Hanaguma

I think you may be confusing the deficit (yearly shortfall in revenue) and the debt (the accumulated shortfalls over time). Biden lowered the deficit largely because COVID spending programs ran out- not much of an accomplishment. Still, the govt is spending 30% more than in pre-pandemic days.

Perhaps they shouldnt be growing up in America in the first place? Perhaps their parents (illegal immigrants) should be sent back to where they came from, along with their children. Different story for legal migrants of course.

The former. It means .... two spirit LGBT queer questioning intersex asexual plus (meaning everyone else). Gotta keep up with the times and be inclusive, dont you know.

Mothers get a day. Fathers get a day. Veterans get a day. The 2SLGBTQQIA+ community? They get.... Transgender Day of Visibility (31 March – annually) Lesbian Day of Visibility (26 April – annually) IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia) (17 May – annually) Pan (Pansexual and Panromantic) Visibility Day (24 May – annually) LGBTI Domestic Violence Awareness Day (28 May – annually) Pride Month (1-30 June – annually) International Non-Binary Peoples Day (14 July – annually) Wear it Purple Day (Last Friday in August – annually) Celebrate Bisexuality Day (23 September – annually) Bisexual Awareness Week (week surrounding 23 September – annually) International Lesbian Day (8 October – annually) International Pronouns Day (3rd Wednesday in October – annually) Intersex Awareness Day (26 October – annually) Asexual Awareness Week (Last full week in October – annually) Intersex Solidarity Day (8 November – annually) Transgender Awareness Week (13-19 November – annually) Transgender Day of Remembrance (20 November – annually) World AIDS Day (1 December)

Man, those walls are REALLY closing in now... This was a serious bombshell... Definitely the beginning of the end..... /s

IMHO Disney can and is damaging itself enough without any help. DeSantis should just let them be and watch the carnage unfold. They destroyed Star Wars, Indy Jones, and now most of their animations with insipid live action remakes. All that is left is the theme parks, and even there.... let's just say that little girls going shopping at Cinderella's Castle don't expect to be greeted by a burly bearded man in a frock.

Not a big agricultural nation? Please... About wages- labor accounts for about 30% of the cost of fruit/nuts, 20% for vegetables, and 10% for grains etc. So even paying legal residents double the current wage would not drive food prices "through the roof". Plus it would encourage automation and efficient production. https://data.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/en/crop-workers/

Uh, I live in Japan. Have for more than 20 years. What you say is narrowly true in very limited circumstances. In big cities only. The reason is the falling birthrate more than anything. The population is aging and shrinking. However there is no vast underclass doing the crap jobs as there is in the US.

Please, not that tired old shibboleth of immigrants doing jobs Americans won't do. That is bigoted on both fronts. Americans would do such jobs, if only the wages weren't artificially surpressed by illegal immigrants willing to work for less. Also if able bodied people weren't able to game the social welfare system and spend lives of idle meaningless wastage. Guess what? In other countries, citizens do ALL the jobs, no matter how demeaning and low you may think them to be. In Japan, Japanese people clean hotel rooms, build houses, pick fruit, and drive taxis.

Really? How do you figure? They are rich enough to buy enough carbon offsets and other forms of indulgence for hundreds of offspring, not a mere handful.

I also left a long list of potential budget savings for starters. Any of them seem palatable? The time is going to come when the cost of servicing the debt becomes overwhelming. At the moment nearly 7% of the federal budget goes to debt service- nearly $400 billion. Imagine if that money could be spent elsewhere.

I seem to remember certain other legal funds that were set up around 2020. To help BLM rioters and Antifa scum with their bail, legal fees, etc. How is this any different? Except perhaps that the vice President isnt contributing.

30% inflation? Come on, man.

You could confiscate ALL the wealth of EVERY billionaire in the US and it would barely make a dent in the national debt. It would not even pay for one year of federal government spending. How about lowering spending instead? There is no reason that spending today is 30% higher than just 3 years ago.

Only allowed in about 30 countries I think- mostly in North and South America. Unheard of in Europe or Asia or Africa.

No, he doesnt. And no, it wont. He simply lives in your head rent-free and has done so for many years. Be honest, he broke you in 2016 when he won the election.

Might be a reason for both leading politicians to step a bit small on Memorial Day. Neither served their country when asked. Looking back on the mess that was Vietnam, it is hard to blame them. Respect to the men who DID go and did their best to serve honorably under god-awful conditions.

Have at him if you like, and to be honest I would probably agree with you. But IMHO it takes away from the occasion to let it devolve into just another partisan mud slinging contest.

Perhaps to focus on veterans and heroes, we can at least contribute an interesting story from our own families. My case, my grandfather was a fisherman in a small townon the shores of Lake Huron in Ontario. In 1939 he joined the Merchant Marine, shipping supplies from Canada (Halifax) to the UK. At the height of the German u-boat scourge, he wrote a letter to my grandmother, explaining how life on the merchant ships changed, depending on the cargo they were carrying. For example if the ship was carrying general goods (clothes, food), you slept in your clothes but took off your boots. Door closed but unlocked. If your ship was carrying tanks, trucks, iron ore etc. you slept fully dressed, wearing a life jacket and propped your door open. If your ship were carrying munitions, you put on pyjamas and locked the door because if you were torpedoed there was no hope anyway, so you may as well be comfortable. His ship was torpedoed in May of 1941, while carrying a cargo of bombs and artillery shells. At least he went quickly. And comfortable in his pjs.

Actually, yes. Ignore the comments. At least for the day. Rise above the swamp.

Gents, can we at least call a short truce on ONE discussion thread? Particularly one which should be free of partisan squabbling. I think many of us are either veterans, have family members who are serving or veterans, and possibly have family members who gave their last full measure (to paraphrase Lincoln). Just once.

Plus, as I wrote above, the billions already requested from the federal government to help complete the project. And billions paid out in 2008-9 with the so called Recovery Act. Just an example of how not to do infrastructure, courtesy of the California Democratic Party and their friends in Washington.

If voting your party line is an achievement, then Josh Hawley must be a star too. Any actual achievements of madame Vice President to crow about?

Very misleading and short sighted. The actual numbers under the current administration dwarf the previous. 2020 crossings- 458,000 2021 crossings- 1,700,000 2022 crossings- 2,350,000 2023 crossings- 1,400,000 year to date only. The VAST majority are single adults, so the meme of 'families and mothers with kids escaping tyranny' is debunked. ...and who was in charge of the border again? https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters

Blocking illegal entry into the country seems to me to be the most critical way to ensure the security of the nation. People seeking jobs or asylum can do so at consular posts abroad. The problem with DHS is that it is just another layer of bureaucracy. Its budget has doubled (in real dollars) since its inception just 20 years ago. It controls the TSA, another waste of money and great violator of freedoms.- perhaps my biggest beef with the DHS of all. The dept is infamous for its disregard for basic personal liberties. In general, these kind of umbrella organizations that try to do too many jobs manage only to do ALL of them poorly.