K-9

Agreed. We don’t really need another Bryson.

Musk certainly isn’t alone as the “kill the beast” ideology has been around for a long time and arch-conservative GOPers have been seeking to undue FDR’s New Deal policies since they were enacted. And profit Musk and others will. Their next big target is the Dept. of Education as they’ve been looking to privatize that for years now. It won’t save taxpayers a penny as they will just put the nearly $50b budget into private pockets while at the same time lowering standards and attracting less capable people to administer and teach at public education institutions. And let’s look forward to science being edged out in favor of delusional fundamental religious dogma.

I’d rather give Novikov a taste.

It’s good to take media messages with a grain of salt. But facts are facts, regardless of who is reporting them, which touches upon a huge issue I have in our current hyper-partisan environment among us electorate and that is to base truth upon our political leanings. Left, right, or center the truth is the truth no matter how uncomfortable it may be for us to accept and it should AWAYS be country before party. We have an epidemic of cognitive dissonance in our country and the cure, I suspect, will be uncomfortable for many.

Senators of both parties often give false information on the Senate floor, either knowingly or unknowingly, which I believe is the case most of the time. Perjury doesn’t apply as they aren’t under oath to tell the truth anyway, which is good for Trump who is the biggest liar imaginable. I attached an interesting article on Musk and his DOGE (well, interesting to those of us who still care about the Constitution and the rule of law, anyway). I particularly appreciated the info on why USAID was created. That reminder underscored for me how the agency is more important than ever given China’s efforts to buy influence around the world the last couple decades. https://newrepublic.com/article/191141/musk-government-takeover-supreme-court But let’s be honest, oligarchs, regardless of where they’re from, don’t give a crap about China’s or any other friend or foe’s influence around the world as they will continue to do business and make billions with those countries, anyway.

All due respect to Senator Kennedy, but all federal agencies’ spending is reviewed each month by the non-partisan CBO, who then issue their monthly reports on federal spending. Because these monthly reports are based on figures given to them by the Treasury Dept., I suspect the aim of Musk as it is in Project 2025, is to impugn the validity of the Treasury reports by accusing various agencies of all sorts of “fraud and corruption”, which he offers ZERO proof of as yet btw, as a pretense for eliminating those various agencies. But they have to create the propaganda narrative first. It’s a time-honored chapter in their fascist playbook.

Per the bold, do you think DOGE is the first and only government entity charged with rooting out corruption and fraud in various government agencies? Do you find it mere coincidence that Trump summarily fired 17 Inspectors General (illegally I might add) before sicking DOGE on various agencies? Do you also find it ironic and hypocritical that the sitting Senator from Florida was the CEO of a company convicted of 14 felony counts of defrauding medicare, medicaid, and other government agencies?

How is Musk breaking the law you ask? Some food for thought: https://www.vox.com/politics/398618/elon-musk-doge-illegal-lawbreaking-analysis

Trump is the one who negotiated the agreement the Taliban in the first place, so there’s more than enough blame to go around. I can’t speak for anyone else in this forum, but I wouldn’t be one of those screaming about the loss of those 13 lives and blaming him for it. Just like I never blamed GW for the crap in Iraq. Bad $hit happens in war zones and it’s not as though Trump would have killed those 13 fine soldiers himself. Nor did Biden. I suspect any equipment left there may certainly come back to bite us in the a$$, just as it did in Iraq. Bottom line is that after the longest war in our history, it was time to end it. And NO administration was going to be able to do that unscathed, Republican or Democrat alike. Withdrawals seldom end without messy events along the way. Go visit the films of our withdrawal from Viet Nam for another example. And yeah, I’m sure that whatever USAID money that actually ends up in the hands of the right organizations Afghanistan actually goes to people who need it. As I said, I’ve personally witnessed USAID funds doing just that in war torn countries. I don’t disagree that some of those funds end up in Taliban hands, but USAID has no authority over the bank in which those UN funds are deposited. I share your concern about fraud and corruption in their mission, but I don’t share your cynicism that it’s all corrupt all the time. It needs to stay, regardless of the few bad apples. I have to laugh at the irony of your accusing the left of cackling over Trump while going on about Biden’s incompetence in events that occurred nearly four years ago. But if it makes you feel better, I can compile a list of Biden’s mistakes as long or longer than yours. The difference is, Trump IS a wannabe dictator, who is currently trying to govern like one. And I’m not in denial about having a convicted felon who conspired to defraud the United States and fomented an insurrection as a president who continues to show his contempt for the Constitution, the rule of law, and his incompetence for the job.

If you’re gonna suggest that I don’t care about the loss of the lives of our military members, you can go to hell. And speaking of not being surprised, I’m not in the least that you seek to deflect criticism of your cheeto god by citing mistakes and poor decisions by the Biden administration. Weak sauce. I’m sure a certain amount of corruption occurred in Afghanistan by USAID and other entities. As it has in every war zone in history. That is no reason to do away with the entire thing. Find those responsible and prosecute them. But that’s not the intention of the GOP. But yeah, let’s decry all this corruption committed by USAID when there are GOP members of Congress who conspired the to defraud the United States and disenfranchise 81 some odd million voters in the process. Has Jim Jordan answered his Congressional subpoena yet? And let’s not forget that stalwart of anti-corruption and fraud, Rick Scott; that aforementioned CEO whose company was convicted on 14 felony counts of defrauding medicare, medicaid, and other government agencies. Harp on all the mistakes by the previous administration all you want but the folks I just referred to are here in real time, right now, in positions of high government power currently deciding things. And the rest of their GOP Congressional colleagues just don’t have the integrity and/or moral compass to hold their own accountable.

Mike Johnson, self avowed “God warrior”, may be the biggest hypocrite of all. And that’s saying a lot.

I have to laugh at the concern about USAID in Afghanistan when pallets of money, literally billions of dollars over the years, delivered by our military and meant to buy loyalty from various tribal leaders, just somehow ended up disappearing before ever getting in the in the hands of the intended. But hey, corruption is corruption after all. And I don’t give a crap anymore about whatever Biden botched or not. He’s relegated to history. The concern is the current group who intend to destroy our government.

And I can attest from personal experience in working with brilliant USAID personnel in Africa, Haiti, and Bosnia-Herzegovina that the work they do has helped countless people. Of course, that was USAID personnel where the rubber meets the road, many layers removed from the bureaucracy here where corruption and fraud has occurred, as it has in numerous government agencies since their inception. But the aim of the GOP is to “starve the beast” and throw the baby out with the bathwater, regardless of the overwhelming benefits such programs provide. But I find it beyond hypocritical that a sitting US Senator from Florida achieved that position in government after the company he was CEO of was found guilty of 14 counts of medicare fraud, medicaid fraud, and fraud of other government agencies as well. I’m really not surprised considering these immoral hypocrites are led by a convicted felon who fomented an insurrection against the country whose Constitution he was sworn to defend. Absurdity at the highest level.

There are numerous lawsuits already in motion, so I’m not the only one who thinks so. Please list “all the corruption they’re uncovering” and what news agencies have reported these findings. I know Musk is claiming that he’s rooting out all this corruption, but I need specifics and proof before I’m convinced. Of course I care about corruption in government. But I don’t have any faith in corruption uncovered by people who are corrupt themselves.

Are you phucking kidding me? This is the team that’s gonna make recommendations on which programs to cut? Really? It would be funny if it weren’t so serious. Everything Musk is doing as a government agency head official is illegal. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/these-6-baby-faced-doge-engineers-form-the-crack-team-of-elon-musk-heres-how-they-are-slashing-government-costs/articleshow/117925295.cms?from=mdr

Will Greenway return or won’t he? Does it matter?

They’re down a forward because Malenstyn never came out for the third.

I might have to actually watch just to see the Peterka, Kulich, Rosen line. But if there’s a compelling re-run of ‘My Three Sons’ available, all bets are off. That uncle Charley is a hoot!

I didn’t have blinders on and I fully appreciated your comment because I agree, whatever Canada agreed to had nothing to do with tariffs. But the rhetoric from the White House always seems to suggest the great negotiator Trump won some sort of major concession by leveraging the threat of tariffs. It’s total bull$hit damage control imo because everyone with a clue knows the economic damage these tariffs would cause, especially when inflation is still a major concern and I’m convinced his puppet masters got him to see the light. As for China, the sheer amount of essential electronic components, from computers to phones to automobiles and everything in between, that we import from them tells me the tariffs won’t last long, if at all. It was interesting to me that many US manufacturers ordered stockpiles of these components in the months leading up to the inauguration. And I doubt we will see any appreciable uptick in the pursuit, capture, and prosecution of the cartels now that they’re designated as terrorists. It would be a welcomed reality though.

The “youngest team in the league” label is KA’s favorite crutch.

So the threat of retaliatory tariffs by Canada had no bearing on the decision to “pause” them? It was making Canada cave to labeling cartels terrorist organizations that did the trick? Not a chance. Believe what you will, but the difference between labeling them “criminal organizations” vs “terrorist organizations” is negligible when it comes to the pursuit, capture, and prosecution of cartel members. I’m aware of the proposed tariffs on Chinese goods. What will the leverage against China be to make them bow to the threat of tariffs on the goods we import from there?

Some people are making a killing on Wall Street based just on the fear of tariffs. Like in his first term, the threat of tariffs saw the markets dip. Savvy investors then pounced and enjoyed nice gains as Wall Street rallied with the news the tariffs had been “paused.” And I don’t think that kind of market manipulation is mere coincidence, either.

As @LGR4GMpointed out, Canada had already agreed to the enhanced border security agreement. And I was only addressing the proposed tariffs imposed on Canada, not Mexico. Perhaps I should have been clearer. The idea that Trump could leverage border security for Canada to avoid tariffs is a ludicrous idea put forth by the White House in a pathetic attempt to save face. Canada would have imposed retaliatory tariffs on the 4 million barrels of oil they export to the US daily as well as the nearly 50% of our lumber supply that they export to the US as well. I suspect Trump’s corporate masters pointed that out to him as he isn’t smart enough to understand basic economic facts.

I can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. Did anyone seriously think that oil industry leaders were gonna let him get away with imposing these stupid tariffs? We import 4 million barrels a day from Canada alone. I won’t even mention the potential ramifications when it comes to Canadian lumber, which comprises nearly half of our lumber supply. Geniuses all.