Tag Archives: budget

March 14, 2025 · 05:19

All wars are founded on deception

That is a truth that is over 2500 years old. The Chinese gave us the rule, but we were only made aware of this about 600 years ago (right around the time the game Marco Polo became common knowledge). Still the people are unaware of sides of this truth because it interferes with the media collecting on their digital dollars. So there are sides that are not illuminated. 

I have a inkling of standing there, because my premise is set on the sides I have been illuminated on for a few years and it is my understanding that it takes sides on what I believe to be true. You see, one element is that most polarized believes are set around the belief that “President Trump is a moronic idiot” and I do not believe that is true. He is perhaps a bully, he is a megalomaniac but he isn’t as I personally believe a stupid person. You see, as I see it, the exploitative people in New York would have eaten him alive. He was there long enough. And yesterday NPR gave us “The U.S. buys electricity from Canada. Now it’s a focus of the trade war”, this was to be expected. Our brother Canada (I am Australian) takes any opportunity it can get. And over the last few days we were given “Canadian brewery selling pack of 1,461 beers to cope with Trump’s presidency”, a funny sidestep. CBC informed us that they are selling crates of beer (with 1461 cans) so that one crate will last any Canadian with one beer a day until Trump is out of office in 3.84237 years time. The beer is Moosehead and the marketing director Karen Grigg told us that they sold 10 of such crates in 24 hours. The first one in 10 minutes of the announcement. A clever ploy to sell 14.6 thousands cans within a day. I have no idea if the beer is any good, like most American beer some Australian beers are like making love in a canoe (they are fucking close to water). Thank you for that Monty Python ;-).

So as we continue we get the BBC giving us “Trump halts plan for 50% steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada” with the supporting text “Canada has called Trump’s attacks unjustified and announced retaliation, including new tariffs on C$30bn ($22bn; £16bn) of US products.

Ford had announced he would tax electricity exports to the US in an effort to get those tariffs removed. He had also previously said he would “not hesitate to shut off electricity completely” if the US “escalates”.” And at this point President Trump has done a 180 degree turn on his decisions twice. And ABC (Australia) give us ‘Trump announces 50pc tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in trade war escalation’ with the supporting text “Trump announces 50pc tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in trade war escalation. He says this is in retaliation for a Canadian province placing a surcharge on its electricity exports into three US states. Tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the US are set to come into effect on Wednesday.” Some have the view that this is the economic downturn created to secure to annex Canada as the 51st state. That has the sound of likelihood, because the ‘easiest’ thing to do is to null the tariff the moment he gets Canada. The short sightedness of that is that Canada is part of a Commonwealth. What I don’t like is that (as far as I can tell) Australia and the United Kingdom haven’t outspokenly united behind Canada. Seemingly neither have New Zealand and India, so there is that. ABC reported ‘Anthony Albanese invokes ‘Team Australia’ in pitch to buy local after Trump tariffs’ with the supporting text “Anthony Albanese has suggested Australians should buy Australian goods instead of American ones, invoking “Team Australia” in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs. The PM yesterday accused Peter Dutton of taking the Trump administration’s side over Australia’s, after Mr Dutton said he was “hopeless” and that he could secure an exemption himself if elected.” Not one word of unity behind Canada. The setting becomes that the Commonwealth needs to unite. If I am correct that is essential and the UK needs to bo the same. The BBC reports ‘Starmer says ‘all options on table’ on US tariffs’ and here the subtext is different. “Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK will “keep all options on the table” as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum take effect. The UK exports hundreds of millions of pounds worth of steel to the US every year, which will be subject to the 25% levy. The EU, facing the same tariffs, said on Wednesday it would impose counter-tariffs on €26bn (£22bn) of US goods, and Canada also responded with countermeasures, in an escalation of the wider trade war.” This makes me believe that there is more going on and the lack of Canadian support is disgusting. If there are so many billions on the table, the idea that the Commonwealth isn’t talking to China is frowning to say the least. There is almost 100 billion on the table from Canada, the UK and Australia. These three countries need to secure infrastructure and a lot more for a little over 136,000,000 people. So is this the way it will be? Insecurity and inaction whilst (until recent) an Ally is attacking the economy of these nations? 

As I personally see it America is beyond broke. They need Canada for resources, Electricity and water. They are running out of these matters and that is as I personally see the larger issue. And the media isn’t reporting on these parts for at least 5 years. You see one source gives us “The federal government currently has $36.22 trillion in federal debt” and another source gives us “As of February 2025, of the total public debt outstanding ($28.91 trillion)” these two messages are not three months apart, as such how can ANYONE make a somewhat clear oversight of more than 7 trillion ($7,000,000,000,000)? That is a lot more than several nations have as a national budget. But I digress. A debt of $36,220,000,000,000 has interest, Australia has currently a 4.1% interest setting. America will have less, but I reckon that 3% is an acceptable amount, this means that America needs to pay $1,448,800,000,000 in interest on an annual base that is crippling America. In 2023 they collected $2.18 trillion, that means that almost 50% of all collected tax goes to the payment of interest. That is almost 50% of all revenue collected. I warned of this well before I wrote ‘Is it that bad?’ On October 15th 2023 (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/10/15/is-it-that-bad/). So for over 2 years the media was kept quiet by media stake holders, are you even troubled in the least over this?

When the media has to report all income from stakeholders the bough breaks (I assume), because the media doesn’t do this service for free and it is likely hidden in ad revenue piles. As such I believe my view to be a decent one and as I started this story, all wars are set to deception and America doesn’t like to be seen as weak, so they started a media tariff war. I am not dismissing the 51st state ploy and the silence from Australia and the United Kingdom give rise to that. But in all honesty, do you really want Australia and England to be your ally when that part is proven to be correct? As I see it the Commonwealth needs a stronger ally and that is where China comes in. As I see it America cannot be seen as an ally when it resorts to these tactics against an ally and in the second place there is a sneaky kind of joy when these tactics result in having their ‘arch-enemy’ China a few miles away for about 5,525 miles. The fun part is that America only needs to build a second Chinese wall a mere 42% of the first one. How much will that cost? And that also implies that three states will have to burn the woods they have left to keep warm, fortunately they are entering summer so they have a few months to build two nuclear reactors and that, oh wait a minute, that takes years. So no luck for America there either.

The tariff wars was as I personally see it the dumbest thing they could entertain, but according to the Beijing Daily, President Xi Jinping has been heard howling with laughter the last few days. Could there be correlation with the acts of President Trump? 

So tune in next week when you will hear Nurse Piggy say: “Kermit where is your credit card?” And the answering silence was deafening. Have a great day or as they say in China “祝你有美好的一天，傻兔子”, or as other say “Whatever makes you happy” (paraphrased)

Have a great day.

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February 12, 2023 · 09:40

Introducing: The nightmare

Yes, that is where we are at. It is not the beginning of some horror, although that is not out of the question, the larger stage is who the horror will hit. The setting of this stage begins with ‘Biden prepares largest Pentagon budget in history as spending cuts loom’ (at https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/10/biden-pentagon-budget-debt-ceiling-00082302). This could be any day just like any other day, but it is not, it really isn’t. You see, the debt ceiling is about to get hit (yet again) but there is no raising it this time, with the debt surpassing $30,000,000,000,000  this debt is also surpassing the national GDP. It is even more dangerous. Last year the interest on this debt surpassed 25% of the national budget. It has become that bad. And I tried to warn people that the media and the puffy politicians were playing a game with you, but most never listened and that is not on them. There is no reason to listen to me. It is much better that you find out for yourself. So here we are, all whilst something serious should have been done from the age of former President Barack Obama. Let’s be clear, I am not blaming him, the fault is on BOTH sides of the isle. Tax laws and a tax system that was never overhauled, budgets that were not kept in control and things went from bad to worse. So now we get the pentagon budget. I am not saying what should be done, the issues with Russia and their invasion of the Ukraine is still a massive factor and there is every chance Russia does not stop there. Something needs to be done I get that, what the best course is is only known for those who know the actual facts and we don’t have them, but with a stage where that budget is now getting the additional “lawmakers appropriated $858 billion in national defence funding — $45 billion more than Biden sought”, almost a trillion dollars is added to the total debt slamming pretty much through the debt ceiling, as far as I can tell issues will rise and things will start to collapse the things got this far out of hand and now the US will face a new domestic danger. You see Wall Street might actually embrace a default. It would give them unparalleled powers in the US, not for a few years or decades, it will solidify their powers for CENTURIES to come and that will make them richer then anything else. That is the nightmare scenario and it is here 3-5 years before I thought it would come, but then I am not an economist and my predictions are more on point than some of the predictions the IMF made, so there.

And if you think that this is merely some paper run, think again. If the US goes into default, where do you think the Ukraine will get there hardware from? When the US falls, so will Japan soon thereafter and the EU is not far behind them, a world that overspent for decades. A world for the taking by China to say the least, optionally 2-3 more players enter that field, but about that more later. And if you think that this is just prancing, think again. As I see it to avoid this setting the US would have to cut budgets by 50%. That pretty much ends the social settings, infrastructure and a few other stages. The nightmare scenario has arrived on the porch of US households and there is no way to predict how this unfolds, we cannot tell because the path will be in part on how Wall Street deems it to be and that is never in favour of any household.

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May 18, 2017 · 13:49

As a puppet

Have you been in a place where a person behind the screens is slowly shows his ability to give appeal? He is majestically moving his hands, not seen by anyone, hidden in shadow, yet the audience is delighted, the audience is watching a show of puppets, whether Muppet or Punch and Judy, the kids are in delight, at times, so are the parents. You see, the true master is not just about the posing or the dance of the puppets, as a master his voice give reign to banter, gossip in two layers, one that makes the children laugh and that makes the adults go: ‘Ha!’. The mark of of a savant. Yet, the bulk of them are not savants and in the political field there are at times a few people who are a lot less than savants and the media lets them, because the outrage created is what their circulation depends on. That was my view when I initially saw: ‘Doctors’ leaders accuse ministers of ‘callous disregard’ for the NHS’, a piece of work by the Health policy editor. We see a few things in the article and we all know that the NHS is in serious trouble. The part that stopped me was: “Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrats’ health spokesman, said: “Instead of £350m a week for the NHS, under the Conservatives we’ve seen the health service being gradually run into the ground“, you see, leave it to a LibDem to be clueless on the best of days, but just in case (because I make mistakes too), there was the small decision by me to take a second look, for that just in case moment in my life. You see, I remember that number, for one, I have never had that much money in my wallet, but I remember the amount in different ways. You see, the busses, the mention, when was that exactly a promise? The Brexit team bus (fuelled by UKIP) states: “We send the EU £350 million a week, let’s fund our NHS instead“, it is a valid slogan and it is a wish, in addition, the Nigel Farage interview on some morning TV show gives us “I would much rather give it to the NHS“, that is wishful thinking, it was not a promise or commitment, that came from nearly EVERY anti-Brexiteer. Now, I have slapped Labour UK around on their manifesto. It states: “The people of Britain are rightly proud of the NHS and we will invest £12 billion over the next five years to keep it working for them“, so we get a little over £6 million a day, or slightly more than £200 million a month, so where does this £350 a week ‘pledge’ come from? The independent (at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/conservatives-must-make-manifesto-commitment-of-350m-a-week-for-the-nhs-say-doctors-a7739401.html) shows us: “Doctors, academics and public health officials have called on the Conservative Party to include in its general election manifesto a commitment to spend £350m a week on the NHS, in keeping with the notorious posters of the Vote Leave campaign“, which makes me wonder where the actual pledge comes from. So it seems that Dr Chand Nagpaul and Norman Lamb are both missing a few parts here (I am happy to be proven wrong), The conservatives pledge (2015 manifesto) was to increase £8 billion over 5 years, the increase goes nowhere near the 350 million some are muttering and this manifesto was BEFORE Brexit happened, so I am wondering what the article is based upon. If it was written with in mind the presentation of some think-tank, then this approach is a massive failure. So this health foundation think-tank is also moving in other not so clever directions. I could start that I had a solution (which only costed me 135 minutes to figure out and Google could get it from me for £15 million post taxation), yet they aren’t interested in a multi billion-pound revenue solution. And if this article is about spiralling pressures, well, we all agree and if the wasted £11.2 billion pounds on a previous IT project under previous labour, there might have been some space, yet the pressure would always have been there. As I wrote in previous blogs, the first thing that the NHS needs to do is change its mindset. That is an initial need on several levels. The ‘old’ way of doing things is no longer an option and it is weighing down as the cost of infrastructure is just increasing, that initial change is essential to survive. In my view (which might be flawed and incorrect) there seems to be an increasing wave of commissions in play and those groups are not free, there was a paper showing it and the reference is in my previous blog from January 15th 2017, where we see: “Coventry and Warwickshire NHS chiefs fork out £340,000 for advice on how to SAVE money” (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2017/01/15/the-views-we-question/), this time it is not about the money, well perhaps partially. It is about the 7 commissions in Warwickshire. How much to they cost? Now, this is not about their validity to exist, yet it seems to me that these trusts and commission groups might need trimming or reengineering. And that is just Warwickshire. This is what I am implying with the ‘rethinking‘ part. Yet, when, I ask again when did any of these think tanks go there in looking on changing the NHS and the costs they have? I am pretty sure that the media have not seen or reported on that issue for the longest of times. As I read now that they are looking to fill 80,000 positions, whilst I with three Uni degrees can’t get a job because I turned 55 is just obscene in several ways. And the entire ‘government must plug funding gap in healthcare spending between UK and other European countries‘, which is debatable right there as the Netherlands is twice the size of Ross-shire, with 16 million people in there, in addition we see Sweden which is almost twice the size of the UK, with 10 million people and 20% of that in the three largest cities. So here we already see three very different dimension of issues, making the ‘funding gap’ a bit of a question mark, in addition, as the UK is well over minus a trillion, the health care issue will be an issue and remain so unless some players start considering different paths, throwing money at it does not make it go away, you merely move the issue after which you end up having to solve two problems. So how does that solve anything? Well, I believe that we need to get the Universities involved and start brainstorming on how certain problems might be solved. You see, there is nothing like the unbiased view of a politically incorrect student to try and solve a puzzle, especially when political lobbyists are not allowed to ‘forge’ minds to become politically accepted minds. I think that turning the puzzle into a creativity challenge will get us potentially some options people forgot about. I found my solution whilst browsing a historical page on Scotland, of all the technological solutions, I found mine in a history book that predates that device that Graham Alexander Bell invented (read: telephone). How weird was that?

The puppet issue still remains. You see, the quote at the end: “Urgent action is needed, the thinktank says, because 900 people a day are quitting as social care workers, too few new recruits are joining the sector“, is an issue. I am not doubting the number as a total, yet when monthly a industry is drained by 18,000 workers, there are additional problems. When we in addition see a source claiming that NHS digital had notified staff on patches and we see news that Labour now wants to pump £37 bn in the NHS, we have several issues. For one, the unrealistic prompt for money that cannot be found in a realistic way and the fact that Labour gave out a manifesto promising the UK to get them a quarter of a trillion in deeper debt is a worry. The IT story is also linked to all this as it shows that there are additional infrastructure issues. If the endgadget quote is true “It seems this advisory fell on some deaf ears, which explains why only certain NHS Trusts were affected“, it clearly shows that the infrastructure needs an overhaul and there is a strong requirement to take a harsh look on where the money is going. The endgadget quote shows a STRUCTURAL failure of the NHS, and only an idiot will pump £37 billion in something that could be structurally unsound. That part has been ignored by the media on too large a scale. Oh and that is not limited to the UK, there is a European failure here (as well as a few other parts of the British empire, like Australia). So we need to consider that we have to give stronger illumination to the puppeteers, because, who exactly is part of the the Health Foundation think-tank? And as we illuminate the players in such think-tank, as the people have a right to know, we need to stop being puppets. We need to look at actual solutions, that is because I have seen a few ‘think tanks’ and ‘consultancy teams’ mentioned and even as we can agree that ‘£340,000 for advice‘ could be money well spend, it seems that over the last year there have been a few of these events and I am decently certain that these people do not work for free, so how much has been spend? I feel that I am massively underrating and could end up being equally massively underpaid with my £15,000,000 solution that would bring the project completionist a few billion.

It is also my personal belief that in many cases the person claiming ‘urgent action is needed‘ is also the person who wants the ‘victim’ to jump the shark so that they can coin in as large a way as possible. Yet I agree that the NHS needs acts that lead to solutions, here I differ in labelling the action as an act. The act of instigating change is not done in a few minutes and I do not want it to be wasteful, so people need to have their bullet point list ready (I actually hate those lists). Not a longwinded presentation, or is that ‘long wined and did possibly’? The NHS issue is in too critical a state, pretty much everyone agrees, yet the way how it is addressed and where the highest priority lies is another debate, in my mind (possibly a wrong deduction) is in the first, nurses, in the second infrastructure shifts and three the doctors. The infrastructure is important, not because doctors are not, but because the infrastructure has been showing to be a drain on the funds available. In that part we see that as issues are resolved more and more funds would become for both doctors (and GP’s) and upgrades. It is not that points two and three could not be instigated at the same time, yet in equal measure whatever infrastructure issues is resolved might actually give additional funds for more doctors and GP’s as well. It is merely a thought and there will be enough opposition, or better stated valid opposition to my priority list, it is just finding the path that is best walked. And in this case, I have the feeling that from the very beginning of the failed IT project that the NHS decision makers have been all about talking the walk and not getting any actual walking done, which would be a terminal disaster for any project, no matter how many billions you throw at it. It will merely be wasted coin.

 

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February 28, 2013 · 17:52

The military Pound

We do not need to look far to see that cut backs are more than just the talk of the town. They have been the talk of nations for a long time, and we have seen more than one system discussed when it comes to the need for overspending.

So, when many read about the fact that the military overspend again we might not have looked to be too overly surprised. It is however the proverbial straw that is breaking the camel’s back. This is what was said on Sky News on Feb 28th “Britain’s Ministry of Defence has been slammed after a report showed between 2009 and 2011 it bought STG 1.5 billion ($A2.24 billion) worth of equipment more than it used.“

The article was short, to the point and ended with “The ministry is to introduce controls that it hopes will reduce spending on inventory by STG 500 million a year by 2015.“

So, the British consumer will be confronted with taxation on overspending by almost 2 billion until that time? How is that fair. This is not the end of it. There is a lot more. This is the clear part where we are confronted with overspendings; however, there are a few more issues at play.

The New York Times published a story in July 2006 named “Pentagon Struggles With Cost Overruns and Delays“. In this example they went over the costs of the F-22a Raptor. It was a track from 1991 until 2010 that showed a massive amount of overspending. The response as stated in the New York Times was “We must transform the way the department works and what it works on, he said. It could be said that it’s a matter of life and death — ultimately, every American’s.“

So was that an answer? It seems not. Because that same story repeats itself when we look at headlines involving the F-35. “$24 billion British budget blow-out in black hole F-35 project“.

It seems that the boys in uniform seem oblivious to words like ‘common sense’, ‘budgets’, ‘overspending’ and you know, words of that general direction. Now I am all for a good defence, yet the parties involved seem to be either completely academically ineffective (incompetent seems too hard a word), or those paying are really lacking a certain level of backbone. Especially when budgets are overstretched the way they are. Am I having a go at the Australian and UK admin soldiers? I am not sure. Who made these decisions? Who allowed for these levels of overspending? These are serious questions that need answers and it needs more then investigation, it requires ACTUAL actions being taken. I am not talking about some political inquest wasting even more time and money. No! Defence needs to take a look at their laundry and fix this. It seems clear and shown that this needs fixing on several levels.

In the meantime solutions must be found, especially when it is clear that almost all parties in the commonwealth have to tighten the belt on budgets all over the place. It seems very unfair that even though the military are to most the visible part to defend a nation, the people placing their lives in harm’s way on a daily basis are having their budgets cut severely.

You know, I have a nice idea, right out of the extreme right field. Lockheed Martin donates 1% of paid costs by the DOD to the Metropolitan police as a show of good faith. Not all will be happy with this idea, but several will be less unhappy and the way the costs are cut especially to the police departments. It seems only fair. Who knows, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe might arrive in the office on a Monday morning holding on to a cheque and wearing a large smile (be not afraid if that happens). The same could be done for the RAAF. I reckon Commissioner Scipione might be happy to know that in the end, overspending almost 30% per F-35 unit (an unacceptable amount of overspending per unit) the police force will get a small shiny future. The other option is for the RAF to order 14 less F-35’s and the RAAF orders 2-3 less and these police departments get those funds directly.

There is however a deeper part to those rumours. Is the F-35 too overpriced and are we moving to a previous model (the F-22)? Even though several sources implied certain noises, there is no real knowledge at present (or better stated, known to me) that this is actually happening. It would be interesting as the NY Times reported that the F-22 had its last delivery in 2010. If so, should we pay full price for a model taken out of production? Would you pay sticker price for a 2010 Toyota? This seems more than a little unfair. Not to mention that we seem to reward/ignore a blatant budget overrun for two planes by the same company. A ‘ploy’ they seem to have handled since 1991. That means they did not seem to have cleaned up their act for two decades.

So we have two issues.

1. Commonwealth armies seem to be overspending by a lot and on needless things.
2. Commonwealth armies are confronted and left with much higher bills by their suppliers.

I am not claiming that the military are doing this on an intentional basis to waste money, but it stands to reason that we should ask questions when the size of the British forces is set around 225,000 and there seems to be an annual overdraft of 800 million dollars. The Australian Defence forces are not without fault either. This was mentioned in an article by the SMH, however I personally thought that this article asked more questions on the numbers they reported, then on the actual issue.

There is another side to this, and this was voiced by President Obama on Feb 19th as mentioned in the Guardian. “Obama warns Congress over spending cuts: ‘People will lose their jobs‘”. This is not an unfair statement. Yet the issue that is not mentioned is that overall, the profit margin for those companies is often a lot larger than most commercial companies seem to be left with, and THAT part seems to have never been curbed. That was illustrated in an article in Aviation week by Joe Anselmo on May 18, 2012. There it was quoted that “A Wall Street research firm says defense contractors should be able to maintain their profit margins even as Pentagon spending declines“. That seems to prove the thoughts that others have as well as myself. So, these are not unique thoughts. These are thoughts that have been in play for a long time, so when we are looking at recessions and budget issues, it seems to me that there is at least one player in town who gets to play with a stacked deck.

I hope the message is getting through. There is a massive amount of needless overspending and there currently seems to be no planned solution to properly curb this enthusiastic method of an open wallet policy.

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