Discussions

It makes my heart hurt to see what America has become. It makes me angry to hear the hatred that spills out of the mouths of Trump supporters. I always wondered how the German people ever allowed Hitler to come to power-i never expected to find out first hand by watching it happen all over again. Even more shocking is that it is happening right here in America.

Well I don t normally chime in when it comes to politics. I hate politics. However I only have one reason why Trump got voted into office. Comic relief. Haha. I also have heard a lot about these NAFTA talks. Good for Tredeau for standing up to Trump and his threats. Eventually the American people will come to their senses and boot him out.

Easier to teach hate, than love and harmony. That’s why Trump is there. Very sad.

We're not much better. Its just funny that every now and then Trump said something that's blunt but its true much the despair of people who may offend. The latest is about Canadians smuggling goods from the US.

I'm obsessed with what is going on south of the border and in the world in general. I have this overwhelming sense of doom and I feel like society is moving backward when it comes to social progress because of Trump. To me Trump's tactics and methods are so incredibly transparently manipulative and I am flabbergasted that his support base believe everything he says without question.

I do understand why Donald Trump was elected, politics has become a pastime of mostly well to do people, and it leaves many people believing that there is a establishment that runs the country. If you look at people like Warren Buffet you will see a person that makes donations to both sides, which doesn't sit well with most people. Just my opinion but people felt that politics was as crooked as they thought, why not upset the applecart, and maybe start anew.  
When I look at the US I have the feeling that very few Americans ever look in the mirror, you see it on all of the television stations, guests as well as hosts,go to great extremes to emphasize their greatness, but spend very little time actually criticizing the things that are bad.  
I always believe that even on the most serious of topics, humor should play a part to keep a bit of sanity in the world, with saying that there has yet been a suggestion of meds. Glad to know that there are other people out there that are giving it some thought, I have great respect for American people and am hoping that people get past political ideology on both sides. Maybe this immigration crisis will bring people back to reality.

As someone who watches both sides of the news and as someone that does not associate with any political party I have to say that JessieJay you are so wrong about where the hate is coming from. The left spews hate like it's an after effect of breathing air. You only hear people comparing the right to Hitler and know one should compare anyone to Hitler, let him lie wherever he is. If you only watch CNN then you are only getting Part of the complete story, as so if you only watch Fox news. As for what is happening at the southern US boarder The kids are only separated from the adults for a few hours if you believe what CNN say you would think it's forever. There are instances where an adult with a kid that will literally drop the kid on the ground when spotted by US authority's and run away. What parent would do that? and some of these kids are so afraid of the adults there with that US officials strongly doubt whose kid it really is. People blame Trump for everything, and just to clarify I think he's is a buffoon but so was Bush, Clinton and in a small way Obama. All of whom did the same thing at the boarder and there are Videos that show them saying the exact same thing as Trump on this issue. Peoples memory's are so short.

veloster said "As someone who watches both sides of the news and as someone that does not associate with any political party I have to say that JessieJay you are so wrong about where the hate is coming from. The left spews hate like it's an after effect of breathing air. You only hear people comparing the right to Hitler and know one should compare anyone to Hitler, let him lie wherever he is.  
 
Yes. This certainly comes across as an impartial position. Thank you for letting us know you're impartial.  
 
veloster said If you only watch CNN then you are only getting Part of the complete story, as so if you only watch Fox news. As for what is happening at the southern US boarder The kids are only separated from the adults for a few hours if you believe what CNN say you would think it's forever.  
 
According to the US Department of Homeland Security, the government body responsible for overseeing the ~1500 boys at Casa Padre (the converted Wal Mart that's in the news), the average stay is 56 days.  
 
veloster said Other things.  
 
With such a disparity between the figure you cited, and the figures provided by the DHS, I find your other information and insight suspect, and encourage you to spend more time researching your facts, educating yourself before attempting to educate others.

From the left? Please! There is nothing hateful coming from Trump? From his supporters? Right. Gotcha. There has been hatred coming from them since the day Obama got elected. I have never been on the left. I have always been far from the left. Far from it. But i will give no support nor respect to that thing they call I POTUS. So, do not make any assumptions about what i "only" watch for news. As a point of interest I have never watched CNN. Never. Fox-is a joke, I cannot stomach Fox News.

Hashidoi said According to the US Department of Homeland Security, the government body responsible for overseeing the ~1500 boys at Casa Padre (the converted Wal Mart that's in the news), the average stay is 56 days.  
 
the 1500 boys in the Walmart were they accompanied with an adult? Who are the with in said Walmart? 56 days is what the law states they can be held for. There are around 15,000 people being housed at the boarder. My research abilities are sound and I am impartial but the media is not and if you get your information from one source than your research is skewed from the get go and your findings incomplete and most likely incorrect and only suitable for a Facebook post.  
 
JessieJay if you don't watch CNN or fox new where do you get your information from? Comparing what Trump says to his supporters is idiotic. People vote for people not because they agree with everything they say but what they can and will do for them when in office. Never did I say Obama was treated fair when he was in office, because the right didn't treat him fair. But the hate that is out there against Trump I have never seen in my 47 years. Bush was a disaster as was Clinton just to name two and they were not hated as much as Trump is. The left has lost there minds,Just go on twitter almost every post is hate filled especially by Celebrity's. I find it hard to watch both CNN and fox news but to get the whole story you have to watch both sides. Try not watching the opinionist's like Sean Hannety, Tucker Carlson, Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon and Rachel Maddow if you can't stomach Fox and CNN, it makes life much better. Cheers everyone

I'm tired of hearing about how poor TRumpy is so hated. People say that like they are surprised. Why? I find it no surprise. Never in the history of the US has a POTUS been such a disgusting despicable excuse for a living thing. And I say that as a lifelong Republican!

I made the comment that eventually people would have to live in a world of fear, but maybe we are well past that point. What I mean by that is people seem to be afraid to come forward and speak out. We come forward to speak out if no one can recognize us but most of us like to hide in the crowd when strong voices are needed, we do take our biases with us, and do gravitate to media sources that suit our ideas. Looking at both sides does mean seperating the wheat from the chaff, sometimes hard to do, but the truth is always what we should seek. It was odd that a few days ago I thought, " give the guy the money, and build the damn wall", this might force people to enter the country through proper channels, but this also leaves those who are actually seeking asylum, at the mercy of political whims, if the policy of the federal government is to stop people coming in, the system would be to process only so many people per day. The reason I mention this is of a report that a port of entry only processed a couple of claimants in a day.  
 
The worst thing I see in politics around the world, is how all governments are willing to sacrifice a few people to obtain their objectives. If I was an American, I would likely be a Libertarian, a person who believes in individual rights for the individual, fiscal responsibility for the nation, and equality for all people. I believe in the law, and the upholding of the law, but I also believe in the discretion of the law, right from the law enforcement officer to the court system, discretion places a human aspect to law, and takes into account individual circumstances.

Everyone afraid that trumps making America great again and bringing peace to North Korea.. lowest unemployment ever and strongest economy ever Walmart set its minimum wage to 14$ an hour harrier gave 5000$ bonuses to workers because of lower taxes... what a bastard... lol wow

Let''s get away from the immigration, and look at the economics. During the 2008 collapse the banks of the world came to the aid of the US., this is part of the reason I think that the nation is failing, the US had to be bailed out be everyone. If you check any of the graphs showing the decline in unemployment, it should be noted that there were eight years of increasing jobs, and I would be the first to say that economic cycles usually are indifferent to the politics of the country. In a way it is a good thing that wages are growing, tariffs and trade wars end up costing the ordinary person much more money just to survive, added to that the increase in the deficit that was passed in their last budget shows very poor fiscal policy, once again just a continuation of passing the cost of running a country onto the next generation.  
The idea of overspending to keep the ecomony going is not a new idea, when the idea of a competative world market became a reality in the late 1960''s, the gold standard was soon to fall, gold was at a set price and was used to balance accounts on the world markets. If you continue to import goods from a world market, but are not able to export goods because the cost of your production is to high, you have to find a new way to carry on trade, hence the loss of the gold standard. By the late 1970''s we saw the result of the irresponsible printing money, the printing of money led to rapid inflation and then extreme interest rates. The printing of money to keep an economy going has run it''s course, and now we at the point of protecting the economy will be by taxing American consumers with tariffs on goods.  
 
Edited by don brown, 2018-06-20 07:31:50

Follow the lies and follow the money. Trump lies to stir his base of lower middle class uneducated voters. These are the sheeple that he can control to stay in power to service his own agenda. That agenda is to grow the Trump brand worldwide and make money and build the empire for the next generations of Trumps. To do that he has to build his own monarchy with loyal angry and racist subjects that he needs to play to. He divides and feeds off the anger in their society. The U.S.A. is on the edge of a precipice that it is either going to come to its senses and step back from or it is going to slip and fall off and repeat 20th century history. But realize none of what he does is to benefit the masses. His is only using the POTUS power to cook up business deals to benefit him and his family. He has lied his whole life. He has said. "Just say it! If you say it, they will believe it. It does not matter if it is true."  
 
Edited by Tiger Barb, 2018-06-20 08:13:44

I used to have respect for the USA. That is gone. Past Presidents should be allowed to step in and do something right.They are still called Presidents so why the hell not? Kick Trump to the curb. There should be tests qualifications before any brainwashing racist dictator like Trump is given the keys to WH .

Trump being in office is a comedic force it’s like we are living in a south park movie right now with “Blame Canada” playing in the background after this is all blow over whom is next on Trumps list of nations to piss off.

Do you actually believe that Trump is turning the US into Nazi Germany? I cant even understand how you could compare the two. Do yourself and favor and read up on Hitler and what was actually done with people. I could only assume that you are not very educated in this topic based off this ludicrous comment. This is the problem with people on the left. You disagree with them and they throw their fits, call you racist, sick or what ever other word they can come up with. There is no having a rational conversation with them.  
 
The problems the US faces today are not a direct result of Trump. Immigration was a problem back with Bush. Then Obama had 8 years to do something and didn''''t do a damn thing. Dont be mad at Trump. Instead be mad at all the politicians that didn''''t fallow through with what they said they would do.  
 
 
American economy is rising, jobs numbers are huge, GDP growing large, North Korea has settled down (Another major problem Trump inherited). A lot of positivity has happened as a direct result from the Trump administration. Sure he could be more polished, but at least he follows through whit what he said he would do.  
 
I for one hope they secure the US/Mexico border and get ride of illegal immigration. We basically live in a socialist country. Look whats happening with our border with all the illegal immigrants. They come here in hoards and walk over with no issues. They are given health care & welfare benefits. Imagine the cost for all of this. You as a tax payer are the one who foots the bill. People complain about income taxes to high, property tax, potholes not fixed, and among other things a failing healthcare system.  
 
I wish people would realize how much all this effects the financial system. We have our citizens who cant have a warm meal, soldiers that have been wounded and cant get the care they need, patients waiting forever & dieing in hospital because they cant get the care they need due to a jam packed system.  
 
This is only going to get worse & as a tax payer are you prepared to fork out more money out of your wallet to pay for all this?  
 
Hillary Clinton On Immigration -

Enough hysteria already !@NancyPelosi and others are trying to deceive the American people into believing @POTUS ‘ immigration policy is new. The truth is Trumps #immigration policy is the same as Obama’s. #ObamaLegacy https://t.co/mw7xRL6KKj pic.twitter.com/4a6zS0D0Tj

&mdash: uD83CuDF37VirginiauD83CuDF37 (@VirginiaInCal) June 19, 2018

 
 
Bill Clinton On Immigration - https://youtu.be/ER43fQSUi5k  
 
Obama on Immigration -

#Obama on #ImmigrantChildren #immigration back in 2009 pic.twitter.com/EtaN6UfIQD

&mdash: John Venturino Jr (@jr_venturino) June 18, 2018

 
 
Talk about hypocrisy....  
 
Edited by MichaelP, 2018-06-20 09:48:20

You are confusing opinion with knowledge. A lot of that going around....

I hope it's more of a wake up call. I think the US electoral system, rather than the people / voters themselves, failed the people of the US. The system failed and allowed both the Democrats and the Republicans to run what might arguably have been the worst choices for Presidential candidates. When a large number of voters are voting "anything but Trump / Clinton" the results are going to be ... well, just exactly what happened.  
 
I believe the US, as a nation, has lost its way. The country is as divided as I ever remember and the hatred toward the other side is strong and goes both directions. I have friends in the US. Some strong Trump supporters, some strong Democrats and others that no longer want to talk about what is happening in their country. All of them seem to be well educated, intelligent people.  
 
The comparison to Hitler is a reasonable one. Not that Trump and Hitler are alike as people or what they are capable of doing to their fellow man. Rather, as time moves forward the people of the US are just as likely to ask themselves how on earth could we have allowed Trump to come to power, just as the German population have asked themselves the same about Hitler coming to power in Germany.  
 
I'm watching and waiting to see if the U.S. has the ability to right the ship before their nation becomes victim to being made "great again"

I think even a person whose needle points a little bit to the right of centre on the meter would need to admit that Mr. Trump has some narcissistic personality disorder tendencies that border on psychopathic. There are a lot of ways he conducts himself that parallel events in history. It may be premature to put him side by side with an anti-christ such as Hitler but he is walking down the garden path. He is drawing on divisiveness and hate. Conducting fervorous election rallies 2 years after being elected just to rile up his base. Using the human emotion of compassion to further his agenda. Locking up children and using them as pawns to bring political rivals to the table and cave to his immigration policy and pay for his wall. That Mexico was going to pay for! How far did that get him? Isolating his country on the world stage and alienating trade partners and allies. I don't see limits to how far he will go. I fear he will push until he is stopped and that was a characteristic of the person he is being compared to by the left. Lastly Trump has been made by the cable news and the media. There are no other stories being reported on any of those stations anymore. It is Trump 24/7. It has become completely partisan and spin oriented to report things the way it satisfies their agenda. People need to look at things with facts and objectivity. It is too easy to be fed lies and propaganda on cable and social media. Another characteristic that led to the rise of you know who. Like I said in my previous post....they are at the precipice. For the record I am not a democratic or liberal thinker but a person that thinks objectively and formulates my own opinions based on facts.

veloster said the 1500 boys in the Walmart were they accompanied with an adult? Who are the with in said Walmart? 56 days is what the law states they can be held for.  
 
Here is a pdf on the US Government website for the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), whose operations are overseen by the DHS.  
 
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/orr/orr_fact_sheet_on_unaccompanied_alien_childrens_services.pdf  
 
It confirms, straight from the American government itself, that the average stay is 56 days. (This figure did vary when looking at other sources, mind. An NPR article said it was only 49 days.)  
 
56 days is not a "legal maximum", it's the average length. To the best of my knowledge there is no upward limit to how long one of these children can be detained. I could not find any information on stay duration limits.  
 
Here on the US Government Customs & Border Patrol page (also a part of the DHS), are figures concerning if the children were unaccompanied or not.  
 
https://www.cbp.gov/site-page/southwest-border-unaccompanied-alien-children-statistics-fy-2016  
 
veloster said My research abilities are sound and I am impartial but the media is not and if you get your information from one source than your research is skewed from the get go and your findings incomplete and most likely incorrect and only suitable for a Facebook post.  
 
Again, I call into question the accuracy of your information.  
 
I will admit, though, that I really am getting my information from just one source, albeit the most reliable source in this particular situation: the US government itself.  
 
Also, 'then' not 'than'.  
 
Lastly, if you are a litmus test for what can be passed off for accurate information on Facebook, it is easy to understand how that platform can be so rife with misinformation.  
 
Again, I would encourage you to put more effort into your research and educate yourself before talking about this subject. If you choose to remain so willfully ignorant, you are only doing yourself a disservice.

Correct me if I'm way off in my definition of socialism, remember this is my definition.  
I view socialism as when governments place a tax on residents of a given jurisdiction, in Canada it would be a federal tax or a provincial tax, these tax monies are used to subsidize a part of the economy or provide a service.  
When I look at what is happening on the trade issue I help but feel this is socialism on a grand scale, it is taking away the choice of buying from the best price provider, and forcing consumers to purchase from sources that cannot function in a free market world.  
Because the world has different costs of production in different areas, there really is no level playing field, maybe the reason so many American companies outsource so much of their production.  
Example is in my hand, Apple phone developed in California, manufactured in China, also have one of those American green tractors, many of the components in that tractor are not American made.

I very sadly think that this currenT USA shows a serious failure of their basic education system to teach "critical thinking" Opinions are not the same as facts.

RichardL said "Everyone afraid that trumps making America great again and bringing peace to North Korea..  
 
Yes. Burning bridges with long-standing allies, withdrawing from the global stage and leaving a power vacuum China is all too-willing to fill, and showering praise on actual dictators. This is making America great again and bringing peace.  
 
The US is also withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council. The first nation ever to voluntarily do so. How great can a nation really be, if it is unwilling to commit to human rights on the global stage?  
 
RichardL said "lowest unemployment ever and strongest economy ever Walmart set its minimum wage to 14$ an hour harrier gave 5000$ bonuses to workers because of lower taxes... what a bastard... lol wow "  
 
Yes, the US unemployment rate is lower than it was, but people are earning less than they were. Most of these newer jobs are not full-time jobs.  
 
Walmart started paying a minimum of $11/hr. in the United States in February of this year. (Costco has been paying its American employees $13/hr. since 2016.) The increase at Walmart is indeed directly tied to the reformation of US tax laws at the start of this year.  
 
A Walmart employee who adopts a child will have the cost of that child offset by $5000 by Walmart.  
 
Until the end of Trump''''s first term, discussing the full effects of the Trump presidency on the economics of the United States is difficult to do. This is a topic I look forward to discussing sometime in 2020.  
 
Edited by Hashidoi, 2018-06-20 13:32:25

The US is also withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council. The first nation ever to voluntarily do so. How great can a nation really be, if it is unwilling to commit to human rights on the global stage?  
 
Why is this a bad thing? You seem like a person who can engage in a good conversation. Im curious of your take.  
 
I look at the members of the UN HRC.  
-China  
-Cuba  
-Congo  
-Saudi Arabia  
-Venezuela  
-Afghanistan ect...  
 
All these members plus more all commit serious human rights violations towards its people. The HRC condemns Israel more then any other nation & now they want to condemn the US. What would be the point of being apart of a membership that does nothing but cost the country money?  
 
The administration said they would look to rejoin under different terms.  
 
I would say this, I do agree it would be a good council to have IF they actually condemned the counties with major human rights violations and worked towards a greater goal. But at this point, that's not the case with the HRC.  
 
I also agree with you on your 2020 Trump economic view. Right now things are looking good for their economy. But it will be interesting in a few years to see the long term impact of these policies.

I have met many people like you( usually working in the Coffee service industry)Just kidding. They have this opinion that there opinion is the only correct one and if anyone threatens that opinion they just start throwing insults and correcting spelling mistakes to try an prove how smart they think they are. Most information on government websites are set to misinform the public and that information changes every time government changes party's. and should not be the only source of your information. Try clicking on your links could the information be changing again as they don't show any information. Every response you have issued in this discussion is picking apart someone comments and usually talking down to them. Maybe try to be better.

MichaelP said "Why is this a bad thing? You seem like a person who can engage in a good conversation. I''m curious of your take.  
 
I look at the members of the UN HRC.  
-China  
-Cuba  
-Congo  
-Saudi Arabia  
-Venezuela  
-Afghanistan ect...  
 
All these members plus more all commit serious human rights violations towards its people. The HRC condemns Israel more then any other nation & now they want to condemn the US. What would be the point of being apart of a membership that does nothing but cost the country money?"  
 
Every other nation combined, even.  
 
My take is that every time the US withdraws from global involvement, they give up an opportunity to try and shape world-wide policy going forward. (The Paris Accords are also another example of this.) Now, for better or for worse, there is one less dissenting voice on the subject of Israel in the HRC.  
 
I think it is short-sighted for the Trump Administration to make this matter singularly about Israel, because now there will be no American voice to speak up about things going on in other parts of the world as well in this particular forum.  
 
Framed as a single-issue problem, it might appear to be a fruitless expense, but the bottom line is that it means less overall American influence around the globe. Whatever money they save now by not engaging will cost the United States in other arenas in the future.  
 
A few short years ago, I would not have thought it conceivable that any country other than the United States could serve as the leader of the free world. This is no longer the case. It is very likely that if the US continues to withdraw global affairs they will lose this mantle.  
 
MichaelP said "The administration said they would look to rejoin under different terms."  
 
The problem is that for many nations, a lack of American involvement is beneficial to them, allowing them to more freely pursue agendas that do not align with American interests.  
 
The notion that the US can punish the UN by being involved with it less is not going to have the desired effect of bringing the UN ''back into line''. The more the US withdraws, the more space for another global actor (mostly China right now.) is made.  
 
MichaelP said "I also agree with you on your 2020 Trump economic view. Right now things are looking good for their economy. But it will be interesting in a few years to see the long term impact of these policies."  
 
I think its responsible to reserve judgement until the numbers are in, but I must also admit that I''m not particularly optimistic this is going to end well.  
 
In another thread I''d mentioned how many of the US'' economic problems today were rooted in events that were set into motion decades ago, even before the turn of the century. That said, I don''t think Trump''s tax reforms have done anything that will help his nation''s overall financial situation. Nevertheless, time will tell.  
 
The tax relief for the common folk (good through to 2026) are certainly appreciated, though!  
 
Edited by Hashidoi, 2018-06-20 17:12:16

How many people support Trump. I for one thought he wouldn’t last 6 months.  
 
So if the media only portray the bad stuff about him then could someone who supports him care to enlighten us on what is good about him?