The Good Ol’ Boys’ Clubs
How is NATO helping you?
For that matter, how is the WTO or the UN or the G7 helping you?
The answer is quite simple – they’re not helping you, not in the slightest.
Kind of reminds me of the first time Trump met Angela Merkel:
“You owe me a trillion dollars,” he said.
The second time they met, Trump took out three starburst candies from his pocket, laid them out in front of the German Chancellor, and said, “There…don’t say I never gave you anything.”
A few years ago we gave NATO about $430 million a year.
Now we cover 22% of NATO’s costs each year. Germany covers 15%.
Trump wants Germany and other NATO countries to start putting 2% of their GDP towards NATO funding.
For Germany, that’d come out to $69 billion.
If the US gave 2% of its GDP to NATO, that’d come to $371 billion.
My main question is…why are we giving this organization any money?
What have you done for me lately?
As a matter of fact, I can’t think of one damn thing that NATO has done for my life – or for the lives of any Montanans – since I’ve been on this earth, 36 years now.
But my how that organization thinks itself important.
Reminds me of the WTO and the G7.
Rich men’s clubs that want nothing to do with you or I.
Oh…they’ll take our money…just don’t ask for anything in return.
These are good ‘ol boy’s clubs…groups that are exclusive to the 1%.
Globalists.
Groups and people like this care nothing for your failing roads and bridges, your high healthcare costs or your stagnant wages.
They care about their stocks, and their gated communities and their summers in the Hamptons and their winters in Europe.
While the resurgence in nationalism around the globe has no doubt disturbed the globalists, the truth of the matter is they know you and I are too stupid – and too glued to the TV – to do much about it.
That said, it is quite clear that with Trump in the White House, this is the first time in a generation or longer that the globalists have felt pressured, insecure, and downright worried about their own future.
Thank God for that.
Killing Us Softly
A California District Judge has said that “a reasonable jury could conclude” that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide “can cause a form of cancer.”
I went into great detail about Monsanto and their cancer-causing products in 2016.
This judge’s opinion is a green light to the liability lawsuits the company is currently facing.
Monsanto is currently trying to “quash” those lawsuits, and for good reason: if the wider public ever realized that all the vegetables they eat have a higher chance of giving them cancer than smoking a pack a day, then they’d be up in arms.
I doubt their elected representatives would give a damn, however.
In 2017, the company spent $4.3 million lobbying Congress. 70% of that money goes to Republicans, while 30% goes to Democrats.
It only took 3 years for the US judicial system to catch up to the World Health Organization. That agency said in 2015 that Monsanto’s product is “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
You won’t hear any of this in the mainstream news.
Companies like NBC and CBS make a lot of their profits from drug and chemical makers. Why rock the boat?
And Monsanto will do as its done before – they’ll settle out of court, with lump sum payments and the promise that these records will never be made public.
Bayer bought Monsanto in late-2016 for $66 billion.
Their stock price is $93 a share. They’ll do everything in their power to ensure their board and shareholders continue to reap profits on the back of a product that kills its customers, slowly but surely.
Goodbye Greens
This week the Montana Green Party was kicked off the November ballot.
This affects about 5 candidates, and I’m one of them.
In 2014 and 2016 I lost in the primary, in 2017 I lost in the general, and this year I’ve been booted from the ballot.
It’s estimated that the Montana Democratic Party spent upwards of $1 million on two in-state and one out-of-state legal firms to get this verdict. They had to use two judges to get the ruling, as their first was actually taking campaign contributions from one of the legal firms in the case.
Democrats around the state gave themselves a good pat on the back after the ruling, satisfied that they wouldn’t have anyone siphoning off votes in these five races.
Nothing was mentioned about their voter suppression, and keeping people away from the polls.
That’s what this amounts to – inhibiting people from voting.
Dems are happy with this, as any means justify the ends when it comes to electing Tester.
At this point I’m torn between not voting or voting Republican just to spite the Dems.
I think I’ll probably vote Republican anyways, however, as I’m pretty conservative when it comes to financial issues.
We’ve seen two liberal writers here in Missoula move more to the right as well, lately. This would be Dan Brooks and William Skink, both of whom own homes. Yes, they’re starting to realize what continual tax increases mean.
I would highly encourage you to read RD’s midweek post this week about Missoula taxing issues – it’s a good one.
I’ll be taking the $50 left over in my 2018 campaign warchest to my 2019 city council run against John DiBari. He raised over $5,000 when he ran in 2015.
In December or January I’ll contact the local GDP about accessing their VAN so I can send out fundraising letters to other fiscal conservatives.
And why not? When it comes to the Dems…
What have you done for me lately?
So far I’ve seen many reasons not to vote for Rosendale or Gianforte, but I haven’t seen any reasons to vote for Tester or Williams.
At this point I’m leaning towards the former. I doubt I’d vote for either of the latter.
Chappell, Bill. “Monsanto Lawsuit Over Cancer Claims Can Proceed, Federal Judge Rules.” NPR. 11 July 2018. https://www.npr.org/2018/07/11/628099115/monsanto-lawsuit-over-cancer-claims-can-proceed-federal-judge-rules
“Germany GDP, 1970-2018.: Trading Economics. Retrieved 13 July 2018. https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/gdp
“How does Germany contribute to NATO?” Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 13 July 2018. https://www.dw.com/en/how-does-germany-contribute-to-nato/a-38033967
McQueeney, Ryan. “You’ll Never Guess How Much Bayer and Monsanto Spend on Lobbying.” Nasdaq. 16 September 2016. https://www.nasdaq.com/article/youll-never-guess-how-much-bayer-and-monsanto-spend-on-lobbying-cm680808
“Monsanto Co.” Open Secrets. Retrieved 13 July 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000000055&year=2017
“Monsanto Co, Contributions to Federal Candidates, 2018 cycle.” Open Secrets. Retrieved 13 July 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cmte=C00042069
Morgan, David. “Gates criticizes NATO; How much does U.S. pay?” CBS News. 10 June 2011. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gates-criticizes-nato-how-much-does-us-pay/
“United States GDP, 1960-2018.” Trading Economics. Retrieved 13 July 2018. https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp