i’m sure you already know this and twist the nubmers to make your point, but war budget for afghanistan and iraq were separate from DoD funding. it’s 4T or more total for wars alone, so no, HUD funding isn’t 7% of the total, but more than 7% per year.
it’s also worth noting (rather than ignored) that DoD isn’t just the agencies you mentioned, spending on weapons and weapons research is like 20% of the total, and the majority being operations and most importantly salaries and benefits, including housing, to ~2m military and civilians employed by dod. say what you want about your own moral objections to working on defense, but it’s an important institution that operates honorably with its budget, and there’s no need or political will to slash its budget by whatever you think is fair.
fun fact, USDA easily doubles federal spending on rural housing than we normally think HUD provides to urban areas. it’s buried under multiple programs, but they spend a ton in grants and loans, and sustainable improvements or new sustainable housing and infrastructure, even housing for firefighters. another fun fact, you can’t build more units until you upgrade the sewer system (or power lines, or roads, or schools), which most frequently does not come from funds specifically for housing.
I hate the “most pivotal election EVAR” hyperbole but losing this would be a gut punch to MAGA.
If Trump wins, 2020 will be written off as some fluke, and it becomes a battle of who can be the next Trump, after 4 years of hellscape damage.
If Trump loses, there will be a panic among establishment Reps that MAGA has derailed the party and made national elections unwinnable, even with god king Trump on the ballot. Real soul searching could happen, possibly some bipartisan cooperation on centrist goals, judge confirmations, and such. (Then, obviously, the grass roots will bring about some even more heinous post-MAGA Tea Party redux that will ultimately come to power sometime in the 2030s and make Trump seem like an eDem. And the American political cycle begins anew.)
the reality is that russia is doing two things at the frontline: 1) trying to get as much territory in as short a time as possible, and 2) call for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks. putin has mentioned talks for 3 straight months already. this swap fits into the second part.
the other aspect is that fsb/gru had an apparent plan to sabotage the olympics, which partially succeeded with the attack on the french railroad network. another plot was foiled when a russian agent was caught on his way to paris to conduct a terrorist attack. there are other signs that the spy network is severely degraded in europe, with agencies arresting a lot russian nationals. so the swap is a signal to them to not turn against russia, that putin will eventually get them out.
meanwhile, putin (or lookalike) met the prisoners at the airport and … oh boy … The Americans writers are totally kicking themselves for not going for just one more season. they already had everything in the show to capitalize hugely. fucking AMC
But, there’s also significant analysis of the costs of climate change. It will cost the US and rich people a lot morein damages etc than it will to prevent it
This is a free rider/tragedy of the commons problems more than a problem about convincing rich white people to care about drowning Bangladeshis
Like what do you mean “there’s no need… to slash its budget”? (obviously there isn’t political will)
Twisting wat? War dept budget is over $800b/y.
I don’t say “defense” because it’s Orwellian BS. It was the Department of War until 1949 and nothing changed to change its name except that was the year 1984 was published and “War is Peace” had a nice ring to it I guess.
For sure, except it won’t be prevented and it’s also a problem for future Homer and the most powerful people are old and polluting saves them money. And it’s more corporations and fiduciary duty than individuals anyway, and companies have a hard time doing anything that requires looking past more than a few years.
It’s weird how that guy doesn’t 100% look like Putin. Doesn’t move the same. Facial mannerisms don’t seem the same. But maybe I’m just seeing that because I had the idea planted that it could be a doppelganger.
This is a bit wonky, but campaigns in 2024 are very different than they were even in 2020.
This is an out-of-the-box campaign and these people are all rigidly in-the-box thinkers. They might surprise me, but the way campaigns work now is fundamentally different. Especially in the comms and field areas.
I saw some of this when a bunch of my Pete volunteers tried to go volunteer for the Biden campaign in 2020. Pete’s campaign was innovative for 2020 and when we tried to express our ideas to the Biden team, they refused to listen. They have the mindset that “we won so we must be right.”
Times have changed and I sincerely hope these old school folks are willing to embrace change.
