1) But we don't make anything anymore anyway. So if we tax the shit out of carbon, and invest heavily in renewable energy generation/storage technology creation and use, we improve the quality of the products on the market, which will make their way to the Manufacturing Nations eventually anyway.

2) Yeah. But we do that already. American Farmers have already received more bailouts from Trump than the banks did, and everybody is A-OK with that.

3) So-the-fuck-what? There is zilch we need from the Middle East, and we spend more money there than on ANY US program, including the Military.

4) So what? Let the Wahabbi's go crazy. The only reason they are a power feared in the world is because they US gives them ridiculous sums of money, and they use it for ill. Cut off the flow of cash (and our military equipment), and their influence will end where their toes get wet.

5) Yeah, the top marginal tax rate is 37%, but ZERO people pay that, because - if you are in that tax bracket - you have politicians in your pocket, and bank overseas. Charge them 10% AND COLLECT IT, and our tax revenues will skyrocket. Scrooge McDuck will be jealous of our piles of cash ready to be spent in America on Americans.

6) That's the hope, yeah.

7) Bad decisions are bad decisions.

8) No, because we do not have healthcare, we have sickness profiteering. If we actually had health CARE (like you provide at your clinic), then we would have adequate staffing to take care of the Boomers that are falling by the wayside today. And high-quality research into actually solvable issues. And quality nursing. And lower costs across the board, because the profit motive would be removed, and healthy humans would be the sole focus.

Yeah, I know I'm short-handing a lot of this, but fuck... it ain't hard to see how our current system is spending 99% of its time and money propping up untenable and illogical bad decisions made in the 1950-1980 timeframe.