Free Republic

At the other end of the state, we had a similar situation in Buffalo in 2021. Then mayor Byron Brown was defeated in the Democrat primary by socialist whack job India Walton. Brown didn’t take her very seriously. He ran as an independent in November and got re-elected. Now, Brown is a Democrat, to be sure, but he didn’t put up with all the ‘Summer of Love’ nonsense that other mayors seemed to tolerate. I mean, no Republican is going to be elected mayor of Buffalo, so you take what you can.

Can Cuomo run in November as an independent? I know this has happened in Buffalo a few times.

Diversity hiring mandates. We have a concrete supplier ostensibly owned by an Native American. I doubt he has the slightest idea about the basic ingredients of concrete. But he gets his share of contracts in publicly funded construction projects.

When I was a contractor, there were always other factors involved when I gave a bid. If I was swamped with work, the price I would quote would be higher. One off customers did not get the same prices that my regular customers got. If the job was small, prices would be higher (because even a one day delay on a small job can eliminate the profit). It wasn’t only about materials and labor. In construction, you only get a finite number of days to work. You lose days to bad weather, suppliers, local inspectors who don’t show up. That why you get multiple bids and evaluate the abilities of the contractors. Next week, I may be out of work and willing to give you a great deal.

No one wants Iran to have nukes (outside Iran)

I don’t think people like Newsom understand the deep LOATHING that most Americans have for politicians out of California.

True enough, but Democrats are real pros at this...

Thanks for that. Even with the visuals, it is hard to wrap your mind around all that money. And of course, the current debt is over three times bigger than what the last picture shows.

Didn’t we go through this with Biden? He lifted sanctions against Iran, and Iran was supposed to allow international inspectors in to monitor their nuclear program. That went really well.

Well. I am not sure how else it ends. The U.S. Dollar is the reserve currency for the world. The world bought U.S. debt because it was stable, reliable, safe. Our so-called leaders exploited this. If the world wants U.S. debt, well hell, we can just make more..!

But there are limits. There is an old Chinese proverb. Or at least it sound like it should be an old Chinese proverb. "That which cannot go on forever, won't. Now I am not a BRICS alarmist, or a cryptocurrency chauvinist. But, at some point, at some time, the world will become less enamoured with U.S. debt. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but at SOME point. Then something drastic will have to happen. Either crank up the printing presses in a hyperinflation spiral, or dramatic increased in interest rates to prevent a global sell-off. There may be other options, wealth confiscsation, default, I don't know, but it is all bleak.

My point? Time. We could have seen this unfolding twenty years ago. We could have seen it ten years ago. WE HAVE TIME NOW! But we have to start taking the necessary actions. I mean, if you are on the road to ruin, and everyone says, you are on the road to ruin, wouldn't the prudent course be to get off the road to ruin? But no.

For me the ten ton canary in the coal mine is DOGE. If we cannot agree to cut out obvious fraud, waste, corruptions, how are we going to tackle the problems with Medicaid, Social Security, Welfare. I mean our leaders laugh when presented with the fact that the State Department and the Pentagon show multi billion dollar discrepancies when they are audited. So yeah. I think collapse is inevitable. And the EBT crowd is going to be angry...

Maybe the government should do an audit. I am sure that would give us some solid answers...

Taxpayers? I remember a time when at least some politicians would voice concern for taxpayers. Their agenda nowadays supersedes any consideration they might have for us lowly taxpayers.

My daughter was pregnant, and a nurse during Covid. She refused the shot and had to give up her job. She never regretted it.

I will wager that this is a pretty popular business model in and around the DC area.

Looks like she was trying to look like Gordon Ramsay. But maybe that is just me...

...but, but, but, I thought that you needed a new immigration bill (thwarted by then candidate Donald Trump) in order to secure the border. That’s the way I understood it anyway.

Salami sleeps with the fishes

Perhaps. But is is 72 virgin fishes...

Salami was full of baloney...

They were supposed to allow international inspection and verification of their nuclear capabilities in exchange for Biden lifting sanctions against Iran. They were laughing at us before the ink had dried...