Agenda47

[aeon]

Trump’s “Agenda47” consists of a series of proposals his campaign issued on its website during the primary election season, from December 2022 to December 2023, many of which may require congressional action but some of which could be enacted through executive orders—separate from the Project 2025 proposals developed by third-party organizations.

Education: Trump’s proposals for K-12 schools include having parents elect school principals, cutting federal funding to any school teaching “critical race theory,” ending teacher tenure, creating a new credentialing body to only certify teachers “who embrace patriotic values,” encouraging prayer in schools, making it easier to kick “out-of-control troublemakers” out of school, supporting school districts that allow teachers to carry concealed firearms and pushing “school choice” policies.

Universities: Trump has proposed getting rid of existing accreditors for colleges and universities and creating new ones who impose his party’s values on institutions, along with levying significant fines on colleges and universities that he believes “discriminate” against students—with a plan to use those fines to create a free online “American Academy” that “cover the full spectrum of human knowledge and skills.”

Climate Change: The U.S. would again leave the Paris Climate Accord, and the ex-president has proposed getting rid of President Joe Biden’s policies restricting emissions and targeting 67% of new vehicles to be electric by 2032 and massively scaling up oil and gas production.

Justice Department: Trump has pledged to appoint 100 U.S. attorneys who would be aligned with his policies and investigate some left-leaning local district attorneys, also pledging to establish a DOJ task force on “protecting the right to self-defense” and fight purported anti-conservative bias at law schools and law firms.

Crime: Trump has vowed to invest in hiring and retaining police officers (and increase their protections from legal liability), push policies like “stop and frisk,” direct the DOJ “to dismantle every gang, street crew, and drug network in America,” deploy federal troops including the National Guard “to restore law and order” when local officers “refuse to act” and impose the death penalty for drug dealers, drug cartels and human traffickers.

Immigration: Trump plans to prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving any benefits, end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants, reinstitute a “travel ban” from certain countries, pause refugee admissions, mandate “extreme vetting of foreign nationals,” block federal grants to sanctuary cities, end the “catch-and-release” practice of releasing migrants while they await immigration hearings, close the southern border to asylum seekers and suspend visa programs including the visa lottery and family visas.

Economy: Trump proposes cutting taxes and slashing federal regulations, also proposing baseline tariffs on foreign goods in hopes of spurring American manufacturing, which will go up for countries who have “unfair trade practices.”

Healthcare: Trump has proposed requiring federal agencies to buy medicines and medical devices manufactured in the U.S. and barring federal agencies from other countries from purchasing “essential” drugs; he also has plans for an executive order saying the government will only pay pharmaceutical companies the “best price they offer to foreign nations.”

Foreign Policy and Defense: Trump wants European allies to pay back the U.S. for depleting its military stockpiles sending weapons to Ukraine; he has also taken a hardline stance on China, calling for new restrictions on Chinese-owned infrastructure in the U.S., and wants to build a missile defense shield.

Social Security: In a shift from some pre-Trump GOP politicians’ views, Trump has said there should be no cuts to Social Security or Medicare “under any circumstances.”

Homelessness: Trump plans to work with states to ban “public camping” by homeless people and instead give them the choice of receiving treatment or being arrested, and calls for creating large “tent cities” where homeless people would be relocated, which would have doctors and social workers on site, along with expanding mental institutions.

Transgender Rights: Trump takes a hard stance against transgender rights, calling for any healthcare provider providing gender-affirming care for youth to be terminated from Medicare and Medicaid, stripping federal funding from any school where an official or teacher suggests a child could be “trapped in the wrong body,” and encouraging Congress to pass legislation saying “the only genders recognized by the U.S. government are male and female—and they are assigned at birth.”

Big Tech: In line with conservatives’ claims that social media platforms are biased against them, Trump said he’ll pass an executive order barring any federal department from working with other entities to “censor” Americans and prohibit federal money being used to combat misinformation, also announcing steps like altering Section 230 to open up social media platforms to more legal liability.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[aeon]

So a couple of nuggets in a steaming pile.

The Lights of Undead Eyes on a Hill,
Ian

 

[Darc]

 

[Verison]

Trump’s “Agenda47” consists of a series of proposals his campaign issued on its website during the primary election season, from December 2022 to December 2023, many of which may require congressional action but some of which could be enacted through executive orders—separate from the Project 2025 proposals developed by third-party organizations.

Education: Trump’s proposals for K-12 schools include having parents elect school principals, cutting federal funding to any school teaching “critical race theory,” ending teacher tenure, creating a new credentialing body to only certify teachers “who embrace patriotic values,” encouraging prayer in schools, making it easier to kick “out-of-control troublemakers” out of school, supporting school districts that allow teachers to carry concealed firearms and pushing “school choice” policies.

Universities: Trump has proposed getting rid of existing accreditors for colleges and universities and creating new ones who impose his party’s values on institutions, along with levying significant fines on colleges and universities that he believes “discriminate” against students—with a plan to use those fines to create a free online “American Academy” that “cover the full spectrum of human knowledge and skills.”

Climate Change: The U.S. would again leave the Paris Climate Accord, and the ex-president has proposed getting rid of President Joe Biden’s policies restricting emissions and targeting 67% of new vehicles to be electric by 2032 and massively scaling up oil and gas production.

Justice Department: Trump has pledged to appoint 100 U.S. attorneys who would be aligned with his policies and investigate some left-leaning local district attorneys, also pledging to establish a DOJ task force on “protecting the right to self-defense” and fight purported anti-conservative bias at law schools and law firms.

Crime: Trump has vowed to invest in hiring and retaining police officers (and increase their protections from legal liability), push policies like “stop and frisk,” direct the DOJ “to dismantle every gang, street crew, and drug network in America,” deploy federal troops including the National Guard “to restore law and order” when local officers “refuse to act” and impose the death penalty for drug dealers, drug cartels and human traffickers.

Immigration: Trump plans to prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving any benefits, end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants, reinstitute a “travel ban” from certain countries, pause refugee admissions, mandate “extreme vetting of foreign nationals,” block federal grants to sanctuary cities, end the “catch-and-release” practice of releasing migrants while they await immigration hearings, close the southern border to asylum seekers and suspend visa programs including the visa lottery and family visas.

Economy: Trump proposes cutting taxes and slashing federal regulations, also proposing baseline tariffs on foreign goods in hopes of spurring American manufacturing, which will go up for countries who have “unfair trade practices.”

Healthcare: Trump has proposed requiring federal agencies to buy medicines and medical devices manufactured in the U.S. and barring federal agencies from other countries from purchasing “essential” drugs; he also has plans for an executive order saying the government will only pay pharmaceutical companies the “best price they offer to foreign nations.”

Foreign Policy and Defense: Trump wants European allies to pay back the U.S. for depleting its military stockpiles sending weapons to Ukraine; he has also taken a hardline stance on China, calling for new restrictions on Chinese-owned infrastructure in the U.S., and wants to build a missile defense shield.

Social Security: In a shift from some pre-Trump GOP politicians’ views, Trump has said there should be no cuts to Social Security or Medicare “under any circumstances.”

Homelessness: Trump plans to work with states to ban “public camping” by homeless people and instead give them the choice of receiving treatment or being arrested, and calls for creating large “tent cities” where homeless people would be relocated, which would have doctors and social workers on site, along with expanding mental institutions.

Transgender Rights: Trump takes a hard stance against transgender rights, calling for any healthcare provider providing gender-affirming care for youth to be terminated from Medicare and Medicaid, stripping federal funding from any school where an official or teacher suggests a child could be “trapped in the wrong body,” and encouraging Congress to pass legislation saying “the only genders recognized by the U.S. government are male and female—and they are assigned at birth.”

Big Tech: In line with conservatives’ claims that social media platforms are biased against them, Trump said he’ll pass an executive order barring any federal department from working with other entities to “censor” Americans and prohibit federal money being used to combat misinformation, also announcing steps like altering Section 230 to open up social media platforms to more legal liability.

Cheers,
Ian

So you're against this or just pointing this out?

Think about it folks.....it makes sense. Just taking the first one, education. Why are schools teaching kids about critical race theory rather than ABC's, math, real science, etc.? One local school here is teaching pre-kindergarten to the 6th grade about being gay. "It's okay to be a girl today and a boy tomorrow". They went to a gay gathering in DC and never told the parents.....WTF. We're putting kids through school, letting them out, many can barely write, many can't fill out a job application. It's costing us more and the kids test scores are going down - the result of which is "well let's change the testing". Again WTF

Immigration - it's costing us $200 billion a year to house, feed, cater to illegals. Not to mention their effect on society. Are they going to vote against the hand that feeds them or reelect them?

Transgender - another fad. In nature less than 5% of any animal population is "gay". Why are humans different? Fads. It's okay to be gay so let me try it. Educators and the lib society say I should.

Homeless - there is giving a helping hand and then there is giving a livelihood. "If you're unwilling to work, you don't have to" - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

 

[aeon]

So you're against this or just pointing this out?

There’s a couple of things in there that I value, and most of it, I do not.

That said, my intention was informative, which is why I posted without commentary.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[aeon]

Are they going to vote against the hand that feeds them or reelect them?

No, inasmuch as they do not have the right to vote.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[aeon]

Transgender - another fad. In nature less than 5% of any animal population is "gay". Why are humans different? Fads. It's okay to be gay so let me try it.

Based on this, my sense is you do not understand the terms.

Gender ≠ sexual preference/attraction.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[TomasM]

Trump’s “Agenda47” consists of a series of proposals his campaign issued on its website during the primary election season, from December 2022 to December 2023, many of which may require congressional action but some of which could be enacted through executive orders—separate from the Project 2025 proposals developed by third-party organizations.

Education: Trump’s proposals for K-12 schools include having parents elect school principals, cutting federal funding to any school teaching “critical race theory,” ending teacher tenure, creating a new credentialing body to only certify teachers “who embrace patriotic values,” encouraging prayer in schools, making it easier to kick “out-of-control troublemakers” out of school, supporting school districts that allow teachers to carry concealed firearms and pushing “school choice” policies.

Universities: Trump has proposed getting rid of existing accreditors for colleges and universities and creating new ones who impose his party’s values on institutions, along with levying significant fines on colleges and universities that he believes “discriminate” against students—with a plan to use those fines to create a free online “American Academy” that “cover the full spectrum of human knowledge and skills.”

Climate Change: The U.S. would again leave the Paris Climate Accord, and the ex-president has proposed getting rid of President Joe Biden’s policies restricting emissions and targeting 67% of new vehicles to be electric by 2032 and massively scaling up oil and gas production.

Justice Department: Trump has pledged to appoint 100 U.S. attorneys who would be aligned with his policies and investigate some left-leaning local district attorneys, also pledging to establish a DOJ task force on “protecting the right to self-defense” and fight purported anti-conservative bias at law schools and law firms.

Crime: Trump has vowed to invest in hiring and retaining police officers (and increase their protections from legal liability), push policies like “stop and frisk,” direct the DOJ “to dismantle every gang, street crew, and drug network in America,” deploy federal troops including the National Guard “to restore law and order” when local officers “refuse to act” and impose the death penalty for drug dealers, drug cartels and human traffickers.

Immigration: Trump plans to prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving any benefits, end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants, reinstitute a “travel ban” from certain countries, pause refugee admissions, mandate “extreme vetting of foreign nationals,” block federal grants to sanctuary cities, end the “catch-and-release” practice of releasing migrants while they await immigration hearings, close the southern border to asylum seekers and suspend visa programs including the visa lottery and family visas.

Economy: Trump proposes cutting taxes and slashing federal regulations, also proposing baseline tariffs on foreign goods in hopes of spurring American manufacturing, which will go up for countries who have “unfair trade practices.”

Healthcare: Trump has proposed requiring federal agencies to buy medicines and medical devices manufactured in the U.S. and barring federal agencies from other countries from purchasing “essential” drugs; he also has plans for an executive order saying the government will only pay pharmaceutical companies the “best price they offer to foreign nations.”

Foreign Policy and Defense: Trump wants European allies to pay back the U.S. for depleting its military stockpiles sending weapons to Ukraine; he has also taken a hardline stance on China, calling for new restrictions on Chinese-owned infrastructure in the U.S., and wants to build a missile defense shield.

Social Security: In a shift from some pre-Trump GOP politicians’ views, Trump has said there should be no cuts to Social Security or Medicare “under any circumstances.”

Homelessness: Trump plans to work with states to ban “public camping” by homeless people and instead give them the choice of receiving treatment or being arrested, and calls for creating large “tent cities” where homeless people would be relocated, which would have doctors and social workers on site, along with expanding mental institutions.

Transgender Rights: Trump takes a hard stance against transgender rights, calling for any healthcare provider providing gender-affirming care for youth to be terminated from Medicare and Medicaid, stripping federal funding from any school where an official or teacher suggests a child could be “trapped in the wrong body,” and encouraging Congress to pass legislation saying “the only genders recognized by the U.S. government are male and female—and they are assigned at birth.”

Big Tech: In line with conservatives’ claims that social media platforms are biased against them, Trump said he’ll pass an executive order barring any federal department from working with other entities to “censor” Americans and prohibit federal money being used to combat misinformation, also announcing steps like altering Section 230 to open up social media platforms to more legal liability.

Cheers,
Ian

Good food for thought Ian. Thanks for posting it.

 

[InfernoMink]

So you're against this or just pointing this out?

Think about it folks.....it makes sense. Just taking the first one, education. Why are schools teaching kids about critical race theory rather than ABC's, math, real science, etc.? One local school here is teaching pre-kindergarten to the 6th grade about being gay. "It's okay to be a girl today and a boy tomorrow". They went to a gay gathering in DC and never told the parents.....WTF. We're putting kids through school, letting them out, many can barely write, many can't fill out a job application. It's costing us more and the kids test scores are going down - the result of which is "well let's change the testing". Again WTF

Immigration - it's costing us $200 billion a year to house, feed, cater to illegals. Not to mention their effect on society. Are they going to vote against the hand that feeds them or reelect them?

Transgender - another fad. In nature less than 5% of any animal population is "gay". Why are humans different? Fads. It's okay to be gay so let me try it. Educators and the lib society say I should.

Homeless - there is giving a helping hand and then there is giving a livelihood. "If you're unwilling to work, you don't have to" - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

I played the new Lara Trump song while I laughed through this comment.
But I get it, some people aren’t intelligent enough to explain to their children about past race relations in this country. I get it, it’s hard to answer your child when they come home and asks, “Why did they spit on Ruby Bridges when all she was trying to do was attend school?”,
“Mommy, why was the black church bombed in Birmingham, Alabama?”, “Why did people attack the Capitol Building and kill cops on January 6th, and why didn’t the President do more to stop it?”, “Why was the Johnson Reed Act of 1924 passed?”, “Why is Christopher Columbus considered a hero when there is evidence that he was an awful, cruel human being?”, so I get it, you have to be intelligent to be able to explain to children all about that, but it’s not like they don’t learn about the Holocaust, yet, you never heard anyone talking about that being a threatening “critical race theory”, except Conservatives.

And let’s talk immigration and illegal aliens, but it won’t be a long conversation, considering that the fucking piece of shit that is Donald Trump instructed the Republicans not to sign the Bi-Partisan Immigration Bill that was WRITTEN BY A CONSERVATIVE POLITICIAN not by a Liberal, but the felon prevented the bill from being signed. So please SPARE ALL OF US WITH FUNCTIONING BRAINS, your goofy IMMIGRATION AND ILLEGAL ALIEN vomit. You folks have ZERO CREDIBILITY about immigration outrage. And please also spare us the “flaws” in said bi-partisan immigration bill, Republican leaders had already signed off on it.
So please stop posting about immigration outrage because you are all so phony when it comes to real action.

Imagine thinking something that has existed since the beginning of time is suddenly a “trend”. Transgender human beings have always existed. It’s really stupid to think that liberals somehow invented or co-own transgender lifestyles. What Liberals believe is in actual Liberty and Freedom by wanting everyone to live as they feel. The actual definition of freedom, not just using the concept as a prop, unlike the way Trump uses the Bible and cemeteries.

The Homeless…sure let’s bring them up but only when we can use them as props to pin people against each other with drivel like: “we would be able to take care of the homeless if we didn’t help immigrants so much.” If Conservatives or Republicans really “cared” about the homeless, they wouldn’t continue to cut programs that benefit the needy. One thing I have observed is that somehow “illegals” find jobs in America, but able bodied Americans are standing in streets with hand written signs begging for money. Has always made me wonder how the illegal comes here and magically finds jobs, it’s almost as if they WANT to work, while others just wait for handouts, perhaps it’s the homeless we should deport and keep the hard working illegals that are already all around us. Well, that is when they aren’t taking the “black jobs”.

I’m ready for this conversation. Anytime.

 

[TomasM]

I have to add two cents on this.

I believe you have some very valid points and much of what you have said is not historically a liberal or conservative issue since the parties seem to switch their platform every few decades. Yes, compassion and helping the people should be at the core of any successful country in these times but so should fiscal responsibility. Both parties have been neglectful in these core components and the only time they seem to really care is when they want control of the purse strings.

I believe a large majority of the citizens in this country are starting to recognize that there are elected officials that are working together to create a globalist agenda. It's even more visible when you look at the upcoming election where we are seeing the RHINO's endorse Harris (yeah, that should shock everyone). If you look deeper then you'll find that those that are now aligning are all supportive of continuous war and globalism because that is the biggest money maker. This is a big reason why, what you call present day "conservatives" are completely against it. The biggest recruitment of military personnel has been from red states and it has taken its toll to the point that the citizens (of those states) will support anyone that will make it stop.

When I reflect on this problem, I can see that the increase in homelessness and mental illness is directly related to the impact war has had on the country across generations. Currently the country can't get the military personnel it needs to fight all the wars it is engaging around the globe and that is why NATO and all of the other European countries are having to ante-up both financially and with recruitment. Their is a push for an increase in immigration because the people coming in can be used to fight in wars if given the right incentive (which this country has ALWAYS provided) but you have to return from that war to get the incentivized payout. If they don't get they people they need then they will force it with a draft.

The reason that so many conservatives are supporting Donald Trump isn't because they believe he is some amazing awesome person, it's because they believe he will make the war machine stop - it is literally a cry for mercy. The people we call conservatives these days love their country but they do not want to continue fighting continuous wars in an effort to line the pockets of the wealthy. The reason that this "uni-party" hates Trump is because they know he will try to make the war machine stop as much as he can.

From the perspective of the people, this should no longer be a democrat or republican issue since it is so obvious that there are parts of both working together for the same common goal. The reason we are so polarized across parties right now is because this uni-party wants to divide the people by race, gender, political stance, sexuality, and every other possible way so that we are busy fighting with each other and can't focus on the real problem and agenda it is promoting. This problem goes back to a time before any of us were even born and I could point out some of the biggest highlights of it's success in its endeavors. We have lost our country to an invisible entity and it wasn't a single party that did it - IT WAS BOTH!

I love American's (blue collar, white collar, academics, and even those that are mentally ill and / or homeless) and I know that we will never be a united state as long as this invisible hand continues it's vice grip on every aspect of our lives. We have to see past our petty difference and stand united. I say this with complete respect and love for ALL American citizens.

 

[slant]

Trump’s “Agenda47” consists of a series of proposals his campaign issued on its website during the primary election season, from December 2022 to December 2023, many of which may require congressional action but some of which could be enacted through executive orders—separate from the Project 2025 proposals developed by third-party organizations.

Education: Trump’s proposals for K-12 schools include having parents elect school principals, cutting federal funding to any school teaching “critical race theory,” ending teacher tenure, creating a new credentialing body to only certify teachers “who embrace patriotic values,” encouraging prayer in schools, making it easier to kick “out-of-control troublemakers” out of school, supporting school districts that allow teachers to carry concealed firearms and pushing “school choice” policies.

Universities: Trump has proposed getting rid of existing accreditors for colleges and universities and creating new ones who impose his party’s values on institutions, along with levying significant fines on colleges and universities that he believes “discriminate” against students—with a plan to use those fines to create a free online “American Academy” that “cover the full spectrum of human knowledge and skills.”

Climate Change: The U.S. would again leave the Paris Climate Accord, and the ex-president has proposed getting rid of President Joe Biden’s policies restricting emissions and targeting 67% of new vehicles to be electric by 2032 and massively scaling up oil and gas production.

Justice Department: Trump has pledged to appoint 100 U.S. attorneys who would be aligned with his policies and investigate some left-leaning local district attorneys, also pledging to establish a DOJ task force on “protecting the right to self-defense” and fight purported anti-conservative bias at law schools and law firms.

Crime: Trump has vowed to invest in hiring and retaining police officers (and increase their protections from legal liability), push policies like “stop and frisk,” direct the DOJ “to dismantle every gang, street crew, and drug network in America,” deploy federal troops including the National Guard “to restore law and order” when local officers “refuse to act” and impose the death penalty for drug dealers, drug cartels and human traffickers.

Immigration: Trump plans to prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving any benefits, end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants, reinstitute a “travel ban” from certain countries, pause refugee admissions, mandate “extreme vetting of foreign nationals,” block federal grants to sanctuary cities, end the “catch-and-release” practice of releasing migrants while they await immigration hearings, close the southern border to asylum seekers and suspend visa programs including the visa lottery and family visas.

Economy: Trump proposes cutting taxes and slashing federal regulations, also proposing baseline tariffs on foreign goods in hopes of spurring American manufacturing, which will go up for countries who have “unfair trade practices.”

Healthcare: Trump has proposed requiring federal agencies to buy medicines and medical devices manufactured in the U.S. and barring federal agencies from other countries from purchasing “essential” drugs; he also has plans for an executive order saying the government will only pay pharmaceutical companies the “best price they offer to foreign nations.”

Foreign Policy and Defense: Trump wants European allies to pay back the U.S. for depleting its military stockpiles sending weapons to Ukraine; he has also taken a hardline stance on China, calling for new restrictions on Chinese-owned infrastructure in the U.S., and wants to build a missile defense shield.

Social Security: In a shift from some pre-Trump GOP politicians’ views, Trump has said there should be no cuts to Social Security or Medicare “under any circumstances.”

Homelessness: Trump plans to work with states to ban “public camping” by homeless people and instead give them the choice of receiving treatment or being arrested, and calls for creating large “tent cities” where homeless people would be relocated, which would have doctors and social workers on site, along with expanding mental institutions.

Transgender Rights: Trump takes a hard stance against transgender rights, calling for any healthcare provider providing gender-affirming care for youth to be terminated from Medicare and Medicaid, stripping federal funding from any school where an official or teacher suggests a child could be “trapped in the wrong body,” and encouraging Congress to pass legislation saying “the only genders recognized by the U.S. government are male and female—and they are assigned at birth.”

Big Tech: In line with conservatives’ claims that social media platforms are biased against them, Trump said he’ll pass an executive order barring any federal department from working with other entities to “censor” Americans and prohibit federal money being used to combat misinformation, also announcing steps like altering Section 230 to open up social media platforms to more legal liability.

Cheers,
Ian

Can I just make the point on the education point that the whole thing is oriented to be state based? From my understanding, this would mean that prayer in school for example would be decided on a state by state level. I think this is the most fair way of handling it because historically there has been a large part of America that is religious. I am not personally religious, but I watched a great debate titled Is America a Christian Nation?; obviously I agree more with Alex O'Connor in this scenario but to see them providing perspective on both sides was really cool. Since our country is such a huge country, the states-based approach to most things makes sense to me. I mean in comparison to Europe each state is the size of a country if not more. So the idea that a diverse group of people would live under identical federal law and be able to work in their culture is kinda odd, and it makes more sense to let people move into pockets of where they belong rather than impose one dominant belief on people, right?

In regards to the climate change thing, I personally think electric vehicles are not optimal currently. They do not have as good of a range and they are going to tax the power grid. It seems like an economic mistake to impose them on people like this. Why not give a tax incentive instead and phase it this way? If electric vehicles were superior to gas, the tax credit would make them affordable and eventually everyone would switch. Kind of like the cash for clunkers program Obama did which from my understand was super successful. Even though we are supposed to have 500,000 EV chargers by 2030, we don't yet and the whole charging thing is very energy and time intensive so it's going to change everyone's lifestyle. I can understand why it is not the most popular policy.

I definitely think Trump's anti-interventionist, isolationist foreign policies are flawed and dangerous. That is my #1 issue with him. I think, actually, the tariffs on China are great but from my understanding Trump wants to pull out of foreign wars and bring manufacturing back to the USA and restrict free trade and I am in support of free trade as well as our extensive military presence in all corners of the world so I do not like this about him at all. I think it will make our country much weaker both militarily and economically and worsen inflation.

Social security and medicare expenses stacked on each other have causes the deficit interest to exceed the amount we spend on military. Think about that; for years people like Bernie Sanders have said we could pay for college for free by just cutting back our military spending. Not anymore. We would need to cut social security and medicare, Bernie would never make that argument. But by 2050, 40% of the population will be 50 or older. It just keeps increasing. To understand how much of impact this will bring, in 2000, only 27% of the population was 50 or older. So the more aging people we have to support the more of a tax burden this will be on the younger generation. There will only be about 2 to 3 working people per every retired person, which is halved the number its been in this country. So you can see there is a huge problem and I dont think we can just keep spending money without more productivity/wealth being created. At some point you will tax these working people so hard they will be lying flat like in Japan.

 

[aeon]

Can I just make the point on the education point that the whole thing is oriented to be state based? From my understanding, this would mean that prayer in school for example would be decided on a state by state level. I think this is the most fair way of handling it because historically there has been a large part of America that is religious. I am not personally religious, but I watched a great debate titled Is America a Christian Nation?; obviously I agree more with Alex O'Connor in this scenario but to see them providing perspective on both sides was really cool. Since our country is such a huge country, the states-based approach to most things makes sense to me. I mean in comparison to Europe each state is the size of a country if not more. So the idea that a diverse group of people would live under identical federal law and be able to work in their culture is kinda odd, and it makes more sense to let people move into pockets of where they belong rather than impose one dominant belief on people, right?

I don’t necessarily have a problem with that, but for sure, to honor the constitution, they will have to teach all religion, so I’m down with those states promoting the views of my beloved Satanic Temple.

And yes, all the other ones too. What a waste of money.

In regards to the climate change thing, I personally think electric vehicles are not optimal currently. They do not have as good of a range and they are going to tax the power grid. It seems like an economic mistake to impose them on people like this. Why not give a tax incentive instead and phase it this way? If electric vehicles were superior to gas, the tax credit would make them affordable and eventually everyone would switch. Kind of like the cash for clunkers program Obama did which from my understand was super successful. Even though we are supposed to have 500,000 EV chargers by 2030, we don't yet and the whole charging thing is very energy and time intensive so it's going to change everyone's lifestyle. I can understand why it is not the most popular policy.

Agreed.

I definitely think Trump's anti-interventionist, isolationist foreign policies are flawed and dangerous. That is my #1 issue with him. I think, actually, the tariffs on China are great but from my understanding Trump wants to pull out of foreign wars and bring manufacturing back to the USA and restrict free trade and I am in support of free trade as well as our extensive military presence in all corners of the world so I do not like this about him at all. I think it will make our country much weaker both militarily and economically and worsen inflation.

I largely agree with your view, with the exception of tariffs, inasmuch as they don’t address the main issue directly, and raise prices within the market.

Social security and medicare expenses stacked on each other have causes the deficit interest to exceed the amount we spend on military. Think about that; for years people like Bernie Sanders have said we could pay for college for free by just cutting back our military spending. Not anymore. We would need to cut social security and medicare, Bernie would never make that argument. But by 2050, 40% of the population will be 50 or older. It just keeps increasing. To understand how much of impact this will bring, in 2000, only 27% of the population was 50 or older. So the more aging people we have to support the more of a tax burden this will be on the younger generation. There will only be about 2 to 3 working people per every retired person, which is halved the number its been in this country. So you can see there is a huge problem and I dont think we can just keep spending money without more productivity/wealth being created. At some point you will tax these working people so hard they will be lying flat like in Japan.

Yes, and there’s no easy fix for this. People looked at the big picture and decided to not have children. The inverted population pyramid must, by necessity, topple over.

That said, if you think Western democracies have it bad, look at the demographics in China.

Regardless, it’s going to be a shit show of epic proportion.

I think it would help if people actually became healthcare consumers in the US, and did so on an open, transparent market. Right now, insurance companies are the consumers, and individuals pay the costs, and it is willfully opaque.

Cheers,
Ian