Dictator Trump

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rodoheel said:
LOL Elon is posting links to public information about government expenditures and acting like he found some buried bombshell that proves something.

Can you give one legitimate example of "corruption" that Elon has exposed so far? Other than just parroting Elon's own rhetoric?
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59B sent to NYC for hotel stays for illegals from FEMA's budget when Biden denied this was occurring.
100B in social security payments to people with no social security numbers.
Back door payments (subscriptions)to sympathetic media.

It's early, so admittedly I'm having to rely on Elon's statements. He must be hitting the motherload since Dems and media are protesting so loudly. Otherwise, what's wrong with transparency of the spending of federal agencies?

This is likely just the tip of the iceberg.
 
Ramrouser said:
Otherwise, what's wrong with transparency of the spending of federal agencies?
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The transparency of the spending was already there. It's not the transparency we're complaining about. It's all the stuff that Elon is doing, and being secretive about it. Like, he's literally the opposite of transparency.

Oh, and it's $59M, not $59B, you dolt. Did you take Elon's word for that as well? And the reason the cost is so high is your team.
 
Ramrouser said:
59B sent to NYC for hotel stays for illegals from FEMA's budget when Biden denied this was occurring.
100B in social security payments to people with no social security numbers.
Back door payments (subscriptions)to sympathetic media.

It's early, so admittedly I'm having to rely on Elon's statements. He must be hitting the motherload since Dems and media are protesting so loudly. Otherwise, what's wrong with transparency of the spending of federal agencies?

This is likely just the tip of the iceberg.
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It's early? All those things have already been proven to be demonstrably false.
 
Ramrouser said:
59B sent to NYC for hotel stays for illegals from FEMA's budget when Biden denied this was occurring.
100B in social security payments to people with no social security numbers.
Back door payments (subscriptions)to sympathetic media.

It's early, so admittedly I'm having to rely on Elon's statements. He must be hitting the motherload since Dems and media are protesting so loudly. Otherwise, what's wrong with transparency of the spending of federal agencies?

This is likely just the tip of the iceberg.
Click to expand...
I'm bolding the only part of this that really matters: you are simply taking Musk's word for this when there is no reason too. The man has been proven a liar many times over and is an ideologue with an agenda. The fact that you will simply swallow these claims at face value without even a shred of evidence is laughable. To then support that with a classic logical fallacy of "if people are protesting the claims must be true" is even more laughable. Are you really this gullible and simple-minded? Do you possess even a shred of independent critical thinking? Maybe stop and ask yourself: what is going to stop Musk from lying? How are we supposed to find out if he is lying? What legal resource will there be if he uses his unprecedented position of incredible power and influence to enrich himself and advance his own agenda?

As to the substance of the claims you posted, the story about money supposedly spent by FEMA on illegal immigrants long predates Trump's election or the work by "DOGE." It has been reported, over and over again, that any suggestion that FEMA has spent money earmarked for disasters on migrants is simply untrue; in fact FEMA was separately tasked by Congress with overseeing and directing the expenditure of money from CBP (money completely segregated and separate from any disaster relief money) to help deal with migrant populations. The "100B in social security payments to people with no social security numbers" is so obviously and laughably fake that I can't believe anyone would fall for that, especially not without a shred of proof. And the "back door payments (subscriptions)to sympathetic media" has already been shown to be a nothingburger; the idiot who first claimed millions had gone to Politico later recanted and said it was only like $20k, the money to Bloomberg was simply for financial services reports, and all of this money was spent only after normal government bidding processes. There is nothing "backdoor" about any of it - all in the open, all out in public, all done consistent with applicable law. Yet again, you're willing to believe that this "exposing" of information that was all completely public (or is just completely untrue) is some evidence of corruption. Amazing. I really hope for your sake you don't get an email from a Nigerian prince who needs help with his bank account, because lord knows what you'll do.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with accountability for government spending. There are numerous mechanisms (congressional oversight, outside auditors, regulations) in place to ensure that there is accountability for government spending. Not to mention it is all public information - most or all of what Musk has posted about USAID spending, for example, is simply pulled from public government websites that detail the spending. What people have a problem with is letting loose the world's richest man, with his own agenda, with no oversight or accountability, to run pell-mell through government records in some quixotic quest to discovery the mother lode of corruption supposedly lurking there. It will never cease to astound me how conservatives will see a conspiracy lurking around every corner when it comes to basic government functions but then put their complete, total, and uncritical trust in a a profit-motivated private actor who has no accountability whatsoever to the American people - especially one like Musk who has a long history of malicious, self-serving actions meant to enrich himself and persecute his enemies.
 
We've repeatedly tried "congressional oversight, outside auditors, regulations" and, I would add, blue ribbon commissions to try and cut wasteful and fraudulent spending with zero impact. We're 36T in debt - and rising. It's about time the Executive Branch exercised some control and oversight over its administrative agencies. Elon and the tech bros are simply an instrument to achieve this goal. There's ZERO evidence that he's doing this for financial gain or that he is misusing private data for her personal use as Dems allege.

What's the deal with the Elon hatred? He's the world's richest man for a reason. He's produced more "things" that benefit society than any other person the last 50 years and he's not done yet. It's not like he's some Wall Street billionaire simply moving money around making other rich people richer. Plus, he almost single handily rescued the USA's space program and his services are needed to rescue NASA astronauts currently stranded in space.
 
Ramrouser said:
We've repeatedly tried "congressional oversight, outside auditors, regulations" and, I would add, blue ribbon commissions to try and cut wasteful and fraudulent spending with zero impact. We're 36T in debt - and rising. It's about time the Executive Branch exercised some control and oversight over its administrative agencies.
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Hmm. Possibilities include:

1. There is little wasteful and fraudulent spending, which is why all those people failed to find and cut it; or
2. All of those people who have done this before -- liberals, conservatives, moderates -- are just stupid and Trump is finally going to crack it wide open.

Do you really think #2 is the explanation/? Also, are you an attorney or not? Make up your fucking mind. I quote from Article I:

"The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States"
What part of that can you not understand? It's pretty crystal clear. The executive's job, meanwhile, is defined by Article II as (among other things):

"he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,"

Again, really not hard to understand. Put those two sections together, and you will see that the executive branch has no power to refuse to spend money authorized by Congress. In addition, the 14th Amendment states that debts shall be paid, which is sort of a problem for Elon as he tries to cut off any reimbursements for work performed. Those are, in fact, debts.
 
Ramrouser said:
We've repeatedly tried "congressional oversight, outside auditors, regulations" and, I would add, blue ribbon commissions to try and cut wasteful and fraudulent spending with zero impact. We're 36T in debt - and rising. It's about time the Executive Branch exercised some control and oversight over its administrative agencies. Elon and the tech bros are simply an instrument to achieve this goal. There's ZERO evidence that he's doing this for financial gain or that he is misusing private data for her personal use as Dems allege.

What's the deal with the Elon hatred? He's the world's richest man for a reason. He's produced more "things" that benefit society than any other person the last 50 years and he's not done yet. It's not like he's some Wall Street billionaire simply moving money around making other rich people richer. Plus, he almost single handily rescued the USA's space program and his services are needed to rescue NASA astronauts currently stranded in space.
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"Elon and the tech bros" are not part of the "executive branch." That's the whole point. We just threw a handful of unvetted, unconfirmed, unknown twenty-something hackers into the inner workings of the federal government, gave them access to terabytes of private data (including people's SSNs, confidential health information, passwords, etc) and said "go wild." Can you imagine the hissy fit you and all the other conservatives would have pitched if Biden had announced that, say, Bill Gates was going to be given unfettered access to the federal government databases to do whatever he wanted with them?

There is no need for Trump to use Elon and his hacker brigade to supposedly root out corruption. Hire auditors. Hire accountants. Have them report to congressional committees. Or - here's an idea - use Republicans' complete control of all the branches of government to pass new laws controlling government efficiency and spending. You just have the typical conservative fantasy that every bit of red tape that prevents people from doing whatever they want must actually be unnecessary and counterproductive. When in reality there is a reason the president can't just let anyone he wants have personal access to the social security numbers of every American and the keys to the bank accounts that the government uses to disburse trillions of dollars.

As for Elon himself - the man has proven himself an inveterate and unapologetic liar many times over. the fact that he's made a lot of money by capitalizing on the hard work of a lot of other people doesn't make him a genius, and it sure as hell doesn't mean he knows anything about how government works or how it should work. The conservative hard-on for billionaires as the best and most precious members of society is just hilarious. The guy didn't get to be the richest man in the world by looking out for anyone but himself or his own interests. Why do you think the Trump admin has quickly cancelled and dismissed all sorts of investigations and lawsuits relating to Musk's companies? Why do you think trump just issued an executive order pledging the US's support for the supposedly oppressed white minority South Africans? Does Elon Musk have to go on TV and announce "I'm using my position of power and influence to get rich" for you to believe it? Conservatives will spend years on obsessive wild goose chases over some minor incident of welfare fraud then ignore the most obvious corruption in the world staring them right in the face.
 
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Also, if all you deficit hawks are really concerned about balancing the federal budget, why are we about to re-impose trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the rich? Don't tell me you dinguses are dumb enough to believe the 40-year-old lie that cutting rich people's taxes is actually, through voodoo magic, going to increase the government's revenues and make the rest of us rich as well.
 
rodoheel said:
Also, if all you deficit hawks are really concerned about balancing the federal budget, why are we about to re-impose trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the rich? Don't tell me you dinguses are dumb enough to believe the 40-year-old lie that cutting rich people's taxes is actually, through voodoo magic, going to increase the government's revenues and make the rest of us rich as well.
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Well, you see, extending tax cuts costs nothing. I have that on good authority from the Senate GOP. Also, pi is equal to exactly 22/7, and there are only two genders, and vaccines cause autism, and the Sandy Hook shooting was staged, and tariffs don't raise prices. Ramrouser is the guy who believes that the gazpacho police is coming to get him.
 
Ramrouser said:
59B sent to NYC for hotel stays for illegals from FEMA's budget when Biden denied this was occurring.
100B in social security payments to people with no social security numbers.
Back door payments (subscriptions)to sympathetic media.

It's early, so admittedly I'm having to rely on Elon's statements. He must be hitting the motherload since Dems and media are protesting so loudly. Otherwise, what's wrong with transparency of the spending of federal agencies?

This is likely just the tip of the iceberg.
Click to expand...
lol at $59 billion and how have you not figured out that the FEMA disaster relief budget is separate FEMA’s shelter and services budget? Congress allocates money for the express purpose of migrant housing, it doesn’t impact disaster relief.

I can understand not recognizing this when it first came up last fall, but there’s really no excuse for being confused about it now.
 
Ramrouser said:
We've repeatedly tried "congressional oversight, outside auditors, regulations" and, I would add, blue ribbon commissions to try and cut wasteful and fraudulent spending with zero impact. We're 36T in debt - and rising. It's about time the Executive Branch exercised some control and oversight over its administrative agencies. Elon and the tech bros are simply an instrument to achieve this goal. There's ZERO evidence that he's doing this for financial gain or that he is misusing private data for her personal use as Dems allege.

What's the deal with the Elon hatred? He's the world's richest man for a reason. He's produced more "things" that benefit society than any other person the last 50 years and he's not done yet. It's not like he's some Wall Street billionaire simply moving money around making other rich people richer. Plus, he almost single handily rescued the USA's space program and his services are needed to rescue NASA astronauts currently stranded in space.
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Everyone is corrupt except trump and elon, especially liberals with empathy and graduate degrees.

I'm smart!

1739314348582.jpeg
 
rodoheel said:
"Elon and the tech bros" are not part of the "executive branch." That's the whole point. We just threw a handful of unvetted, unconfirmed, unknown twenty-something hackers into the inner workings of the federal government, gave them access to terabytes of private data (including people's SSNs, confidential health information, passwords, etc) and said "go wild." Can you imagine the hissy fit you and all the other conservatives would have pitched if Biden had announced that, say, Bill Gates was going to be given unfettered access to the federal government databases to do whatever he wanted with them?

There is no need for Trump to use Elon and his hacker brigade to supposedly root out corruption. Hire auditors. Hire accountants. Have them report to congressional committees. Or - here's an idea - use Republicans' complete control of all the branches of government to pass new laws controlling government efficiency and spending. You just have the typical conservative fantasy that every bit of red tape that prevents people from doing whatever they want must actually be unnecessary and counterproductive. When in reality there is a reason the president can't just let anyone he wants have personal access to the social security numbers of every American and the keys to the bank accounts that the government uses to disburse trillions of dollars.

As for Elon himself - the man has proven himself an inveterate and unapologetic liar many times over. the fact that he's made a lot of money by capitalizing on the hard work of a lot of other people doesn't make him a genius, and it sure as hell doesn't mean he knows anything about how government works or how it should work. The conservative hard-on for billionaires as the best and most precious members of society is just hilarious. The guy didn't get to be the richest man in the world by looking out for anyone but himself or his own interests. Why do you think the Trump admin has quickly cancelled and dismissed all sorts of investigations and lawsuits relating to Musk's companies? Why do you think trump just issued an executive order pledging the US's support for the supposedly oppressed white minority South Africans? Does Elon Musk have to go on TV and announce "I'm using my position of power and influence to get rich" for you to believe it? Conservatives will spend years on obsessive wild goose chases over some minor incident of welfare fraud then ignore the most obvious corruption in the world staring them right in the face.
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they most certainly be a part of the executive branch if trump wants them to be. He has the authority to hire them and appoint them to do whatever he instructs them to do as long as its legal. If that means identifying wasteful spending then he has the right.
 
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