Posted originally on Dec 3, 2024 by Martin Armstrong
What began as a special military operation has turned into the start of the next world war, and Russia is paying heavily. Russian President Vladimir Putin passed a new budget over the weekend that will allocate 32.5% of the total budget (13.5 trillion rubles) for FY25 to defense spending, which accounts for 6.2% of total GDP.
The amount in proportion to the total budget spent on defense in FY24 was 28.3%. Notably, the budget is factoring in military costs for the next three years – this war will not simply end with Trump. Russia’s pre-war military expenditure was only 3.6 trillion rubles, rising to 5.5 trillion at the beginning of the war from 5.5 trillion rubles in 2022 to 6.4 trillion rubles in 2023.
Russia must find a way to finance this war. The Kremlin estimates GDP for 2024 to come in at 195.8 trillion rubles, although last year’s GDP was 172.1 trillion rubles. The GDP for 2025 is anticipated to be 214.6 trillion rubles. The nation is confident it will continue earning but that is not enough to fund the growing war.
Putin has already raised taxes for the first time in nearly 25 years. The corporate tax rate will rise by 5% from 20% to 25%. The government expects to generate an additional 2.6 trillion rubles in revenue once the tax is implemented in 2025. Russia’s Finance Ministry believes that 2 million people, 3.2% of the working population, will see a rise in their taxes. Taxes on investments will not change. “The changes are aimed at building a fair and balanced tax system,” Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said, adding that the additional funds would bolster Russia’s “economic well-being.”
The flat tax rate of 13% that Putin implemented when he took over for Yeltsin in 2001 accounted for much of his popularity. Still, the people overwhelmingly have a sense of patriotism and support Russia as well as Putin. Even with the ongoing war, Russia still only spends about one-fourth of what America and China do on defense. Even India spends more than Russia on its military. We can obviously see where these nations believe the war effort is heading when looking at future budget forecasts. Three years from now brings us to the pivotal year of 2027/2028, where all bets are off, and it would come as zero surprise if/when Russia raises its military spending budget projections.
Posted originally on Dec 2, 2024 by Martin Armstrong |
The pardon Biden gave his son identified these two cases and any offenses that Hunter Biden “committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 1, 2024. However, reliable sources suggest that Hunter was involved with the bio-labs in Ukraine before 2014 to the extent that Putin wanted to discuss Hunter’s involvement with Papa Biden. You cannot accept money from a foreign government without registering as an agent of that government. Ukraine has been the largest money laundering scam in modern history.
Posted originally on the CTH on December 1, 2024 | Sundance
President Joe Biden has issued an executive grant of clemency (pardon), “For those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss.”
WHITE HOUSE – Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted. Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form. Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.
The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process. Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.
No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.
For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision. (LINK)
Posted originally on the CTH on November 25, 2024 | Sundance
Ignore the prices you see on the supermarket shelves and listen to the Farm Bureau folks. The price of a Thanksgiving dinner for ten people is five percent lower this year. You can feed a family gathering of ten people for a mere $58.08, cool.
Farm Bureau: “Americans stocking up for this year’s Thanksgiving dinner will see a dip in their grocery bills for the second year in a row. The 39th annual American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Thanksgiving dinner survey finds that the classic feast for 10 will run you $58.08, down 5% from last year. However, this is still 19% higher than five years ago.” (link)
I mean, seriously? A Thanksgiving dinner for ten people for around $58?
Does anyone else find this a little challenging to believe?
Suspicious Cat has gone from, well, suspicious to shocked!
The one thing the Biden administration does best is lie to our faces on a daily basis. From blaming Russia for our food shortages and gas prices to saying that “America is in a stronger economic position” than ever before, this administration can pretend America is doing fine, but we can all see the reality with our own two eyes.
For the third time, President Joe Biden has attempted to drag the United States into a war. Biden first made remarks about the Middle East and then claimed Putin needed to be removed from power. The White House brushed off those remarks, but this time he has angered America’s top trading partner. Biden, speaking for the entirety of the US, said that WE would defend Taiwan against military invasion.
A reporter asked, “You didn’t want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons. Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that?” Since there was no teleprompter script for him to read, Biden simply replied, “Yes!”
“We agree with the One China policy. We signed on to it, and all the attendant agreements made from there, but the idea that it can be taken by force, just taken by force, is (just not) appropriate,” the president said. Basically, this statement is contradictory since Biden admittedly agreed to the One China policy. A White House officially quickly corrected his statement, “As the President said, our policy has not changed. He reiterated our One China policy and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. He also reiterated our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with the military means to defend itself,” the official said.
China expressed extreme anger at the president’s statements. Similar to the situation in Ukraine, China is worried that Biden’s obvious support will encourage separatist forces to move toward independence. “On issues concerning China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and other core interests, there is no room for compromise,” said Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. “We urged the US side to earnestly follow the One China principle … be cautious in words and deeds on the Taiwan issue, and not send any wrong signal to pro-Taiwan independence and separatist forces — so it won’t cause serious damage to the situation across the Taiwan Strait and China-US relations.”
Before the White House corrected Joe, he doubled down on his statements and said China should look to Russian sanctions as a warning not to attack. “[W]hat signal does that send to China about the cost of attempting, attempting to take Taiwan by force?” the confused president said before claiming China was “flirting with danger.” These careless remarks threaten national security and have seriously harmed diplomatic relations. Biden is willing to show all his cards, even when he does not understand the game he is playing.
Posted originally on the conservative tree House on February 3, 2022 | Sundance | 328 Comments
Senator Ray Lujan from New Mexico suffered a stroke recently. Thankfully, despite the seriousness of his medical situation, he is expected to make a recovery. However, he will likely miss all U.S. Senate work for at least a month. Lujan’s absence creates a significant issue for Senate Democrats in an upper chamber with a 50/50 split.
Lujan suffered the stroke last Thursday, on the same day Joe Biden announced the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. The news of Senator Lujan’s major medical condition has been essentially quiet.
With Joe Biden expecting to nominate a Supreme Court justice very soon, the senator’s absence could be problematic.
However, not to worry, creepy Joe’s recent praise of Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham will likely assist.
WASHINGTON DC – […] While the 49-year-old New Mexico Democrat is expected to make a full recovery, no one knew when he would return to the evenly divided Senate, or what it means for the immediate agenda.
Luján’s unexpected medical condition comes at a moment when Senate Democrats simply don’t have any votes to spare to pass party priorities, including reviving their social spending bill and now confirming a Supreme Court justice. The latest news could leave Democrats reliant on Republican votes to move forward on nominees and other priorities.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday evening that Democrats are “grateful” that Luján will make a “full recovery” and that he looks forward to his return to the Senate. He predicted that “the Senate will be able to carry forward with its business.”
Carlos Sanchez, Luján’s chief of staff, said that the senator checked himself into a hospital Thursday afternoon in Santa Fe after experiencing dizziness and fatigue. The senator later learned he had suffered a stroke and had to undergo decompressive surgery. (read more)
President Biden: "Mitch [McConnell], I don't want to hurt your reputation, but we really are friends, and that is not an epiphany we're having here at the moment. You've always done exactly what you've said, you're a man of your word. and you're a man of honor." pic.twitter.com/w9J0tDBO05
If you watch anything today, this is it. AP Journalist Matt Lee has been around for a long time. He’s the consistent person in the State Department briefing room who understands the deep state institutional games, and he knows how to spot narrative engineering.
Earlier today State Department Spokesman Ned Price said, “The United States has information that Russia is planning to stage fabricated attacks by Ukrainian military or intelligence forces as a pretext for a further invasion of Ukraine.”
Journalist Matt Lee then asked Ned Price what the declassified evidence was that the state dept was referring to. Price responded that he just gave it to the audience; meaning his word was the evidence. Matt Lee calls bullshit on Price, and things got really interesting. WATCH:
Folks, the intelligence state, the Fourth Branch of Government, is making it all up. Everything about this Russian looming attack narrative has been manufactured out of whole cloth by the Intelligence Community and Biden administration.
The statements and position by Ned Price are transparently absurd. Ridiculously so. Matt Lee calling the bluff on the U.S. State Department, and comparing them to Alex Jones conspiracy theorists, is peak insanity. No one trusts the U.S. government institutions any longer. Everyone knows the “intelligence state” makes stuff up to steer and control events. It’s a joke.
Russia is likely not doing anything, likely doesn’t even have a threatening posture, but yet, inside the DC bubble we are on the precipice of a thermonuclear war. We have passed through the looking glass, and now we are in bizarro world.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
Centinel2012 