Consequences of latest Mideast war uncertain for Iran, U.S. and region
NYT: As President Donald Trump uses U.S. military force overseas, his calculation has been that he can launch military operations with the loss of few American lives and minimal disruption to the economy.
The opening days of the war in Iran are challenging that assumption.
Six Americans have been killed. Gulf allies are under attack. The stock market wobbled. Gasoline prices are rising. The U.S. military is spending, by some estimates, hundreds of millions of dollars per day. In Iran, an airstrike on a girls’ elementary school killed 175 people, according to local health officials and Iranian state media, and the Trump administration says it is investigating who was responsible.
While no U.S. ground troops have yet been sent to Iranian soil, the administration has not ruled out sending soldiers. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested Wednesday that the conflict might not be short. -- nordy
The stock market did more than wobble today. It dropped nearly 800 points. Estimates I've heard are that DT's War of Choice is costing US taxpayers $$$$$ one billion dollars each day!
Posts by a friend of mine who lives in the Bible belt. Her daughter is a US Marine and her son is Army. She is furious with this Administration and I stand with her!!
March 2nd So many of you were worried about the blood of aborted children being on your hands when you voted for the current president (who, no doubt, just fed people what they wanted to hear). What about the blood of the soldiers fighting a war that was not approved by congress and could have been prevented if we actually had a president who knew how to negotiate and not just make irrational decisions. Yes, I will be more vocal about this because I do now have more at stake. Unfriend me, mute me, whatever you need to do, because there’s surely more to come.
March 5th “War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.” I imagine my little girl in the rubble, searching for her. I see her as a Marine, waiting to be called to serve in a war I do not stand by. Iran was not a threat. The current president claimed that we had obliterated nuclear weapon sites not that long ago. I’m just a civilian, not attached to any political party, trying to make sense of all of this and I can’t.
Noem got fired as Secretary of Homeland Security, but really she got a promotion. She will now be Special Envoy for “the Shield of the Americas”, a security initiative Trump said he planned to announce over the weekend. 🤮
Bernie Sanders' proposed billionaire tax would raise $4.4 trillion. The revenue would go to universal programs, and basically solve ALL of America's social and infrastructure problems:
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ proposal centers on a direct tax on extreme wealth, not just income. The framework he has outlined in past plans applies an annual tax on net worth above a high threshold, with graduated rates that increase as wealth rises.
For example, a 1 percent tax on fortunes over $32 million for married couples, climbing in brackets up to 8 percent on wealth above $10 billion.
That scale of revenue is large enough to fund multiple major programs simultaneously.
Universal pre K has been estimated at roughly $20 to $30 billion per year. Over ten years, that is about $200 to $300 billion. Tuition free public college has been scored in the range of $700 to $800 billion over a decade.
Expanding Medicare to add dental, vision, and hearing benefits has been estimated at roughly $350 to $400 billion over ten years.
A national paid family and medical leave program has been estimated at around $200 to $300 billion over a decade.
Even combining those figures, total costs would be roughly $1.5 to $1.8 trillion over ten years. That would STILL leave more than $2.5 TRILLION remaining from a $4.4 trillion revenue stream, enough to finance large scale housing construction, expanded child tax credits, or a substantial reduction in out of pocket health costs, while still covering the programs listed above.
The header on my March wall calendar says "So much to do. So little desire to do it." And that's the truth. Susan
ReplyDeleteMy sentiments exactly!
ReplyDeleteConsequences of latest Mideast war uncertain for Iran, U.S. and region
ReplyDeleteNYT: As President Donald Trump uses U.S. military force overseas, his calculation has been that he can launch military operations with the loss of few American lives and minimal disruption to the economy.
The opening days of the war in Iran are challenging that assumption.
Six Americans have been killed. Gulf allies are under attack. The stock market wobbled. Gasoline prices are rising. The U.S. military is spending, by some estimates, hundreds of millions of dollars per day. In Iran, an airstrike on a girls’ elementary school killed 175 people, according to local health officials and Iranian state media, and the Trump administration says it is investigating who was responsible.
While no U.S. ground troops have yet been sent to Iranian soil, the administration has not ruled out sending soldiers. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested Wednesday that the conflict might not be short. -- nordy
The stock market did more than wobble today. It dropped nearly 800 points.
DeleteEstimates I've heard are that DT's War of Choice is costing US taxpayers $$$$$ one billion dollars each day!
Posts by a friend of mine who lives in the Bible belt. Her daughter is a US Marine and her son is Army. She is furious with this Administration and I stand with her!!
ReplyDeleteMarch 2nd
So many of you were worried about the blood of aborted children being on your hands when you voted for the current president (who, no doubt, just fed people what they wanted to hear). What about the blood of the soldiers fighting a war that was not approved by congress and could have been prevented if we actually had a president who knew how to negotiate and not just make irrational decisions. Yes, I will be more vocal about this because I do now have more at stake. Unfriend me, mute me, whatever you need to do, because there’s surely more to come.
March 5th
“War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.”
I imagine my little girl in the rubble, searching for her. I see her as a Marine, waiting to be called to serve in a war I do not stand by.
Iran was not a threat. The current president claimed that we had obliterated nuclear weapon sites not that long ago. I’m just a civilian, not attached to any political party, trying to make sense of all of this and I can’t.
Noem got fired as Secretary of Homeland Security, but really she got a promotion. She will now be Special Envoy for “the Shield of the Americas”, a security initiative Trump said he planned to announce over the weekend. 🤮
ReplyDeletevia Democratic Socialists:
ReplyDeleteBernie Sanders' proposed billionaire tax would raise $4.4 trillion. The revenue would go to universal programs, and basically solve ALL of America's social and infrastructure problems:
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ proposal centers on a direct tax on extreme wealth, not just income. The framework he has outlined in past plans applies an annual tax on net worth above a high threshold, with graduated rates that increase as wealth rises.
For example, a 1 percent tax on fortunes over $32 million for married couples, climbing in brackets up to 8 percent on wealth above $10 billion.
That scale of revenue is large enough to fund multiple major programs simultaneously.
Universal pre K has been estimated at roughly $20 to $30 billion per year. Over ten years, that is about $200 to $300 billion.
Tuition free public college has been scored in the range of $700 to $800 billion over a decade.
Expanding Medicare to add dental, vision, and hearing benefits has been estimated at roughly $350 to $400 billion over ten years.
A national paid family and medical leave program has been estimated at around $200 to $300 billion over a decade.
Even combining those figures, total costs would be roughly $1.5 to $1.8 trillion over ten years. That would STILL leave more than $2.5 TRILLION remaining from a $4.4 trillion revenue stream, enough to finance large scale housing construction, expanded child tax credits, or a substantial reduction in out of pocket health costs, while still covering the programs listed above.
You'll get no argument from me.
Delete