Political Posts

[Marco Van Basten]

1 hour ago, ourkid8 said:

Israel doesn’t have a seat at the big boy’s table, they are a US welfare state. They will get in line if Trump wants them too as he has been clear  
 

US President Donald Trump told the Financial Times on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "won't have any choice" but to accept a deal with Iran.

"I call the shots. I call all the shots," said Trump. "He doesn't call the shots."

My boy, do you know how to count?  Israel's GDP is $719bn, and US aid is how much?  

[ourkid8]

On 6/7/2026 at 10:23 PM, Marco Van Basten said:

My boy, do you know how to count?  Israel's GDP is $719bn, and US aid is how much?  

 

My boy, while Israel brags about its so-called “$720 billion GDP,” let’s talk about the real welfare check they get from American taxpayers. This tiny regime receives more U.S. aid than almost any other country in history — over $300 billion inflation-adjusted since 1948! 
 

Every year, the U.S. gives them at a minimum guaranteed military aid plus extra emergency packages whenever they need it. On top of that, America has spent hundreds of billions dragging itself into wars that primarily served Israeli interests: Iraq, endless support in Syria, Lebanon tensions, and now direct operations against Iran. They pushed America into the Iraq disaster against its own intelligence assessments. They dragged the U.S. into conflicts with our region, forcing America to pay for their security while American soldiers and taxpayers bear the cost.

 

This is not normal “aid” between allies. This is a welfare state on steroids. 
 

Non-military aid? They get research partnerships, technology transfers, loan guarantees, and a free trade agreement that benefits them. But the real support is diplomatic: America vetoes every UN resolution against Israeli crimes, gives them “Qualitative Military Edge”. 

 

Meanwhile, Iran faces brutal sanctions for defending its sovereignty, yet we stand tall without begging for American dollars. Israel claims to be strong and independent, but it cannot survive one month without the massive American money flow and political protection.

 

This relationship has cost the American people trillions when you count all the wars, the debt, the instability in the Middle East, and the lost opportunities. Israel doesn’t just receive aid — it receives blank checks for occupation and aggression while American citizens struggle with their own economy.

 

The numbers don’t lie: $300+ billion direct, plus the indirect costs of wars fought for Israel. This is not a “strategic partnership.” This is one country acting as the cash machine and military muscle for another.(which Israel fails in that regard) 

 

Wake up America. Your money and your soldiers’ lives are being used to protect a regime that drags you into endless conflict. The temperature in the US is changing against Israel and hopefully one day US allows them to finally act in an adult and stand up for themselves.   

Edited Tuesday at 02:36 AM by ourkid8

[cubsfan]

1 hour ago, ourkid8 said:

 

My boy, while Israel brags about its so-called “$720 billion GDP,” let’s talk about the real welfare check they get from American taxpayers. This tiny regime receives more U.S. aid than almost any other country in history — over $300 billion inflation-adjusted since 1948! 
 

Every year, the U.S. gives them at a minimum guaranteed military aid plus extra emergency packages whenever they need it. On top of that, America has spent hundreds of billions dragging itself into wars that primarily served Israeli interests: Iraq, endless support in Syria, Lebanon tensions, and now direct operations against Iran. They pushed America into the Iraq disaster against its own intelligence assessments. They dragged the U.S. into conflicts with our region, forcing America to pay for their security while American soldiers and taxpayers bear the cost.

 

This is not normal “aid” between allies. This is a welfare state on steroids. 
 

Non-military aid? They get research partnerships, technology transfers, loan guarantees, and a free trade agreement that benefits them. But the real support is diplomatic: America vetoes every UN resolution against Israeli crimes, gives them “Qualitative Military Edge”. 

 

Meanwhile, Iran faces brutal sanctions for defending its sovereignty, yet we stand tall without begging for American dollars. Israel claims to be strong and independent, but it cannot survive one month without the massive American money flow and political protection.

 

This relationship has cost the American people trillions when you count all the wars, the debt, the instability in the Middle East, and the lost opportunities. Israel doesn’t just receive aid — it receives blank checks for occupation and aggression while American citizens struggle with their own economy.

 

The numbers don’t lie: $300+ billion direct, plus the indirect costs of wars fought for Israel. This is not a “strategic partnership.” This is one country acting as the cash machine and military muscle for another.

 

Wake up America. Your money and your soldiers’ lives are being used to protect a regime that drags you into endless conflict. The temperature in the US is changing against Israel and hopefully one day US allows them to finally act in an adult and stand up for themselves.   

 

Just think:  Iran has been the biggest destabilizing force in the recent history of the Middle East.  Iran destroyed Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq.  Iran has been responsible for more American deaths than any other country since the Vietnam war.

 

Iran is the world's largest exporter of terrorism.

 

All their neighbors know it, and they are all behind the USA and Israel to destroy Iran's Hegemonic ambitions.

 

If it takes Israel and America to destroy Iran and their terrorist leadership - it will be worth every penny spent.

[ourkid8]

32 minutes ago, cubsfan said:

 

Just think:  Iran has been the biggest destabilizing force in the recent history of the Middle East.  Iran destroyed Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq.  Iran has been responsible for more American deaths than any other country since the Vietnam war.

 

Iran is the world's largest exporter of terrorism.

 

All their neighbors know it, and they are all behind the USA and Israel to destroy Iran's Hegemonic ambitions.

 

If it takes Israel and America to destroy Iran and their terrorist leadership - it will be worth every penny spent.

 

Support for Trump continues to decline, listen to the stadium booing him tonight at Madison square garden.

 

I cannot wait for the midterms as there is a chance Iran may get regime change in Israel and America all in one year! 

 

 

[Lazarus]

That doesn't sound like overwhelming booing to me. 

[Marco Van Basten]

19 minutes ago, ourkid8 said:

 

Support for Trump continues to decline, listen to the stadium booing him tonight at Madison square garden.

 

I cannot wait for the midterms as there is a chance Iran may get regime change in Israel and America all in one year! 

 

 

You like Iran so much, why do you live in Canada rather than Iran?

[ourkid8]

16 minutes ago, Lazarus said:

That doesn't sound like overwhelming booing to me. 

The initial cheering was for the national anthem and then when they showed trump, it turned as no one expected people would boo during the national anthem but they did. 
 

Just do a basic google search, it’s all over the internet. 

 

  

Edited Tuesday at 03:25 AM by ourkid8

[Parsad]

2 hours ago, ourkid8 said:

 

My boy, while Israel brags about its so-called “$720 billion GDP,” let’s talk about the real welfare check they get from American taxpayers. This tiny regime receives more U.S. aid than almost any other country in history — over $300 billion inflation-adjusted since 1948! 
 

Every year, the U.S. gives them at a minimum guaranteed military aid plus extra emergency packages whenever they need it. On top of that, America has spent hundreds of billions dragging itself into wars that primarily served Israeli interests: Iraq, endless support in Syria, Lebanon tensions, and now direct operations against Iran. They pushed America into the Iraq disaster against its own intelligence assessments. They dragged the U.S. into conflicts with our region, forcing America to pay for their security while American soldiers and taxpayers bear the cost.

 

This is not normal “aid” between allies. This is a welfare state on steroids. 
 

Non-military aid? They get research partnerships, technology transfers, loan guarantees, and a free trade agreement that benefits them. But the real support is diplomatic: America vetoes every UN resolution against Israeli crimes, gives them “Qualitative Military Edge”. 

 

Meanwhile, Iran faces brutal sanctions for defending its sovereignty, yet we stand tall without begging for American dollars. Israel claims to be strong and independent, but it cannot survive one month without the massive American money flow and political protection.

 

This relationship has cost the American people trillions when you count all the wars, the debt, the instability in the Middle East, and the lost opportunities. Israel doesn’t just receive aid — it receives blank checks for occupation and aggression while American citizens struggle with their own economy.

 

The numbers don’t lie: $300+ billion direct, plus the indirect costs of wars fought for Israel. This is not a “strategic partnership.” This is one country acting as the cash machine and military muscle for another.(which Israel fails in that regard) 

 

Wake up America. Your money and your soldiers’ lives are being used to protect a regime that drags you into endless conflict. The temperature in the US is changing against Israel and hopefully one day US allows them to finally act in an adult and stand up for themselves.   

 

Your math is silly here.  $300B since 1948...that's 78 years!   That's only $4B, inflation adjusted, against today's GDP.  And probably 99% of that is used for military/defense.  BC and Alberta give twice as much to Quebec every year...now that's a welfare state even though they don't need the damn money!  Cheers!

[Parsad]

1 hour ago, ourkid8 said:

 

Support for Trump continues to decline, listen to the stadium booing him tonight at Madison square garden.

 

I cannot wait for the midterms as there is a chance Iran may get regime change in Israel and America all in one year! 

 

 

 

He gets booed like that in every Blue State...it's when we start hearing it in Red States that we should celebrate!

 

1 hour ago, Lazarus said:

That doesn't sound like overwhelming booing to me. 

 

Ahhh...yeah, that was overwhelming booing!  

 

Cheers!

[Gregmal]

[Gregmal]

Honestly? I don’t even blame them. I’d boo the ever loving shit out of him too if I paid $15k for a ticket and had to go thru TSA like security for a sporting event. 

[Parsad]

2 hours ago, Gregmal said:

Honestly? I don’t even blame them. I’d boo the ever loving shit out of him too if I paid $15k for a ticket and had to go thru TSA like security for a sporting event. 

 

All three games have been pretty close for the most part...nothing to do with Trump, security or ticket prices...those guys are just whining.  It's been a great series so far...very physical, dirty tactics, gamesmanship and pretty fast paced with guys falling all over the place and fighting for every ball.  Give me 7 games of this, please!  Cheers!

[dealraker]

4 hours ago, Parsad said:

 

All three games have been pretty close for the most part...nothing to do with Trump, security or ticket prices...those guys are just whining.  It's been a great series so far...very physical, dirty tactics, gamesmanship and pretty fast paced with guys falling all over the place and fighting for every ball.  Give me 7 games of this, please!  Cheers!

These are superb to watch.  Trump just found another napping spot, a costly one given the 40 auto motorcade.

 

 

 

[ourkid8]

8 hours ago, Parsad said:

 

Your math is silly here.  $300B since 1948...that's 78 years!   That's only $4B, inflation adjusted, against today's GDP.  And probably 99% of that is used for military/defense.  BC and Alberta give twice as much to Quebec every year...now that's a welfare state even though they don't need the damn money!  Cheers!

You just made my point, Quebec is a Canadian province and they fall in line with the Federal government direction. Israel gets funding similar to a certain smaller state and all I was saying they will also fall in line with what Trump says. (They do make a bit of noise thinking they are more then what they are but at the end they are a US outpost) 

Edited Tuesday at 12:15 PM by ourkid8

[RichardGibbons]

6 hours ago, ourkid8 said:

You just made my point, Quebec is a Canadian province and they fall in line with the Federal government direction.

 

Uhh, they do?  News to me. 

[Parsad]

2 hours ago, RichardGibbons said:

 

Uhh, they do?  News to me. 

 

LOL!  Believe me, I love my French Canadians and love their Belle Provence, but they have it good...real good!  Anybody in that situation would never want to leave Canada.  They are like Kim Jong Un...constant threats to improve their situation even more.  Cheers!

[changegonnacome]

16 hours ago, Parsad said:

Your math is silly here.  $300B since 1948...that's 78 years!   That's only $4B, inflation adjusted, against today's GDP.

 

The foundational premise (Aid to GDP) is the silly math part here!

 

The metric that matters is annual US Aid relative to Israel's annual fiscal budget and/or US aid as a % of Israel's military budget. Those figures have been as high as 10% plus recently (2024) but trending down to LSD's and on the military side as high as 35% (2024). Gemini lazily pulled the numbers for me but lets assume they are ballpark.

 

This is bilateral sovereign to sovereign transfer - Aid to GDP is a metric used for 3rd world countries where aid predominantly goes to NGOs due to Government corruption and so becomes a ridiculous percentage of the economy.  Israel is not a third world country as we know, quite the opposite, its technological powerhouse relative to its size.

 

These may be small absolute numbers for the US.....but they are real money relative to Israel's fiscal budget broadly & borrowing costs (Israeli debt trades tighter than it would because of an implcit US put option) but militarily the aid is deeply deeply important to say nothing about all the aid provided that never shows up as such but is buried inside the US's own defense budget tied to Israel's defense. Indeed the 'trick' being proposed by pro-Israel US politicians is to do less of the transfer payment stuff which is getting a lot of scrutiny and more of the benefit in kind stuff such that nobody gets to vote on and once the egg is scrambled it's impossible to come with a figure for that BIK. Very clever stuff indeed.

 

BTW i support financial aid to Israel.....but fundamentally disagree with the actions taken by Bibi's government in the region starting I would say ~9 -12 months after Oct 7th where the Gaza offensives proportionality & tactics crossed a clear line and Israel's general posture in the region began to unanchor from what I believe to be in the best interest of Israel's long term future and most certainly not in the interest of the superpower who helps fund a lot of it, writes the catastrophic insurance under all Israeli actions if something goes horribly wrong.

 

[Parsad]

6 minutes ago, changegonnacome said:

 

The foundational premise (Aid to GDP) is the silly math part here!

 

The metric that matters is annual US Aid relative to Israel's annual fiscal budget and/or US aid as a % of Israel's military budget. Those figures have been as high as 10% plus recently (2024) but trending down to LSD's and on the military side as high as 35% (2024). Gemini lazily pulled the numbers for me but lets assume they are ballpark.

 

This is bilateral sovereign to sovereign transfer - Aid to GDP is a metric used for 3rd world countries where aid predominantly goes to NGOs due to Government corruption and so becomes a ridiculous percentage of the economy.  Israel is not a third world country as we know, quite the opposite, its technological powerhouse relative to its size.

 

These may be small absolute numbers for the US.....but they are real money relative to Israel's fiscal budget broadly & borrowing costs (Israeli debt trades tighter than it would because of an implcit US put option) but militarily the aid is deeply deeply important to say nothing about all the aid provided that never shows up as such but is buried inside the US's own defense budget tied to Israel's defense. Indeed the 'trick' being proposed by pro-Israel US politicians is to do less of the transfer payment stuff which is getting a lot of scrutiny and more of the benefit in kind stuff such that nobody gets to vote on and once the egg is scrambled it's impossible to come with a figure for that BIK. Very clever stuff indeed.

 

BTW i support financial aid to Israel.....but fundamentally disagree with the actions taken by Bibi's government in the region starting I would say ~9 -12 months after Oct 7th where the Gaza offensives proportionality & tactics crossed a clear line and Israel's general posture in the region began to unanchor from what I believe to be in the best interest of Israel's long term future and most certainly not in the interest of the superpower who helps fund a lot of it, writes the catastrophic insurance under all Israeli actions if something goes horribly wrong.

 

 

The discussion by Marco and Ourkid8 were in reference to Israel being a welfare state.  Whether you look at GDP ($700B+) or their annual budget ($270B+), the roughly $4B a year inflation adjusted that they would have received is a small amount.  Now how much of the Israeli military budget it makes up is a whole other argument!  Cheers!

[ourkid8]

1 hour ago, Parsad said:

 

LOL!  Believe me, I love my French Canadians and love their Belle Provence, but they have it good...real good!  Anybody in that situation would never want to leave Canada.  They are like Kim Jong Un...constant threats to improve their situation even more.  Cheers!

I didn’t realize the disparity between Quebec and the other provinces - my bad. (I need to spend more time to brush up on Canadian politics) 

 

@RichardGibbons

Edited Tuesday at 10:12 PM by ourkid8

[changegonnacome]

47 minutes ago, Parsad said:

Whether you look at GDP ($700B+) or their annual budget ($270B+), the roughly $4B a year inflation adjusted that they would have received is a small amount.

 

Ok didnt have full context....but 2-3% of a fiscal budget sounds small but look at us here in the US.....there is essentially fist fights in D.C. to stabilize the deficit, never mind find 2-3% deficit reduction!.....then you've got the put option where the US steps in to bailout their budget in tough years with supplemental aid (~10% Aid to fiscal budget in 2024 for example).....welfare state perhaps is too strong a word.....maybe a sugar baby state? Where Daddy buys you that tomahawk missle you saw in the shop window if your nice?

[ourkid8]

1 minute ago, changegonnacome said:

 

Ok didnt have full context....but 2-3% of a fiscal budget sounds small but look at us here in the US.....there is essentially fist fights in D.C. to stabilize the deficit, never mind find 2-3% deficit reduction!.....then you've got the put option where the US steps in to bailout their budget in tough years with supplemental aid (~10% Aid to fiscal budget in 2024 for example).....welfare state perhaps is too strong a word.....maybe a sugar baby state? Where Daddy buys you that tomahawk missle you saw in the shop window if your nice?

 

 

 

Can you put a price on the political cover they receive? 

[adesigar]

Iran gets the same cover from Russia/China. 

[Spekulatius]

21 minutes ago, adesigar said:

Iran gets the same cover from Russia/China. 

Yes, but it’s worth zero.

[Sweet]

Iran war is a mess, despite any claims to the contrary, because Trump / Bibi aren’t willing to go in.  Iran can get bombed for years and it won’t make a jot of difference.  Major fumble.

[Parsad]

1 hour ago, Sweet said:

Iran war is a mess, despite any claims to the contrary, because Trump / Bibi aren’t willing to go in.  Iran can get bombed for years and it won’t make a jot of difference.  Major fumble.

 

Agree!  Although, I'm not sure it is Bibi who doesn't want to go in...he just knows he can't do it alone.  Cheers!