DOGE

[NYShoreGuy]

There’s a couple of things that are happening here. First part is about the “show”. Using DOGE and Musk to dig in and report information every single day about the waste of government spending. It’s like having a running “chiron” 24/7. And it’s getting the desired effect in the media. Every single day time is devoted on the news. Reinforces the issue that he ran on and distracts from everything else that’s going on. The controversial picks for his cabinet have gotten a little attention in the last month. Putting Musk in charge was brilliant. First of all, he has the credibility and background in driving automation and efficiency. Second, he has name recognition that gets responses from everyone, both positive and negative.

The second part is about saving money and eliminating waste. Trump is taking extreme actions and the courts are stepping in where he crosses the line. That’s how the system is supposed to work. We all know at some point Congress is going to have to approve the vast majority of these cuts or investments to streamline. Heck, there have been programs before like the Grace report that identified waste. We also know that Trump only has two years to get momentum going on this before the midterms. And a lot of this waste will also provide ammunition to get the budget bills through.

GOP members in certain districts really will have a dilemma with snap and medicaid

 

[NYShoreGuy]

Brookings piece 2000

A Surplus, If We Can Keep It: How the Federal Budget Surplus Happened

Brookings Review article by Allen Schick (Winter 2000)

www.brookings.edu

 

[NYShoreGuy]

Elon Musk’s DOGE Posts Classified Data On Its New Website

“People are scrambling” to see if their sensitive information has been accessed by Musk’s programmers, said one federal intelligence employee.

www.huffpost.com

 

[HALL85]

And at what costs? How many people are going to be wrongfully out of a job without due process? So you find waste, you destroy the entire agency and fire everyone? People with knowledge and expertise? They are throwing the baby out with the bath water.

You and I don’t have total visibility into what’s actually happening. It’s anecdotal but I have a friend whose son works for the FAA. Received the letter but was told he was essential and would not be eligible. Another friend whose sister works at the navy shipyard in DC and was going to retire this year. She is taking the package. And if you haven’t noticed the deficit has skyrocketed so there is an urgency to address it.

And by the way, The Republicans hated Clinton. HE was the enemy. This ridiculous tribalism started with Newt Gingrich during the Clinton Administration. Bill Clinton was extraordinary at putting aside the differences with people who hated him and working with those same people to get things done.

They hated him but he obviously got GOP support. How?

Don't think Democrats would be somehow against cutting waste and fraud. Trump is doing it this way so he can have the Dems look like they are against cutting waste because they will argue against his tactics.

Look at the last four years. All Biden did was spend money. Did nothing to address the deficit and Kamala said let’s not change anything.

 

[cernjSHU]

You and I don’t have total visibility into what’s actually happening. It’s anecdotal but I have a friend whose son works for the FAA. Received the letter but was told he was essential and would not be eligible. Another friend whose sister works at the navy shipyard in DC and was going to retire this year. She is taking the package. And if you haven’t noticed the deficit has skyrocketed so there is an urgency to address it.

They hated him but he obviously got GOP support. How?

Look at the last four years. All Biden did was spend money. Did nothing to address the deficit and Kamala said let’s not change anything.

Trump's 4 year he exploded the deficit. Did he not? And even under the Republican's budgetary plan, the deficit will increase another 4 trillion. Please do not tell me you believe Trump is going to do nothing but increase the national debt.

 

[HALL85]

Trump's 4 year he exploded the deficit. Did he not? And even under the Republican's budgetary plan, the deficit will increase another 4 trillion. Please do not tell me you believe Trump is going to do nothing but increase the national debt.

Yes, the deficit exploded during Trump 1.0 and Biden, primarily because of the pandemic. Did you forget that? I have no idea what he is going to do and what he is going to accomplish. Everything we are talking about here is what he’s doing and why he’s doing it. I’ve said repeatedly that he and Republicans are on the clock.

 

[afghan whigs]

And they think the courts and Congress matter? The white christo fascist SCOTUS has given him immunity. He can tell everyone to **** themselves and do what he pleases and ignore all laws and court rulings.

The goal is Lindbergh winning at the end of Plot Against America, Japan and Germany winning at the end of Man in the High Castle, the Hand's Maid Tales. That's the goal of the Republican party and project 2025.

I don't recall seeing you crying when Biden was told by the Supreme Court that he didn't have the authority to forgive student loans and he continued to do it anyway. If your team isn't the one breaking the rules I guess its ok then?

 

[cernjSHU]

Yes, the deficit exploded during Trump 1.0 and Biden, primarily because of the pandemic. Did you forget that? I have no idea what he is going to do and what he is going to accomplish. Everything we are talking about here is what he’s doing and why he’s doing it. I’ve said repeatedly that he and Republicans are on the clock.

He increased the debt before the pandemic. The debt during his 4 years increased by 8 trillion dollars. Less than half was due to the pandemic. About $3.6 trillion of that was due to the pandemic and this was during a time of good economic times with low unemployment. A time when the deficit should have been reduced.

You have no idea what he is going to do this time??? Did you see the budget pro prof the Republicans? Another 4 trillion in debt.

 

[HALL85]

He increased the debt before the pandemic. The debt during his 4 years increased by 8 trillion dollars. Less than half was due to the pandemic. About $3.6 trillion of that was due to the pandemic and this was during a time of good economic times with low unemployment. A time when the deficit should have been reduced.

You have no idea what he is going to do this time??? Did you see the budget pro prof the Republicans? Another 4 trillion in debt.

If you’re this upset, find a better candidate in 2028. I’m not going to predict the outcome of his four years. I hope he’s successful as I would hope for any President.

 

[Robot_Man]

https://www.axios.com/2025/02/14/arizona-voters-trump-elon-musk-executive-orders

This focus group paints a different picture.

It may be a charade, but it may also be the thing that resonates with an electorate that has a ridiculously approval rating of politicians in general. DOGE and Musk have gotten an immediate reaction and will continue to post findings on X. If they continue to be acted on (workforce reductions, contract cancellations along with process improvements/automation) it will have a material effect. If that happens, it will turn out to be poor strategy by the Democrats to have resisted.

This is a focus group of eleven people, all were selected because they swung from Biden to Trump. Am I supposed to be surprised that most of them came to this conclusion?

The authors helpfully point out that this is "...not a statistically significant sample like a poll."

Now he is Hitler and a threat to democracy, Got it.

Yeah, can't a guy do some sieg heils without people concluding he's a Nazi? What's the world coming to?

 

[HALL85]

This is a focus group of eleven people, all were selected because they swung from Biden to Trump. Am I supposed to be surprised that most of them came to this conclusion?

The authors helpfully point out that this is "...not a statistically significant sample like a poll."

I think we all know what a focus group is….

Yeah, can't a guy do some sieg heils without people concluding he's a Nazi? What's the world coming to?

I guess Obama and Biden were Nazi lovers too?