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Trump administration 2024-2028

Kirkhill said:
And thus Vlad's interest in Ukraine.
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Hard to tell from that article if the issue is nothing left in the ground or nobody looking. Can't imagine why nobody wants to make long-term investments in Russia.
Government investment in geological exploration has also seen drastic cuts, with funding reduced by 94 billion rubles. Private sector investment has not been able to fill the gap, further weakening efforts to secure new mineral deposits.
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PrairieFella said:
Kevin will not like this...

A paragraph from the article:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered senior leaders at the Pentagon and throughout the U.S. military to develop plans for cutting 8 percent from the defense budget in each of the next five years, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post and officials familiar with the matter — a striking proposal certain to face internal resistance and strident bipartisan opposition in Congress.

An 8% defence budget cut a year would have even made Chrétien blush.

Is it even constitutional for the executive to order such cuts to congressionally approved funds?
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8 percent a year for five years? Holy shit that broke my brain and can't figure out the actual total cut (30 something?)

How do you do that and say you are rebuilding the military?

That sounds more like they will cut some programs, but then dump billions into pet projects run by people like his buddy Elon.
 
Navy_Pete said:
8 percent a year for five years? Holy shit that broke my brain and can't figure out the actual total cut (30 something?)

How do you do that and say you are rebuilding the military?

That sounds more like they will cut some programs, but then dump billions into pet projects run by people like his buddy Elon.
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It's just shy of a 35% cut, not accounting for inflation. Woof.
 
VDH has an interesting take on Hegseth and the US military reforms coming.


Why isn’t it bigger news that the US has its highest recruitment levels in a long time right after inauguration?
 
Navy_Pete said:
How do you do that and say you are rebuilding the military?
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Depends on what is cut and what isn't.

Politically it will be interesting to see where Democrats land on this.

Conservatives in general weren't going to go along with Democrats blowing out their gaffs on federal public spending indefinitely. Chickens are coming in to roost, and they're coming in hard.
 
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An auditor's wet dream ;)

If only 1/2 of this is true, they should fill the jails with the people who caused this kind of fraud....

"Schools have spent nearly $200B of COVID-Relief funds with little oversight or impact on students. $393K to rent out a Major League Baseball stadium, $86K in Caesars Palace hotel rooms, $60k in swimming pool passes, and even an ice cream truck."

doge.gov

Work | DOGE: Department of Government Efficiency | DOGE: Department of Government Efficiency

Work | DOGE: Department of Government Efficiency.
doge.gov doge.gov
 
GR66 said:
If Trump's brilliant scheme is to secure an alliance with Russia to get its resources then he might be sadly disappointed...

defence-blog.com

Hackers expose Russia’s critical raw material shortages

Hackers have obtained access to classified presentations outlining Russia’s mineral resource development strategy through 2035. The documents, published by the investigative community InformNapalm, expose Russia’s growing dependence on imported raw materials and its declining domestic resource...
defence-blog.com defence-blog.com
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Having the materials in the ground is one thing. Building the infrastructure to access them, remove them, process them is a big commitment and needs stability to justify the expense.
 
daftandbarmy said:
An auditor's wet dream ;)

If only 1/2 of this is true, they should fill the jails with the people who caused this kind of fraud....

"Schools have spent nearly $200B of COVID-Relief funds with little oversight or impact on students. $393K to rent out a Major League Baseball stadium, $86K in Caesars Palace hotel rooms, $60k in swimming pool passes, and even an ice cream truck."

doge.gov

Work | DOGE: Department of Government Efficiency | DOGE: Department of Government Efficiency

Work | DOGE: Department of Government Efficiency.
doge.gov doge.gov
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If Americans don't want to spend $10million dollars on circumcisions in Mozambique Canadians should step up and send money instead.
 
PPCLI Guy said:
Ignore the peacekeeping laydown - but the rest of it is fascinating
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Trump's offer to Zelensky offering protection in return for a 50% stake, (49 or 51 matters in these types of discussions) I keep wanting to reference Saudi Aramco, the Arab American Oil Company. Ukraine has both 20th century and 21st century energy assets, plus an agricultural base and a manufacturing history.

On the open market where is Zelenskyy going to get the best deal? Trump, Vlad, Xi, the Euros (to include the UK),, the Turks or the Arabs? Or some combination?

I think with a steady supply of cash and access to weapons Ukraine could conceivably defend itself.
 
Kirkhill said:
Trump's offer to Zelensky offering protection in return for a 50% stake, (49 or 51 matters in these types of discussions) I keep wanting to reference Saudi Aramco, the Arab American Oil Company. Ukraine has both 20th century and 21st century energy assets, plus an agricultural base and a manufacturing history.

On the open market where is Zelenskyy going to get the best deal? Trump, Vlad, Xi, the Euros (to include the UK),, the Turks or the Arabs? Or some combination?
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Euros seem to be the best deal, IF they can put their weapons where there mouth is.

Kirkhill said:
I think with a steady supply of cash and access to enough weapons Ukraine could conceivably defend itself.
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Small alteration above.
 
RangerRay said:
The problem is, there was no offer of protection in return, hence Zelensky’s refusal of said demand.
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Allowing large US companies in to work, meaning now the US has actual economic interests in the region, provides an implied security.
 
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