Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
The Trump administration lied about the extent of the damage to US bases done by Iranian strikes.
An 80 year old plane successfully bombed a US base.
US personnel had to abandon US bases at the start of the war. Why did we leave these bases so vulnerable?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol70ZTS5zYs
The Iran war may be pushing the US into recession. It could cost the US economy 200 billion, or even a trillion, dollars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYcacsfqrq0
“The first six days of war in Iran cost U.S. taxpayers at least $11.3 billion in munitions alone, according to Pentagon estimates reviewed by lawmakers, and experts say the ongoing cost could increase exponentially. That total does not include the cost of operating and maintaining the military force engaged in the war or battle damage sustained from Iran’s attacks.
…
While initial cost estimates of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were around $50 to $60 billion, they ended up costing a combined $8 trillion, according to analysis by Costs of War.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/much-iran-war-costing-taxpayers-212311982.html
Limiting climate change is about facing some pain now to prevent greater pains later.
One reason people are so against limiting climate change is because some proponents of limiting climate change underplayed the serious costliness of dealing with climate change, so people felt like they were being lied to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBHSmwxgLfQ
One reason housing is so expensive is because we don’t have enough houses. One reason we have fewer houses is because local regulations make building more expensive. Until local politicians get serious about limiting regulations, or the federal government withholds funds to localities that do not do so, these politicians are not serious about housing affordability.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEzkZcvZ0rU
For low-value medical care, it helps to have consumer skin in the game, but that isn’t what drives healthcare costs. Healthcare costs are driven by needed care and not the overuse of unneeded care.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyY05fD9dk4
“”Walmart just announced that the cost of their standard Thanksgiving meal is reduced by 25 percent this year from last year,” Trump said recently, failing to account for the fact that the price change is due to Walmart…changing the goods offered via their Thanksgiving meal bundle (and drastically shrinking its size) to get prices lower for cost-burdened consumers.”
https://reason.com/2025/11/26/is-the-poverty-line-really-100000/
New York City is way too expensive. It is unaffordable by any hungry person who doesn’t already have a lot of money or parents who will pay for them to live in New York. Even people who make good money have trouble flourishing in New York because basic things are too expensive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccaxz2y2ZvE
“The ongoing federal shutdown could cost the U.S. economy between $7 billion and $14 billion, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.”
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/10/29/congress/shutdown-talks-thune-democrats-snap-deadline-00626811
“American goods are losing ground fast. A recent KPMG survey finds that “60% of businesses reported decreased overseas sales” in the first six months of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. For instance, U.S. liquor exports tumbled 9 percent in the second quarter of this year, with steep declines across the European Union, Canada, Britain, and Japan, which together buy about 70 percent of these exports. In another example, China—once a key customer for U.S. farm goods—has turned instead to Argentina and other suppliers, and total U.S. soybean exports are down 23 percent this year.
Smaller companies are also adversely affected. A valve and gas component maker in Napa Valley just announced that it will shut down a plant and discharge 237 employees, citing weak overseas demand linked to tariffs. Let’s not forget the upcoming Supreme Court case of V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, where U.S. importers and resellers of wine, electronics kits, apparel, and other goods argued that the April 2 “Liberation Day” tariffs disrupted their supply chains, forced steep price increases, and threatened their viability.
American consumers, too, are paying the price. KPMG finds that nearly half of American companies have already raised prices because of tariffs; two-thirds have passed at least part of those costs on to shoppers; and nearly 40 percent have paused hiring, with a third cutting jobs.
CEOs overwhelmingly expect tariffs to weigh on business for years. Goldman Sachs estimates U.S. consumers are now footing 55 percent of the total tariff bill, while foreign exporters bear only a sliver of the costs.”
https://reason.com/2025/10/16/trumps-new-tariffs-on-furniture-will-be-costly-and-americans-will-pay/