DOGE Catch-All
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superrific
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There is no seeing things differently on this issue. There is a fact, and there is bullshit.
1. I was in charge of developing a database application for TV ad buying. In my database, I had the full Nielsen ratings (there are actually more companies and more ratings than this, but for ease of reference) from over 30 countries. I also had a list of advertising time slots for all of those countries as well. All of it. For years and years. I literally had hundreds of data feeds being pumped into my system. Not a single one was a flawless file. Especially not US Nielsen, which were a mess. That was Nielsen's version 1.0. They had better systems in other countries. Want to guess why they hadn't changed it in all that time?
For another project I managed, I had all the purchasing data from Bristol Myers in my database. All of it. Gigs and gigs. And again, we were drawing data from a large number of sources: SAP data from the company; legacy systems from companies that had been acquired; vendor report; accounting systems. None were flawless. My database was not flawless. There were columns that we inserted to solve a problem, but then when the problem became more complicated, those columns didn't work any more. The original approach -- a single database flag, useful for a 1:1 relationship -- was insufficient for a many:many relationship, and thus did we need a glue table. Did I delete the column? No, because I've explained to you -- that's really expensive, cumbersome and completely unnecessary.
2. You played around with MS Access. Even this is doubtful because you probably would have mentioned it earlier in the conversation, so I suspect what you did was watch a video about it after you were called out on it. But even assuming you're being honest -- it's a fucking MS Access database. It's not real life. It's not a production environment. It's not remotely comparable in scope or scale to a large purchasing system, especially not the federal government's purchasing system.
3. You want me -- no, you're desparate for me -- to affirm your experience here as if it's remotely comparable. I have no need to poop on what you've done, except that you are literally trying to tell a professional how the world works on the basis of your goofing off. And it's not just me. Another poster with actual professional experience chimed in, saying exactly what I've been saying.
How do you expect me to treat you in this circumstance? "Oh, opinions differ?" Where does that end? Do you argue with cosmologists about general relativity? What about your physicians? Hey, maybe you should read something about a medication side effect and then lecture the doctor about it! This is precisely the mentality that has created Trump. It's not liberals being rude. It's people like you who think you can understand everything about the world from your armchair. So he promises the world, says things that don't make sense -- and when we tell you that it's all bullshit, you argue with us.
So you find out the hard way. Unfortunately, you sink the whole ship in the process, and we all drown.
ZenMode
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"You played around with MS Access. Even this is doubtful because you probably would have mentioned it earlier in the conversation"
<sarcasm>First, let me say I am shocked..... shocked I tell you, that you would distrust a claim that would allow someone to credibly question your beliefs.</sarcasm>
Second, what I said about the social security system/database (which you can read starting at post 93) is that it is inaccurate, which it clearly is, it's ridiculous that it's inaccurate, which is an opinion statement that you are welcome to disagree with, and I said:
Two separate topics. It can be true that the right people are getting paid and, at the same time, it can be true that the system/data/reporting can have something wrong with it.
I said nothing about incorrect payments going out. I said nothing about risks of fixing the issue.
So, what specifically are you disagreeing with?
superrific
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If you think you dabbling in MS Access is a challenge to my beliefs, you're even sillier than I thought.
I'm not talking about this any more. It's irrelevant. Either you can learn from someone who knows what they are talking about, or you can do your Cliff Clavin schtick until the end of time. It is not ridiculous since it's best practice and every sizeable database, save possibly those created in the past 10 or 15 years (which I wouldn't know about as I haven't seen them), has the same property. Oh, right, you reserve the right to call the entire world ridiculous to cover up the fact that you don't know what you're talking about.
Bye.
ZenMode
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Right. So let me know when you can, without incorporating your assumptions, specifically dispute something that I said.
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Mulberry Heel
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Again, it is crystal clear that their strategy is to try and convince their base that there is such massive fraud in Social Security and Medicare that they need to be cut and/or drastically "reformed" (privatized). In this case I'm not sure it's going to work, as so many older Trumpers need SS and Medicare that they will likely be very wary and skittish of any serious changes that might affect them. If Musk & Trump were smart - and they're not - they would instead try to sell Trumpers on the idea of keeping benefits for those who are 55 or older (or maybe 50 or older) and then greatly reducing or cutting it for everyone below that. But it seems clear that they've decided to go for broke, so to speak, and cut even current SS and Medicare holders benefits. And even with the cult I'm not sure that's going to work for them. But I do suspect it's the only way they're going to pay for massive tax cuts and those ridiculous promises of $5,000 checks for everybody (which I still seriously doubt will ever happen). The pushback the GA GOP Congressman got from a mostly Republican audience in what was supposed to be a friendly town hall meeting in a heavily GOP district shows the risk they're running.
DougDaBroadcasta
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Mulberry Heel
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I definitely think there is growing concern and even fear among some Trumpers about what is happening. I just saw this post on a local TV news station facebook page article discussing Trump and Elon saying that they will give $5,000 checks to everybody. It's hard to feel sympathy for her, but her post does express that even some Trumpers are beginning to realize that government programs they count on and probably took for granted are now in danger. And that in turn should be a warning sign for Trump, Congressional Republicans, and especially Musk. Of those three Musk is the most expendable, although I suspect that he's clueless to that fact.
"I voted for him to get rid of all the illegals that are leaching off of our government I did not vote for him to lay people off of their jobs. Why you don’t think you pay for unemployment taxes and he don’t need to be given the rich tax cuts by taking it from poor people sorry that that’s the way I feel I’m glad you have so much money that you don’t need no medical or anything. Kudos for you, lady, but the rest of America is not that fortunate we need our Social Security benefits and our Medicaid and Medicare for poor children before the rich gets a tax break."
"I voted for him to get rid of all the illegals that are leaching off of our government I did not vote for him to lay people off of their jobs. Why you don’t think you pay for unemployment taxes and he don’t need to be given the rich tax cuts by taking it from poor people sorry that that’s the way I feel I’m glad you have so much money that you don’t need no medical or anything. Kudos for you, lady, but the rest of America is not that fortunate we need our Social Security benefits and our Medicaid and Medicare for poor children before the rich gets a tax break."
DougDaBroadcasta
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Mulberry--admit it, you ready this in Early-voice.
commit;
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This seemed like something apart from the DOGE thread but maybe not?
Last night California Congressman Dave Min introduced a new bill into Congress called Bolstering America’s Democracy and Demanding Oversight and Government Ethics Act or the “BAD DOGE Act” for short.
Last night California Congressman Dave Min introduced a new bill into Congress called Bolstering America’s Democracy and Demanding Oversight and Government Ethics Act or the “BAD DOGE Act” for short.
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DOGE website says Franklin’s Social Security office to close
DOGE website says Franklin’s Social Security office to close
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has been eager to propose federal budget cuts that purportedly save taxpayers money, but as the proposed cuts trickle down to the neighborhood level — like closing the U.S. Social Security Administration office in Franklin — residents are just as...
smokymountainnews.com
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“… The DOGE website features a “wall of receipts” listing contract terminations, grant terminations and lease terminations totaling more than 9.5 million square feet across 748 facilities nationally. The lease terminations would supposedly save $660 million in total over the life of the leases.DOGE website says Franklin’s Social Security office to close
DOGE website says Franklin’s Social Security office to close
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has been eager to propose federal budget cuts that purportedly save taxpayers money, but as the proposed cuts trickle down to the neighborhood level — like closing the U.S. Social Security Administration office in Franklin — residents are just as...smokymountainnews.com
In North Carolina, 20 such leases are listed, from the mountains to the coast.
… Besides Franklin, additional Social Security Administration offices in Elizabeth City, Greenville and Roanoke Rapids are also listed as subject to lease termination.
… While many of these tasks can be completed by phone or online at ssa.gov, internet service isn’t universally available or affordable in rural Southern Appalachia, so visiting an office in person may the most convenient option, although it’s strictly necessary in certain cases.
For example, some disability claims require in-person interviews, and people applying for a Social Security card for the first time must show up in person.
… Of the 37 pre-DOGE Social Security offices in North Carolina, Franklin’s serves North Carolina’s westernmost residents and is the only one west of Asheville’s office, 68 miles from Franklin. Another office in Toccoa, Georgia, more than 50 miles distant, may also be an option for residents of the far west.
.., The DOGE website says that the lease for the 8,995 square-foot office costs $276,309 each year, and that the termination of the lease will save just over $1 million.
Although the Social Security Administration’s website suggests the office is still operating under its usual 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours Monday through Friday, DOGE’s information on the Franklin office says that the listing is a “True Termination — Agency Closed Office,” which came as quite a surprise to an operator reached in the Franklin office by The Smoky Mountain News on the afternoon of March 3.
The operator appeared to be shocked by the news of the closing and said they hadn’t heard anything about the possibility. An office manager subsequently directed all comment to the Social Security Administration’s regional public affairs office in Atlanta. No one answered the phone at the public affairs office, and no one has yet responded to a voicemail or email inquiry. …”
superrific
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276,000 a year for 8500 sq feet of office space seems like an OK deal. And if Elon's team is micromanaging to this degree, they are wasting their time more than I thought.
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Yeah, I was curious about the cost as well and the rental cost per square foot is consistent with / on the low end of the range for office space generally in Franklin NC from what I could tell, so not like it is some exorbitant lease.
Here is the so-called wall of receipts, which seems to provide the info in relatively random order and so far I have not found a search function:
Work | DOGE: Department of Government Efficiency | DOGE: Department of Government Efficiency
Work | DOGE: Department of Government Efficiency.
And here is the savings page:
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