Trump’s 2nd term: American Carnage

[Justafan]

7 hours ago, Jamalisms said:

Justafan and I quickly reach an impasse of trust or moral divide in most discussions. Honesty doesn't always mean two people should fully engage online.

 

But, yes, I think he's honest.

Well said. I feel the same. There are certain things that you and I will just never agree on, and that's okay. I think your thoughts and our friction come from a place of moral belief, and that's good enough for me. 

Edited February 14 by Justafan

[LongTimeFan]

Hilarious seeing the patch eyed accountant feel that only specialized professionals can find waste using specified procedures. 

 

The epitome of the liberal "we are smarter than you" mantra.

 

[nine]

44 minutes ago, LongTimeFan said:

Hilarious seeing the patch eyed accountant feel that only specialized professionals can find waste using specified procedures. 

 

The epitome of the liberal "we are smarter than you" mantra.

 

The United States has a federal budget of several trillion dollars per year.  
 

Trump and Musk have literally put a multi-trillion dollar budget analysis into  in the hands of kids fresh out of high school and college.
 

 A lot of these kids are probably getting bank overdraft charges because they can’t even balance their own checkbook…yet somehow you’re okay giving them oversight of a multi-trillion dollar budget for the entire government.   And you don’t see this as a problem.  

[Justafan]

The same experts who set conditions for the 2008 financial crisis, wrote the tax payer funded bailouts, spent our money wisely in Iraq and Afghanistan, and then funded an infrastructure bill that didn’t build any infrastructure. 

[LongTimeFan]

16 minutes ago, nine said:

 

The United States has a federal budget of several trillion dollars per year.  
 

Trump and Musk have literally put a multi-trillion dollar budget analysis into  in the hands of kids fresh out of high school and college.
 

 A lot of these kids are probably getting bank overdraft charges because they can’t even balance their own checkbook…yet somehow you’re okay giving them oversight of a multi-trillion dollar budget for the entire government.   And you don’t see this as a problem.  

These kids are surely 10x smarter than you. These kids are merely pointing out the funds that appear fraudulent or wasteful and don't make the final decisions.

 

Your fear/anger are duly noted.

[Titans279]

12 minutes ago, Justafan said:

The same experts who set conditions for the 2008 financial crisis, wrote the tax payer funded bailouts, spent our money wisely in Iraq and Afghanistan, and then funded an infrastructure bill that didn’t build any infrastructure. 

 

10 minutes ago, LongTimeFan said:

These kids are surely 10x smarter than you. These kids are merely pointing out the funds that appear fraudulent or wasteful and don't make the final decisions.

 

Your fear/anger are duly noted.

The new guys are constantly lying about what they’re doing and about the things they’re defunding. There are tons of examples. You simply ignore them. 
 

 

And no… accountants/auditors (think big 4) were not the experts you’re talking about @Justafan. 

[Justafan]

3 minutes ago, Titans279 said:

 

The new guys are constantly lying about what they’re doing and about the things they’re defunding. There are tons of examples. You simply ignore them. 
 

 

And no… accountants/auditors (think big 4) were not the experts you’re talking about @Justafan. 

Those people were there to provide oversight, provide warning of irregularities, and call out conflicts of interest.

 

They absolutely were there and absolutely failed to do the things they were put in place to do in the first place. It's absolutely amazing to me that anyone could look at the bloated federal government and say the auditors / accountants have done a good job. 

[oldschool]

FAFO Maga fuckers. I have no fucks to give any longer.

 

https://x.com/JackRyanlives/status/1890239300329173302

[Jamalisms]

3 minutes ago, Justafan said:

Those people were there to provide oversight, provide warning of irregularities, and call out conflicts of interest.

 

They absolutely were there and absolutely failed to do the things they were put in place to do in the first place. It's absolutely amazing to me that anyone could look at the bloated federal government and say the auditors / accountants have done a good job. 

Setting aside that I think this is a misrepresentation of how government functions ... what we should do is break the law, circumvent security processes and get rid of the inspectors.

 

That'll fix it?

[Jamalisms]

1 minute ago, oldschool said:

FAFO Maga fuckers. I have no fucks to give any longer.

 

https://x.com/JackRyanlives/status/1890239300329173302

 

Pretty much.

[oldschool]

3 minutes ago, Justafan said:

Those people were there to provide oversight, provide warning of irregularities, and call out conflicts of interest.

 

They absolutely were there and absolutely failed to do the things they were put in place to do in the first place. It's absolutely amazing to me that anyone could look at the bloated federal government and say the auditors / accountants have done a good job. 

 

I don't know anyone who thinks the Fed government isn't too large and doesn't need to be reduced. It just needs to be done in a responsible and transparent way. Thats the part you are missing because of your political beliefs. By the way, each federal agency had an independent IG who's singular mission was to root out waste, fraud, and abuse.... Trump fired most of them a few weeks ago, ask yourself why?

[Justafan]

1 minute ago, Jamalisms said:

Setting aside that I think this is a misrepresentation of how government functions ... what we should do is break the law, circumvent security processes and get rid of the inspectors.

 

That'll fix it?

No, I don't really agree with the way they are going about it. My post wasn't a defense of Trump, or Musk even, but moreso that I do think he has a point and is doing what a majority of Americans want done, even if the process is both terrifying and potentially unethical. 

[rns90]

2 minutes ago, Justafan said:

No, I don't really agree with the way they are going about it. My post wasn't a defense of Trump, or Musk even, but moreso that I do think he has a point and is doing what a majority of Americans want done, even if the process is both terrifying and potentially unethical. 

I’ll disagree with you.  Look at all these departments he’s shuttered or about to etc.  how many of them qualify under your point?

 

As in these departments (or head) are actually superfluous and unneeded.  The more you dig , at least one of them (USAID ) had an investigation into Starlink.

 

One of these days, another shitty event is going to happen again .  Then it will turn out that with proper leadership and organization(ie Trump and Musk not firing a head) it could have been prevented.

[Guest]

31 minutes ago, Justafan said:

The same experts who set conditions for the 2008 financial crisis, wrote the tax payer funded bailouts, spent our money wisely in Iraq and Afghanistan, and then funded an infrastructure bill that didn’t build any infrastructure. 

 

Just now, Justafan said:

Those people were there to provide oversight, provide warning of irregularities, and call out conflicts of interest.

 

They absolutely were there and absolutely failed to do the things they were put in place to do in the first place. It's absolutely amazing to me that anyone could look at the bloated federal government and say the auditors / accountants have done a good job. 

 

 

What is the right process for change? Is the American idea itself wrong? 

 

You can say "look at the bloated federal government"--how specific an argument can you make? How comprehensive can you speak on this? We're all in this boat by the way. People are not consuming real meaningful information. 

 

So let's say you are right and that they "have not done a good job". 

 

Does anyone really thing the right answer is to allow the world's richest person to buy unprecedented access, ignore the checks and balances of the American government, and go in and get rid of everything, overnight, without investigation? 

 

There are incredibly helpful programs being cut right now for no real reasons. Organizations that save money and protect consumers. And the tactics used are blatantly undemocratic. 

 

I heard so much bitching about security after the Hilary email "scandal". This tactic has been incredibly unsecure. 

 

This has empowered one person with clear conflicts of interest to just decide the fate of whole organizations without proving anything.

 

Is a generalization about the federal government being bloated really a justification for this? '

 

It is time to eschew the bullshit and look at what is happening specifically, what it says about our governance and power, and what we stand to lose. 

 

 

It's one thing to say previous folks have failed. It's another all together to say this means not having a real process or sharing real information--deciding overnight to do away with all of it in ways that are illegal with a giant fuck you to congress or the judicial system. The legal precedent this sets is alarming and will absolutely kill programs that help people, leave tons of folks unemployed, and generally just do so to loot the coffers. 

 

Already we saw the massive budget Republicans proposed that demonstrates these cuts are not to reduce bloat but hoard tax money. This is not going back to the people. Social Security will be raided. There is no effort to reduce prices or help people. 

 

The precedent this sets too--are we assuming Trump really will achieve his goal of becoming King? If not, let's see the whiplash an ultraprogressive takes over and decides to wield authority in this way and take all of the guns or something. 

 

 

[Justafan]

2 minutes ago, Bink said:

 

 

 

What is the right process for change? Is the American idea itself wrong? 

 

You can say "look at the bloated federal government"--how specific an argument can you make? How comprehensive can you speak on this? We're all in this boat by the way. People are not consuming real meaningful information. 

 

So let's say you are right and that they "have not done a good job". 

 

Does anyone really thing the right answer is to allow the world's richest person to buy unprecedented access, ignore the checks and balances of the American government, and go in and get rid of everything, overnight, without investigation? 

 

There are incredibly helpful programs being cut right now for no real reasons. Organizations that save money and protect consumers. And the tactics used are blatantly undemocratic. 

 

I heard so much bitching about security after the Hilary email "scandal". This tactic has been incredibly unsecure. 

 

This has empowered one person with clear conflicts of interest to just decide the fate of whole organizations without proving anything.

 

Is a generalization about the federal government being bloated really a justification for this? '

 

It is time to eschew the bullshit and look at what is happening specifically, what it says about our governance and power, and what we stand to lose. 

 

 

It's one thing to say previous folks have failed. It's another all together to say this means not having a real process or sharing real information--deciding overnight to do away with all of it in ways that are illegal with a giant fuck you to congress or the judicial system. The legal precedent this sets is alarming and will absolutely kill programs that help people, leave tons of folks unemployed, and generally just do so to loot the coffers. 

 

Already we saw the massive budget Republicans proposed that demonstrates these cuts are not to reduce bloat but hoard tax money. This is not going back to the people. Social Security will be raided. There is no effort to reduce prices or help people. 

 

The precedent this sets too--are we assuming Trump really will achieve his goal of becoming King? If not, let's see the whiplash an ultraprogressive takes over and decides to wield authority in this way and take all of the guns or something. 

 

 

If you care to go back and frame my comments correctly, I'll be happy to respond.