Joe Biden a good President

[cloudsurf]

Here is the problem. Whatever Putin does, he will get away with it, like he got away with taking over Crimea .
He has trained all his life to read and outsmart adversaries. Yes the West can arm Ukraine but they won`t send troops. Russia will hack the shit out of Ukraine and any country that helps them, with little or no retaliation. Economic sanctions work both ways. Freeze their assets and they will rob US companies like Google and Microsoft.
Look at Germany....it is trying to stay out of this mess. Its laughable but their contribution to the Ukraine arsenal is 5000 helmets. Why because it desperately relies on Russian energy and so does a good part of Europe. Biden will have as hard a time in keeping his allies together as he is having with his own political party. And he can`t rely on Boris who is up to his eyeballs in his own self imposed mess. Well at least he got that self worshiping Justin who may have caught covid for the second or third time.

China is watching and has their own agenda like the takeover of Taiwan.

Are we in for a shit time this year or what.

It`s time to see your favourite escort and that`s exactly what I plan to do.

 

[anon_vlad]

BTW can someone explain to me what is the winning strategy for the US in getting involved in the situation with Ukraine? I don't see one.

Provide massive military aid to the Ukraine to increase the cost of invasion.

Work out a deal to reassure the Russians who, after being invaded so often in the last couple of centuries, are worried about being encircled by unfriendly states (NATO alliance and China). The Cuban missile crisis was ended with a secret deal to remove nuclear weapons which had been installed in Turkey.

Attempt to get the support of countries such as Germany which depend on Russian natural gas by providing alternate fuel sources.

 

[gaby]

BREYER-JUDGE/retirement/SC.....At 83 he did un remarquable speech today sur le rôle de la Cour Suprême....hum...much better than the one/BIDEN did at only 78 ......BUT the more important---at the end of the day---he will do a very significatve nomination
for black peoples and AMERICANS....it's about time.
Other good news for BIDEN on the economy...last trimester increase of 6,9%....the best since 1984....BUT inflation remains his major challenge/battle and at only 42% of approval....the road wll b very very long.....PERSONALLY wish him the best/to succeed...
not the greatest BUT at least an honest/ decent man/hard worker.

 

[minutemenX]

The USA should do in Ukraine exactly what they do in the Netflix series "Occupied", in which Norway is invaded by Russia after stopping oil production/exports to the EU. The Norwegian PM asks the American Ambassador to Norway for help. The American Ambassador asks the Norwegian ambassador, "can you explain the winning strategy for the US getting involved in this dispute?" When no answer is provided, the USA stays on the sidelines.

I ask Biden (and Cloudsurf) to answer the same question.

All you have to know about the present Ukrainian crisis is in this lecture of about 7 years ago:

 

[hryusha]

BTW can someone explain to me what is the winning strategy for the US in getting involved in the situation with Ukraine? I don't see one.

It's simple: Putin pretends like he's about to invade (He actually doesn't plan to - he already got everything he wanted out of Ukraine), Brandon huffs and puffs, calls Putin names, while at the same time pumping up the gas prices (extra money for Putin), buying diesel fuel from Russia and cutting Ukraine out of the gas supply chain to Europe. The war mongering crashes Ukraine's economy, cuts their ties with NATO and allows Putin to put in a pro-Russian government.

Result: Biden has a win, Hunter steals more aide money, Putin puts up an iron curtain and becomes president for life, while getting money from the West for gas and with Ukraine under his thumb. Everybody wins, LOL

 

[donbusch]

Putin wouldn’t have made such a move unless he felt threatened. Interesting that Putin felt safe when Trump was president. Biden has rebuilt the NATO alliance and now, Putin is afraid of looking weak to his own people. Russians will put up with a lot of shit but a weak Tsar is not on that list.

 

[EagerBeaver]

In the latest embarrassment for Biden, his science adviser had to resign after an internal report on the inappropriateness of his behavior was leaked to the media. Principally the report found that he interacted with White House staffers in a "demeaning and disrespectful way" (in other words, he had no use for Biden's moronic minions):

White House science adviser resigns and acknowledges 'disrespectful and demeaning' behavior after investigation | CNN Politics

Eric Lander, a top science adviser to President Joe Biden, resigned Monday after a White House investigation that found he had violated workplace policies became public.

www.cnn.com

 

[purplem]

Much ado about (almost) nothing. "The latest embarrassment" is indeed unfortunate, no argument there, but it's also commonplace in the modern world, not just in politics (including on MULTIPLE occasions during the previous administration) , but also in business, sports, entertainment, science and everywhere else.

 

[Carmine Falcone]

Much ado about (almost) nothing. "The latest embarrassment" is indeed unfortunate, no argument there, but it's also commonplace in the modern world, not just in politics (including on MULTIPLE occasions during the previous administration) , but also in business, sports, entertainment, science and everywhere else.

Seriously. If it were possible to see my eyes roll from here...

The ridiculous part is how this guy's resignation is "the latest embarrassment to Biden." If every resignation is an embarrassment to the sitting president because the president somehow owns how other people behave, then maybe it was Trump's fault when Tom Price (former HHS Secretary) resigned in 2017 for racking up $400,00 of taxpayer money for chartered flights? Or Ryan Zinke. Or how turnover in the Trump Administration in year one was the highest since Reagan--and Reagan's turnover rate was exactly half of Trump's (17% versus 34%)

Trump Staff Turnover Hits 34%—a First Year Presidential Record

This chart shows how it compares to previous administrations.

fortune.com

Meanwhile, turnover in Biden's first year was 8%.

Kennisgeving voor omleiding

www.google.com

But one guy correctly quitting because he's a jerk at work is "latest embarrassment for Biden" lol!

 

[Carmine Falcone]

I should further add that the knock against Trump's staff picks and his high turnover rate was proof of his inexperience. Add to that, Trump had difficulty getting "A listers" to staff his tenure based on what sober people saw in his campaign. You're allowed not to like Biden, but if you're dispassionate about it we've had it worse just in a span of four years.

 

[donbusch]

For the longest time, Trumpy boasted that he pushed Germany on Nord2 but zero results. Now President Biden has secured an agreement with Germany on Nord2 if Russia invades Ukraine. +1 for real statesmanship & diplomacy by President Biden.

If Russia invades Ukraine, there will be no Nord Stream 2, Biden says

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday warned that if Russia invades Ukraine, there would be no Nord Stream 2, but did not specify how he would go about ensuring the controversial pipeline would not be used.

www.reuters.com

 

[hryusha]

For the longest time, Trumpy boasted that he pushed Germany on Nord2 but zero results. Now President Biden has secured an agreement with Germany on Nord2 if Russia invades Ukraine. +1 for real statesmanship & diplomacy by President Biden.

If Russia invades Ukraine, there will be no Nord Stream 2, Biden says

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday warned that if Russia invades Ukraine, there would be no Nord Stream 2, but did not specify how he would go about ensuring the controversial pipeline would not be used.

www.reuters.com

You do realize that under Trump, THERE WAS NO NS2?

 

[donbusch]

You do realize that under Trump, THERE WAS NO NS2?

Nord Stream 2 (NS2) was built during Trumpy’s time. Trumpy made a big show of trying to stop it but he was never serious. Trumpy deliberatedly sabotaged his own so-called ‘anti NS2’ efforts by undermining then German Chancellor Merkel & the entire NATO alliance. After all, Trumpy has always been afraid of Putin.

End of the day, NS2 is about security and why should the Europeans trust Trumpy on NS2 when he kept casting doubts on the US commitment to NATO’s collective defense?

President Biden doesn’t have Trumpy’s flair for show biz but serious workers like Biden often work in the background. In less than a year, Biden has rebuilt the NATO alliance and even as we speak, he has convinced Japan to redirect its own natural gas supplies to Europe. Real work & governing is boring & tedious. Biden is also boring & tedious. But I much prefer actual results delivered by boring, tedious President Biden.

Japan to divert LNG to Europe amid Russia-Ukraine tension

Japan will divert some liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes to Europe after requests from the United States and the European Union, the industry minister said on Wednesday, a step that aligns the country with the West as tensions flare with Russia.

www.reuters.com

 

[minutemenX]

Nord Stream 2 (NS2) was built during Trumpy’s time. Trumpy made a big show of trying to stop it but he was never serious. Trumpy deliberatedly sabotaged his own so-called ‘anti NS2’ efforts by undermining then German Chancellor Merkel & the entire NATO alliance. After all, Trumpy has always been afraid of Putin.

Yep, Biden has a lot of experience in cancelling pipelines. Remember Keystone. I don’t know how much Russia is going to lose but Canada has already lost several billions.

 

[donbusch]

Yep, Biden has a lot of experience in cancelling pipelines. Remember Keystone. I don’t know how much Russia is going to lose but Canada has already lost several billions.

I’m not familiar with Republican Fuzzy Math but the facts indicate that President Biden SAVED Canada billions by blocking the Keystone pipeline.

Keystone was to be used to transport Alberta tar sands. Alberta tar sands is very expensive to extract & process into oil and is only viable when oil prices are well above $110-120/barrel. Even with today’s inflation, oil is barely breaching $90/barrel.

Alberta tar sands is only viable because of huge government subsidies. The private sector is investing not because tar sands is profitable, it’s investing so that the Canadian government will them money for doing so.

Essentially the Canadian government has been paying Alberta tar sands workers for make-believe jobs. Yup, President Biden to the rescue again.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fossil-fuel-subsidy-canada-1.5987392

Canada’s oil and gas sector received $18B in pandemic financing, subsidies

Public funding for Canada’s oil and gas industry increased in 2020 with support for projects such as Trans Mountain and Coastal GasLink pipelines

thenarwhal.ca

 

[minutemenX]

I’m not familiar with Republican Fuzzy Math but the facts indicate that President Biden SAVED Canada billions by blocking the Keystone pipeline.

Indeed, stupid Canadians did not know math and invested in the Keystone project several billion. Biden on the other hand is a brilliant mathematician and thus helped them to save tens of billions by cancelling it. Stupid Russians do not understand the math either, but they will also eventually save many billions if NS2 is cancelled.

 

[donbusch]

Indeed, stupid Canadians did not know math and invested in the Keystone project several billion. Biden on the other hand is a brilliant mathematician and thus helped them to save tens of billions by cancelling it. Stupid Russians do not understand the math either, but they will also eventually save many billions if NS2 is cancelled.

So far, you’re the only one that’s calling Canadians stupid. Subsidies for the oil & gas industry arise because of political expediency. Russia’s natural gas extraction costs are among the lowest in the world. Err ….. you do understand that Alberta oil sands are not the same as Russian natural gas, right?

Anyway, back to why Biden is such an awesome President. Further strengthening of the NATO alliance!

Denmark, US begin talks on new defence agreement

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark and the United States have begun talks about a new defence agreement that could include the presence of American troops...

wtvbam.com

 

[minutemenX]

So far, you’re the only one that’s calling Canadians stupid. Subsidies for the oil & gas industry arise because of political expediency. Russia’s natural gas extraction costs are among the lowest in the world.

It is very frustrating to see people repeating some media BS

• No business, especially traditional oil and mining is sustainable in a long run if it is not profitable. The Alberta oil sands are profitable at the oil price around 30-40$/ barrel (depends on how you count, current price of labor etc.). They would be much more profitable with Keystone pipeline with the switch from the crude to gasoline exports from Texas refineries. These now operate on similar heavy crude from Venezuela and other sources that in fact have lobbied WH to cancel Keystone.
• The gigantic government subsidies to the oil sands industry are a myth. Most of these subsidies are in the form of tax breaks and other similar noncash initiatives and return to the government many times over through taxation of salaries, exports etc.
• Sure, Russian gas is relatively cheap, though production is much more expensive than say in Quatar as it is mined above polar circle in very difficult environment. Nevertheless, it is much cheaper than shipping LNG and thus difficult to compete with. Therefore the pressure from LNG producers to limit the Russian gas exports.

 

[donbusch]

It is very frustrating to see people repeating some media BS

• No business, especially traditional oil and mining is sustainable in a long run if it is not profitable. The Alberta oil sands are profitable at the oil price around 30-40$/ barrel (depends on how you count, current price of labor etc.). They would be much more profitable with Keystone pipeline with the switch from the crude to gasoline exports from Texas refineries. These now operate on similar heavy crude from Venezuela and other sources that in fact have lobbied WH to cancel Keystone.
• The gigantic government subsidies to the oil sands industry are a myth. Most of these subsidies are in the form of tax breaks and other similar noncash initiatives and return to the government many times over through taxation of salaries, exports etc.
• Sure, Russian gas is relatively cheap, though production is much more expensive than say in Quatar as it is mined above polar circle in very difficult environment. Nevertheless, it is much cheaper than shipping LNG and thus difficult to compete with. Therefore the pressure from LNG producers to limit the Russian gas exports.

Ah yes, all mainstream media is BS. True ‘freedom’ fighters shall refer only to approved right-wing websites.

No business is sustainable in the long run if it is not profitable? That’s what academics teach in Econ101. In the real world, it happens all the time. Want a more traditional industry than oil & gas? What about farming? US corn growers, European sugar beet producers, Japanese rice farmers have been subsidized by their respective governments for eons and the subsidies are still continuing with no end in sight. Want to make it even more sustainable? Then simply divert the taxes from productive parts of the oil & gas sector to the non-profitable sector.

Want to see if Alberta tar sands are truly profitable? See if profit-driven MNCs want to invest? ExxonMobile, Shell, ConocoPhilips, Marathon have all withdrawn from the Alberta tar sands industry at a loss. Only the Canadian oil companies are left, probably because they are better positioned to collect their own government’s subsidies that are disguised as tax breaks, training grants, rebates, low-interest loans, etc.

Qatar has lower extraction costs than Russia, what difference does that make? Both are petrostates making lots of money selling natural gas. As you yourself pointed out - Russian natural gas is extracted in difficult conditions & Qatar natural gas requires liquefaction to become LNG for shipping to faraway export markets. You don’t see Russia or Qatar needing extensive debate or govt commissioned white papers to justify the profitability of their oil & gas industries. The proof is in the money.

Back to topic on President Biden’s awesomeness - his plan to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.

Opinion | Yes, the Supreme Court ‘Should Look Like the Country’ (Published 2022)

The court must be an representative institution in touch with all of American life.

www.nytimes.com

 

[gaby]

Good to see REPS. and DEMS Senators could still agree on major issues......they ALL support BIDEN'S confrontation with RUSSIA...they desagree on technalities BUT sur le fonds..on the same page....congrats to MITCH for his leadership.