If we were dealing with reasonably sane people I would agree with you Shawnee... but we're not!

That said, I don't see how we could afford not to cut some fat... The people who really want that cushy Government job will find ways to keep things running... And the rest? Well, they would pretty much be deemed non-essential after two years of the Government running without them, no? If the basic minimum services could be maintained with 800,000 less people that would represent a massive savings! Besides, these 800,000 government employees don't care if our country is overtaken by armies or caravans! They can find a new job in the security and or private sector. 

It would seem they are all set for an extended vacation anyway.... Pelosi has her big house in LA, the rest of congress are getting their $100+k per year... Heck if we can shave 800,000 federal employees we should be able to trim some in congress too, no? I mean really, who is not doing their job here? Why are we looking the other way when it comes to the amount of money illegal immigration cost us? Seems to me if you're going to save money its going to require some changes! 

How essential are these Congresspeople? They don't seem to think the 800,000 that are currently furloughed are very essential. They seem to think paying them all what amounts to months worth of salary for staying home is pretty much par for the course anyway! Right? 

5 INSANELY WASTEFUL Taxpayer-Funded Projects Democrats Could Slash To Fund Border Wall
Jan 12, 2019

President Trump is asking for $5.7 billion to fund the construction of our border wall. In 2018, the feds spent a stunning $4.173 trillion. The border wall would amount to just 1/10th of 1 percent of current annual federal spending. The Democrat Party is scared to death that if Trump is able to fulfill his promise and build the wall, there is no way theyll be able to beat him in 2020. Theres no chance the free-spending Democrats, who typically cant spend our money fast enough, are suddenly concerned about fiscal responsibility.

The 2018 Prime Cuts report, by the watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste, reveals some areas where taxpayer dollars are being wasted, that could instead, be used for the construction of a wall on our southern border. According to the watchdog group, the Prime Cuts 2018 version contains 636 recommendations that would save taxpayers $429.8 billion in the first year and $3.1 trillion over five years.

Grabien News compiled a list of a number of individual programs the watchdog group recommends cutting, that in and of themselves, exceed the $5.7 billion President Trump is asking the Democrat Party to give him to build the wall on our southern border.

Here are the top five programs that could each pay for the construction of the wall if they were defunded by our government:
Rural Utility Service. This program costs taxpayers $8.2 billion/year and has no actual purpose after its original intent bringing electricity to rural communities was long ago achieved.

Eliminating sugar subsidies alone would save $6 billion, enough to fund the border wall; it would also have the added benefit of helping curb the nations obesity epidemic.

Community Development Grants. These grants were created in the 70s to revitalize failing American cities. The program has almost always been plagued with dysfunction, with grants going to wealthy communities and other recipients failing to produce accountability or results. Citizens Against Government Waste reports that even President Obama called for reining in the program. Its elimination would save $15 billion over 5 years.

The United Nations. As the United Nations largest contributor, the U.S. in 2016 donated $10 billion to the U.N. As CAGW notes, reducing these contributions just 25 percent would create a savings of $12.5 billion over 10 years. Of the money Congress appropriates for the United Nations, $5 million taxpayer dollars are itemized for abortions in foreign countries.

Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. The Government Accountability Office estimates taxpayers are spending more than $137 billion annually on payment errors, which covers all manner of waste, fraud, and abuse within Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The feds could implement the same kind of fraud protections credit card companies used to ensure against abuse but dont. In fact, Congress has gone in the opposite direction, winding down the program intended to police fraud within Medicare, the so-called Recovery Audit Contractor. In other words, Congress is knowingly funding tens of billions of dollars of fraud annually.

These insanely wasteful programs couldnt pay for the wall by themselves, but collectively, they sure could make a dent. Even if we take the wall out of the equation, you have to wonder who, in our government, gave the okay for these programs to be funded with our taxpayer dollars in the first place?

The feds spent $613,634 to boost intimacy and trust of transgender women and their male partners (The Washington Free Beacon)
The feds spent $5 million paying hipsters to stop smoking and then blog about it (as well as use cool anti-smoking swag like beer koozies). (Readers Digest)
Northwestern University has received more than $3 million in National Institutes of Health to watch hamster fights. Some of those experiments involved injecting hamsters with steroids, then putting another hamster in the cage to see if the drugged rodents were more aggressive when protecting their territory. This program has since been halted following protests from animal rights activists, Readers Digest reports.
The feds spend $1,009,762 training social justice math teachers (The Washington Free Beacon)
The government spent at least $518,000 in federal grants to study how cocaine affects the sexual behavior of Japanese quails, Readers Digest reports.
The Federal Register is legally required to be printed daily and distributed to Congressional offices despite most never being read and all of the information is available online. Stopping this unnecessary printing would save $1 million a year.

That's right! Need that cane and sugar!

Geeezz.... Are we living in the 80's again?

I was talking about sugarcane! Not cocaine! LOL

I am too old for that shit and WAY too high strung on my own anyway.

Yes... the private sector does expect results!

It is very frustrating for business owners to see how Government runs... It would be like a utopia of wastefulness if private business was allowed to run in the red the way Government does.

 

I did not know that Shawnee! 

How is it that only 800,000 people is 51%? Or are we not including all the "essential" Government people keeping the show going?

Give Trump the money, Minnesota Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson said on local radio Tuesday. Id give him the whole thingand put strings on it so you make sure he puts the wall where it needs to be. Why are we fighting over this? Were going to build that wall anyway, at some time.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cracks-in-wall-resistance-pelosi-facing-dem-pressure-to-deal-with-trump-end-shutdown

So we went from the government employing 51% of the civilian workforce to 1.5% in the same thread^^^ and Y'all still think it's too big? What percentage would be acceptable to you I ask?

I would imagine the same level of research by you fine gents would reveal a more realistic number for Obama's travel costs too. Though Rex and research don't really go together. For that matter, Rex and fine gents don't either.

In a country with a population of 325.7 MILLION, 2.2 MILLION seems pretty modest to me.

And that is not even taking into account the illegals! LOL

SELLC wrote:

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In this article is claims the average pay for a federal worker is $73,200 per year!

That is $58.6 BILLION DOLLARS a year we pay in Federal Paychecks!

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/take-the-furloughedworker-test-and-see-if-you-could-survive-164645190.html

In 1977 our national debt was only $699 billion...

It now stands at $21 TRILLION and climbing. 

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 It will be fine SELLC !!!

Nancy is coming, 2020 !!!

SELLC wrote:

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1.Yeah that is just what everyone wants, a woman who doesn't mind leaving 800,000 of her own employees out in the cold for almost two months!

2.I think Nancy's career as a politician is in it's sunset Rastus... She just wants to spend taxpayer money for her free luxury travel and could care less about her job.

3.Everyone sees it... Come the 15th of next month maybe you will too!

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 LOL !!!

R1. It was Mr.Trump that shut-down his own government lol.

R2. Some may say the same of Mr.Trump. He's about the same age.

R3. I can't wait ! What's on the 15th ?...Valentines day ?...

GDP is currently $19.39 TRILLION, PowerStroker.

How is that for some perspective? 

That is $6 Trillion you seem to have forgotten about, or almost 4X the GDP of Russia or Canada... Or $6 trillion more than China if you will.

But our GDP has nothing to do with the debt PowerStroker... The GDP just gives us the credit to run up that debt.

 

PowerStroker wrote:

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To furlough federal employees, often is to step over dollars to pick up pennies. Federal employees provide the backbone for our free market economy to flourish.

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The only people who seem to be forgetting that are the Democrats! As I have already said PowerStroker, President Trump re-opened the Government so that people could get their paychecks and people could file their income taxes. Had it been left up to Democrats like Pelosi she would have still been overseas on her publicity tour and the Government would not have been opened today! This is an absolute fact that cannot be denied - a fact that makes anything and everything else irrelevant - including Pelosi's ego.

Here is another fact for you PowerStroker, come the 15th of February if the American people don't get their wall money the government is going to shut down once again. I sure hope the federal workers use their free money wisely, since most of us have to actually work to get paid. If a business loses some revenue to the competition, that money is gone... If a business loses money on account of a Government shut down, that money is gone. Yet when the Government shuts down and all of a sudden every bank is making concessions to bend the lending laws so that they don't take a hit to their credit? I get penalized because I am a small business and self employed in the eyes of the banks because they consider me more risk than someone who works for the Government that receives a paycheck. In the business we have a name for that kind of thing, it's called a monopoly and wouldn't be tolerated by the Government in the private sector. I'm incredibly torn over the issue because on one hand, I feel for the people who's work rely on the Government to make a living, but on the other I have to question if such consideration and concessions would be afforded to me in the same predicament. I highly doubt they would.

Then we have the fact that many Government employees may have already gotten behind, and thus may have done things that will effect their employment with the Government. Some might even not come back, or refuse to come back until they have been paid their back pay. Some private businesses might try to renegotiate contracts to cover their losses, which may lead to other businesses getting the contract. There is so many variables in play that one person could not even begin to understand the magnitude of what will happen. People know one thing though, that Trump swallowed his pride to ensure people got their pay while Pelosi had other overseas publicity tours in mind. I think everyone knows that the Government will shut down again if the Democrats fail to perform.

I think by 2020 we should have all the illegals weeded out, thus leaving only RED blooded Americans at the polls who will without a doubt want to punish the Democrats who have still not learned their lesson with another 4 years of President Trump - but off the leash!

Keep it up guys, Americans are watching!

Rastus wrote:

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Nancy, 2020 !

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King Charles 2020!

Yes but without all the illegals Democrats are the minority.

PowerStroker wrote:

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Pigslosi will be tasting them salty nuts come the 15th of February. She best have her dentures glued in good that day!

You do know the present monarch, Queen Elizabeth is already a conservative don't you?

SELLC wrote:

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No, Rastus - you'll be kneeling down to King Charles because here in AMERICA we don't have Monarchs! 

When I say King Charles 2020 its not to suggest he will be POTUS of the USA, rather YOUR KING! Talk about a shake up!

So fear not Rastus, you'll soon have your own conservative shaking things up!

---

 LOL !

Long may we say "God save the Queen" !!!

Now...What was that final result of the War of 1812 ?....

Anyhow, Happy Michigan Day !!! On the 26th January 1837, you became the 26th state to join the Union !

Well done Nancy !!! Long may you serve the good people of the US-of-A !!!

It's not easy being a President, especially these days.

No one has any respect for anyone it seems.

I'm pretty sure that Mr.Eisenhower in 1943 was knighted by the Queen of England...

And Mr.Reagan too, but after his Presidency in 1989...

And Mr.Bush senior too, in the early 1990's after securing the Oil in Kuwait, after the first Gulf War, Desert Storm.

War of 1812

I INTRODUCTION

War of 1812, conflict between the United States and Great Britain from 1812 to 1815. Fought over the maritime rights of neutrals, it ended inconclusively.

II BACKGROUND

Over the course of the French revolutionary and the Napoleonic wars between France and Great Britain (1793-1815), both belligerents violated the maritime rights of neutral powers. The United States, endeavouring to market its own produce, was especially affected. To preserve Britain's naval strength, Royal Navy officers impressed thousands of seamen from US vessels, including naturalized Americans of British origin, claiming that they were either deserters or British subjects. The United States defended its right to naturalize foreigners and challenged the British practice of impressment on the high seas. Relations between the two nations reached a breaking point in 1807 when the British frigate Leopard fired on the USS Chesapeake in American territorial waters and removed, and later executed, four crewmen.

In addition, Britain issued executive orders in council to blockade the coastlines of the Napoleonic empire and then seized vessels bound for Europe that did not first call at a British port. Napoleon retaliated with a similar system of blockades under the Berlin and Milan decrees, confiscating vessels and cargoes in European ports if they had first stopped in Britain. Collectively, the belligerents seized nearly 1500 American vessels between 1803 and 1812, thus posing the problem of whether the United States should go to war to defend its neutral rights.

Americans at first prepared to respond with economic coercion rather than war. At the urging of President Thomas Jefferson, Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807, prohibiting virtually all US ships from putting to sea. Subsequent enforcement measures in 1808-1809 also banned overland trade with British and Spanish possessions in Canada and Florida. Because the legislation seriously harmed the US economy and failed to alter belligerent policies, it was replaced in 1809 by the Non-Intercourse Act, which forbade trade with France and Britain. In 1810 Macon's Bill No. 2 reopened American trade with all nations, but stipulated that if one belligerent repealed its antineutral measures, the United States would then impose an embargo against the other.

In August Napoleon announced the repeal of the Berlin and Milan decrees on the understanding that the United States would also force Britain to respect its neutral rights. Although Napoleon continued to seize American vessels in French ports, President James Madison accepted his statements as proof that French antineutral decrees had been lifted. He reimposed the ban on trade with Britain in November 1810 and demanded that the British ministry repeal the orders in council as a condition for resumption of Anglo-American trade. Britain refused to comply, and Madison summoned Congress into session in November 1811 to prepare for war. Britain's alliance with the Shawnee under Tecumseh also raised tension, leading to agitation for an American invasion of Canada. After months of debate, Congress declared war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812.

III ARMED CONFLICT

US forces were ordered to invade Canada at points between Detroit and Montreal, but poor planning, organization, and leadership undermined this strategy. British general Isaac Brock, together with the north-western Native Americans led by the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, captured Detroit, while on the Niagara peninsula two American armies were defeated. In one of these engagements, the Battle of Queenston Heights, more than 900 American prisoners were taken. In 1813 American forces reoccupied Detroit after Oliver Hazard Perry captured the British fleet on Lake Erie, thus enabling William Henry Harrison to defeat the combined British and Native American forces at the battle of the Thames in October. In the east, an American army had taken York (now Toronto) in May, but the failure of subsequent campaigns against Kingston and Montreal prevented the United States from further extending its power into Canada. In the autumn of 1813 the war spread to the south-western frontier in a conflict with the Creek people, who were eventually defeated by forces under Andrew Jackson at the battle of Horseshoe Bend (March 1814). Furthermore, despite victories of single American warships in the Atlantic, such as that of the Constitution over the Guerrière in 1812, the Royal Navy by 1813 had blockaded much of the eastern coast and thus ruined US trade with foreign nations; later duels between individual ships went against the Americans.

By 1814 American forces had improved in quality and leadership. In July armies under Jacob Brown and Winfield Scott fought British troops on even terms at Chippewa and Lundy's Lane, near Niagara. Napoleon's defeat in Europe, however, freed Britain to send more troops to North America. By late summer the United States had to face invasions from combined army and naval forces at Lake Champlain and in Chesapeake Bay. A US naval victory on Lake Champlain in September 1814 compelled one invading army to retreat to Canada, but not before other British troops had burned Washington, D.C., in August and also occupied north-eastern Maine. British forces, however, failed to take Baltimore, Maryland. During the bombardment of that city (September 13-14), American poet Francis Scott Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner; his verses later became the US national anthem.

IV CONCLUSION

Great Britain and the United States agreed to commence peace negotiations in January 1814, but the talks were delayed until July. Both nations began negotiations with unrealistic demands. The United States wanted an end to all objectionable British maritime practices and also demanded cessions of Canadian territory. Britain sought a neutral Native American buffer state in the Northwest Territory and wanted to revise both the American-Canadian boundary and the 1783 Treaty of Paris that had established US independence. They finally agreed to return to the pre-war status quo in a treaty signed at Ghent, Belgium, on December 24, 1814. This treaty was ratified by Britain four days later and by the US Senate on February 16, 1815. Between these dates a final battle was fought on January 8, when a British army, not knowing of the treaty, landed at the mouth of the Mississippi River and was defeated near New Orleans by forces under Andrew Jackson.

The Treaty of Ghent failed to secure US maritime rights, but in the century of peace in Europe from 1815 until World War I they were not seriously threatened. Britain never again pursued its disputes with the United States to the point of risking another war. The United States did not conquer Canada, but Native American opposition to American expansion in the North-west and South-west was broken. Both the United States and Canada emerged from the war with an increased sense of national purpose and awareness.


Stuff you need to know ! And look at the links to Europe & where stuff is signed...These matters hold true to this day !

It tells me that ignorance really is bliss!