Rumors
of War, Inclement Weather, & Universal Health Care
The time is near
when the United States must rethink how her great wealth is dispersed. Rumors
of war, ever increasing inclement weather events that end in devastation, and a
citizenry that recognizes the need, no, the right, for universal health care for
all Americans are perhaps the critical issues that will finally force the US to
recognize and fulfill the long standing need to rethink and adjust her annual
budget expenditures.
To borrow the
popular phrase “we’ve kicked the can to
the end of the road” best describes the dilemma we currently face with
North Korea.
Attempts to
convince the world that activities of man are increasing the earth’s
temperature, resulting in global warming have failed miserably! This dismal failure assures the increase in severe
inclement weather events in the future and the gradual rise in sea levels not
just nationwide, but worldwide! This will soon require large scale
fortification or even the relocation of major US coastal cities such as New
York, New Orleans, Huston, Miami, Boston, and Tampa Bay.
There’s more —
ice sheets that are melting in Antarctica will bash California with an even
greater sea-level rise than the rest of the world’s average; threatening the
state’s famous beaches and infrastructure.
The most recent scientific monitoring results show that the rate of ice
loss / melt from Antarctica and Greenland is increasing and because of how the
Earth rotates coupled with the moons gravitational pull on the oceans, well,
it’s really bad news for the entire California Coast line.
For far too
long, the US has out-spent the rest of the world in building and maintaining a
military machine that is unmatched anywhere on earth. Yet, we continue to see
headlines such as the one declaring: “Pentagon buries evidence of $125 Billion in
bureaucratic waste”. Turns out
the internal report, issued in January of 2015, identified “a clear path” for
the Defense Department to save $125 billion over five years.
Perhaps the
biggest story is that the Pentagon attempted to hide the report’s findings amid
fears that Congress would use the results as justification for slashing the
defense budget.
Just for the
purpose of comparison; North Korea’s
2017 military budget is estimated to total 7.5 Billion Dollars, Russia’s
military budget for 2017 is 69
Billion Dollars, China’s military
Budget for 2017 is 215 Billion
Dollars — these three potential US military adversaries combined, spent less
than half of US expenditures for 2017 which eclipses all others with a military
budget of 602.8 Billion Dollars—a sum that does
not include expenditures for Veterans Affairs and Foreign Aid (which
adds more than 231 Billion Dollars to the total)! Check-out the Budget Comparison
Chart Below:
If not for the
extraordinary Atlantic hurricane season, of late (summer
2017), all eyes would be on Guam, a US territory in the western Pacific;
with a population of less than 163,000 souls, all contained within an area of 210
sq miles (544 sq km). Stationed on the island are 3,831 US military
personnel who control much of the island, including Anderson Air Force Base
which hosts B52 bombers and fighter jets. The Island is reportedly referred to
by many US commanders as a “permanent
aircraft carrier”. In any event, since it’s only about 21 hundred miles southeast
of Pyongyang, N Korea, this tiny US Territory is of considerable interest to
Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s “Supreme Leader”.
Japan, one of
many U S allies, is also of strategic interest to Kim, perhaps because there
are more US military personnel serving in Japan than in any other country:
39,345 troops are stationed on 112 bases, mostly on the subtropical island of
Okinawa, roughly 800 miles (1,280km) south west
of Tokyo.
Headquartered in
Japan, is the Seventh Fleet; it’s the largest of the US navy’s deployed sea
forces, with roughly 50—70 ships and submarines, 140 aircraft, ballistic
missile interceptors, and long-range Tomahawk land attack missiles. The antiaircraft ships often include up to 14
cruisers and destroyers, some of which are armed with both defensive and
offensive fleet missiles; as many as 12 nuclear-powered submarines are also “on
call” 24/7, and finally the nuclear-powered supercarrier, the USS Ronald Regan, is permanently
deployed at Yokosuka, Japan, as the 7th fleet’s flagship.
Set up as a safeguard against North Korea in
1957 after the three-year “Police Action”, the United States Force Korea (USFK) says
its mission is to “deter aggression and,
if necessary, defend the Republic of Korea”.
After Germany, South Korea is the third largest host of US military
forces, with 23,468; equipped with over 300 tanks (the
powerful M1 Abrams among them), and armored vehicles.
So as to strengthen South Koreas defensive posture, in April of 2017, the US installed a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system (“THAAD”), within a small community 135 miles (217km) southeast of Seoul, South Korea’s capital and largest city, with the specific purpose of intercepting and destroying incoming missiles from North Korea in mid-flight.
But just how effective is the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or “THAAD”? Well, it’s good, but no magic bullet. Experts contend that countries that try to build missile defense systems, such as South Korea, should aim for a multi layered defense system; so in addition to THAAD, the sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System (Aegis BMD or ABMD) is currently the best compliment to THAAD, it fires from warships; can cover larger areas and is considerably more mobile. And finally the most recent design of short-range Patriot missiles — the Patriot PAC-3 — can also shoot down ballistic missiles, but only at short range. All of these weapons can be connected to the same sensor and command network; so a synchronized defense is possible.
To date,
THAAD has a good record in actual field tests, most recently destroying a
target simulating a missile comparable to N Korea’s Hwasong-12 in July of 2017.
Trouble is,
Missile defense, though very attractive, is a bit of tricky strategy when
dealing with offensive missile threats. It has been likened to “hitting a bullet with a bullet”, and
testing such systems can’t be done on the cheap. The payoff, of course, is
protection from enemy ballistic missiles, which proved somewhat effective in
the first gulf war when defending the Soviet made Scud missile attacks with
Patriot missiles.
Just so you know, a THAAD battery costs
about $900 Million; one Aegis BMD system costs about $718 Million; and a
Patriot missile runs about 3 Million Dollars each.
So, exactly who is North Korea and where’d
she come from? Officially, she’s
known as the Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea (DPRK); with the unsavory
reputation of being the most heavily sanctioned state in the world!
For 35 years (1910 — 1945) all of Korea was under oppressive Japanese
military rule, as was the case during World War II, however, this ended after
U.S. and Soviet forces captured the peninsula near the war’s end, which led to the
UN dividing Korea into two occupation zones, with the United States overseeing
the southern half of the peninsula and the Soviet Union administering the area
north of the 38th parallel (“the Demilitarized Zone”) — thus
establishing a North and South Korea. This division was meant to be temporary
and the initial idea was to reunify North & South to a single Korea—
however this plan was dependent upon the United States, the United Kingdom, the
Soviet Union, and the Republic of China organizing a single unified government
scenario that would work.
Nationwide
elections were scheduled to establish a new Korean government and her leaders,
however due to a lack of support in the Soviet controlled sector; the election
only involved South Korea . . . In-other-words, the divided peninsula remained
in place; as is true today.
China and North
Korea have been allies since the end of the Second World War and her resilience
stems, to a large degree, from her economic links with China. You see, commerce with China accounts for as
much as 90% of North Korea’s total foreign trade—simply put . . . China
provides North Korea with most of the small country’s food and energy. Keep in mind though that China and N Korea
share a common border of 880 miles (1,420 km);
so, no one was shocked, when, during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953, China
supported North Korea by sending an estimated 3 million soldiers into the
conflict; resulting in as many as 180,000 Chinese soldiers being killed.
Regardless, following WW II,
North Korea was under the rule of the Soviets from 1945 to 1948. After all, they had been a key player in
liberating the peninsula in 1945, so, it was of little surprise when the Soviet
64th Fighter Aviation Corps took part in the Korean War by providing
North Korea and China with badly needed aircraft pilots. However, many
“Western” nations were most pleased when the Soviet government began to reduce
aid to the North during the Glasnost era initiated by General Secretary Mikhail
Gorbachev during the late 1980’s in favor of reconciliation with South Korea.
So, why would N
Korea consider the US such an unsavory adversary? First, North Korea teaches
its citizens from a tender age that the US started the Korean War and only the
Kim family can protect them — and yes, they believe it without question. Second, during the War, the U.S. Air Force
bombed and napalmed parts of North Korea leaving 20% of its population dead and
the survivors have shared their memories with North Korea’s youth. Third, the United States considers South
Korea
the sole legitimate representative of all of Korea; hence, North Korea has not received
diplomatic recognition from the US. Fourth,
the N Korean government contends that
the US is a “capitalist imperialist”
successor to Japan, a view the citizenry holds to be true. And finally, and some say of most
significance, the nearly 24,000 US troops stationed in South Korea is
considered an on-going threat to North Korea’s existence as a state.
Officially,
the Atlantic hurricane season began on June 1 and will officially end on
November 30th; however, activity began earlier than usual this year (2017) — for the third consecutive year. NOAA forecasters predict the “season has the potential to be extremely
active, and could be the most active since 2010.” Though NOAA’s outlook still calls for 5 to 9
hurricanes for the entire season; currently (September
23) the total stands at 7 — thus far, the 2017 season is the first of record
to usher in three Atlantic hurricanes making landfall onto the United States at
Category 4 intensity or higher.
To date, the
most active Atlantic hurricane season was 2005 which recorded 15 hurricanes.
The least active year was 1914, with only one known tropical storm developing
during that year—it failed to reach hurricane strength. The only other season of record without a
hurricane was 1907; however 5 tropical storms did occur.
In any event, AccuWeather
President Joel Myers said he believes “Hurricane
Harvey was the most costly weather event in U.S. history, and that – paired
with Hurricane Irma – the two storms would collectively cost the US 290 Billion
Dollars”. Conversely, Mark Zandi,
chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, has a less dire opinion; he estimated a
cost of only 200 Billion Dollars. As for
Hurricane Maria’s total damage estimates to Porto Rico, the total is not yet
complete.
2017 Meteorological Records and or Notable
Facts:
Hurricane Harvey— Post-Landfall Record:
51.88” of rainfall at Cedar Bayou, TX; most ever recorded in the continental
United following a storm’s landfall — just 0.12” shy of the full United States
record set in Hawaii of 52 inches in 1979. Harvey likely broke that record too since
it was still raining at time the rain gauge failed.
Hurricane Irma: Intensity/Day Measurements
— 185 mph max winds for 37 hours — the longest any cyclone, hurricane or
typhoon, around the globe has maintained that intensity on record. The previous
record was Typhoon “Haiyan” in the NW
Pacific at 24 hours, a record set in 2013.
Hurricane Maria: In hurricane Maria’s
aftermath (9-21-2017), all of Puerto Rico
lost electricity; entire towns were flooded, streets where turned to rivers and
excessive winds (155 mph) fell trees and demolished
homes. As for Maria’s monetary damage to
the US territory of Porto Rico, whose economy was in shambles even prior to the
storm, preliminary damage estimates stand somewhere between 40 and 85 Billion
Dollars; according to catastrophe-modeling
firm AIR Worldwide—sadly, that estimate
does not include losses to infrastructure, boats, or damage to uninsured
properties. Worse still, AIR estimates that only about 50% of homes in Puerto Rico have
insurance policies that cover wind damage — far less than is
typical throughout US states.
As for the
Pacific Ocean’s hurricanes, typhoon, and cyclones it can be a bit confusing. As you know in the southwestern Pacific and Indian
Ocean, they’re “cyclones;” in the
northwestern Pacific, the same powerful storms are “typhoons;” and in the northern Pacific, like the Atlantic, the
storms are termed “hurricanes," named
after the Caribbean god of evil, Hurrican.
There is
extensive scientific evidence that extreme events are increasing around the globe,
and is forecast to “snowball”— here’s just a few
examples:
Over the
last several weeks extremely heavy monsoon rains have killed more than 1,000
people across Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, and more than 41 million people
have suffered the direct impact of the excessive rain; British Columbia is
currently experiencing its most despicable wildfire season in recorded history;
heat waves and drought are driving a strong wildfire season that has the
American West ablaze; all 39 counties in the US state of Washington are under a
state of emergency — highlighted by ash falling like snow in Seattle; the smoke,
resulting from the wild fires is affecting air quality as distant as the East Coast.
Okay, so
extreme weather is to be expected in August and September, after all, those months are amid hurricane and wildfire season . . . It’s summer in the northern
hemisphere, so it always gets pretty hot in a lot of places . . . And in South Asia, it is monsoon season too—trouble
is, scientists and or climatologists agree that the ongoing extreme
weather events are some of the most extreme ever experienced and are
threatening more human lives than is usually the case.
Then
there’s the ripple effects, that most of us don’t think about until they affect
us directly: Oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf region is at risk—as was
clearly demonstrated with recent hurricane Harvey, electric power outages are already
becoming routine as the transport of coal by rail, and especially by barge,
across the Midwest and Northeast face more flooding disruptions, and
electricity generation in the Southwest will soon be limited by water shortages
as heat waves and droughts become more extreme.
Bet you
never thought Global Warming could have a negative impact on allergies — well consider
this: Respiratory allergies are expected to worsen significantly for
approximately 25 million Americans! One of several causes include the fall
ragweed “crop”; it’s projected to thrive and become more irritating because of
increased carbon dioxide levels. Ragweed plants at today’s carbon dioxide
levels are likely to produce nearly twice as much pollen as they did, just a
100 years ago. Already, costs for
allergies and asthma in the United States stands at near 33 Billion Dollars
every year in direct health care costs and lost productivity.
Then there’s the huge cost per year for a US
universal health care plan to deal with;
a sentiment currently (2017) favored by more than 60% of Americans — and for many of us, the monotony
associated with basic math — yes, the numbers are huge but in the end, the math
is basic. In the worst case scenario, cost estimates stand at 1.38 Trillion Dollars
($1,380,000,000,000.00) per year for the plan historically proposed by
Senator Bernie Sanders.
According to the
2017 federal budget outline, the US is
already committed to Spend, on Medicare & Health, 1.17 Trillion Dollars
($1,170,000,000,000.00) — so an additional 210 Billion Dollars (210,000,000.00) is required to reach full health care coverage
costs as described above (1.38 Trillion Dollars). Simply put, absent a major tax increase or a dramatic shift in how the federal
government’s receivables are dispersed, the future of full health care coverage
for every American is bleak at best! Especially when considering that by the end of
Fiscal Year 2017 the US federal government debt is estimated to reach 20.4 Trillion Dollars and the annual
deficit is estimated to be 443 Billion
Dollars; an improvement on the 2016 deficit of 585 Billion Dollars but the government’s total budget disbursements still exceed its total receipts for both the fiscal years (e.g.
fiscal year beginning October 1, 2016 and ending September 30, 2017).
In fiscal year 2018, the federal budget
forecast is 4.094 Trillion Dollars,
while the US General Accounting Office guesstimates it will receive 3.654 Trillion Dollars in revenue. Yep,
that results in a 440 Billion Dollar deficit
for October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018 and that’s a far cry from the 2009 deficit of 1.4 Trillion Dollars
and yes the current trend is definitely heading in the right direction — nearly
a Trillion Dollars within a 9 year span; that’s great—right? At that pace, if we could only rid ourselves of those nasty annual deficits, the
nation could almost have a surplus within a little less than 184 years (9 x 20.4 = 183.6) . . . Has such an event (budget surplus) occurred in recent history?
Check-out the display below:
Okay, 210
Billion additional Dollars in funding is necessary to reach universal health
care coverage — but is such a scenario even possible without raising taxes? In a word: Yes, but America’s love
affair with unbridled military spending and rampant waste must end!
Sooo, if you’re elected president within the next
few years, to succeed, perhaps you will consider parts of or all of the following agenda:
1. Withdraw all US troops and personnel from South
Korea, except those located at the Chinhae
Naval Base located on the south eastern coast of South Korea . . . But only
after installing several more THAAD systems south of the Demilitarized Zone—well
beyond the reach of North Korea’s conventional artillery and short-range
rockets, including her Scud missiles. After all, what are US troops stationed
near the 38th Parallel — other than live American made “targets” intended
specifically for North Korea?
2. Relocate a large part of the US Naval 7th
fleet to the west side of Japan into the Sea of Japan — particularly the ships
equipped with the Aegis BMD or ABMD missile defense systems and simultaneously
reassign the fleet’s base from Japan to the Chinhae Naval Base in southern South
Korea.
3. Close and or withdraw all US troops and
personnel from Japan—including those on the subtropical island of Okinawa,
Japan.
4. The military budget, will in all likelihood,
be in excess of 650 Billion Dollars in years to come, excepting revenues
designated for Veterans Affairs and Foreign Aid; especially when considering
past years and the 2018 military budget forecast.
With this in
mind, the elimination of US Military Aid to all foreign countries and US Economic Aid to wealthy nations like
Israel who received 3.1 Billion Dollars in Economic Aid in 2016 is a must —
such an action can easily be justified, as Israel’s Universal Health Plan was
ranked fourth in the world in terms of efficiency as recently as 2014 . . . Such cutbacks will yield a savings of 10.9
Billion Dollars or more per year; and too, such savings should be applied
exclusively to the US National Debt which currently stands at 20.4 Trillion
Dollars.
5. Reduce the Military Budget by a minimum of 210
Billion Dollars and apply it to a Universal Health Care program. For example if using the above style 2018
Budget numbers, such a reallocation would be as follows: Military Spending,
442.60 Billion Dollars — still 2 times more than China spends per year ($215 Billion) . . . 6 times more than Russia
spends ($69 Billion) . . . and 59
times more than North Korea’s military expenditures ($7.5 Billion); US Veterans Affairs expenditures
would remain the same at $178.10 Billion and Foreign Aid or Economic Aid would
be reduced to 26 Billion Dollars or less.
6. Perhaps it is unfortunate that a comprehensive
or total tally of public disaster-related spending in the United States simply does
not exist. FEMA and several other federal agencies such as the Departments of Defense, Health and Human
Services, and Housing and Urban
Development have spent Millions of Dollars on disaster response and recovery
for the past several years. In truth,
the total funds required to satisfy such a need is simply an unknown.
Considering the
anticipated disastrous impact of inclement weather events that are believed by the vast majority of the worlds climatologist’s
that will soon become commonplace on the US and her territories, it is no
longer an option to continue squandering our economic resources on forever
building and maintaining a military machine that is expected or destined to
“police” the world. With this foremost
in mind, as citizens who hope to survive as a nation into the 22nd
century and beyond, we must recognize the necessity to quit forever the folly
of always outspending militarily, potential adversaries by 100% or much, much more. That’s not saying that to maintain a military
is no longer a necessity—in fact such a circumstance may be a century or more
away!
This of course is only an
opinion, one of many, and you may not even run for president, ever; even though
it is the platform best suited for implementing all or even a few of the above
suggested subject matters / issues.
In any event, if you do decide to
pursue the US Presidency, keep in mind that simply being a Billionaire will not
necessarily get you the coveted prize. Case-in-point, a fella named Ross Perot
tried in 1992 and again in 1996 — he failed on both attempts — at the time his
net worth was actually 4.1 Billion Dollars — however he often implied it was
only 3.8 Billion. On the other hand the
current US President’s net worth when he entered the 2016 presidential race was
really 3.5 Billion Dollars, although he often claimed his net worth was 10
Billion Dollars or more. Point being,
making “colorful” claims and using “alternative facts” may be the sure way to
becoming leader of the free world.
Click Here to view a 1992
SNL spoof preserved by YouTube and see what probably won’t help get
you elected.
The argument is often made that American
citizenship was most eloquently reckoned in The
Declaration of Independence back in 1776, which states that “life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness” are all natural born rights.
Bottom line: it’s only possible to achieve such rights when proper
health care is available to every citizen; there is reasonable protection from
inclement weather events—including droughts, wildfires, and rising sea levels; when
a low risk of being “wiped out” by a foreign power is insured by the government;
and finally, when the absence of excessive taxation by said government is
assured.
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/09/what-is-the-us-militarys-presence-in-south-east-asia
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