Trump is my favourite comedian of the year already (7 Viewers)

[CCFCSteve]

Just to say as well Steve that a yield on a government bond changing makes no difference to the value the government pays on it. If the coupon is 5% of the face value that cash value remains the same even if the market price of the bond has changed.

If you’re refinancing the debt you have to pay the higher rates, which is why I mentioned the fact that the U.S. apparently needs to refinance something like $9trn/one quarter of their $37trn debt this year. Just a 0.5% increase equates to around $50bn extra a year interest. A lot of this debt was taken out at far lower rates so the spike in debt servicing costs for US (and ourselves/others) is eye watering.

You’re correct it makes no difference to the amount of interest paid on debt already taken out

 

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[wingy]

How many shortages are engineered to exploit like now?

 

[wingy]

He's been on a rant reminds me of this guy!

 

[chiefdave]

Is insider trading allowed now?

 

[fernandopartridge]

Cc Ukraine thread, but the American underlying objective as usual is at play, and Europe's idiotic leaders just cannot see it

 

[eastwoodsdustman]

Iran are really playing Trump with their 'Fake News' and 'He's negotiating with himself' responses. Showing him for the Bullshitter that he is.

 

[chiefdave]

Democrats are projected to win a special election for a Florida legislative district that includes Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, marking another upset in the president's backyard.

Democrat Emily Gregory, a first-time candidate, defeated Trump-backed Republican Jon Maples in a race for the open Florida District 87 state House seat.

The result is a reversal from 2024, when a Republican won the district by 19 percentage points.

Maybe they should check the postal votes for fraud

President Donald Trump, who has frequently railed against voting by mail, submitted his ballot by mail for a Florida special election.

The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections voter records show Trump's status in the March 24 state representative election in his district as "you voted by Mail Ballot." The ballot was received for processing on March 15, records show, the day after early voting began. Trump was staying at Mar-a-Lago for the weekend.

Trump said in August his party would do everything in its power to get rid of mail-in voting, calling mail-in ballots "corrupt."

 

[eastwoodsdustman]

Cc Ukraine thread, but the American underlying objective as usual is at play, and Europe's idiotic leaders just cannot see it

Apparently someone was looking into Trump and his close links recent fraudulent insider trading. The investigation got closed down very quickly so she resigned in protest.
The level of corruption going on would make Putin blush.

 

[PVA]

The US seems to be moving units in place for boots on the ground, probably at Kharg Island.

Maybe it's just a negotiating tactic, but putting boots on th ground would be absolute madness.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

The US seems to be moving units in place for boots on the ground, probably at Kharg Island.

Maybe it's just a negotiating tactic, but putting boots on th ground would be absolute madness.

I’m pretty sure the Iranians will destroy the facility with those soldiers on it.

 

[PVA]

I’m pretty sure the Iranians will destroy the facility with those soldiers on it.

I imagine Hegseth is desperate to do it, so he can blabber on about 'lethal warfighters' and they can make some TikToks of marines jumping out of helicopters.

But it seems like an absolutely dreadful idea for so many reasons.

 

[chiefdave]

The last week or so there's been a bit of chatter on socials about amendments being made to their requirements for selective service and even the potential for a draft.

That all seemed like nonsense as you would have thought there was no way Trump would send troops in but if he is this could easily drag on for years and require a lot of manpower.

Lets be honest. The US have attempted quick campaigns against much weaker countries than Iran and come unstuck.

 

[eastwoodsdustman]

I imagine Hegseth is desperate to do it, so he can blabber on about 'lethal warfighters' and they can make some TikToks of marines jumping out of helicopters.

But it seems like an absolutely dreadful idea for so many reasons.

If they do send troops in then I hope that their planning is better than the initial stages of the 'war' which have achieved the opposite of what they wanted.
Someone is still firing rockets and drones off despite his claims that they have obliterated everything.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

The last week or so there's been a bit of chatter on socials about amendments being made to their requirements for selective service and even the potential for a draft.

That all seemed like nonsense as you would have thought there was no way Trump would send troops in but if he is this could easily drag on for years and require a lot of manpower.

Lets be honest. The US have attempted quick campaigns against much weaker countries than Iran and come unstuck.

There is no support for doing that outside of MAGA and perhaps not much even within it. They forget that Bush and Cheney worked for a while to build support for invading Iraq.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

If they do send troops in then I hope that their planning is better than the initial stages of the 'war' which have achieved the opposite of what they wanted.
Someone is still firing rockets and drones off despite his claims that they have obliterated everything.

Obliterate means something different in America

 

[chiefdave]

There is no support for doing that outside of MAGA and perhaps not much even within it. They forget that Bush and Cheney worked for a while to build support for invading Iraq.

Does that matter, do they seem like people who look at the polls and believe either their polices or they themselves are unpopular? If its not someone agreeing with them its fake.

That's if they're even looking at them. Remember it being reported in Trumps first term that they had to try and summarise everything on the first page of his daily briefing as he was unlikely to read any more than that.

The problem may be that I think he has to go to congress and get approval to declare a war to drag it past 90 days. Not sure he'd have the support for that but will they realise even that before they try it?

 

[Marty]

Look at the obscene wealth that American politicians have, they're all at it, both sides. Not sure how you can stop it.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

Does that matter, do they seem like people who look at the polls and believe either their polices or they themselves are unpopular? If its not someone agreeing with them its fake.

That's if they're even looking at them. Remember it being reported in Trumps first term that they had to try and summarise everything on the first page of his daily briefing as he was unlikely to read any more than that.

The problem may be that I think he has to go to congress and get approval to declare a war to drag it past 90 days. Not sure he'd have the support for that but will they realise even that before they try it?

Elections are on the way this year, and they’re already set to lose heavily even without forcing people to die for a war basically nobody supports.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Look at the obscene wealth that American politicians have, they're all at it, both sides. Not sure how you can stop it.

It’s gone

 

[Marty]

It’s gone

What's gone?

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

What's gone?

Integrity in public office and can’t be put back

 

[BodicoteSkyBlue]

I imagine Hegseth is desperate to do it, so he can blabber on about 'lethal warfighters' and they can make some TikToks of marines jumping out of helicopters.

But it seems like an absolutely dreadful idea for so many reasons.

It’s a horrible thing to say, but maybe a steady stream of US body bags would bring about an earlier end to this already won war.

 

[chiefdave]

It’s a horrible thing to say, but maybe a steady stream of US body bags would bring about an earlier end to this already won war.

Not if nobody knows about it. According to Fox News “The United States has decided to keep the funeral processions of soldiers killed in the war with Iran completely secret, with a strict ban on cameras.”

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Not if nobody knows about it. According to Fox News “The United States has decided to keep the funeral processions of soldiers killed in the war with Iran completely secret, with a strict ban on cameras.”

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