1. #93061
    I Don't Work Here Endus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doomcookie View Post
    The biggest problem with the people who swear they are going to cut the budget, is that they don't pay their fucking bills.
    Republican fiscal policy for, oh, about half a century now has been entirely focused on "spend freely and make the Democrats try and pay for it".

    They never cut the budget.

    If you're enough of a dingus to think otherwise, stay the hell out of strip clubs because you'll end up giving all your money to that stripper who's definitely in love with you. Or install that app the guy on the phone says you need to set up so he can install some RAM remotely for just $5,000.


  2. #93062
    Quote Originally Posted by Endus View Post
    Republican fiscal policy for, oh, about half a century now has been entirely focused on "spend freely and make the Democrats try and pay for it".

    They never cut the budget.
    My dad's a lifelong Republican and even he acknowledges that neither party has ever actually tried to rein in spending.

  3. #93063
    https://www.reddit.com/r/Conservativ...care_medicaid/

    Honestly it's like they completely memory holed his first administration to be shocked by this, lol.

  4. #93064
    Quote Originally Posted by Edge- View Post
    https://www.reddit.com/r/Conservativ...care_medicaid/Honestly it's like they completely memory holed his first administration to be shocked by this, lol.
    Man, this comment just seems like they're so close to getting it:

    The Occam's razor cynical take is he just wants yes men, loyalty above all else plain and simple. Like come the fuck on, we rightly berate liberals for their unqualified diversity hires so we should be better than this and actually follow through with our belief in meritocracy.

  5. #93065
    Quote Originally Posted by Somewhatconcerned View Post
    This is where DOGE comes into play.
    You mean the showpiece advisory panel that is going to make some over-hyped recommendations which will get a ton of media coverage, only for Congress (who actually determines where money goes) to almost entirely ignore?
    "We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."
    -Louis Brandeis

  6. #93066
    Merely a Setback PACOX's Avatar
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    RJK Jr and Doc Oz will both in charge of aspects of American healthcare. If you told me this as a little kid I would have dropped out of school because what's the point if two clowns can be in charge of so many? Next time you show up to the doctors you're going to get handling some ivermectin and activated almonds.

  7. #93067
    Quote Originally Posted by PACOX View Post
    activated almonds.
    Thanks, I hate you for introducing me to this new, stupid information <3

  8. #93068
    The Lightbringer
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    Quote Originally Posted by Twdft View Post
    One thing that surprised me about DOGE is... you didn't have such an agency in your systems of checks and balances already? Germany has had this for over 300 years, currently called "Bundesrechnungshof".
    The thing is we -do- have a department for Spending Management that very specifically deals with Federal overhead. DOGE Is just a stupid little thing Trump invented for Elon (and Vivek I guess) to make them feel big and important.

  9. #93069
    So, who is big mad that the Democrats are ramming through a bunch of Judicial nominations in the last month and a half of their session? Trump and the Republicans.

    And I do mean big mad. They are just mad at the fact that their tactics are being used against them. Best part is, Vance and Rubio were decidedly out of town on other business. I hope they can fill all vacancies so that Trump has no ability to actually fill anything.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...54f5519f&ei=10

    Republicans Are Mad That Democrats Are Confirming Lots Of Biden's Judges

    Senate Republicans are acting pretty mad that Democrats are using the lame duck to confirm lots of President Joe Biden’s judges.

    “I’m a bit frustrated,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) told reporters Tuesday. “After last night’s voting extravaganza, I wonder what we are doing.”

    Capito was referring to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) scheduling votes on some of Biden’s court picks on Monday night. Republicans don’t have the votes to stop Biden’s nominees from advancing, so they dragged out the process by hours, forcing time-consuming votes on otherwise routine procedural steps.

    It kept everyone in the Senate later than they wanted to be.

    “Last night, we were sitting around voting time and time again for these liberal judges that Chuck Schumer wants to put in and ram through at the very last minute before the balance of power shifts,” complained the West Virginia Republican. “I would implore our leadership to go to the important issues the American people are thinking about: that’s completing our work at the end of the year and moving into next year.”

    Expand article logo Continue reading

    Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) emerged from a GOP lunch griping about some of his colleagues not being in town, which is making it easier for Democrats to get more judges confirmed. He said he was glad to see Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who is now the vice president-elect, return to the Senate on Tuesday.

    “We want to see him and some of our members back because of these votes we’re having,” Hoeven said. “Particularly on some of the circuit court judges.”

    As a reporter tried to change the subject, Hoeven interrupted to say again how important it is for Republican senators to immediately come back to D.C.“Because, you know, we could win possibly some of those votes if we have all our folks here,” he said. “Particularly in the circuit court.”

    Even President-elect Donald Trump vented on social media about Democrats still confirming Biden’s judges, and demanded that Republicans stop them.

    “The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door,” Trump yelled in a Tuesday post. “Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!”


    It’s a pretty ridiculous moment.

    It’s not just because Democrats still control the Senate for the next several weeks and can proceed however they want. It’s because when the tables were turned in 2020 ― when the GOP controlled the Senate in the lame duck and Biden had just defeated Trump ― Republicans took full advantage of confirming as many of Trump’s court picks as possible.

    Republicans confirmed 23 of Trump’s lifetime federal judges in the lame duck in 2020, after Biden won the election. That’s not even factoring in the GOP’s unprecedented race to confirm Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in October 2020, as votes were already being cast in the presidential election.

    Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), who will be the Senate majority leader in January, was among those celebrating the volume of Trump’s judges being confirmed during the lame duck in 2020.

    “A couple of weeks ago, we confirmed one of the most qualified Supreme Court judges in living memory to the bench,” Thune said in a Senate floor speech on Nov. 18, 2020, after Biden had won the election.

    “This week we will confirm five district court judges, bringing the total number of judges we’ve confirmed over the last four years to nearly 230,” he said. “Confirming good judges is one of our most important responsibilities as senators.”

    In the same speech, the South Dakota Republican condemned Democrats for blocking some of President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees in 2004.

    “I was one of the many Americans upset by the blockade of talented, well-qualified nominees,” he said. “And it was one of the main reasons I ran for the Senate.”

    Thune sounds a lot different this week as he, too, complains about Democrats lining up votes on Biden’s judicial picks. In fact, he is reportedly taking credit for the GOP’s efforts Monday night to delay Democrats’ votes.

    “If Sen. Schumer thought Senate Republicans would just roll over and allow him to quickly confirm multiple Biden-appointed judges to lifetime jobs in the final weeks of the Democrat majority, he thought wrong,” Thune told ABC News.

    White House spokesman Andrew Bates scoffed at Thune’s about-face.

    “Delaying the confirmation of highly qualified, experienced judges takes a real-life toll on constituents and leads to backlogs of criminal cases ― meaning Senator Thune was correct in 2020 when he said senators have every urgent reason to continue working together in good faith to staff the federal bench,” Bates said in a statement. “There is no excuse for choosing partisanship over enforcing the rule of law.”

    As much as Republicans may complain, Democrats still control the Senate for another several weeks, and Schumer plans to use that time to confirm as many of Biden’s pending judicial nominees as he can ― possibly all of them.

    As of Tuesday night, the Senate had confirmed 217 of Biden’s judges since he took office. There are 26 more judicial nominees awaiting Senate action, of which 22 are district court nominees and four are appeals court nominees.

    If Democrats are able to confirm all of them before Congress adjourns for the year, that would put Biden’s total number of lifetime federal judges at 243. That’s more than Trump got in his first term, 234, and would be a massive win for Biden if Democrats can pull it off.

    “It’s no secret the Senate is moving forward on confirming more of Biden’s judicial nominees,” Schumer told reporters Tuesday.

    Since the end of last week, he’s lined up confirmation votes on 12 of Biden’s district court nominees and one appeals court nominee, Embry Kidd, who was confirmed Monday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The Senate also confirmed Mustafa Kasubhai on Tuesday, an Oregon district court nominee.

    All of these judges are lifetime appointments. Since the Senate doesn’t need the House to confirm judges, which are arguably a president’s most lasting legacy, Schumer is just plowing ahead with votes on all of Biden’s court nominees.

    Senate rules require up to two hours of debate on each district judge, which comprises the bulk of Biden’s remaining court picks. So if Schumer lined up votes for five of them, for example, and Republicans decided to drag out those votes, he would keep senators in session for 10 hours to get through them all.

    “We’ll keep working to confirm these lifetime appointments,” Schumer said. “It’s far too important. We’re not going to let anything stand in our way.”

    He warned senators to be prepared for another late night on Wednesday “to get as many judges done as possible.”

    With the clock ticking, Republicans are scrambling to get all of their colleagues back in Washington. Five GOP senators missed votes on Tuesday: Sens. Mike Braun (Ind.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.).

    Hoeven said he wasn’t sure if or when all the missing senators will return.

    “We’re going to have some dialogue and try to see if we can’t get everybody back,” he said.

    Democrats are plowing ahead regardless. Schumer brushed off a question from a reporter about some Republicans vowing to use procedural rules to gum up Senate business to try to stop him from confirming more judges.

    “They can try dilatory tactics,” he said, “but we’re going to persist.”
    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Xyonai View Post
    The thing is we -do- have a department for Spending Management that very specifically deals with Federal overhead. DOGE Is just a stupid little thing Trump invented for Elon (and Vivek I guess) to make them feel big and important.
    Oh, best part of the whole thing is that it sounds like Trump is going to actively try to sidestep Congress on a whole lot of things. Recess nominations, budgetary things, background checks. Because he knows that, while he will get through some of his stuff he wants to do, quite a bit will be held up with procedural issues for a long while.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...6474c947&ei=33

    Can he do that? How Trump could try to break the federal government

    President Donald Trump's picks to lead the next administration are talking about abolishing entire agencies and firing tens of thousands of federal workers at a time.

    But can he and they actually do all that?

    Experts believe Trump can get much further on upending the government system this go-around compared to his first term -- in part because the typical checks and balances are expected to lean in his favor.

    Next year, the House and Senate are on track to fall under Republican control. Trump also got 226 federal judges and three Supreme Court justices confirmed while he was in office last time -- giving his ideas a sympathetic ear in the courts when he gets sued.

    With that in mind, here's a look at how Trump could try to "break" the federal government:

    A president can't really delete entire agencies, but he could take a page from Nixon to try to starve them

    Elon Musk, who Trump has picked to co-lead the new outside-of-government "Department of Government Efficiency," has said he wants to cut $2 trillion of the $7 trillion in annual federal spending. His partner, Vivek Ramaswamy, told Fox News that they would achieve this through "mass reductions" and that some governmental agencies may be "deleted outright."

    The idea seems far-fetched at first because federal agencies are established by federal law. The Department of Education, for example, was created by a 1979 passed by Congress signed by President Jimmy Carter.

    Congress would need to pass new legislation to erase or significantly reform the Education Department -- an uphill battle even with a Republican-led Congress.

    Enter the 1974 Impoundment Control Act. For much of the country's existence, presidents could, in theory, ignore spending money appropriated by Congress.

    President Richard Nixon used the tactic of sitting on -- or impounding -- federal money, essentially leaving funds untouched in U.S. Treasury accounts when he thought the spending was wasteful.

    Democrats responded in 1974 by passing a law that requires a president to spend federal money the way Congress intended.

    In a campaign video posted last year, Trump said he would challenge the Impoundment Control Act. It's possible too that he could deem the law unconstitutional and try to ignore it -- inviting legal challenges that could take years to resolve.

    "For 200 years under our system of government, it was undisputed that the president had the constitutional power to stop unnecessary spending through what is known as impoundment," Trump said in a video during the GOP primaries.

    He later added: "When I returned to the White House, I will do everything I can to challenge the Impoundment Control Act in court, and, if necessary, get Congress to overturn it."

    Trump will outsource budget plans, effectively hiding how decisions are made and who is making them

    In order to remake the government, Trump will need to install loyal allies across senior levels of the government and find ways to slow down legal challenges.

    Among his proposals is to outsource FBI background checks for appointees to private investigators, a tactic that would enable him to hire people close to him even if there are security flags.

    Trump also has called for the use of "recess appointments" in the Senate, a common move by past presidents. For Trump though, it could enable his allies to ram through nominations without FBI security checks or financial disclosures so long as the chamber is adjourned for 10 days or longer. Sen. John Thune, the GOP's pick as majority leader, said he hasn't ruled out the idea, even though it would mean ceding the Senate's "advise and consent" constitutional confirmation power to the president.

    Another Trump tactic for forcing change could be developing his biggest plans in secret, making it harder for opponents to object and mount legal challenges.

    Ramaswamy said the new 'Department of Government Efficiency', or DOGE, will operate outside of government as a kind of private advisory group. That means its staff won't be required to submit financial disclosures or report conflicts of interest.

    It won't be clear who is doing work for DOGE or how decisions are made. And while Musk has said he wants staff to work for free, it's likely industry lobbyists would eagerly sign up if it means being able to influence how future taxpayer money is spent.

    Musk, who owns the rocket company SpaceX, has blamed federal regulations slowing his quest to reach Mars and oversees billions in contracts with the federal government, including military satellites. Ramaswamy founded the biotech firm Roivant Sciences and remains a stakeholder who also could benefit financially depending upon how future federal regulations are written.

    At last week's gala hosted by the America First Policy Institute, Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy make the perfect pair to shake up the government.

    "We're going to reduce regulation, waste, fraud, and inefficiency, and these two guys are going to find a lot of it," Trump said.

  10. #93070
    The circus continues, with Trump naming Linda McMahon, wife of sexual predator/rapist and longtime friend Vince McMahon, as secretary of education.

  11. #93071
    Quote Originally Posted by Endus View Post
    Republican fiscal policy for, oh, about half a century now has been entirely focused on "spend freely and make the Democrats try and pay for it".

    They never cut the budget.

    If you're enough of a dingus to think otherwise, stay the hell out of strip clubs because you'll end up giving all your money to that stripper who's definitely in love with you. Or install that app the guy on the phone says you need to set up so he can install some RAM remotely for just $5,000.
    As far as I can tell, no Republican has ever decreased the deficit, while he was in office. barring anything dramatic in the next two months, the last 3 Democrats in office reduced the deficit from which they were handed.

  12. #93072
    The Unstoppable Force Belize's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DarkTZeratul View Post
    Man, this comment just seems like they're so close to getting it:
    I'm honestly not convinced this isn't a roleplay subreddit where everyone pretends to be whatever type of conservative their flair says they are.

    At any rate, the singular shared braincell the split between themselves went into overdrive there for a second. Had they had two of them, they might have made an important discovery.

  13. #93073
    Quote Originally Posted by Somewhatconcerned View Post
    There will always be bias, they're simply going to point out where all the spending is. Pulling back the curtain on the machine. Even if there are minimal cuts, I think exposing all the waste will be useful.
    lol, sure. And this is how they do it. Meme lists like this get utterly slaughtered by anyone with the ability to use Google, and who possess even a small amount of critical thinking.



    I mean, they want to cut $2t and have something supposedly worth a whopping $8k on the list?

    This isn't "simply pointing out where all the spending is," or "pulling back the curtain." This is an absolute joke. And the bias is overwhelmingly plain to see.

  14. #93074
    Quote Originally Posted by Corvus View Post
    The circus continues, with Trump naming Linda McMahon, wife of sexual predator/rapist and longtime friend Vince McMahon, as secretary of education.
    Someone said it best on Tiktok, they gave Trump a list of convicted or accused sexual predators instead of the actual list of people that are qualified candidates for his cabinet.

  15. #93075
    Elemental Lord Templar 331's Avatar
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    I kind of wonder if these screwy picks are on purpose because he intentionally wants to fuck up the government. His first administration's picks made scene because they were all grifters, but now? It just seems like he's intentionally sabotaging everything.

    This plan won't be good in the long run for both parties or the country. But as we've seen Trump doesn't care about that and he can weasel his way out of the consequences.

  16. #93076
    Merely a Setback Kaleredar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Templar 331 View Post
    I kind of wonder if these screwy picks are on purpose because he intentionally wants to fuck up the government. His first administration's picks made scene because they were all grifters, but now? It just seems like he's intentionally sabotaging everything.

    This plan won't be good in the long run for both parties or the country. But as we've seen Trump doesn't care about that and he can weasel his way out of the consequences.
    He wants people who will green light everything he says without question. It’s all very simple. He doesn’t need the US government to be functional. Whether it functions or not is immaterial to trump’s goal: line his pockets.
    “Do not lose time on daily trivialities. Do not dwell on petty detail. For all of these things melt away and drift apart within the obscure traffic of time. Live well and live broadly. You are alive and living now. Now is the envy of all of the dead.” ~ Emily3, World of Tomorrow
    Quote Originally Posted by Wells View Post
    Kaleredar is right...
    Words to live by.

  17. #93077
    Quote Originally Posted by Templar 331 View Post
    I kind of wonder if these screwy picks are on purpose because he intentionally wants to fuck up the government. His first administration's picks made scene because they were all grifters, but now? It just seems like he's intentionally sabotaging everything.

    This plan won't be good in the long run for both parties or the country. But as we've seen Trump doesn't care about that and he can weasel his way out of the consequences.
    Next step is even worse he plans to purge all government departments and install the stooges following the project 2025 plan. If there is any sliver of hope of the incoming disaster is that the government is a big complex bureaucracy and none of these people know what they are doing. On the flip side because they don't know what they are doing a lot of people are going to get hurt like for example we can forget about the FDA and CDC catching disease outbreaks or food contaminations until it becomes headline news.

  18. #93078
    Quote Originally Posted by Kaleredar View Post
    He wants people who will green light everything he says without question. It’s all very simple. He doesn’t need the US government to be functional. Whether it functions or not is immaterial to trump’s goal: line his pockets.
    And his boss's goal; which is to destroy the US as a functional economy and democracy. Why nuke a country when you can get voted into control of it and burn it down from within?
    When challenging a Kzin, a simple scream of rage is sufficient. You scream and you leap.
    Quote Originally Posted by George Carlin
    Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
    Quote Originally Posted by Douglas Adams
    It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it... anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.

  19. #93079
    Elemental Lord Templar 331's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Draco-Onis View Post
    Next step is even worse he plans to purge all government departments and install the stooges following the project 2025 plan. If there is any sliver of hope of the incoming disaster is that the government is a big complex bureaucracy and none of these people know what they are doing. On the flip side because they don't know what they are doing a lot of people are going to get hurt like for example we can forget about the FDA and CDC catching disease outbreaks or food contaminations until it becomes headline news.
    Just like last time he'll pull a lie out of his ass, blame someone/something else other than the real cause and his followers will blindly suck it all up like horse dewormer.

  20. #93080
    Quote Originally Posted by Xyonai View Post
    The thing is we -do- have a department for Spending Management that very specifically deals with Federal overhead. DOGE Is just a stupid little thing Trump invented for Elon (and Vivek I guess) to make them feel big and important.
    Yeah my bad for still thinking any of it makes even the slightest bit of sense. So first session should be someone at the table pointing out it exists already so any further DOGE work will waste tax payer money so they shut down shop immediately. Surely? Surely.

    Quote Originally Posted by Huehuecoyotl View Post
    And his boss's goal; which is to destroy the US as a functional economy and democracy. Why nuke a country when you can get voted into control of it and burn it down from within?
    On one hand that's the thought nobody can be faulted for having, on the other hand he blabbers about everything that I think his mouth is on autopilot half the time and there is no way he can keep it a secret. Or whatever Putin has on him is way way waaaayyy worse than a pee tape and holding a bit of debt.

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