NATO today

Does Europe like NATO? What’s not to like. The NATO budget is $5.3 billion and the US contributes $900 million or 17% even though there are 32 countries in the group. After much prodding by Trump the EU, with a population of 450 million, has upped their spending on defense to $400 billion as compared to the US, with a population of 340 million, spending $900 billion on defense. The US supplies 62% of the military equipment and 60% of the soldiers. Many Americans are not familiar with the mutual defense for countries in NATO. What this means is if Russia attacks Estonia, a country with a population of 1.3 million, the US would be expected to attack Russia. Most Americans do not know where Estonia and many have never heard of the place. When the subject of NATO comes up, most Americans with little knowledge of the organization, are all in favor.

U235 in Iran

The uranium in Iran is in the news. Uranium comes naturally in three different types called isotopes. One is U 235 and is only .7% while another is U 238 which represents most of the remaining 99.3% and trace amounts of U 234. It is the U 235 that is valuable for bomb making and used in nuclear power plants. Starting with natural uranium, by a process called enrichment, the U 235 is concentrated but it is not a linear process. It takes just as long to go from .7 % to 20 % as it does to go from 20 % to 90 %. The uranium used in power plants is 4% but 90% is needed for bombs so the uranium in Iran is at 60% and well on the way to bomb grade. The concern is over 970 pounds of 60% uranium that Iran has but Russia has 140,000 pounds of highly enriched (90%) and could easily ship a thousand pound to Iran. Iran has often stated it is enriching uranium for power plant use but 60% is far beyond that. In addition, the West has agreed to send Iran 4% enriched for use in power production but they refused to accept. Also, North Korea could easily ship a complete bomb to Iran and many wonder why that hasn’t already happened.

Women in Iran

The women in Iran are treated as second class citizens. In 2019, 2022 and last December they took to the streets to demand equal rights. The police shut down the Internet and used force to quell the protest. Unlike the US, the people have no guns so the police just started shooting civilians and they went into hiding, where they remain today. Over the years, many around the world complained that nothing was done to help these women but there were no public protests. The West remained silent as these events took place.

Flat tax

The idea of a flat tax to replace income tax is once more in the news. The proposal is an 18% flat tax on all purchases with a $35,000 personal exemption for a family of four. Right now, a family of four with and income of $75,000 pays zero income tax. Subtract $35,000 and 18% of the remaining $40,000 would be $7,200 in taxes. Now compare that to family earning $1 million. Under current law they would pay $261,000 in federal income tax plus state income tax. Using the flat tax this family would pay $180,000 assuming they spent the entire one million. The higher the income goes the greater the disparity between the rich and the non-rich. This plan is not likely to garner enough support to become law.

Democrat policies

The democrats, being the out of power party, see their job as keeping Trump under control. As the outs they see their job as pointing out failures and not being responsible for solutions. This is the norm for US politics. If the democrats had to lay out policy it would be simple and straight forward and based around redistribution of income and wealth. They would use the progressive tax system to equalize income and a wealth tax to close the wealth gap. They would be responsible for taking money from one group and giving it to another with them maintaining control over who gets what, when and how. This puts the power of the purse strings under their control. A glimpse of this can be seen in the policies of NY Mayor Mamdani. He plans to increase taxes corporations and high-income residents along with a wealth tax on luxury homes. With this money he plans to offer free bus service, build city owned grocery stores, build 200,000 homes and provide universal childcare. In addition, he plans to freeze rents and a $30 minimum wage. He has not proposed any plans to grow the economy and create new jobs. He faces a $5 billion dollar deficit this year but continues to spend $4 billion per year on illegal migrants including food, shelter and medical. This is considered a compassionate and caring way to help the poor.

Trump policies

While the news tends to concentrate on the various quirks surrounding Trumps words and personality oddities, his policies remain out of the news. What are these policies and what do most people think of them? He wants to bring back manufacturing meaning better paying jobs. He wants to double the industrial capacity using domestic and foreign investments. He wants Europe to pay more for their national defense and rely less on America He wants to secure the border and deport illegal migrants. He wants to combine the power of Saudi Arabia and Israel to rebuild Gaza. He wants reciprocal tariffs. The US rate equals the rate of others. He wants nuclear power to replace fossil fuels. He wants to get rid of critical race theory (CRT) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) He wants to keep biological males out of women’s sports and locker rooms. He wants to get rid of gender surgery on children. He wants NATO and world groups like the UN, WTO and WHO to pay their fair share. He wants the US to be energy independent. He wants lower taxes He wants a peaceful end to the Ukraine War. He wants to prevent Iran from terrorizing the world. He wants a strong military and is willing to back local police.

Trump ways

The controversy surrounding Trump can be explained in many ways, one of which, is often stated as he is not presidential. There is no doubt that he is different from the normal president but the question is, in what ways. One way to better understand this is to look carefully at other politicians, especially other democrats. Many Democrats are actively trying to appear more authentic and "normal," aiming to bridge an "authenticity gap" that critics say has made them seem out of touch with average Americans. While it seems odd to speak about learning to be authentic, in this case it means overcoming the habits of people-pleasing and fear-based thinking. A recent news report stated they were trying to find their own Joe Rogen a person who exemplifies authenticity. Trump is the poster child of authenticity and this is seen as an asset by some and a fatal flaw by others. Once again, a good way to understand this is by comparing him to others and the best example is former President Obama. When Obama speaks, he mentally considers every word before he speaks. The long pauses between sentences and often times between words give the impression that he is trying not to say something that could be misinterpreted. Trump is just the opposite, much to the dismay of some of his followers, who often say Trump is his own worst enemy. In a recent rally he said, “I hate my enemies”, and people gasped. Many politicians may feel that way but they would never say it that way. There have been many times over the past years that Trump has made un presidential remarks and the press considered them as career ending but he survived. In his own crude and un presidential way he is authentic. He just comes out with it and opens himself up to harsh criticism but he doesn’t change.