat of annihilation from the air, combined with the realization that their cities were vulnerable and their air defenses ineffective, played a greater role in compelling Japan’s surrender than the distant threat of a Soviet landing.
Maybe My memory is not as good as Yours ? But Hiroshima is what i was talking about. That is what I recall of history. I did not take the time to research this again.
🥱 TDS and the title should be “Epitaph for BPR” as dear readership decline and join more financially responsible blogs. Interesting history though on how demented men have caused so much suffering in our past, present and I’m sure future to come. One would think that after two past democrat presidents were responsible for getting America into world wars, and Biden would have been the third, people would learn from the mistakes. Just can’t fix stupid nor mental illness or corruption, nor the democrat party’s ignorance. I just signed up for another year because I still enjoy Bills stories of other lands and Dans brilliance on finance, and of course our dear fellow readers opinions and ideas about what is really happening today 😊
Well butter my biscuits and auction off the debt ceiling partners, welcome to the year 2030, a time when history ain’t just repeating itself, it’s doing it in interpretive dance wearing clown shoes and a MAGA hat.
After Trump II rode into town on a golf cart pulled by golden eagles and staffed his cabinet with a cocktail of retired UFC fighters and minor televangelists, the nation entered what scholars now lovingly refer to as “The Great Budget Rodeo of American Reckoning.” But hold your horses, it wasn’t all dust and delusion. While Congress continued handing out trillion-dollar spending packages like candy at a debtor’s Halloween party, the ghost of fiscal responsibility haunted the halls like a broke
Scooby-Doo villain.
Meanwhile, the indomitable Sir Elon Musk, who had briefly vanished into a government bureaucracy fog thicker than FEMA paperwork, resurfaced not with defeat, but with dominion. Rather than bend a knee to the swamp’s sluggish currents, he launched “BudgetX,” the first decentralized, Mars-based Treasury AI. In a glorious twist of fate, he solved the U.S. deficit by moving the entire IRS to low Earth orbit and charging corporations in Dogecoin for atmospheric pollution credits. Schools now run on Neuralink quizzes, welfare payments come via flamethrower drone drops, and Medicaid was rebranded as “MediMusk” with a terms-of-service agreement longer than the Constitution. As for Trump, he now broadcasts nightly from Trump Tower Gaza (formerly Tel Aviv), where he hosts “The Real Price Is Debt!”, a game show where losing contestants pay down national interest with TikTok dances and bartering livestock.
And that, my friend, is how the Republic galloped off into the fiscal sunset, riding a debt-laden unicorn, proudly waving a Made in China flag printed on 40-year bonds.
Any way to get a copy of "Epitaph for Trump II, Part II" or doesn't it exist.
Somehow I misplaced it
Have been a reader for quite a few years and a subscriber for a few and will be for many more.
Of interest would be a list of things Trump promised to fix on the first day along with a list of how long it took and/or the current status if not fixed.
"shot his wad?" even if true or not true; I haven't heard that expression since junior high school!
A good laugh first thing in the morning. It was last thing in your article today.
I quess the Russkies knew something about metallurgy that the Krauts didn't in later 1930s.
Now that was interesting. Got me thinking about their hypersonic missiles creating earth shattering earthquakes impacting the ground at what/ 8,000mph. Terrifying! The Russians don't even need to use the 6 mrv warheads! Let's hope it never comes to that!
Most historions write about Empires, after they have fallen. Bill is so estatic. just thinking about the end of Trump's political demise in three and a half years, he can't restrain himself from giving us a preview. Heck, maybe someday, you youngsters may get to read about the ejection from Argentina of those "Gringos" that illegally had acquired vast tracts of land (according to "liberal" Argintina law, at that time).
Feel better… Bill is absolutely myopic… I want people who do critical thinking. That means discussing the pros and the cons. I am all for listening to Donald’s shortcomings, but not from someone who is always driving on a one-way street. You should try a two-way sometime.
Describing Bill's writings as myopic is clearly a projection of your own world-view. Unbelievable! You can't even see that Trump's one week super-myopic trade war ended in total defeat. So you're probably unaware that it produced a global power shift. Or that that will probably end the US Dollar's supremacy. Or that that could result to total economic collapse (I.e., Depression).
As if those things were not destructive enough, he declared war against 6000 Harvard students who, at $50,000 or $80,000 per student. bring at least half a billion US dollars back to the country. That is a contribution to our country's balance of payments, which is a far more accurate way of looking at foreigners' interaction with the US than just exports vs. imports of goods. But he didn't even stop there! He just declared war against all 1.1 million foreign students. He makes Hitler look like a military genius. And you call the reporter of a mere piece of this global insanity is "myopic"???!!! You and your ilk are clearly the myopics. You would do well to open your eyes.
And as for Harvard… There are some great professors there are as well as brilliant students who want to make a difference in the world. However, the fish is rotten at the head. Their morals and ethics are in the cesspool.
Where in this country aren't morals and ethics in the cesspool, especially among the ruling class? In their quest for profits Big Pharma pushes overpriced and often ineffective drugs in a gullible population. The food industry cranks out junk food with dangerous additives to insure profits for them and Big Pharma. The MIC drums up enemies (Osama is our asset, then he's the new Hitler, Hussein is our ally, then he's the new Hitler, etc.) and wars in the name of profit. Wealth religious hucksters, including Trump faith advisor Paula White, beg for money in the name of their God. Etc, etc.
"Where in this country aren't morals and ethics in the cesspool, especially among the ruling class? "
My house, my neighbors' houses, my buddies, my neighborhood, my local restaurants and shops, the elementary school next door, my Church - but all of those things lean Right for some inexplicable reason.
Hmmm - maybe you need to get some new friends, Cartero...
I'm not talking about local connections. Please respond to my point: I mentioned Big Pharma loading a gullible public with dangerous drugs. Pfizer has paid billions in fines for criminal actions but no one goes to jail. That's a moral cesspool. I mentioned the MIC drumming up unrest to sell their overpriced weapons and Big Ag and the fast food industry stuffing Americans with garbage to the point that we have an obese population with humongous health care costs. They are the signs of moral decay I was referring too. Remember the fish rots from the head.
Dear SE, so your neighbors, family and YOU all support the Roman-style siege and wholesale slaughter of Gazans—as do Israel’s most Holy Ones, who are the actual bosses of the butchers. The moral giants around you already brush aside without blinking the USG’s murders of 22 million non-Americans since 1947. That’s what your Jesus died to promote about 40 miles away from Gaza? I don’t think so, but in the REAL world the more Judeo-Christian a person is, the more likely he or she is to stamp APPROVED! Definitely not moral!
Unfortunately there is no solution except at the personal level. Since we moved to southwest Virginia we purchase as much as we can from local farmers.In fact, we buy all our meat, chicken and eggs from them. Also I've done volunteer work throughout my life. But as far as the national level I see a lot of similarities between the US and the Roman Empire. Quick example is the War on Drugs - HSBC is caught laundering Mexican cartel drug money but Obama refuses to prosecute them and instead just fines them. Or Perdue Pharma floods the nation with Oxycontin leading to a spike in drug addiction but Rudolf Giuliani defended them and gets a sweetheart deal - no prison and they are still rich.
First, kudos to you for eating healthy. But when I made my comment above, I was wondering where your starting point was to evaluate what was going on. For example, are you an advocate of individual rights or not? All the evil in this world is due to the fact that individual rights are being violated by various governments. As the novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand stated (and I'm paraphrasing), individual rights is a political concept that subjugates government to moral law. That is, each of us has a right to our own life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness due to our nature as human beings (Ayn Rand went on to define this in detail). For example, when the individual is just considered a pawn for the goals of society, the state, the "common good", then the individual can be sacrificed to satisfy those goals. And millions have died due to this political philosophy.
My problem with Bonner and his supporters on this page is that he and they never mention individual rights. They also make overly broad statements like the "government is corrupt", "big pharma is corrupt", the "food industry" is corrupt. Well, yes, there is corruption everywhere, but big pharma and the food industry and many other industries have brought us wonderful and/or lifesaving products as well as crap. It's up to the individual to discern the difference. For example, I never got the COVID vaccine. When it came out, I believed we were feed many lies about COVID. So, I read up on it and I didn't like the way it worked which led me to never get the shot.
And to keep my comment as short as possible, the whole attack on the USA and Israel pointing out how many people they have killed is totally out of context. It's as if these people think we would be living in some sort of benevolent world if the USA and Israel did not exist. It's absurd. The countries attacked by the USA were not benevolent. It could be argued that we should have never engaged in certain conflicts for various reasons, and I would agree, but to make broad statements and pin all the problems on us is totally off the wall. They never mention the millions of people that Russia and China have killed - of their own citizens! Does the USA have corrupt politicians? Of course, but we have good ones too that are trying to defend individual rights.
I could go on but let me end with this: stating just the negatives without putting the comments in context is not legitimate analysis. Bonner does it all the time.
You mean a private educational institution allows “free” speech (at least relative to that permitted by any politician) and resists its first doctrinal and administrative control by a US President in the history of the country? As much as I prefer Trump over Hillary, Biden and Harris, all four of these fish heads would be (and in the present case IS) far more rotten than any student, faculty or board member leadership. NO THANKS ABSOLUTELY!
"So you're probably unaware that it produced a global power shift. Or that that will probably end the US Dollar's supremacy. Or that that could result to total economic collapse (I.e., Depression)."
ALL of that (and more) was ALREADY in the offing, and likely unavoidable. Yet you call him "myopic." If y'all leftist ignoramuses have one defining characteristic (besides being wrong 95%+ of the time), it is your unbounded Hypocrisy...
Are you implying that I approve what Johnson did in Vietnam or Clinton in Waco or Obama in Afghanistan and Ukraine or Biden in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine?
The emails from Bill are part of the free subscription to Bonner Private Research. You can ignore those emails if you don't want or like to read them. Read the emails from Dan and Tom for your paying subscription.
The original poster’s quip about dodging Bill Bonner’s emails misses the point. Why skip a chance to soak up his razor-sharp take on the world? At his stage, he’s not just writing for history—he’s dishing out real-time insights we can all use.
It’s a shame some peg him as left-leaning. Bonner’s no partisan; he’s as neutral as they come, slicing through the chaos with clarity. Sure, he loves poking fun at idiots along the way—who doesn’t enjoy that?—but his real aim is helping us protect our financial futures, not picking sides.
Amazing that year after year, regardless the President, Congress approves spending that exacerbates our national debt.
Mystifying too because for sure they do not manage their personal checkbooks the way they manage the nation's finances.
Not all that surprising, really — once you realize which side their bread is buttered on. Not just theirs, but their kids' and grandkids' too.
Want to fix it? Make deficit spending unconstitutional.
Here’s how: start by forcing taxpayers to pay for the deficit in the same year it’s incurred. As Bill Bonner points out, that’s about $1,500 per citizen. So when a family of four gets hit with a $6,000 bill out of nowhere, the question will finally be asked:
“What the hell is this for?”
And once people start asking that question — really asking — the days of unchecked deficit spending will be over. That road will be paved with the careers of Congressmen and women who voted for it.
Meh - quadruple that bill. So many don't work, don't pay taxes, contribute nothing but negatives. They are "citizens" too...
It's a nice concept, but if the "working poor" get exempted then they'd need to multiply by 10. Lucas means well, and if his number were actually accurate I'd ask where do we mail our $3,000.00 check? (Hell, I'd take care of my twin sons, their wives and my new baby grand daughter.) This old saying comes to mind, "If it sounds too good to be true it probably is."
"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴’ 𝘉𝘪𝘨, 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘉𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 — 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥-𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘵 — 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦."
Sadly, I have to agree with that. Sad for our Country, not because I am forced to agree with Bill Bonner. :)
It appears the "plan" is to keep spending more than we have, but to "grow" our way out of the deficit. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. That's not really the point - we need a change in Thinking and Doing by our "leaders", even if what we have now is light years better than the alternative.
Fun Fact - 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙔 member of the House and Senate is up for re-election in 2026. I say THROW THEM ALL OUT. Each and EVERY one...
PS - Apologies to Massie and few others - but all y'all gotta go...
PPS - Sen. Scott talks a good game, but I lived under him as Governor of FLA, so...
https://rumble.com/v6tyl75-senator-rick-scott-is-a-no-on-trumps-big-beautiful-bill.html
Actually, until we follow the farewell advice of the President Eisenhower in 1961, we're stuck. It's precisely our failure to do so that has created BOTH the financial BK of the country and it's deserved mistrust by all but one country in the world. Trump had the chance to show his promise of peace AND moving toward balancing the budget merely by closing our warmongering 800 foreign military bases, but he chose to INCREASE the military budget!
Snort. You'd be bitching about Trump no matter WHAT he did or does. Your proven TDS has removed most of your credibility and you brought it on yourself.
Fret not - you have LOTS of company...
Hey brother, have you looked into NVTS yet 🤑
And there, my friend, is our fatal flaw: our blueprint didn't foresee "servants of the people" finding a way to make a "career" out of fleecing the very ones they were elected or appointed to serve! Now, we can clearly see that the representatives, drawn by lot, should have been by appointment for a single, two-year term, and the office of senator should never have been turned over to the voting public, and that appointment should have been restricted to one term. Doing so would have taken care of the need for turnover, and it would have obviated the eventual failure of elections. Oh, sure, there is a remedy here: we can simply rewrite the Constitution to reflect the necessary changes, right? We/re toast, all right, but it's not on account of President Trump. Best always. PM
Many voted for Trump saying he is a businessman and would run the government efficiently …sadly that has not been the case…deficits in 2019 with the promised growth from the tax cuts and this is even worse
Well, we are seeing some pushback on the spending from some of the Senate Republicans. Let's see where that goes. On the other hand, if the Trump administration policies do grow the economy allowing money making opportunities for all, and thereby getting more GOP members elected, that would be the best excuse for cutting back on all the welfare programs as it could be argued they would no longer be needed. Welfare has to be totally phased out and spending on the military has to be efficient. I wouldn't be surprised if 30-50% of military spending is wasteful.
Agree John, and the extreme waste in all government programs is so evident. If hundreds of billions of our moneys are being wasted on illegal aliens every year, most from our social security and Medicaid system, and add on the amount wasted on our government created entitled citizens, non of who contribute to the system, it’s not only no wonder it’s broke, but the truth is it’s highly illegal and should be considered treason. So much to fix and burn down to rebuild. Most here can’t handle the truth or the fix, so it’s extremely unlikely anything will change, Especially since every attempt is attacked by not only the leftist and globalist, but even by the Mr Bills of the world🤔
Want to fix it? Make deficit spending unconstitutional.
Here’s how: start by forcing taxpayers to pay for the deficit in the same year it’s incurred. As Bill Bonner points out, that’s about $1,500 per citizen. So when a family of four gets hit with a $6,000 bill out of nowhere, the question will finally be asked:
“What the hell is this for?”
And once people start asking that question — really asking — the days of unchecked deficit spending will be over. That road will be paved with the careers of Congressmen and women who voted for it.
Those same Congressmen and women should be made to pay triple
Bill gives a schoolboy rendition of Barbarossa. There is an 800-page book; “The wages of destruction” Adam Tooze, that gives a extensive picture of the German rearmament and war effort under the economic constraints that existed. It also describes the economic manufacturing self sufficient juggernaut of entrepreneurial innovation that was America.
It was an imperative for Germany to invade Russia; Hitler wrote it in Mein Kamph. They needed basic natural resources, food, and oil.
The Russians used the tactics of retreat, either purposefully or inadvertently, it extended German supply lines. If the Germans had put their entire force into the South, the oil, they might have been effective, but they would have dug a hole and been surrounded.
Germany was a controlled economy, like all economies today, a few made the decisions. Germany produced the wrong weapons. They lost the Battle of Britain because their aircraft were the wrong type and their fighters inferior.
I was under the impression that the US supplied Russia with armaments; Russia produced their own and the tanks, aircraft and artillery were eventually better and produced in greater number than the Germans that lacked basic resources.
You can also read the Russian novel, “Stalingrad.”
80% of the Russian population, until the 1860’s were serfs. They had no opportunity. Those people had an opportunity to become educated, even with the disaster of revolution, civil war and Stalin killing 30 million the human force of that opportunity created something substantial that disintegrated into a moribund bureaucracy.
The US is a moribund bureaucracy ruled by a brain-dead elite. The question is: does the US have the human potential to achieve anything worthwhile? The state of the average citizen is deplorable.
.
Man, you absolutely nailed the Russian "scorched earth" strategy. The Soviets burned it all—crops, villages, everything—as they retreated, leaving the Germans scrambling with only the supplies they hauled from the Fatherland. Nothing along the way to keep them going. Brutal, but pure genius.
On the Battle of Britain, equipment wasn’t the whole story. The Germans’ Bf 109s, and later the Focke-Wulf Fw 190s, had range issues, sure, but they had more than enough to hit their main targets—coastal radar stations and RAF fighter bases. What flipped the script was August 24, 1940, when Luftwaffe bombers botched their mission and accidentally hit central London, against Hitler’s no-civilian-targets order. That set the RAF off, and the next night, August 25-26, Bomber Command—guys from No. 149 Squadron in Hampdens and Wellingtons—bombed Berlin’s factories and bases. It barely dented anything, but it made Hitler look like a fool after he swore Berlin was untouchable. He went nuts, shifting the Luftwaffe from pounding RAF airfields to bombing London, starting the Blitz on September 7. That gave the RAF room to hold the skies and crush Germany’s invasion plans. The 1969 "Battle of Britain" movie, with Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier, and Christopher Plummer, lays out the whole drama—definitely worth a watch.
Can the U.S. still do something that matters? That’s on US voters. The USG has gotta stop deficit spending—make it unconstitutional. Picture a $1,500 bill showing up in every citizen’s mailbox, your share of the deficit, due now. No more piling IOUs on our kids’ kids. Politicians have run up this insane loan—our deficit—with no clue how to pay it back, just handing cash to their buddies. It’s a disgrace.
US citizens need to push their reps to focus on what counts: build mass transit, tackle poverty, homelessness, joblessness, addiction. But not by just tossing money around.
The real problem, the world over, is we’ve lost love and compassion for each other. Check out "Humankind" by Rutger Bregman—he shows people can be amazing when we lift each other up. And "Hidden Potential" by Adam Grant? It’s about unlocking what’s inside us when we actually care.
That’s the fix, not more bureaucracy.
Dude, it's too late. The ballgame is over.
Bob, fully agree the ballgame is over for the American Empire and the US$ is toast. Nothing is changing that. The worldwide debt is well over $300T in US$ and climbing at lightning speed. Derivatives are out-of-sight. When the bubble bursts - and it is coming - this financial system joins the other on the garbage pile. And, thinking the current leaders are going to be able to "reset" the system so they can stay in power is delusional as well. Oh, sure - they definitely are going to try and want you to back their effort and believe in their new system. And, do that at your own peril. No one knows what the "new" system will be like but it won't be anything like the current one. Hunker down......get some PMs.......and a few bottles of wine......and enjoy the show because there is nothing you can do about it!
Bill Bonner has the financial independence and independence of thought enabling him to have immunity from the disapproval of others. We are very fortunate to have access to his ideas.
Bill's epic tomes on politics are merely a rehash of the cheap tripe published by the MSM. I can get all of that I want for free.
Well Lee, somebody some where had to Pay for that free tripe. There is no such thing as a free meal! Just saying.
You're absolutely right Don and I'm sure in some nefarious, back door, invisible to me way I am paying my fair share. That's more devious but less insulting than in your face highway robbery.
Yep , You and I are in the same boat.
I’ve been boycotting my favorite ice cream since the Obamanation was supported by them, and I still cheat once in a while because some things we just can’t get enough of 🤔. I believe even if all 70% of Americans stopped financing the leftist agenda, the democrats and RINOs would compensate with the crony capitalism we’ve witnessed for many decades now…USAID
That's why USAID got reupped in the BBB.
Your tax dollars through USAID (which the repugnicants have refused to cut) contributed GREATLY to propping up the MSM - and apparently will continue to do so....
PS - Do your own research, crying leftardes. The DOGE findings in this area have been published and confirmed, so STFU....
Spending ytd is twice the receipts…doge doing a hell a lot of good….
So cancel, idiot. Why are you here?
To piss off morons like you and it looks like I'm succeeding.
Bobby's just mad because nobody likes him.
Could be his A-hole personality....
In the book, 'When Titans Clashed" (Glanz, House) - perhaps the most detailed study of the Eastern Front, the authors pointed out the German logisticians had predicted almost to the exact date and depth of the invasion when the Germans would be forced to stop (it was sometime around September 1941). But the high command either ignored them or didn't believe them - so their supply chain was not capable or ready to support the offensive.
Nothing changes.
Similar to doing a U-Turn with a battleship, eliminating a $2Tr deficit quickly was never really in the cards in any immediate sense and the notion of going after Medicare or Medicaid is a "third-rail" issue that Trump had already been accused of violating by democrats, simply for looking into obvious abuse and waste.
However, giving credit where credit is due, Musk did find $50Bn of the DOGE +/- $150Bn in waste - Enough to finish the Wall, albeit now with a far higher price tag from the original $5Bn price tag from Trumps first term. It's a start. It will serve to staunch the bleeding that has resulted from Bidens border fiasco with an estimated cost over the last four years of $1Tr.
Slowing down that battleship.... preparing to make that wide arcing turn....
Any genuine chance for elimination of our deficit will take a decade or so and would have to involve a reinvigorated economy. Reshoring manufacturing, regulatory reform and tax policy reform will certainly be required. Anyone care to share the democrats alternative plan for doing any of this? No?... (I didn't think so...)
The tariff negotiations aren't over. Already we read in the WSJ, that China is now trying to develop their own domestic consumer base in response to Trumps tariff threats. This has macroeconomic implication for the world. All to the good if Trump is now making them reconsider their current world markets destabilizing mercantilist trade policy.
But the real advantage is that, for the first time in about a decade, we have an energetic patriotic President committed to making change where change was needed. One who is attempting to think outside of the box and fight for us. One more concerned with the business of the nation - which is business - rather than having to deal with an ever shape-shifting gaggle of lying, corrupted, Potemkin figurehead, autocrats, angling for themselves and their political cronies.
Amazing optimism!
It's been my impression that the current president is a lying, corrupted, Potenkin figurehead, autocrat, angling for himself and his cronies, as exemplified in his recent "pardons" of his corrupt acolytes. What else is he except an ignorant, bumbling, corrupt, arrogangt boob.
Was the budget balanced in his previous term….I don’t think so…read from Reagan’s budget director David Stockman thoughts about the budget deficit….
Utilizing Bill's analogous WWII TDS history review, one could pose Trump's election win as Pearl Harbor.
The year is 1942 and the U.S. still reeling from Dec 7 is mounting losses against the Japanese...
Using this analogy, we are about to be attacked at Midway...
Perhaps Mr. Bonner can fill us in what happened after that...
Long story made short. Two B-52's and the war has ended.
B-29 Superfortresses carried the 2 atomic bombs to their destination, as B-52's didn't enter service until the 50's. But you still get marks for the fact that the atomic drops were the biggest reason for Japan's surrender.
That is why I read these letters. Many an astute reader!
As I mentioned prior, the ultimate reason Hirohito surrendered is debated by many...I disagree with your opinion that the Soviets had no logistical or naval resources to invade, as WWII ended the Soviets had their way in Korea...
Midway Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers.... sunk 3 Japanese carriers.
The B52's did not end the war... IMO the A-bomb did not end the war...
The drops were on August 6 and 9.
On August 9 the Soviet tanks started rolling into Manchuria...
The Japanese did not surrender until August 15.
The Russian's declaration of war against Japan determined the end... the Japanese knew if the Soviet invasion were successful, they would never leave.
While it's true the Soviet invasion of Manchuria on August 9, 1945, was a significant development, it's important to clarify a few things. The Japanese had already lost control of their conquests in China, and by that point, their military position was untenable. More importantly, the Soviet Union had no real capacity—logistical or naval—to launch an amphibious invasion across the Sea of Japan. The Japanese leadership feared something far more immediate and devastating: a third atomic bomb.
The first two bombings, on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), caused unprecedented destruction. U.S. messages hinted at more to come. That looming threat of annihilation from the air, combined with the realization that their cities were vulnerable and their air defenses ineffective, played a greater role in compelling Japan’s surrender than the distant threat of a Soviet landing.
Maybe My memory is not as good as Yours ? But Hiroshima is what i was talking about. That is what I recall of history. I did not take the time to research this again.
...the ultimate reason Hirohito surrendered is debated by many...
The U.S. history taught to us in school was Patriot bias, most all folks still believe the Soviets backed down in the Cuban missile crisis.
No mention of the "deal" made between Khruschev and Kennedy to remove ICBM's from Turkey
Yes, history is written by the winners of war. To bad because both "sides" should be represented.
"It says right here in this History book that the good guys have won, every time.
What are the odds?"
-Norm MacDonald
🥱 TDS and the title should be “Epitaph for BPR” as dear readership decline and join more financially responsible blogs. Interesting history though on how demented men have caused so much suffering in our past, present and I’m sure future to come. One would think that after two past democrat presidents were responsible for getting America into world wars, and Biden would have been the third, people would learn from the mistakes. Just can’t fix stupid nor mental illness or corruption, nor the democrat party’s ignorance. I just signed up for another year because I still enjoy Bills stories of other lands and Dans brilliance on finance, and of course our dear fellow readers opinions and ideas about what is really happening today 😊
Put up or shut up, Steve. If you don't like the site, cancel and save your money. Otherwise, shut up.
🤔 Boob, have you been drinking again? 🥃🍷🍻
Well butter my biscuits and auction off the debt ceiling partners, welcome to the year 2030, a time when history ain’t just repeating itself, it’s doing it in interpretive dance wearing clown shoes and a MAGA hat.
After Trump II rode into town on a golf cart pulled by golden eagles and staffed his cabinet with a cocktail of retired UFC fighters and minor televangelists, the nation entered what scholars now lovingly refer to as “The Great Budget Rodeo of American Reckoning.” But hold your horses, it wasn’t all dust and delusion. While Congress continued handing out trillion-dollar spending packages like candy at a debtor’s Halloween party, the ghost of fiscal responsibility haunted the halls like a broke
Scooby-Doo villain.
Meanwhile, the indomitable Sir Elon Musk, who had briefly vanished into a government bureaucracy fog thicker than FEMA paperwork, resurfaced not with defeat, but with dominion. Rather than bend a knee to the swamp’s sluggish currents, he launched “BudgetX,” the first decentralized, Mars-based Treasury AI. In a glorious twist of fate, he solved the U.S. deficit by moving the entire IRS to low Earth orbit and charging corporations in Dogecoin for atmospheric pollution credits. Schools now run on Neuralink quizzes, welfare payments come via flamethrower drone drops, and Medicaid was rebranded as “MediMusk” with a terms-of-service agreement longer than the Constitution. As for Trump, he now broadcasts nightly from Trump Tower Gaza (formerly Tel Aviv), where he hosts “The Real Price Is Debt!”, a game show where losing contestants pay down national interest with TikTok dances and bartering livestock.
And that, my friend, is how the Republic galloped off into the fiscal sunset, riding a debt-laden unicorn, proudly waving a Made in China flag printed on 40-year bonds.
Any way to get a copy of "Epitaph for Trump II, Part II" or doesn't it exist.
Somehow I misplaced it
Have been a reader for quite a few years and a subscriber for a few and will be for many more.
Of interest would be a list of things Trump promised to fix on the first day along with a list of how long it took and/or the current status if not fixed.
Roland Friestad
All of Bill's past missives are here:
https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/
Including Part II.
Thanks, Bill! Another kick in the seat! What a FUBAR! Ali
"shot his wad?" even if true or not true; I haven't heard that expression since junior high school!
A good laugh first thing in the morning. It was last thing in your article today.
I quess the Russkies knew something about metallurgy that the Krauts didn't in later 1930s.
Now that was interesting. Got me thinking about their hypersonic missiles creating earth shattering earthquakes impacting the ground at what/ 8,000mph. Terrifying! The Russians don't even need to use the 6 mrv warheads! Let's hope it never comes to that!
...more Tiger and Panther tanks were ineffective/lost due to mechanical problems/lack of fuel than were actually destroyed...
Many readers may not understand this comment.
Are you willing to explain the techniques and mechanics of front-loaded smooth bore cannons in combat under extreme conditions?
Most historions write about Empires, after they have fallen. Bill is so estatic. just thinking about the end of Trump's political demise in three and a half years, he can't restrain himself from giving us a preview. Heck, maybe someday, you youngsters may get to read about the ejection from Argentina of those "Gringos" that illegally had acquired vast tracts of land (according to "liberal" Argintina law, at that time).
Quiet you...
Well Bill, guess you should stay in Argentina.
Feel better… Bill is absolutely myopic… I want people who do critical thinking. That means discussing the pros and the cons. I am all for listening to Donald’s shortcomings, but not from someone who is always driving on a one-way street. You should try a two-way sometime.
So why are you here, Neil? Why are you wasting your time?
Is there anyway I can opt out of bills, myopic, one-sided blind man’s spewing and just get research comments?
Describing Bill's writings as myopic is clearly a projection of your own world-view. Unbelievable! You can't even see that Trump's one week super-myopic trade war ended in total defeat. So you're probably unaware that it produced a global power shift. Or that that will probably end the US Dollar's supremacy. Or that that could result to total economic collapse (I.e., Depression).
As if those things were not destructive enough, he declared war against 6000 Harvard students who, at $50,000 or $80,000 per student. bring at least half a billion US dollars back to the country. That is a contribution to our country's balance of payments, which is a far more accurate way of looking at foreigners' interaction with the US than just exports vs. imports of goods. But he didn't even stop there! He just declared war against all 1.1 million foreign students. He makes Hitler look like a military genius. And you call the reporter of a mere piece of this global insanity is "myopic"???!!! You and your ilk are clearly the myopics. You would do well to open your eyes.
And as for Harvard… There are some great professors there are as well as brilliant students who want to make a difference in the world. However, the fish is rotten at the head. Their morals and ethics are in the cesspool.
Where in this country aren't morals and ethics in the cesspool, especially among the ruling class? In their quest for profits Big Pharma pushes overpriced and often ineffective drugs in a gullible population. The food industry cranks out junk food with dangerous additives to insure profits for them and Big Pharma. The MIC drums up enemies (Osama is our asset, then he's the new Hitler, Hussein is our ally, then he's the new Hitler, etc.) and wars in the name of profit. Wealth religious hucksters, including Trump faith advisor Paula White, beg for money in the name of their God. Etc, etc.
"Where in this country aren't morals and ethics in the cesspool, especially among the ruling class? "
My house, my neighbors' houses, my buddies, my neighborhood, my local restaurants and shops, the elementary school next door, my Church - but all of those things lean Right for some inexplicable reason.
Hmmm - maybe you need to get some new friends, Cartero...
I'm not talking about local connections. Please respond to my point: I mentioned Big Pharma loading a gullible public with dangerous drugs. Pfizer has paid billions in fines for criminal actions but no one goes to jail. That's a moral cesspool. I mentioned the MIC drumming up unrest to sell their overpriced weapons and Big Ag and the fast food industry stuffing Americans with garbage to the point that we have an obese population with humongous health care costs. They are the signs of moral decay I was referring too. Remember the fish rots from the head.
Dear SE, so your neighbors, family and YOU all support the Roman-style siege and wholesale slaughter of Gazans—as do Israel’s most Holy Ones, who are the actual bosses of the butchers. The moral giants around you already brush aside without blinking the USG’s murders of 22 million non-Americans since 1947. That’s what your Jesus died to promote about 40 miles away from Gaza? I don’t think so, but in the REAL world the more Judeo-Christian a person is, the more likely he or she is to stamp APPROVED! Definitely not moral!
Ah! So, you're the one writing Bonner's columns! Good to know!
🤫 shhhh, haven’t you read the Duck and hen fable?
And your solution is.....? I'm waiting. It would be interesting to know philosophically and fundamentally what your values are.
Unfortunately there is no solution except at the personal level. Since we moved to southwest Virginia we purchase as much as we can from local farmers.In fact, we buy all our meat, chicken and eggs from them. Also I've done volunteer work throughout my life. But as far as the national level I see a lot of similarities between the US and the Roman Empire. Quick example is the War on Drugs - HSBC is caught laundering Mexican cartel drug money but Obama refuses to prosecute them and instead just fines them. Or Perdue Pharma floods the nation with Oxycontin leading to a spike in drug addiction but Rudolf Giuliani defended them and gets a sweetheart deal - no prison and they are still rich.
Have a great day.
First, kudos to you for eating healthy. But when I made my comment above, I was wondering where your starting point was to evaluate what was going on. For example, are you an advocate of individual rights or not? All the evil in this world is due to the fact that individual rights are being violated by various governments. As the novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand stated (and I'm paraphrasing), individual rights is a political concept that subjugates government to moral law. That is, each of us has a right to our own life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness due to our nature as human beings (Ayn Rand went on to define this in detail). For example, when the individual is just considered a pawn for the goals of society, the state, the "common good", then the individual can be sacrificed to satisfy those goals. And millions have died due to this political philosophy.
My problem with Bonner and his supporters on this page is that he and they never mention individual rights. They also make overly broad statements like the "government is corrupt", "big pharma is corrupt", the "food industry" is corrupt. Well, yes, there is corruption everywhere, but big pharma and the food industry and many other industries have brought us wonderful and/or lifesaving products as well as crap. It's up to the individual to discern the difference. For example, I never got the COVID vaccine. When it came out, I believed we were feed many lies about COVID. So, I read up on it and I didn't like the way it worked which led me to never get the shot.
And to keep my comment as short as possible, the whole attack on the USA and Israel pointing out how many people they have killed is totally out of context. It's as if these people think we would be living in some sort of benevolent world if the USA and Israel did not exist. It's absurd. The countries attacked by the USA were not benevolent. It could be argued that we should have never engaged in certain conflicts for various reasons, and I would agree, but to make broad statements and pin all the problems on us is totally off the wall. They never mention the millions of people that Russia and China have killed - of their own citizens! Does the USA have corrupt politicians? Of course, but we have good ones too that are trying to defend individual rights.
I could go on but let me end with this: stating just the negatives without putting the comments in context is not legitimate analysis. Bonner does it all the time.
You mean a private educational institution allows “free” speech (at least relative to that permitted by any politician) and resists its first doctrinal and administrative control by a US President in the history of the country? As much as I prefer Trump over Hillary, Biden and Harris, all four of these fish heads would be (and in the present case IS) far more rotten than any student, faculty or board member leadership. NO THANKS ABSOLUTELY!
"So you're probably unaware that it produced a global power shift. Or that that will probably end the US Dollar's supremacy. Or that that could result to total economic collapse (I.e., Depression)."
ALL of that (and more) was ALREADY in the offing, and likely unavoidable. Yet you call him "myopic." If y'all leftist ignoramuses have one defining characteristic (besides being wrong 95%+ of the time), it is your unbounded Hypocrisy...
Are you implying that I approve what Johnson did in Vietnam or Clinton in Waco or Obama in Afghanistan and Ukraine or Biden in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine?
The emails from Bill are part of the free subscription to Bonner Private Research. You can ignore those emails if you don't want or like to read them. Read the emails from Dan and Tom for your paying subscription.
Why would you want to do that? You have a chance to witness a mind disintegrating right before your eyes!
The original poster’s quip about dodging Bill Bonner’s emails misses the point. Why skip a chance to soak up his razor-sharp take on the world? At his stage, he’s not just writing for history—he’s dishing out real-time insights we can all use.
It’s a shame some peg him as left-leaning. Bonner’s no partisan; he’s as neutral as they come, slicing through the chaos with clarity. Sure, he loves poking fun at idiots along the way—who doesn’t enjoy that?—but his real aim is helping us protect our financial futures, not picking sides.
🤣🤣 Great satire!! Best I've read in a long time.
Here's a thought: don't read it.
Hahaha!