Charles Krauthammer: The Obama Doctrine & American Decline

[jakefree25]

The elites?, such pandering! From where I am sitting both of these guys are elite. Let's not forget Gorbachev's achievements too, no one could have gotten to be the leader of the USSR if he advocated what eventually happened.

[vaughn8113]

@jakefree25 the asshole (gorbachev) wanted socialism with human face. as a former citizen of the ussr, there's nothing like that. it was a monstrosity that Reagan's policies killed. SDI was the primary weapon that did the ussr in.

[jakefree25]

No, Gorbachev was not an asshole. He was great compared to the rest of hte leaders they had. A more capable & committed Communist leader could have reformed the system a bit and kept it going for a while longer.. His reforms is what eventually undid Communism, and many believe he knew that from day 1.

[vaughn8113]

I was born there. i have heard what people said about him. He was an huge asshole that kept overreaching. i know that's not the perception in the US, but SDI forced him to reform the system. nobody in the USSR really believed that the system was reformable. they were all too happy that the system collapse. you have to understand Gorby made a blunder in reforming the system, he did not want to do in the system, you are implying that he wanted to destroy the USSR. that's not true....

[dalmatian847]

Wow, do your lobotomy scars still itch?

[mattlong600]

Mr. Krauthammer is one of the popular voices of reason that America needs.

This socialist President will render the United States vulnerable economically and militarily to the rest of the world.

Sometimes I think that I am just having a bad dream but then I pinch myself.

Iran with nuclear weapons, environmentalism destroying the rest of our economy. And this is happening while I am middle aged and alive.

We need a lot more Charles Krauthammers.

[jakefree25]

@mattlong600 rave on, more paranoia

[jakefree25]

@mattlong600 Yeah, give us more paranoid doom and gloom from the right. I love listenting to crackpots like you with your stupid chicken little doomsday scenarios. We survived the Cold War, how many divisions, planes, tanks and nukes did the USSR & Red China have, yet you are sweating over Iran? So now you are obsessing over environementalists. good, I got some chemical waste, I'll come over to your house & drop them off.

[mattlong600]

You are an ignorant moron.

[mlabcxk]

Excellent. Frank Gaffney & Charles Krauthammer speak the truth. Get used to it.

[dmathew1024]

Frank Gaffney is a neocon warmonger traitor to the USA. He's got blood all over his hands.

[l1011l]

that was such a nice exchange between two very bright men. Of course they nailed it with Obama and everything else.

[MrDragon1968]

Re 'socialism' I think I should be asking you how you honestly believe the UK IS a socialist county! That's nutty. As all western countries, inc' the US, we have a mixed economy. The only major thing we do different here, to the US, is have an NHS. All we do is include health provision under the same umbrella as the police, fire service, education, the military, street lighting, road building etc- all of which are Government run in the US, and Government run in the UK. That's pretty much all.

[MrDragon1968]

The welfare issues in the UK don't really differ that much from the US. If you're unemployed in the UK you have to prove every two weeks you're looking for a job in the Jobseekers system and you get £60.00 per week. That's barely enough to pay your food bill. We also absolutely don't bring free market issues of the economy into government control where they shouldn't be- as you guys did in the US with your mortgage system. I was shocked last year when I found that out.

[MrDragon1968]

Re your last point. What I was saying is that the US mortgage system triggered the fault. It was a quasi-socialist system that should never exist in that area of the market. However, worldwide banking had become set up in a way that could allow stuff like that to be a problem and is not solely the fault of the US. It's everyone's fault. Including the UK.

[MrDragon1968]

Though, you kind of shot your UK 'socialist' argument in the foot here by mentioning UK banking. London had arguably become the banking capital of the world by 2008- that was because of long term de regulation and 'free market' principles. So, you can hardly call the UK a 'socialist' country now can you ;-)

I'd also look up the word if I were you. Socialism actually means something. Cuba and Venezuela are socialist countries. Britain certainly isn't.

[noiwudnttrip]

Is there no social intervention in the UK? All there has to be is some and your country falls under that banner. Ours is a socialist country as well. You pay more in taxes also. While your country does ok with corporate taxes on UK and foreign businesses, your personal taxes are higher with income as well as the VAT. More of your paycheck goes to the government than mine. At the rate we're going though, we should have a lower economic freedom score than the UK before long though.

[MrDragon1968]

All western countries/economies have some forms of 'social intervention' in some form. Since the turn of the last century, and even before in the 19th century to a lesser degree- they all have had this (including when Reagan was in power in the US;-) ). The distinction is where draw the line between having some of that and a capitalist economy. You've always had that in the US since the turn of the last century and so have we. My political view is a centre right one- and always has been.

[MrDragon1968]

We do pay very slightly income higher taxes in the UK- by a few per cent, and some of the 'stealth' taxes I'll hopefully be glad to get rid of with an incoming Tory Gov't next year. However middle class income tax is about 22 %, it's not very high in comparison with most western countries. The other five to six % we pay directly is separate NI- which only pays for a government pension and the health service. Basically, in the UK, we pay our Health Insurance directly to the Gov't.

[MrDragon1968]

Lastly 'socialism' means this- ALL major industries are government run. That doesn't happen in the UK, and it doesn't happen in the US. As I said- Cuba and Venezuela come under that banner. Most western economies don't - even Denmark ;-)

Britain dabbled with socialism in the seventies- and it was a disaster. Since 1979 it's been taking a very long walk away from that.

[MrDragon1968]

My bad. Average UK income tax is between 21-22 %. The separate NI is between 4-6 %. Basically most Brits pay about 26 % at source with both and that also covers a small Gov't pension and all their health care provisions.

[xzqzq]

Krauthammer is the Man.

[1kkyu]

Krauthammer's analyses are unmatched. He understands Obama perfectly.

[MrDragon1968]

Also a tribute to strength of western European moral clarity- for example I think Krauthammer forgets Margaret Thatcher and everyone else. I agree Reagan played a significant part- but there were many parts to the fall of communism. Why is it that Americans always think EVERYTHING is about America?

And also 'dynamic capitalism' of the US? Right! The same 'dynamic capitalism' that lead to a part government controlled 'socialist' style mortgage system resulting in economic disaster? C'mon!

[noiwudnttrip]

There are no serious Americans that deny Margaret Thatcher's role in the fall of communism. If you suggest Krauthammer does then you are sorely mistaken. If you suggest world leadership on the part of America's leaders wasn't the decisive factor in that fall of communism then again, you are also sorely mistaken. Unfortunately, you're right about our country slipping into a stagnant "socialist" system much akin to yours in the UK. Elections have consequences.

[MRobert21]

I like Margaret Thatcher a lot and she was a good lackey for the great Reagan in his Cold War victory over communism, but it was Reagan that won the Cold War period. Lefties and especially foreigners hate to hear the truth, but Reagan's policies head to head against the USSR beat the USSR. Reagan made capitalism dynamic after 30 years of both parties trying to destroy capitalism and for the 20 years after Reagan left office the 2 partes went back to destroying capitalism. Krauthammer is god.

[noiwudnttrip]

Lackey is probably not a good choice of words.

[MRobert21]

Nothing wrong with being a good second fiddle because the world needs lackeys too. Batman needed Robin and Green Hornet needed Kato to name some, but that does not mean Kato or Robin were as good or important as their bosses. Thatcher is the greatest British leader ever (Churchill is second and Blair was third), so I like her a lot. The fact is that I have studied Reagan and the Cold War too much to go with the every body gets credit bull crap when it was clearly all Reagan by himself.

[MrDragon1968]

@noiwudnttrip

I didn't say there are no serious Americans, I was solely commenting on Krauthammer's commentary. There were several significant factors that saw the end of Communism- one of the major factors being that it was an unsustainable system and would have fallen anyway. It was impossible for that system to work sitting right next to western Europe with a western style economy. There were also thousands of dissidents in the satellite bloc countries who fought against the system.

[MrDragon1968]

However was Reagan one of the defining factors- absolutely. The Soviet Union was bankrupt for years anyway- however Reagan helped push it over the edge sooner with his defense spending in the 80's causing the Soviets to retaliate with something they just couldn't afford.

As for 'socialism'. You are kidding me right? Britain is NOT a socialist country. And we also don't have in insane Government run mortgage style system. All our mortgage providers here are Free Market. That's a big NO NO!

[noiwudnttrip]

For the most part you agree with me on Reagan so I won't revisit that. On the other hand, how can you honestly say Britain is not a socialist country? Any country that redistributes wealth (i.e. NHS, welfare, etc.) is socialist. Your country is not communist obviously, but then I never said it was. Ours is a socialist country also, at this point to a lesser degree overall. Also, you kid yourself to suggest your banks weren't caught up in the credit bubble also.

[MrDragon1968]

I think we more or less agree on Reagan so I agree not to completely revisit- fair deal. I grew up here in Europe during the time, and also went to the USSR in 1984 for a few weeks. The country was completely bankrupt from 1980 onwards. They couldn't even supply their own grain- Lysenko destroyed the farming industry in the Soviet Union (and all biological research). They had to buy it in from outside. That doesn't take away from Reagan's contribution though. He's just not the ONLY reason.