#us/nato

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #26

July 5-12 2024

The IRS announced it had managed to collect $1 billion in back taxes from high-wealth tax cheats. The program focused on persons with more than $1 million in yearly income who owned more than $250,000 in unpaid taxes. Thanks to money in Biden's 2022 Inflation Reduction Act the IRS is able to undertake more enforcement against rich tax cheats after years of Republicans cutting the agency's budget, which they hope to do again if they win power again.

The Biden administration announced a $244 million dollar investment in the federal government’s registered apprenticeship program. This marks the largest investment in the program's history with grants going out to 52 programs in 32 states. The President is focused on getting well paying blue collar opportunities to people and more people are taking part in the apprenticeship program than ever before. Republican pledge to cut it, even as employers struggle to find qualified workers.

The Department of Transportation announced the largest single project in the department's history, $11 billion dollars in grants for the The Hudson River Tunnel. Part of the $66 billion the Biden Administration has invested in our rail system the tunnel, the most complex Infrastructure project in the nation would link New York and New Jersey by rail under the Hudson. Once finished it's believed it'll impact 20% of the American economy by improving and speeding connection throughout the Northeast.

The Department of Energy announced $1.7 billion to save auto worker's jobs and convert factories to electronic vehicles. The Biden administration will used the money to save or reopen factories in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Virginia and retool them to make electric cars. The project will save 15,000 skilled union worker jobs, and created 2,900 new high-quality jobs.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development reached a settlement with The Appraisal Foundation over racial discrimination. TAF is the organization responsible for setting standards and qualifications for real estate appraisers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics last year found that TAF was 94.7% White and 0.6% Black, making it the least racially diverse of the 800 occupations surveyed. Black and Latino home owners are far more likely to have their houses under valued than whites. Under the settlement with HUD TAF will have to take serious steps to increase diversity and remove structural barriers to diversity.

The Department of Justice disrupted an effort by the Russian government to influence public opinion through AI bots. The DoJ shut down nearly 1,000 twitter accounts that were linked to a Russian Bot farm. The bots used AI technology to not only generate tweets but also AI image faces for profile pictures. The effort seemed focused on boosting support for Russia's war against Ukraine and spread negative stories/impressions about Ukraine.

The Department of Transportation announces $1.5 billion to help local authorities buy made in America buses. 80% of the funding will go toward zero or low-emission technology, a part of the President's goal of reaching zero emissions by 2050. This is part of the $5 billion the DOT has spent over the last 3 years replacing aging buses with new cleaner technology.

President Biden with Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau and Finnish President Alexander Stubb signed a new agreement on the arctic. The new trilateral agreement between the 3 NATO partners, known as the ICE Pact, will boost production of ice breaking ships, the 3 plan to build as many as 90 between them in the coming years. The alliance hopes to be a counter weight to China's current dominance in the ice breaker market and help western allies respond to Russia's aggressive push into the arctic waters.

The Department of Transportation announced $1.1 billion for greater rail safety. The program seeks to, where ever possible, eliminate rail crossings, thus removing the dangers and inconvenience to communities divided by rail lines. It will also help update and improve safety measures at rail crossings.

The Department of the Interior announced $120 million to help tribal communities prepare for climate disasters. This funding is part of half a billion dollars the Biden administration has spent to help tribes build climate resilience, which itself is part of a $50 billion dollar effort to build climate resilience across the nation. This funding will help support drought measures, wildland fire mitigation, community-driven relocation, managed retreat, protect-in-place efforts, and ocean and coastal management.

The USDA announced $100 million in additional funds to help feed low income kids over the summer. Known as "SUN Bucks" or "Summer EBT" the new Biden program grants the families of kids who qualify for free meals at school $120 dollars pre-child for groceries. This comes on top of the traditional SUN Meals program which offers school meals to qualifying children over the summer, as well as the new under President Biden SUN Meals To-Go program which is now offering delivery of meals to low-income children in rural areas. This grant is meant to help local governments build up the Infrastructure to support and distribute SUN Bucks. If fully implemented SUN Bucks could help 30 million kids, but many Republican governors have refused the funding.

USAID announced its giving $100 million to the UN World Food Program to deliver urgently needed food assistance in Gaza. This will bring the total humanitarian aid given by the US to the Palestinian people since the war started in October 2023 to $774 million, the single largest donor nation. President Biden at his press conference last night said that Israel and Hamas have agreed in principle to a ceasefire deal that will end the war and release the hostages. US negotiators are working to close the final gaps between the two sides and end the war.

The Senate confirmed Nancy Maldonado to serve as a Judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Maldonado is the 202nd federal Judge appointed by President Biden to be confirmed. She will the first Latino judge to ever serve on the 7th Circuit which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

Bonus: At the NATO summit in Washington DC President Biden joined 32 allies in the Ukraine compact. Allies from Japan to Iceland confirmed their support for Ukraine and deepening their commitments to building Ukraine's forces and keeping a free and Democratic Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. World leaders such as British Prime Minster Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, praised President Biden's experience and leadership during the NATO summit

[tinakp]

US/NATO Maniacs Killed The Post-Cold War Peace On Purpose | Alexander Mercouris from The Duran

This is the second segment of the interview with Alexander Mercouris ( @AlexMercouris  ) from  @TheDuran . We talk about how and why NATO elites decided to kill the Post-Cold War peace in Europe that had set in after 1989. The poisonous idea that the US had "won" the Cold War completely distorted all decision-making, leading to some of the worst and most provocative geostrategic blunders in history. Peace was killed by those who thought they could rain with impunity and Ukraine is now paying the price of the zero-sum thinking.

[beauty-funny-trippy]

Trump mistakenly thinks the money he's referring to is supposed to go to NATO. It's not. It's the amount each country is voluntarily asked to spend on its own armed forces. Which means, there are no "delinquent" payments.

Obviously Trump is unable to understand even the basics of NATO or foreign policy. The whole purpose of NATO is to prevent wars, not "encourage" them. Trump's insane foreign policy of betraying our allies and befriending our enemies is unbelievably irresponsible and dangerous for America. Do we really want to elect a president whose foreign policy goal is to "Make Russia Great Again!"

Few people despise America more than Putin; and few people admire that brutal dictator more than Trump. Apparently Trump believes that throwing our friends at Putin's feet is a surefire way to impress his alpha-male idol, and perhaps get some help from Putin in the 2024 election.

And did you notice how Trump talks about betraying our allies? Not with somber reluctance. But rather, he literally encourages Putin to murder our friends with a disturbingly perverse tone of enthusiasm! Is he a candidate for president, or auditioning to be Marvel's next supervillain?

There is something seriously wrong with an American presidential candidate who has a greater loyalty to our enemies than to our friends, or even to our own country.

[originalleftist]

[phoenixyfriend]

One of the insane things I've learned due to bingeing political and news media is why the US has such a high military budget.

Like, don't get me wrong, I still disagree with it, I hate the military industrial complex, I do not THINK we should be doing this...

But finding out that a number of countries have more or less officially contracted their emergency military responses to the US does make more sense. We aren't just the US's army, we're functionally the reserves for all of NATO. Europe gives us good trade deals in exchange for being able to borrow our gun guys.

Again, I don't AGREE with this. I'm just much less confused about the WHY now.

Unless I'm wrong about how the budget works, in which case, please explain using pie charts. I like pie charts.

EDIT: Also it's more than just Europe, some noteworthy others being Taiwan, Israel, South Korea, and Japan.

[eliounora]

to say people withholding their vote in America aren't 'pragmatic' enough is so dismissive. as a fellow European like idk what I would've done either if I was an American.

Otherwise I would be sorry to be dismissive but in this situation I think it is completely acceptable, if not necessary, to vote for the lesser evil. Voting is not about your inner true values, it is about society, and especially in the American setting where you essentially have only two options, you need to be able to make hard decisions. If you're seriously indicating that on the whole Harris is bad as Trump, you need to take a cold hard look at the reality of the matters at hand. Harris is not ideal, and it hurts to vote for her especially when you think about Gaza, but Trump is a fascist and his supporters in the Republican party are dangerous to democracy and human rights. This is not a situation where you get to opt out. Not voting is a vote for Trump.

[batknot]

On Kamala Harris

Disclaimer: I will be linking articles but I have my own biases so feel free to correct me or just interact.

My credentials: Asian-american citizen, autism (this is my special interest), polisci, etc.

Who Is Kamala Harris?

She's the first female vice president as well as african american and asian american. She's held the positions of district attorney, attorney general, and senator. She's supported abortion rights, gay rights, expanded job training for criminals, and supported federal legalizing of medical cannibis in 2015. In march, she called for ceasefire from palestine.

Will she really be president nominee?

We dont know that for sure, but its incredibly likely that she will. Not only is she currently VP, skipping over her would be an incredibly stupid move from the democratic party that would likely bring backlash to whoever else they would pick. She also has access to funding and campaign plans from Biden's run as well as name recognition. Whether she will win depends on voter turnout, her VP pick, and the next four months.

Why do people dislike her?

Top Cop. Harris has a history as prosecutor and attorney general which while beneficial made her controversial during 2020. Its hard to reach a consensus here because much of what is being said is misinformation. Heres some facts: she's advocated for lynching to be a federal crime, and she's also sponsored legislation that would ban choke holds, racial profiling and no-knock warrants. She is against the death penalty but swore to uphold it anyways as is her job.

Immigration. Her role in immigration is very misunderstood. In her role, Harris has focused on convincing companies to invest in Central America. In March, the White House announced Harris had secured a commitment from the private sector to invest over $5 billion to promote economic opportunities and reduce violence in the region.

Personal opinions

I believe that most of her controversy comes from being a black woman. Trump's presidency was hellish and he's been open about stating that it'll only get worse. Voting for her will be the best opportunity we have.

Other resources: r/whatbidenhasdone

[anneowl2803]

I hope Trump cutting NATO funding during this war is the wake up call Europe needs not to depend on the US. We should have been able to fully support Ukraine on our own. It’s unfortunate that Ukrainians will suffer for it, but it’s the European NATO members’ faults for not contributing more to our own defence.

[theculturedmarxist]

In a new article titled “Ukraine’s Lack of Weaponry and Training Risks Stalemate in Fight With Russia,” The Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Michaels reports that western officials knew Ukrainian forces didn’t have the weapons and training necessary to succeed in their highly touted counteroffensive which was launched last month.

Michaels writes:

“When Ukraine launched its big counteroffensive this spring, Western military officials knew Kyiv didn’t have all the training or weapons — from shells to warplanes — that it needed to dislodge Russian forces. But they hoped Ukrainian courage and resourcefulness would carry the day. “They haven’t. Deep and deadly minefields, extensive fortifications and Russian air power have combined to largely block significant advances by Ukrainian troops. Instead, the campaign risks descending into a stalemate with the potential to burn through lives and equipment without a major shift in momentum.”

The claim that western officials had sincerely believed Ukrainian forces might be able to overcome their glaring deficits through sheer pluck and ticker is undermined later in the same article by a war pundit who says the US would never attempt such a counteroffensive without first controlling the skies, which Ukraine doesn’t have the ability to do:

“America would never attempt to defeat a prepared defense without air superiority, but they [Ukrainians] don’t have air superiority,” the U.S. Army War College’s John Nagl told WSJ. “It’s impossible to overstate how important air superiority is for fighting a ground fight at a reasonable cost in casualties.”

Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp writes the following on the latest WSJ revelation:

“Leading up to the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which was launched in June, the Discord leaks and media reports revealed that the US did not believe Ukraine could regain much territory from Russia. But the Biden administration pushed for the assault anyway, as it rejected the idea of a pause in fighting.”

So the empire is still knowingly throwing Ukrainian lives into the meat grinder of an unwinnable proxy war, even as western officials tell the public that this war is about saving Ukrainian lives and handing Putin a crushing defeat whenever they’re on camera.

This attitude from the empire is not a new development. Last October The Washington Post reported that “Privately, U.S. officials say neither Russia nor Ukraine is capable of winning the war outright, but they have ruled out the idea of pushing or even nudging Ukraine to the negotiating table.”

Now why might that be? Why would the western empire be so comfortable encouraging Ukrainians to keep fighting when it knows they can’t win?

We find our answer in another Washington Post article titled “The West feels gloomy about Ukraine. Here’s why it shouldn’t.”, authored last week by virulent empire propagandist David Ignatius. In his eagerness to frame the floundering counteroffensive in a positive light for his American audience, Ignatius let slip an inconvenient truth:

“Meanwhile, for the United States and its NATO allies, these 18 months of war have been a strategic windfall, at relatively low cost (other than for the Ukrainians). The West’s most reckless antagonist has been rocked. NATO has grown much stronger with the additions of Sweden and Finland. Germany has weaned itself from dependence on Russian energy and, in many ways, rediscovered its sense of values. NATO squabbles make headlines, but overall, this has been a triumphal summer for the alliance.”

Anyone who believes this proxy war is about helping Ukrainians should be made to read that paragraph over and over again until it sinks in. The admission that the US-centralized power structure benefits immensely from this proxy conflict is revealing enough, but that parenthetical “other than for the Ukrainians” aside really drives it home. It reads as though it was added as an afterthought, like “Oh yeah it’s actually kind of rough on the Ukrainians though — if you consider them to be people.”

The claim that this war is about helping Ukrainians has been further undermined by another new Washington Post report that Ukraine is now more riddled with land mines than any other nation on earth, and that US-supplied cluster munitions are only making the land more deadly.

That’s right kids! We’re turning Ukraine into an uninhabitable wasteland of death and dismemberment to save the Ukrainians.

We should probably talk more about the fact that the US empire is loudly promoting the goal of achieving peace in Ukraine by defeating Russia while quietly acknowledging that this goal is impossible. This is like accelerating toward a brick wall and pretending it’s an open road.

The narrative that Russia can be beaten by ramping up proxy warfare against it makes sense if you believe Russia can be militarily defeated in Ukraine, but the US empire does not believe that Russia can be militarily defeated in Ukraine. It knows that continuing this war is only going to perpetuate the death and devastation.

“Beat Putin’s ass and make him withdraw” sounds cool and is egoically gratifying, and it’s become the mainstream answer to the problem of the war in Ukraine, but nobody promoting that answer can address the fact that the ones driving this proxy war believe it’s impossible. In fact, all evidence we’re seeing suggests that the US is not trying to deliver Putin a crushing defeat in Ukraine and force him to withdraw, but is rather trying to create another long and costly military quagmire for Moscow, as western cold warriors have done repeatedly in instances like Afghanistan and Syria.

Wanting to weaken Russia and wanting to save lives and establish peace in Ukraine are two completely different goals, so different that in practice they wind up being largely contradictory. Drawing Moscow into a bloody quagmire means many more people dying in a war that drags on for years, with all the immense human suffering that that entails.

The US does not want peace in Ukraine, it wants to overextend Russia, shore up military and energy dominance over Europe, expand its war machine and enrich the military-industrial complex. That’s why it knowingly provoked this war. It’s posing as Ukraine’s savior while being clearly invested in Ukraine’s destruction.

It is not legitimate to support this proxy war without squarely addressing this massive contradiction using hard facts and robust argumentation. Nobody ever has.

[still-searching-for-something]

I think a lot of people don't realize the Pax Americana, the massive decline in the frequency and severity of interstate wars since the end of the Second World War, is not a coincidence or happenstance. It is not an act of G-d, an unalterable status quo, or an accident. It is the product of decades of careful, hard work by diplomats, world leaders, civil servants, and political figures. And the primary guarantor of this peace, the product of their hard work is:

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

And NATO is precisely what Vladimir Putin is waging a targeted hybrid war to destroy.

The binding principle of NATO, of course, is that an attack against one is an attack against all. An assault against Poland will get America, Britain, Canada, Germany, and all of the other 32 member states to respond. This creates a tangible disincentive to attack, obviously. To be in NATO is to be assured that when shit hits the fan, you have the most powerful military in the history of mankind on your side, that you are protected from any expansionist neighbors. All across the world are nations that would likely be subject to hostile takeovers if their larger neighbors felt free to invade—Taiwan, Poland, the Baltics, Israel, Finland, etc. Some of these nations are not in NATO, but they are all American allies, and the American military is the bedrock of global peace today. You ever wonder why the US spends so much on a massive military in peacetime? Because they're paying for the defense of themselves, and Western Europe, ANDcontributing to the self defense capabilities of their allies—many of whom do have competent militaries of their own, but mutually benefit from the American security umbrella.

Today, of course, we're dealing with the problem of an expansionist Russia guided by an irredentist ideology that views Russia as holding a unique, privileged position between the decadent, declining West (Europe) and the foolish, ungovernable Asia. Eurasianism holds that Russia is the center of both worlds, and is both destined and obligated to take the reins of Europe and Asia and guide it to Russian-approved greatness. The Russian government systematically denies the legitimacy of Eastern Europe's national aspirations and cultures, arguing that it is no different from Russian culture and therefore deserves Russian governance. And if they can't take over these nations by unequal treaties and puppet regimes and troll farms, they'll do it directly with force.

But, of course, there's a problem. NATO. NATO is the obstacle in Putin's plans. A war with NATO would be, well, World War III. Russia can't afford to go to war with NATO, and they know that.

But what if... they could make NATO politically irrelevant?

And this is what brings us to our good friends Donald Trump and the Republican Party. The links between the Republican Party and the Russian state apparatus are a bit lengthy for the scope of this post, but the point is, Donald Trump has displayed a consistent admiration for Vladimir Putin, and a derision for NATO unheard of for any American president since 1949. Trump has described NATO as "obsolete" and even stated he would allow Russia to "do whatever they wanted" to nations that don't pay enough into NATO.

This is bad. Real bad.

Trump is doing what is in Putin's interest and trying to turn back the clock to the pre-NATO days—where nations were invaded by stronger neighbors, and there was no massive military alliance to block it. Putin is working to undo the Long Peace and create the circumstances that would allow him to bring back the dead Soviet empire by force. Yes, NATO would intervene if Russian troops set foot in Poland, but that will mean a lot less if the main backbone of NATO, the United States, has announced to the world that it will abandon its allies.

This is what makes European leaders so invested in the 2024 presidential election, and why the invasion of Ukraine shocked them so much—Putin was demonstrating he seriously wants to wage war for territorial expansion, and is willing to kill to do so. If Trump wins in 2024, not only will he enact Project 2025 and cause all kinds of damage to the United States' democracy, he will also create a world where autocrats are free to invade their neighbors if they want. China can invade Taiwan. Russia can invade the Baltics. North Korea can invade South Korea. Venezuela can invade Guyana. Azerbaijan can invade Armenia. He won't bring about World War III, he'll bring about a bunch of smaller wars, all over the world.

If you want peace and democracy, vote for Harris. If you want war and authoritarianism, vote for Trump.

It's as simple as that.

[benjaminallhope-fulltimemind]

after two long years Ukraine is making major gains even after a massive slog in the south, it's the first major land invasion of Russia since the second world war! The funny thing is that Ukraine is abiding by international standards and not committing war crimes, not only that but there has been no major protests nir armed resistance against Ukraine troops in the kurk region and my best guest is that any people who would have fought are evacuating but then why wouldn't they do anything something like Ukraine citizens did during the invasion of their territory? With all that said however this is a major advantage for Ukraine for PR and negotiations, any talk going forward are no longer about begging but real negotiations since Russia risks losing territory. Wjth the November US election this kursk offensive this might also impact military aid in a positive way, despite pro-russia pundits crying about Ukraine's use of western weapons.

[mapsontheweb]

Senate vote to ratify the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO)

[ievocatus]

Reforger 1988

[animentality]

[astrolegal]

In imperialist wars of aggression, neutrality is always pro-aggressor.

It's okay to be anti-war, but don't let it get to the point where you oppose an independent nation defending its sovereignty.

[trexalicious]

Allegedly H's NATO address wasn’t even today. He’s wearing a poppy and their last meeting was in September so he saved this and dropped it the same day William released his documentary. He's so desperate to compete with and try to outdo William it's pathetic... Hey H try to compete with this Prince William and NATO...🤣