US = NATO Sugar Daddy

It is odd how the media portrays the NATO issue that is at the forefront of the Merkel and Trump hostility. While few countries within NATO ante up according to the rules, the US has somehow become the Entitlement Program, the Welfare supporter for Europe’s military.

Germany does have their own military, of sorts. There are roughly 60,000 troops and a budget of roughly $48 billion which has remained relatively unchanged since 2001 and represents just 1.2% to 1.5% of their GDP. Merkel has been under fire for not meeting NATO criteria and simply shifting the burden on the US. Her response? She will work on it – and maybe by 2024, Germany will be able to meet the legal requirement.  Not exactly a spiffy response…

Of the twenty eight members of NATO, only five made or exceeded the 2% rule. Why?

There are some who believe it is too steep and interferes in the 3% deficit rule imposed by the EU on its member states. It then becomes something of a juggling of funds from one basket to the other – like Kiting checks.

Unfortunately, this argument opens up the Pandora Box of the EU concept as a whole. The migrant crisis as a whole. And the welfare system as a whole.

The five countries meeting the 2% rule include: US, UK, Greece, Poland and Estonia. Oddly poignant is the fact that Greece meets the military requirement but is sanctioned for not meeting the EU 3% deficit requirement.

Germany is pitiably at the bottom of the chart currently hanging out with The Netherlands (1.2%), Canada (1%), Denmark (1.2%), Belgium (.9%)and the rest of the deadbeats who feel no compunction to meet the criteria.  Perhaps, imposing sanctions and fines and penalties would wake everyone up.  A consequence – what a novel idea…

What good is a rule if no one respects it enough to meet it?

Given the US is shouldering anywhere from 3.6% to 4% of GDP, it is understandable that We The People might have a problem with that discrepancy. Located in Brussels, NATO primarily spends all it’s funding on the EU. And while the EU is our ally, propping up their entire military is not in The Constitution…  it is more of a Sugar Daddy effect.

NATO defense spending has specifically targeted Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Poland and Portugal. It becomes rather impertinent of Merkel to take a holier-than-thou attitude about Trump’s position on NATO spending when Germany hangs out with the 1.2% crowd and refuses to come to the plate. And in fact, after the 2% ratification agreement in 2014, Merkel ‘reduced’ military spending by 1.3% which would coincide with the influx of 2 million immigrants into Germany in 2015.  Kiting checks.

In addition, this immigrant crisis diverted NATO funds to ‘helping the refugees’. By default, that means that the US is the largest financial supporter of refugees…in Europe.

But Merkel’s reaction to the US not continuing it’s propping up of NATO for the EU is like getting persnickety at your bank when they bounce a check because you refuse to cover the dollars. And then turning up your nose at the NSF fee, and demanding the bank front you the money. How dare the bad bad bank do such a thing!

The fact that the US and UK virtually support NATO actually creates a hierarchal Commonwealth with the EU as a ‘subject’ of the Kingdom overseen by the US and UK. I doubt that the Europeans would think highly of such a societal pecking order, and yet their Socialist agenda still demands the US act as Sugar Daddy.

Why? Entitlement. But it’s also a lack of explanation and argument of what is and has happened.   The Europeans truly believe they are more informed and educated than the Americans. The Canadians truly believe they are more informed and educated than the Americans. And yet, they fail to see that we ‘uninformed Americans’ support them financially.  We would be more than happy to stop that funding…  thus dismantling the global Socialist, Communist Kingdom hierarchy…  Which is why Merkel – is running scared.  She is entrenched in that agenda with the Rothschild and Soros agents fervently working the helm.

But that’s the power of Socialism – it creates a false reality in which everything is – what you are told to believe.   A child told he/she is stupid, will ultimately believe ‘they are stupid’, it has nothing to do with reality and everything to do with the power of persuasion and manipulation.

And so we have a persnickety Merkel, angry and offended by Trump, because he is considering pulling the rug from beneath the global round table and in so doing will reveal the reality of all the dust-bunnies that lie beneath.

BREXIT: Who is Next

While the media exploits the fear of British expatriates living in Spain, France and Portugal, the truth is far far less intimidating. The fact is, expatriates are creating revenue, they own businesses, they own property and these EU countries reap the benefits of their investment in the economy. International law protects them in the event that a government might attempt to alter the rules of engagement, and their incentive is quite nil.

In fact, Spain and Portugal have historically generously opened their arms to expatriates from everywhere, including the US, offering the same easy transition and assistance. For years, the aura, the beaches, the lifestyle, the stress-free environment of these countries has called to foreigners and they have come eager to acclimate and set-up shop. Tourism is healthy, refugee influx is light, and while crime is an issue in Barcelona and Madrid, it fades dramatically in smaller towns and villages. Although the State Department has issued warnings about the crime rates in Spain, a quick statistical check indicates that the US surpasses their murder rate 5:1, their rape rate 8:1, violent crime 9:1, and total crimes in the US were 85% higher than Spain.

Does that mean the State department should issue a warning for foreigners coming to the US?

While EU expatriates are assured of their status and their rights, incoming expatriates may not have the same rights which should become a negotiation between the respective countries governments going forward.

And despite all this being made clear months ago, despite all the assurances, the media would like to provoke tension and fear with a story of one families fear. Stoking the embers so as to invoke a full fledged fire. In fact, the stories of expatriates is quite the opposite, life has been grand in Spain and Portugal, and returning the the strife and chaos of London simply isn’t an option, nor is it a goal.

The larger issue is the rumbling of EU collapse as other wealthy countries advocate for their freedom. Freedom from what? From a corrupted Commission government that has no transparency, stifling expenses, unaccounted wages, and demands that are not representative of the people, but instead are representative of the Commission. A Commission that needs the wealthy countries to prop up their livelihood and justify their existence – a two government system requiring higher taxation to support.

Not only does the Commission gain it’s livelihood and income from membership taxation, but from excise taxes. Those taxes would not be imposed on countries leaving the EU, and thus their ability to be more competitive in trade negotiations is the attraction, leaving the remaining EU countries scrambling.

While the UK currently has a negative trade balance with their top exports being cars, oil and gold, that VAT tax becomes a hot issue as it is no longer a necessary prop for the Commission. The UK’s major export partners include the US, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and France. Obviously, the US is not a part of the EU, but then neither is Switzerland an EU member, and only a part of The Netherlands is a member.

Although the initial impact on the UK will be rooted in more fear than fact, the larger agenda of what is being manipulated to be the new EU, becomes a more interesting question. And Germany most certainly has the most to lose, the largest economy, and largest import of refugees.

I’d be watching Germany.  Not because they have any intention of Germexit, but because they have to ante more and more to cover the refugees, and now the lost revenue of the UK.