8 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

I suggest you re-read the article..... the MIT article stated that federal spending was responsible for ONLY 42% of the inflation.... your statement above is very misleading and willfully ignores the other factors stated in the report. PLUS the pandemic was a once in a lifetime (so far) event that should not be compared to other periods lacking such circumstances.

Other than pointing out that the 2027 budget with the massive increase in defence spending has not yet been passed you have not contested any other statements in the OP.

Biden added at least 4% to the inflation rate.

1 hour ago, Effective altruism said:

Federal spending was responsible for the 2022 spike in inflation, research shows

Increased federal spending helped the economy bounce back during the pandemic, but it also caused a surge in inflation, research reveals.

How about this?

AI Overview

In fiscal year 2022, the U.S. federal government spent $6.27 trillion, with the largest shares going to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and National Defense.

AI Overview

U.S. federal spending in fiscal year 2025 totaled roughly $7.1 trillion, with the largest portions going toward Social Security, Net Interest, and Medicare. You can review the complete data breakdown on the U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data portal. [1, 2]

AI Overview

Major U.S. federal spending in fiscal year 2026 is primarily allocated toward mandatory programs, national defense, and interest on the debt, led by Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and national defense outlays. Real-time figures tracked by the U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data show overall federal spending surpassing $5.5 trillion to date, heading toward a projected $7.4 trillion total for the full year. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

2 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

In fiscal year 2022, the U.S. federal government spent $6.27 trillion, with the largest shares going to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and National Defense.

...... SNIP....

Technically SSA is NOT part of the federal budget because it is still self-funded from FICA taxes and previous surpluses in the form of trust funds.

Social Security was first removed from the unified federal budget in 1986 under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act. However, it remained partially counted when calculating the federal deficit. It was fully and permanently removed from all federal budget calculations in 1990 following legislation enacted in the late 1980s.

Edited July 21Jul 21 by gamb00ler

19 minutes ago, Effective altruism said:

Biden added at least 4% to the inflation rate.

If I had a nickel for every unsubstantiated claim on AN...... I could easily prove enough income to qualify for an LTR visa.... but I don't 😢.

Edited July 21Jul 21 by gamb00ler

2 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

Technically SSA is NOT part of the federal budget because it is still self-funded from FICA taxes and previous surpluses in the form of trust funds.

Social Security was first removed from the unified federal budget in 1986 under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act. However, it remained partially counted when calculating the federal deficit. It was fully and permanently removed from all federal budget calculations in 1990 following legislation enacted in the late 1980s.

Well, then AI must be wrong, and in fact the 2025 and 2026 federal budget is mostly spent on paying back interest on the huge debts Trump is building, and on weapons the warmonger needs

https://fortune.com/2026/04/09/us-goverment-speding-interest-defense-education-total/

The U.S. government is spending $88 billion a month in interest on national debt—equal to spending on defense and education combined

Edited July 21Jul 21 by CallumWK

2 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

Well, then AI must be wrong, and in fact the 2025 and 2026 federal budget is mostly spent on paying back interest on the huge debts Trump is building, and on weapons the warmonger needs

You will not find any line item in the full text of the federal budget that sends $$ to fund SSA benefits. However.... many articles do count SSA's outlays as federal expenditures which does lead many to misunderstand what is really happening.

In reality the US Treasury department merely acts as the accounts receivable, accounts payable and savings account for the SSA.

Edited July 21Jul 21 by gamb00ler

3 hours ago, Effective altruism said:

This is not true at all. Joe Biden's policies have increased inflation.

https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/federal-spending-was-responsible-2022-spike-inflation-research-shows

Federal spending was responsible for the 2022 spike in inflation, research shows

Increased federal spending helped the economy bounce back during the pandemic, but it also caused a surge in inflation, research reveals.

This is just a piece of research among others, with a specific methodology. It selects some factors and neglects others, and overemphasize fiscal demand.

The Fed highlights the influence of other factors and doesn't come to the same conclusion, and several other research also draw different conclusions, I.e.

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2026/04/24/lessons-from-bidenomics-ahead-of-the-midterms

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/bidens-fiscal-legacy/

20 minutes ago, candide said:

This is just a piece of research among others, with a specific methodology. It selects some factors and neglects others, and overemphasize fiscal demand.

The Fed highlights the influence of other factors and doesn't come to the same conclusion, and several other research also draw different conclusions, I.e.

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2026/04/24/lessons-from-bidenomics-ahead-of-the-midterms

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/bidens-fiscal-legacy/

From your link.

.........and in the other thread, MAGA workhorse riclag bangs on Demorats, calls them Communists whilst looking past his "undeniably Fabulous Fuehrer". What a joke the far right is, a bunch of camels with their heads in the sand.

44 minutes ago, Effective altruism said:

From your link.

Moving target now...😃

Whiskey Pete says this war we WON on the first day has been BAIT & SWITCH to a "generational" "investment" in America's "future"...

And that's why they need 1.5 TRILLION more dollars.

Trump is treating America like a Casino he wants to bankrupt.

Say Buh bye to your 401k gains. Destabilizing much? 🤣

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said investors are underestimating geopolitical and fiscal risks that could eventually rattle markets.

7 hours ago, Effective altruism said:

I read it in The Economist in May 2023.

Sure... and I have read many times in right-leaning publications that SSA is increasing the federal deficit.... when in fact it is entirely self-funded through employee/employer contributions....and SSA expenditures have been removed from the budget since 1990.

https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/social-security-trust-fund-myth

In it's opening paragraph you'll see this provably false statement:

The trust fund essentially consists of IOUs or promissory notes that represent claims on future tax revenues.

While you're in the library..... educate yourself about the Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. \(\S \) 1341-1342) which makes it illegal for SSA to spend funds other than it's defined revenue stream.

Writers can freely write opinions of just about any sort.

Edited July 22Jul 22 by gamb00ler

7 hours ago, Effective altruism said:

From your link.

Sorry.... we are unable to help with your gullibility problem.

7 hours ago, Priorexpat said:

What a joke the far right is, a bunch of camels with their heads in the sand.

That’s actually unfair to the camels.

Correction "...a bunch of camels with their heads full of sand."

22 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

34 felony convictions. A record most people would call disqualifying.

With that record alone, he wouldn't even get a job with Walmart. Let alone POTUS.

Good info. And how about his dreadful first term? People forget what a dismal failure it was.

He promised to cut the deficit. He added $8T.

He promised to build a wall. He only did 458 miles out of 2,000. Most of it was repair or replacement, not new.

He promised to make Mexico pay. They didn't. We did.

He promised to unveil a new healthcare plan. It didn't exist.

He promised a middle-class tax cut. He cut taxes for the rich. The middle class is paying for it.

He said he wouldn't play golf as President. He made 250 visits (way more than Obama) to his own golf clubs. It cost taxpayers $150 million.

He said he'd increase economic growth by 4%. Nope. Biden did.

He promised an infrastructure plan. He had none. President Biden signed a massive one.

He promised to hire "the best people." He fired 3/4 of them and then said they were the worst ever, and they said HE was in fact the worst ever.

He promised to bring down the price of prescription drugs. He didn't: Biden did.

He promised a Hillary lock-up. Nope

Promised we'd win the trade war with China. Nope, It cost about 250,000 jobs and hurt Americans, not help them.

He promised his corporate tax cuts would help and benefit Workers, and corporations would use that money to invest in American workers. They didn't, they used that money to buy back stocks.

He promised to revive the coal industry. Never happened: more coal jobs were lost during his presidency.

Even if you agree with his policies, I don't understand how people can support such a pos person. How can they not see the huge grift and money grab. Not to mention the authoritarian hero worship and his name and his snide face on anything he can think of putting it on, all on the taxpayers $.

15 hours ago, Effective altruism said:

Reported crime in Washington, D.C. fell sharply through 2024 and into 2025 before President Trump ordered a federal “surge” that placed roughly 2,000 National Guard troops and hundreds of federal agents in the city; multiple news analyses find an additional short-term drop in reported crimes of roughly 16–22% overall and about 18% during the first 30 days after the deployment ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Independent analysts and local officials warn the decline began earlier, data definitions vary, and attribution to the Guard is disputed

https://factually.co/fact-checks/justice/dc-crime-rates-before-after-2025-national-guard-deployment-3c8f28

You have been told this many times before but as usual you prefer to live in your own echo chamber,

If you flood a city, any city, with 2,000 national guard troops and a bucket-load of ICE agents, crime comes down. Now who would have thought that eh?

9 hours ago, johnnybangkok said:

You have been told this many times before but as usual you prefer to live in your own echo chamber,

If you flood a city, any city, with 2,000 national guard troops and a bucket-load of ICE agents, crime comes down. Now who would have thought that eh?

I noticed you didn't challenge the information in the link. Are you supporting crime?

11 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

Sorry.... we are unable to help with your gullibility problem.

Why do you refer to someone as gullible?

19 hours ago, Priorexpat said:

.........and in the other thread, MAGA workhorse riclag bangs on Demorats, calls them Communists whilst looking past his "undeniably Fabulous Fuehrer". What a joke the far right is, a bunch of camels with their heads in the sand.

This is ironic. You get upset at someone for using the term "communists" when referring to the Democrats. Then, in the next sentence, you use "Fuhrer" (SIC).

13 minutes ago, Effective altruism said:

I noticed you didn't challenge the information in the link. Are you supporting crime?

Do you support pedophiles, or those who protect them?

A post with a screenshot from a news item has been removed has been removed as there was no valid link provided to the source of information.

20 minutes ago, BLMFem said:

Do you support pedophiles, or those who protect them?

do you support gender affirming care?

14 hours ago, Effective altruism said:

This is ironic. You get upset at someone for using the term "communists" when referring to the Democrats. Then, in the next sentence, you use "Fuhrer" (SIC).

No, not upset at all. He called my Mom, a sixties hippie, a communist. Seashells were our soap dishes, ate a lot of avocado, sprouts on wheat sandwiches. We were allowed mayonnaise 👍

The Fuehrer is Trump. MAGA=NAZI. You don't see it, knock down a sprouts, avo, mayo on wheat sando. It'll cure what ails ya 🤣

On 7/21/2026 at 7:02 PM, Effective altruism said:

I have a question for you: How does Trump do this?

Because America has more uneducated voters than educated ones.

On 7/21/2026 at 11:16 AM, FolkGuitar said:

Now would be a good time to remind everyone of these Trump facts, because apparently some people still need the refresher.

Please meet the President of the United States:

Flew on Epstein’s plane at least seven times. Just friends, I guess.

Pleaded the Fifth more than 400 times in a single deposition. Nothing says “innocent” like refusing to answer a single question about your own business.

34 felony convictions. A record most people would call disqualifying.

91 criminal charges.

Accused of sexual misconduct or assault by at least 26 women. But sure, tell me again how he’s a great guy.

6 corporate bankruptcies. The self proclaimed greatest businessman alive somehow keeps running out of money.

5 draft deferments. Funny how the toughest guy in the room never actually showed up for duty.

4 criminal indictments. Not two. Not three. Four.

2 impeachments. A club of exactly one president.

2 of his own companies convicted of criminal tax fraud. Convicted. Not accused. Convicted.

1 fake university shut down. 1 fake charity shut down.

Even his charity was a grift.

Paid 25 million dollars to settle the Trump University fraud lawsuit because scamming people who believed in you costs money eventually.

Ordered to pay 5 million dollars in the first E Jean Carroll sexual abuse verdict, then hit with 83.3 million more in the second.

A jury said it twice so nobody could pretend it was a fluke.

Ordered to pay 2 million dollars for looting his own so called charity.

Stealing from a charity with his own name on it.

It is the actual, documented record, sitting in plain sight for anyone willing to look.

So the next time someone tells you to relax and give him a chance, ask them how many more indictments, judgments, and shutdown records he needs to rack up before that chance runs out.

It seems to me nothing on this thread refers to the fact Trump promised no more forever wars, and It looks very like he unilaterally dragged America into one, with no apparent exit ramp.

13 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Because America has more uneducated voters than educated ones.

..and it's best we cut education funding so as to keep the uneducated voters, voting a certain way.

On 7/22/2026 at 10:37 AM, walt1 said:

I don't understand how people can support such a pos person.

1. People in a cult join voluntarily

2. They're willing to overlook any character flaws in their cult leader

3. They are "hypnotized", I.e. performing for the leader "motivated role-playing"

Remember when one of Trump's fanboys ruined his career by embracing Trump, bragging that he was doing hypnosis on people?

Scott Adams said Trump used techniques from sales and negotiation (e.g., repetition, anchoring, framing).

He wasn’t claiming people were literally hypnotized, just being voluntarily manipulated by an emotional over logical appeal.

Trump connects emotionally with certain voters more effectively than traditional politicians.

Adams claimed he recognized these persuasion patterns from his own background studying hypnosis and communication.

16 hours ago, Effective altruism said:

This is ironic. You get upset at someone for using the term "communists" when referring to the Democrats. Then, in the next sentence, you use "Fuhrer" (SIC).

I think in general it's not helpful to refer to supporters with filthy names or by calling them extremists.

While on the other hand I have no issue whatsoever using those sort of terms for the idiots in Washington that are supposedly leading the nation.