'America NEEDS a united Europe' Juncker issues desperate warning to Mike Pence

Express ^ | Feb 20, 2016 | Samuel Osborne

[cornelis]

AMERICA needs a “strong and united” European Union as an ally if it wants to remain the world’s top dog in the face of competition from China and Russia, Brussels chief Jean-Claude Juncker said today . . .

Eurocrats and Mr Pence have both been keen to repair broken bridges, which have been smashed to an unprecedented extent following the billionaire tycoon’s shock election victory

[cpdiii]

The gross domestic product of the USA is slightly over 17 trillion dollars, and the EEC is slightly over 18 billion dollars.

The EEC makes great aircraft and all aspects of war machinery including nuclear weapons, some of which are our designs.

They must pay their fair share for a mutually shared defense. Currently the USA pays for most of the defense in Europe. This must change or they must perish.

Instead of defending themselves much of what should be military budget is spent on social programs. In effect the USA is subsidizing EEC social programs.

[JudgemAll]

snakes

[nwrep]

EEC is slightly over 18 billion dollars.

Trillion, not billion....

[AnotherUnixGeek]

AMERICA needs a “strong and united” European Union as an ally if it wants to remain the world’s top dog in the face of competition from China and Russia, Brussels chief Jean-Claude Juncker said today . . .

Right, America needs an unelected, unaccountable socialist bureaucracy ruling the nations of Western Europe in order to remain top dog. Pardon me while I go fetch my eyes from their rolling.

[kanawa]

Since when?

[60Gunner]

We need Europe like a submarine needs a screen door.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Hell, we don’t even have a united states anymore, why the hell would we need a united Europe? Mob rule, aka “democracy” has taken over.

[Terry Mross]

There’s something about Pence that scares me. He accepted the veep position without hesitation and came from out of nowhere. He’s a member of the gopE. I don’t trust him.

[cpdiii]

Thanks for the correction. I do not know why I typed billion.

[Jack Hammer]

No - the US (and the world) very much does NOT need another socialist superstate.

[kelly4c]

Yeah, same feeling here. I’m sensing that he’s going along for the ride but not fully on board (Trump train). Could be totally wrong, but time will tell.

[catbertz]

I wonder if Pence might be George HW Bush, to Trumps Reagan.

[arthurus]

A strong united Europe is Germany writ large. Forcing a wealthy Greater Germany to pay for its own defense is a dangerous game. We took on the defense of Europe with NATO so that one, the Russians couldn't just walk in and make it all SSRs and two, so that Germany wouldn't get big ideas about liebensraum again and have the wherewithal to go for it again.1870. 1917. 1939. It stopped at that point because Germany lost its ability to do it again and the USA as victor set up a system whereby Germany would not build an army capable of trying to do it again. So, yes, we financed Europe's prosperity by relieving the Europeans of the expense of military. We helped our own prosperity also because we kept it from happening again. Europe's wars cost America a lot more than the expense of precluding German rearmament again.

[okie 54]

The USA might need a united Europe but what we have is a Eurabia

[trebb]

Is that a “Let us continue to take your welfare payments and you can rest assured we are united in our disdain of you, which works to your advantage” type threat?

[cornelis]

Yes, I notice most comments throwing darts at the EU, but it was Pence that gave the EU a carrot with his talk.