Trump is thinking about buying Greenland

[ranger]

How can you means test Social Security and Medicare. Those programs are based on specific taxes for a specific reason with a specific commitment.

[HCM]

[Drang]

So apparently no sale, but we're opening a consulate there.
US planning to open Greenland consulate for the first time in decades
Trump plans to open US consulate in Greenland despite row over offer to buy | World news | The Guardian

Also...
Trump’s Greenland gambit finds allies inside government - POLITICO

Chinese plans to finance and build three airports in Greenland and the intelligence reports that were likely given to Trump on the matter might have helped spark the president’s acquisitive instincts, according to a former official in a Republican administration who is familiar with the matter. (The Chinese plan was thwarted when the Danish government agreed to back low-cost loans for some of the airports.)

“Trump’s been asking his government for some matter of months what can we do to make sure that China doesn’t get Greenland,” said the former official, who has experience in the Arctic. “When China did that, I think that put it on the radar screen of the president.”

[HCM]

So apparently no sale, but we're opening a consulate there.
US planning to open Greenland consulate for the first time in decades
Trump plans to open US consulate in Greenland despite row over offer to buy | World news | The Guardian

Also...
Trump’s Greenland gambit finds allies inside government - POLITICO

China was trying to do their “debt trap diplomacy” which has gotten them control of ports and infrastructure in Africa and Asia. Straight loanshark shit.

The Chinese have aspirations towards a “polar Silk Road” which I think is just code for positioning themselves to threaten the US and our link to allies in Europe. Welcome to Cold War 2.

[blues]

China was trying to do their “debt trap diplomacy” which has gotten them control of ports and infrastructure in Africa and Asia. Straight loanshark shit.

The Chinese have aspirations towards a “polar Silk Road” which I think is just code for positioning themselves to threaten the US and our link to allies in Europe. Welcome to Cold War 2.

Instead of 3D Chess, it would behoove Trump and his cabinet to learn the subtleties of Go. It's a non-linear world.

[Borderland]

I’m not sure that we have a tax revenue problem or that the Trump Tax Cut has much to do with the trajectory of our debt. Here are the numbers as I understand them, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

In FY 2017, the last revenue cycle before the tax cut, the US Treasury took in $1.6T which as about $20B LESS THAN the revenue in 2018 which was the first year of the tax cut. So, we took in MORE revenue in the first year of the tax cut than any other year in history - ever. The only time that I can find people citing a decline in tax revenue is when they express it as a percentage of GDP, but the appearance of a revenue shortfall is mostly due to and increase in the denominator, GDP.

On the other hand, our expenses went up by 4% thanks to increases in the military budget and expansions in entitlements such as Medicaid. That 4% expansion of a $4T budget is what is driving our growing deficit and debt.

So, it seems to me that we need to cut Medicaid (it really doesn’t improve patient-centered outcomes) and defense by 1%/year for the next decade, means test SS and Medicare, and hold taxes about where they are. Who knows, maybe we will come out of this with a country in 30 years.

Sounds like a plan except a lot of people paid into both of those for a lot of years and are just now reclaiming the dividend. IMO it would be like buying a 50 year treasury bond and having the government defaulting on that, because that's exactly what it would be. The VA used to means test (maybe they still do) to get any kind of health care. Their position was unless you and your spouse's income was below the poverty level or you were in country you couldn't get any health care from the VA even if you were a vet. That didn't stop Bush from going into Iraq however. The VA is just another gov't program that's underfunded just like SS and medicare.

Eventually the VA, medicare and SS will have to be gutted but that will come after the US defaults on the 22 trillion dollars it owes to individuals, companies and foreign govt's (treasury notes). I expect that to happen in the next 5 years. Yeehaw.

If I were younger I would find a way to stop paying into medicare and SSI. That would probably have to be some business that deals in cash only without employees. The fed isn't going to be able to pay any dividend on that money in about 10 years.

[blues]

Sounds like a plan except a lot of people paid into both of those for a lot of years and are just now reclaiming the dividend. IMO it would be like buying a 50 year treasury bond and having the government defaulting on that, because that's exactly what it would be.

I agree. If it, (Social Security), was supposed to be an insurance policy in the event that one found themselves in dire need, it would be one thing.

However, SSA, (employment related benefits for age, disability, beneficiaries and death), and SSI, (means related benefits for aged / disabled), are completely different programs though run via the same administration.

[Borderland]

I agree. If it, (Social Security), was supposed to be an insurance policy in the event that one found themselves in dire need, it would be one thing.

However, SSA, (employment related benefits for age, disability, beneficiaries and death), and SSI, (means related benefits for aged / disabled), are completely different programs though run via the same administration.

Giant fed Ponzi scheme.

Then there's medicare to go along with that. All three of those systems ( VA, SS and medicare) have no reserves and are living on borrowed time. The only thing supporting the fed these days is people's willingness to loan them money. The yield curve inverting tells the story here. People aren't putting a lot of faith in the fed to pay any dividends long term (more than a few years). Clocks ticking.

[Sensei]

Sounds like a plan except a lot of people paid into both of those for a lot of years and are just now reclaiming the dividend. IMO it would be like buying a 50 year treasury bond and having the government defaulting on that, because that's exactly what it would be. The VA used to means test (maybe they still do) to get any kind of health care. Their position was unless you and your spouse's income was below the poverty level or you were in country you couldn't get any health care from the VA even if you were a vet. That didn't stop Bush from going into Iraq however. The VA is just another gov't program that's underfunded just like SS and medicare.

Eventually the VA, medicare and SS will have to be gutted but that will come after the US defaults on the 22 trillion dollars it owes to individuals, companies and foreign govt's (treasury notes). I expect that to happen in the next 5 years. Yeehaw.

If I were younger I would find a way to stop paying into medicare and SSI. That would probably have to be some business that deals in cash only without employees. The fed isn't going to be able to pay you the dividend on that money in about 10 years.

We could easily phase in the means testing to minimize the impact to those depending on the benefits in the next few years.

Having said that, understand this fact. SS and Medicare are taxes that we all pay with no guarantee of a return on that payment. The government is not some fiduciary and nobody has a certificate on their wall guaranteeing them a return on their Medicare/SS withholding. Moreover, there is no lock box and Congress is free to spend those tax dollars on whateverthefuck. Keep in mind that Congress has historically adjusted the Medicare and SS benefit from time to time - recall the sudden appearance of Medicare D under Bush and the disappearance of $500B under Obama via the ACA? The fact that stupid people believed their politicians when told that the benefits would be available no matter what represents the embodiment of all that is wrong with America. That promise was no different than Obama’s promise to lower the seas or Trump’s promise to cover everybody with a great healthcare plan - it was bullshit. The money was spent on roads, our military, and healthcare for the poor.

It is this simple - anyone who is counting on the federal government for their retirement or healthcare for more than 10 years from now is playing a stupid game and should be prepared for the stupid prize. That includes veterans, retired LEOs, bureaucrats, etc. The dollars simply will not be there or inflation will make them worthless. You’ve been warned.

[TGS]

You've been warned, @blues. You deserve a stupid prize for playing your stupid game.