Senators to Unveil the 'Ex-Patriot Act'

[Seraphical]

Nah, he is spot on. Military spending is a huge waste.

We have accomplished nothing really in Iraq or Afghanistan, and it has cost a fortune. In fact - one could argue that no military conflict we have part taken in has been necessary since World War II. People talk about honoring the men and women who serve to protect our freedoms. If you are talking about the revolutionary war, the war of 1812, the civil war, WWII and maybe a handful more during the 19th century I'd agree with you, but the people who are serving now are doing little if anything to protect our freedoms, and them putting their lives on the line is on them, not on the rest of us.

The armed forces today do nothing for me, do not represent me, if anything have done more to soil my name as an American abroad, than anything else and make me less safe by pissing people off to the point where they'd be willing to kill me. I don't feel obliged to honor or respect anyone who has served in the military since the 50s any more than I honor and respect anyone else.

If we had invested that same amount of money at home on things like healthcare and traffic safety we would have saved many more lives, and maybe - just maybe - people in these foreign countries would hate us less...

~3,000 people died in 9/11. We were willing to go to war over this. spending trillions, and resulting in the death of thousands of our soldiers and even more foreign civilians.

Over 40,000 people die in the U.S. each year in traffic accidents. Since 9/11 that's more than 450,000 deaths. Where is our several trillion dollar war for traffic safety?

Every year in the U.S. almost 600,000 people die from heart disease, and ~550,000 people die from cancer. Where are ou several trillion dollar wars on these diseases? In fact, even THE FLU kills over 50,000 people a year. We are talking 6.6 million people for heart disease, 6 million for cancer etc. etc. since 9/11.

As an engineer professionally, when we look at issues we need to solve we use the Pareto principle. In other words, we arrange our problems by size (largest on top, smallest on the bottom) as the truth is you'll do better by solving your biggest problems first.

The 3,000 people that died on 9/11 - although horrific - are a drop in the bucket. It would be so far down the list that it's not even worth spending our time on, let along going to war, getting more people killed and spending trillions of dollars.

People talk about programs that are causing our deficit. If you add up military spending from the regular budget and from emergency and supplemental spending bills to fund our wars, the military is BY FAR the biggest driver of our deficit.

The solution seems simple. Want to get rid of our deficit? Cut the military.

Our real heroes are those who spend their time developing new medicines, new treatments and those who use them to save lives.

IMHO, our military is more of a liability to us than it is an asset.

Well shit... you're taking all the fun out of it if you're going to take a logical approach to this...

 

[Serpent]

That could be, but it seems to have been his plan since 2009 to invest in asian markets directly. It's tough to tell his motives - as his public statement on the issues is rather well thought out.

Either way, it isn't criminal in at all, and the morality of it is subjective.

Oh, yea, definitely. He's not a a criminal. But his timing makes me suspicious that that is his motive. Do I have proof? Not at all, but this is just how I'm perceiving his actions.

As for "cutting" the military. Do you mean kill it altogether, cuz that seems silly. But if you mean decrease spending, like Ron Paul said, stop doing all these BS stuff in other country. I'm with ya man.

 

[sleepeeg3]

Glad they're working on the hard issues, instead of something wasteful like passing a budget so the country doesn't go bankrupt...

 

[sleepeeg3]

P.S. the FairTax would solve all of this.

 

[chockomonkey]

Glad they're working on the hard issues, instead of something wasteful like passing a budget so the country doesn't go bankrupt...

the US is seriously beyond saving at this point.

 

[reb00tin]

He's not "ducking", he's moving/escaping/running for his financial life. Wake up, USA. Wake up.

+4

He is only protecting himself from a brutal & unfair US tax system. Compare with the way Canada and EU treat their non-resident citizens, and you’ll understand why thousands renounce their US citizenship every year.

 

[veterator]

This is why you don't give them low ass taxes simply because they are rich, they can AFFORD to do this stuff and even faster by letting them keep more of the cash.

And I can guarantee their operations eat up roads ways, police protection, other publicly funded resourced, etc more than any joe schmoe ever will.

Waiting to collect their "fair share" over their lifetime, when they benefited from it while they grew their business is stupid as hell. Use taxes to get the taxes, and if it slows their business progress down some, they can't fucking leave with 4 billion as fast.

They don't raise property taxes after your house is worth 10 times what it was, they step that shit up and collect, collect, collect.

It's really stupid to have to create a law AFTER, when everyone has been saying this shit forever......that these rich as hell people can use the globe to cheat their way out of paying taxes. Fix the tax code and tax rates on them so you're collecting something equivalent to what they cause in usage with their activities that they are earning on.

 

[Aki]

I've been to Singapore 7 times. I disagree, the country's beautiful. More so than our cities. Singapore isn't called the cleanest country in the world for nothing. I envy the guy for being able to move there.

But it *is* hot though! I don't miss that part, lol.

Perhaps like all countries, there's a ghetto? I stayed at Pasir Ris and frequented Kalang, Orchard Road and the City Hall.

[OFF TOPIC]

Many years ago, it seemed like a popular thing to aspire to owning a green card or even a US citizenship. I don't know about now. To be honest, I kind of like the "freedom" I get in Singapore, instead of being forced to drop my pants at the airport all the time.

To clarify my position as a Singapore citizen: I agree that Singapore is a great place to be in. It is safe to go out into the streets without the fear of being robbed. Economy and politics are relatively stable - even in the midst of this crazy global turmoil.

I can't imagine another country being this safe and stable. And hundreds of MNCs have set up their regional HQs here in Singapore to take advantage of our government's pro-business policies as well.

In reference to my comment, "nicer" alludes to a more scenic kind of country? Like New Zealand... rolling landscapes and beautiful blue skies. I like that. I'm not so fond of the concrete jungles here in Singapore, but others might love the buildings and night cityscapes.

As an aspiring sociologist, there are ghetto-communities in Singapore. On paper, Singapore doesn't seem to have them. If we define ghetto-communities in Singapore as low-income, low-education, relatively high-crime areas, we have a few areas that fit the bill. Crime is another technicality that academics argue about the "ghetto-ness" in Singapore, due to the fact that our national crime rate is very very low.

So, utilising low-income and low-education, and possibly attitudinal behaviours, I can pinpoint areas like Jurong West (very limited to a few older public housing estates), Geylang (limited again to some areas within that locality).

There are other social issues that maybe transparent to most foreigners (transient and short-termed); for example, middle-class anger and aspirations, asset ownership, meritocracy and so... but those topics are for another thread... I've done enough damage here.

 

[fdiaz78]

This is why you don't give them low ass taxes simply because they are rich, they can AFFORD to do this stuff and even faster by letting them keep more of the cash.

And I can guarantee their operations eat up roads ways, police protection, other publicly funded resourced, etc more than any joe schmoe ever will.

Waiting to collect their "fair share" over their lifetime, when they benefited from it while they grew their business is stupid as hell. Use taxes to get the taxes, and if it slows their business progress down some, they can't fucking leave with 4 billion as fast.

They don't raise property taxes after your house is worth 10 times what it was, they step that shit up and collect, collect, collect.

It's really stupid to have to create a law AFTER, when everyone has been saying this shit forever......that these rich as hell people can use the globe to cheat their way out of paying taxes. Fix the tax code and tax rates on them so you're collecting something equivalent to what they cause in usage with their activities that they are earning on.

Cheat what? He will end up paying millions in taxes anyway. What are you babbling about?

Folks, its normal for government to want more of your money. Its a GD tragedy when its people start demanding to tax them more.