Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 1
Baaaaaaaaaa. I'm glad Sheeple Smugly ignored - "culture". Someone used to say - it'll encroach on every part of society.
Anyways, here's to the British Empire for starters.....
https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/..."UK now spends more on welfare than it earns in income tax — is America heading the same way?"
Sheeple, babble "Epstein!" "Trayvon!" or whatever your latest thing is.....
But the Leader, consistently right.
Your permanent underclass is coming --an secretly Sheeple wants that.
But the payback factor comes ---on days like 1/6 -- and your balkanization and tribalism showing.
The best part Sheeple? These are the good ol' days.
Well done UK. I worked on this one a long time!
No. of Recommendations: 14
"UK now spends more on welfare than it earns in income tax — is America heading the same way?"
Does that "report" note that income tax provides a significantly smaller proportion of UK government revenue, than in the US?
From the net sifter:
Income tax is the UK government's largest single source of revenue, funding approximately 27% to 28% of the total public sector budget.For context on how the broader budget is funded, the top three contributors account for nearly 60% of all government receipts: Income Tax: ~28%, National Insurance Contributions (NICs): ~18%, Value Added Tax (VAT): ~17%
USians pay neither a VAT, nor national medical insurance.
Individual income taxes account for about half (approximately 49% to 53%) of the total revenue collected by the U.S. federal government. The remaining federal revenue primarily comes from: Payroll taxes: Around 35% (funds Social Security and Medicare). Corporate income taxes: Around 9% to 11%. Other taxes and fees: Roughly 5% (includes tariffs, excise taxes, and estate taxes)
Look back in the 50s, and see the government received about 27% of revenue from the corporate income tax, vs 48% from the individual income tax. But then the US went "supply side", and "unburdened" corporations, and the rich, at the expense of the Proles.
USian social spending, as a percent of government expenditure.
Social services and income security programs—including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and various safety-net initiatives—account for the majority of US federal spending, typically comprising over 60% of total government expenditure when broadly defined.Specific proportions of total federal spending vary by program: Social Security: 22%, Health and Medicare: 27% (14% for general health programs, 13% for Medicare), Income Security (e.g., SNAP, unemployment): 10%, Veterans Benefits and Services: 6%, Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services: 2%–5%
I recommend a small book by Darrell Huff "How To Lie With Statistics".
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 0
Oh.
So it's no big deal then.
Giggle.
Let's keep revisiting it......
From the US to UK to France to Germany................may the middle class enjoy all the upward mobility possible and may the poor and Lowe middle ---aim for the stars.
No. of Recommendations: 0
From the US to UK to France to Germany.........
France and Germany are doing the same thing the US has done; take from the Proles, to coddle the "JCs". France took years of retirement away from Proles. Germany is offshoring production, while laying off tens of thousands of Proles.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 3
Speaking of Germany, check this out:
https://x.com/MichaelAArouet/status/20486564476767...This chart helps explain why the German economy is falling apart. Instead of starting small businesses, Germans prefer to "work" for the government.
A nation cannot stay prosperous with such a mindset. Only entrepreneurialism and free markets create prosperity, not the state.Here's years of their socialist mindset at work: they think it's better to work for the government than to do something on their own. That's how societies die.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Oh, and here's Canada :)
https://issuesinsights.com/2026/05/29/canada-shows...Remember how the death panels thing came up and the libs claimed it would never happen because mumblemumble?
A decade ago, Canada legalized “Medical Assistance in Dying,” or MAID. At first it was limited to those whose deaths were “reasonably foreseeable,” such as end-stage terminal cancer patients. Five years later, it was expanded to those whose “death is not reasonably foreseeable.” People with a disability or non-terminal illnesses could get a doctor to snuff them out. Lawmakers expanded it again to include those suffering solely from a mental illness, which the government expects to implement next year.
MAID is already big business in Canada. Nearly 100,000 Canadians have availed themselves of this form of “healthcare,” and it now accounts for more than 5% of all deaths in the country. Killing off old and sick folks is now 5% of their death rate. What the actual F.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Only entrepreneurialism and free markets create prosperity, not the state.The government is probably the last entity to offshore jobs. The EU just refined it's free trade agreement with Mexico, and, over the last couple years, signed free trade agreements with India and Brazil.
"JCs" like the honchos at VW, are quick to throw Germans on the street, just like USian "JCs" have.
10 March 2026
Volkswagen to cut 50,000 jobs as profits drop
"In total, around 50,000 jobs are due to be cut by 2030 across the Volkswagen Group in Germany," Blume said in a letter to shareholders in the firm's annual report.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gqyyly9v8oProduction of the ICE powered Golf is being moved from Wolfsburg, to Puebla, Mexico.
Volkswagen to cut production in Germany and reduce staff across factories, with Golf production moved to Mexicohttps://www.automotivelogistics.media/supply-chain...And, because Chinese engineers are cheaper than German engineers...
Under pressure to cut back, Volkswagen mulls Chinese models for Europe
Berlin — Volkswagen AG could begin building its China-specific models in Europe for sale to local markets, or share plants on the continent with Chinese partners, CEO Oliver Blume said on Thursday, after another drop in quarterly profit underscored the need for a fundamental overhaul of the company.https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2...The Europeans have learned NOTHING from the US' experience with NAFTA. They will throw their own citizens on the dole, because Mexicans and Indians work cheaper, condemning themselves to the same social problems the US has experienced over the last 30 years.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 1
Killing off old and sick folks is now 5% of their death rate. What the actual F. What Canada is doing is allowing those who wish to die, to do so.
In the US, it's the insurance companies that run the "death panels" that refuse to pay claims for treatment.
April 10, 2026
Dad Dies After Health Insurance Delays Coverage for New Cancer Treatment, Claims It Wasn’t ‘Medically Necessary’: Report
Tennant was reportedly insured by West Virginia's Public Employees Insurance Agency, which contracts with UnitedHealthcare to administer benefits.
However, throughout February and March 2025, the Public Employees Insurance Agency reportedly denied coverage for the procedure multiple times. In a notice cited by NBC News, the insurer reportedly wrote that coverage would not be provided because the histotripsy was “not medically necessary.” Tennant's wife, Becky, estimated that the procedure would cost $50,000 out-of-pocket. https://people.com/dad-dies-insurance-delays-cover...Steve
No. of Recommendations: 2
What Canada is doing is allowing those who wish to die, to do so.
Nope.
“One elderly woman declined MAID and preferred palliative care,” he wrote. “When a hospice placement request was rejected, her husband, who had been assessed as struggling with ‘caregiver burnout’ asked for an urgent MAID assessment. She was euthanized that day.”
She wanted to live, the state said NO and her husband said 'kill her'.
And they did. The same day.
No. of Recommendations: 0
and her husband said 'kill her'.
Was she mentally competent? Did her husband have a medical POA? Did her husband have implicit medical POA as spouse?
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 9
Here's years of their socialist mindset at work: they think it's better to work for the government than to do something on their own. That's how societies die.
What effect would you say Fox News-spouting harebrains have on a society? Cheerleading its police-state authoritarian impulses? Getting stupider and more straight-up racist and misogynistic by the day? Getting that secret little tingle when authoritarian daddy loots the country and lies right to your face?
I can tell you, Chet, it ain't optimal!
No. of Recommendations: 2
Was she mentally competent? Did her husband have a medical POA? Did her husband have implicit medical POA as spouse?
Doesn't matter, does it? She specifically said she wanted to live.
Since when is choosing life over death a decision that requires a competency test? Or are we at the point in society where even if you want to live the state can just say, Nope. For the greater good we're putting your lights out for good.
No. of Recommendations: 3
What effect would you say Fox News-spouting harebrains have on a society? Cheerleading its police-state authoritarian impulses? Getting stupider and more straight-up racist and misogynistic by the day? Getting that secret little tingle when authoritarian daddy loots the country and lies right to your face?
Wow, felcher. You sure want some attention from Daddy today, don't you?
Look, I get it. Your preferred model of societal function doesn't...actually function and it makes you soooo angry that normal people look at what you say and what you want and laugh at you. So angry that you dyed your chest hair blue instead of your eyebrows. And no matter how stampy-foot you get, the inevitable gravity that is the total failure of socialism to achieve anything other than murdering millions of people weighs on what little soul you have left.
So you do the only thing you can do - head to the interwebs to get some affirmation from other, similarly mentally ill folks who are also regarded as losers by regular people. Does the daily dopamine hit matter that much to you? Is this little bit of community something you need to cope with your brand of Cluster B personality disorder? If it is, I'd kindly suggest that hanging around a collection of folks with NPD is a lot like getting gambling advice from a fellow addict at the Roulette wheel in Vegas.
Food for thought.
No. of Recommendations: 6
Killing off old and sick folks is now 5% of their death rate. What the actual F.
The USA had 15.6 suicides per 100k in 2021, Canada - 9.4. Old MAGA folk prefer to put a gun in their mouths rather than the morphine drip. The suicide belts are in red states, IIRC.
No. of Recommendations: 4
Look, I get it. Your preferred model of societal function doesn't...actually function and it makes you soooo angry that normal people look at what you say and what you want and laugh at you. So angry that you dyed your chest hair blue instead of your eyebrows. And no matter how stampy-foot you get, the inevitable gravity that is the total failure of socialism to achieve anything other than murdering millions of people weighs on what little soul you have left.
So you do the only thing you can do - head to the interwebs to get some affirmation from other, similarly mentally ill folks who are also regarded as losers by regular people. Does the daily dopamine hit matter that much to you? Is this little bit of community something you need to cope with your brand of Cluster B personality disorder? If it is, I'd kindly suggest that hanging around a collection of folks with NPD is a lot like getting gambling advice from a fellow addict at the Roulette wheel in Vegas.
Food for thought.
Is it?
I love how you dazzle yourself with your own intellectual firepower. It must be how Trump feels when he beholds his syphilitic spewings in print on Truth Social and thinks: "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
No. of Recommendations: 3
Is it?
Sure it is. Narcisssitic Personality Disroder is a thing. I hope you get yourself some help.
No. of Recommendations: 11
Narcisssitic Personality Disroder is a thing.
If I do have it, I'm sure I can count on your vote.
No. of Recommendations: 2
If I do have it, I'm sure I can count on your vote.
Why? Am I suddenly an Obama fan? Textbook case, that guy.
No. of Recommendations: 19
Am I suddenly an Obama fan?
You should be. Didn’t start a war costing American taxpayers billions and billions, the Strait of Hormuz was open throughout his presidency, and Iran stopped enriching uranium needed to build a nuclear weapon.
Textbook case, that guy.
Agree, a textbook example of cool, calm, smart, and competency.
No. of Recommendations: 6
Am I suddenly an Obama fan? Textbook case, that guy.
What did he try to put his own name on?
