Slashdot Mirror
Trump Signs Defense Bill With Watered-Down ZTE Sanctions (cnet.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNET: President Donald Trump on Monday signed a $716 billion defense policy bill that weakened efforts to punish Chinese telecom giant ZTE for violating trade laws. The bill, named for ailing Arizona Sen. John McCain, prohibits the U.S. government and its contractors from buying certain telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from ZTE, Huawei and a handful of other Chinese communications companies. The ban covers components and services deemed "essential" or "critical" to any government system. Some lawmakers had hoped to use the bill to reinstate tough penalties against ZTE, but the compromise bill removed a provision that would undo a deal the Commerce Department struck in June for ZTE to pay a $1 billion penalty to resume business with U.S. suppliers. But lawmakers agreed to abandon that effort in late July. Huawei called the inclusion of its products in the bill "ineffective, misguided and unconstitutional." They added: "It does nothing to identify real security risks or improve supply chain security, and will only serve to stifle innovation while increasing internet costs for U.S. consumers and businesses. We believe that the American people deserve equal access to the best possible connections and smart device options, and will keep working to make this happen."
So, we have demonstrably proven that the Chinese are conducting Cyber-warfare against us. This includes shipping pre-hacked devices to the United States, such as networking equipment and video surveillance systems.
Yet we impose a tariff on Canadian steel for national security purposes? WTF
president trump signs a ridiculously large DOD budget.
"Congress approved $1.56 billion for three littoral combat ships, even though the Navy only requested one."
Classic. That is when I hear the word "Conservative" or "Progressive" in relation to politics, I always laugh.
said to still be carrying the papers of challenge,, she is vacationing under the care of the council's counselorettes.. the vast majority unchosens are all alight with the news... rumors about spontaneous outbreaks of peace continue.. that's the spirit...
Funny if you open TFA, there's a picture of Trump signing shit on a small desk behind a giant POTUS seal, and behind that is a bunch of standing soldiers. The two right-most ones are pretty bored! And weird stance of joining hands instead of having them run on the sides of their bodies, so anyway all of them should be executed.
Was part of trade negotiations with the Chinese. If you want to fix the 500+ billion trade deficit with someone who is doing very well out of exploiting you, you need to have some items to bargain with.
Cheeto wouldn't even use the proper name of the bill. He dropped Senator McCain's name from it when referencing the bill...he's a child.
~I bet you were looking down here for an awesome siggy like everyone else..sorry to disappoint~
President Donald Trump on Monday signed a $716 billion defense policy bill
For perspective please note that the defecit in 2017 was $665 billion. So for all practical purpose we are borrowing the entire defense budget and in the process spending more money than China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, France, the UK, and Japan COMBINED. Call me crazy but I'm pretty sure we could put a good chunk of that money to better use.
OMG! We can't make a big deal of the Democrat who headed the Senate Intelligence Committee having employed a Chinese spy for twenty fucking years!
That'd make Democrats look bad.
I mean hell, the FBI actually WARNED Feinstein instead of sending their own spies, errr, informants at her! She must be PROTECTED!!!
Making a big deal out of Chinese espionage would implicate a DEMOCRAT leader and draw attention from Russia! Russia! Russia!!!!!
So ZTE agreed to put backdoors in its modem and gave NSA DMA access?
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
it's still don't ask don't tell? where did it come from? where are the monkeys hymens? god's little population control effort? time will tell? no heart no spirit no life...
What part of National Security don't you understand? The tariffs against Canada were implemented under the pretense of National Security! National Security is not a bargaining chip.
Yet, we ease sanctions against China as part of a National Defense bill. Not just any sanctions though. These are sanctions that were implemented specifically against bad actors who made products which threaten our NATIONAL SECURITY!
@ Huawei:
Fuck You.
Signed,
America
Trumps seems to get played a lot . By his wife from Slovenia, smart beautiful from a tough part of the world. Played by Kim Jong Un. Played by Putin.
I'm saying this to point out that someone as obviously personality disordered as they were in the Apprentice is really easy to manipulate by people with really rough violent psychologically abusive tendencies. They exist on a sliding scale and simply put, Trump isn't as good as it because he is the enabler.
Putin is KGB trained to manipulate people psychologically, he is a butcher and mass murderer. Does anyone here actually think that Trump with his salaried wife backed by a extreme right wing vice president is the guy pulling the levers here.
Please don't assume I'm supporting the war criminal Clinton either, perhaps Trumps greatest claim will be "well at least I didn't get us into another war!", I just think that there were better choices and the US appears to be at a juncture in your history when you are looking at your president and saying to yourself "I think I could have done a better job".
I say this because I wanted to present an apolitical context so people could focus on two predictions of history that are important and relevant to where we are now in time. We are these peoples future.
The first is Benjamin Franklin's prediction that the US constitution wasn't strong enough and said "In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other." Without bashing Trump does anyone think that he fits the profile of the type of leader Franklin was talking about considering the above context?
The second is more straightforward from Lincoln America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. Without bashing the US and her people just how much of your constitutional freedom have you lost?
I think the real danger with the amount of emotional vitriol that Trump inspires is that there are some very real fundamental issues (like chumming up with Putin - the butcher of Chechnya ) that are being ignored and the people being admired and elevated by Trump are the ones who are prepared to commit brutal human rights violations to get their way. They're hardly admirable.
Again - I'm not getting personal about President Trump I'm asking if anyone tried to figure out what sort of future Trump is taking you to with the friends he makes?
All the best.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
Considering defense is barely 16% of Fed spending, and social programs (SS, medicare, etc) is around 57%, I think I know where we should really start cutting.
Yep, Defense.
Oh you meant we should take away health care from our elderly and poor to fund a needlessly oversized military? That's weapons grade stupid. Cutting military spending is the biggest no brainer ever. We could cut the deficit in half tomorrow and still spend more on our military than every other country on earth. Social security is self sustaining and does not affect the federal deficit. We need to cut defense spending to more reasonable levels and raise taxes to cover the rest. No this would not result in fiscal Armageddon. The only other option is to cut medicare and medicaid and cutting that would be stupid and hurt a lot of people needlessly. The rest of the federal budget is inconsequential as far as the deficit goes so any debate about the deficit that doesn't involve some combination of raising taxes, cutting the military and/or cutting medicare/medicaid is a waste of time.
They inflated a monetary bubble to the value of $1.2 to $1.5 trillion in tax cuts in time for the election. (i.e. the tax cut gives them one time 8% to 10% growth). They'll need to keep the bubble inflated, military money is spent inside the US, so it internally inflates the bubble without drawing in lots of exports. They don't buy weapons from China!
The thing about growth, it's measured as growth in money supply. True growth has businesses expanding and pulling in more money to fund that expansion. Fake bubbles have politicians pumping money to inflate a bubble. Where can you spend all the money? Not in education or healthcare, it has to be pointless crap that won't affect the wider economy..... i.e. military spending. Build a space wall to keep out space mexicans. Whatever, something extra inside the US.
All this stuff usually ends up inflating house prices or some other fake asset bubble.
Nah, it was this tweet. Trump believed USA had a massive deficit with Canada, Justin Trudeau explained to him that was false, USA has a massive trade *surplus* with Canada. Now Trump cannot back down and doubles and triples down on it. Justin is cute, and young, and smart and Trump cannot therefore accept facts as facts.
" We do have a Trade Deficit with Canada, as we do with almost all countries (some of them massive). P.M. Justin Trudeau of Canada, a very good guy, doesn’t like saying that Canada has a Surplus vs. the U.S.(negotiating), but they do...they almost all do...and that’s how I know!"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2018
“Trudeau came to see me. He’s a good guy, Justin. He said, ‘No, no, we have no trade deficit with you, we have none. Donald, please,’ ” Trump said, mimicking Trudeau, according to audio of the private event in Missouri obtained by The Washington Post. “Nice guy, good-looking guy, comes in — ‘Donald, we have no trade deficit.’ He’s very proud because everybody else, you know, we’re getting killed.
“ ... So, he’s proud. I said, ‘Wrong, Justin, you do.’ I didn’t even know. ... I had no idea. I just said, ‘You’re wrong.’ You know why? Because we’re so stupid. And I thought they were smart. I said, ‘You’re wrong, Justin.’ He said, ‘Nope, we have no trade deficit.’ I said, ‘Well, in that case, I feel differently,’ I said, ‘but I don’t believe it.’ I sent one of our guys out, his guy, my guy, they went out, I said, ‘Check, because I can’t believe it.’
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/15/17123880/trump-canada-trade-surplus
They asked for only a fraction (albeit a high one) of what they got. For instance, the Navy asked for one ship (of some type), and got three. The Army asked for no more tanks, is getting a bunch, etc.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
He may be (and is) a moron, but the defense authorization bill also fully funded dealing with the actual risk factors of global warming (a 2 foot rise in sea levels) for all military installations, and the conversion of military units to in-place green energy solar wind and battery systems to cut down on fossil fuel supply lines which are easy targets.
Greener, faster, more nimble, harder to stop.
Trump didn't read past the 4 panel manga they made for him on what was in the bill. He thought it said "Putin will love this" and signed immediately.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
No, SS is not self sufficient, that is a lie.
As long as Congress continues to require the populace to pay enough in taxes to cover the obligations owed then it is self sustaining. There is no reasonable likelihood of this ceasing to be the case because people who collect social security rarely fail to vote and politicians who suggest cutting their benefits don't remain in office for long.
SS is not people putting money away, and then getting that money. There's no "account" of what you've paid in. SS is a shell game where today's workers pay for today's retirees.
Yes today's workers pay for the retirees. That is true. But unless you think that collectively today's retirees are going to forget to vote, no politician is going to fuck with social security. The inflows exceed the outflows and it's a fairly trivial matter to correct them if/when they do not. (raise taxes, raise retirement age, etc) Social Security does not affect the federal budget deficit or debt.
But it's tendentious and mendacious to suggest that defense spending is anywhere near the first priority to have some fat trimmed
Wow could you be more condescending or wrong? Defense is the clear and unambiguous first thing that should be cut. It's not even a question. It's not the only thing that needs to be changed but it's the screamingly obvious first thing. The US military is clearly and enormously larger than any demonstrable need - current or projected. To argue otherwise is to say that we should be spending more on defense than then next 7 largest military budgets combined and to do so at the direct expense of our elderly and poor. Not to mention the opportunity cost to our economy by trying up literally trillions of dollars in pointless weapons systems and unneeded military assets our of sheer paranoia. The US military is to a substantial degree a wasteful jobs program and corporate welfare for companies that make weapons systems.
the biggest savings are going to be in marginal improvements in the biggest PRORAMS: entitlement and social spending.
First off I reject your framing of the debate. The US military IS social spending and entitlement - it's really nothing more than a jobs program and corporate subsidies for a big chuck of what it does. There is no credible argument that we need a military as large as the one we have. Second, "marginal improvements" to medicare and medicaid (the only two programs that matter here) cannot be and will not be cut sufficiently make up for the fact that we are not taxing enough to pay for them. "Marginal improvements" literally cannot be enough without major changes to our entire payment system giving far more power to those programs. Cuts to the degree you propose are politically impossible even if they would work. The ONLY and correct answer is to raise taxes to pay for the programs that our society clearly wants and is unwilling to do away with. Pretending that we can indefinitely borrow money to pay for programs we are unwilling to cut or even to substantially change is idiotic.
If you want to change the health care system to make our spending more efficient then you are de-facto arguing to change it to some form of a government controlled system like the rest of the civilized world and to actually INCREASE public spending on health care in total (not per-capita). You also are de-facto arguing the need to raise taxes to cover those costs. The US is the largest per-capita spender on health care (for worse results ironically) but that's because our entire health care payment system is just bananas. Marginal changes won't fix the problem no matter what anyone tells you.