Trump / Musk (other than DOGE) Omnibus Thread

[Mulberry Heel]

The problem with that is we haven’t seen any actual savings from DOGE at this point. Just bunch of bullshit tweets that don’t stand up to even minimal scrutiny.

I keep thinking that these cuts are all planned and part of Project 2025's scheme to pay for the coming tax cuts that will aimed heavily towards the wealthy and corporations. But given how slapdash and disorganized they have been I'm starting to wonder if there is no long-term plan (at least from guys like Musk) other than to just cause chaos and gut government agencies that have been regulating him or that he thinks are worthless, and if it's being done out of a kind of nihilism. It's almost as if it's just a game to Musk, coupled with extreme pettiness, arrogance, and vindictiveness.

 

[breepf]

In the podcast they played audio quotes from him talking about the government and the citizens answering to God and God having ultimate authority.

So, you may be correct, I do not know, but he sure sounded like the theocracy type.

Could you share the podcast episode?

 

[nycfan]

 

[Mulberry Heel]

Not just Ukraine. Withdrawing US troops from the Baltic states is a major FU to NATO. Russia could invade all 3 of them without direct conflict between US and Russian forces and then Trump could simply ignore Article 5.

He's going to allow Putin to rebuild the Soviet Empire and militarily threaten Europe again, and yet his supporters will continue to defend him as if he's the greatest leader since Lincoln. All because he's owning the libs here at home and hurting the people they don't like.

 

[rodoheel]

In the podcast they played audio quotes from him talking about the government and the citizens answering to God and God having ultimate authority.

So, you may be correct, I do not know, but he sure sounded like the theocracy type.

Yes they will absolutely try to invoke and say they are imbued with the authority of the Christian God. They are attempting to justify their own power through God's power. But that doesn't mean they will force you to tithe or go the church. Institutional religion is far too diffuse in the US to try something like that - they're not going to piss off all the denominations by anointing one as the "state church."

 

[Healing]

He's going to allow Putin to rebuild the Soviet Empire and militarily threaten Europe again, and yet his supporters will continue to defend him as if he's the greatest leader since Lincoln. All because he's owning the libs here at home and hurting the people they don't like.

Yep. The facile nature of their “policy” and “economic” preferences gets laid bare every. single. day.

 

[farce©]

I keep thinking that these cuts are all planned and part of Project 2025's scheme to pay for the coming tax cuts that will aimed heavily towards the wealthy and corporations. But given how slapdash and disorganized they have been I'm starting to wonder if there is no long-term plan (at least from guys like Musk) other than to just cause chaos and gut government agencies that have been regulating him or that he thinks are worthless, and if it's being done out of a kind of nihilism. It's almost as if it's just a game to Musk, coupled with extreme pettiness, arrogance, and vindictiveness.

I don’t think Project 2025 anticipated Trump’s infatuation with Elon Musk.

 

[superrific]

It was the tanking stock market, not a strategy.

Of course. But somebody had to tell him about it. The future is not written.

 

[Centerpiece]

It wasn't straw manning it was sarcasm, lol. Do you know the difference?

if your position is that there shouldn't be any minimum wage set by the government at all - and that the minimum wage should be set by the market - just come out and say it. We all know you tend to pretty libertarian in philosophy.

Indeed, very libertarian to be sure, and so unZen-like all the same time

 

[superrific]

There's also a functional "minimum" wage that varies greatly between jobs and geographies.

No, there's not. You're confusing a market-clearing wage -- i.e. an equilibrium wage determined by supply and demand -- with a legislated minimum. They aren't the same thing or remotely comparable. States do have minimum wage laws that exceed the federal minimum in many cases; about that you are correct. But this "minimum" wage is nonsense.

 

[Patb78]

Napoleon did institute a lot of improvements in France that are still in use today. However, from his earliest conquests in Italy to the Battle of Waterloo he constantly attacked his neighbors to gain territory for France and to increase his stature in Europe. After his return from Elba the other powers in Europe realized there could be no peace until he was gone. He had lost support from his allies among the German States and other parts of Europe. At one point his armies were fighting from Madrid to Moscow. After his defeat at Waterloo at the hands of an international coalition he was sent to St. Helena in the middle of the Atlantic. While a coalition arose to rid Europe of Napoleon, I don’t see such a coalition coming together to stop Trump. There will be no Wellington to stop Trump. Our best hope is that he meets his end soon.

 

[altmin]

Trump’s Gamer Tax Begins. ACER Says It’ll Raise Prices 10% to Cover Tariffs

Gamers will officially begin to feel the cost of Trump's tariffs starting in March.

gizmodo.com

 

[finesse]

At the time he took over France, it was almost impossible not to improve it.

 

[ZenMode]

No, there's not. You're confusing a market-clearing wage -- i.e. an equilibrium wage determined by supply and demand -- with a legislated minimum. They aren't the same thing or remotely comparable. States do have minimum wage laws that exceed the federal minimum in many cases; about that you are correct. But this "minimum" wage is nonsense.

market-clearing wage is, as I referenced, functionally a minimum wage. Not literally a minimum wage, but functionally a minimum wage.

If you live in a small, rural town in Iowa and your only doctor is retiring, there is a minimum amount you're going to have to pay to hire a new one. It's not a legally established minimum wage, but there is still a minimum amount/wage you will have to offer and it will be more than the legal minimum wage.

 

[superrific]

Actually its the opposite of my argument. Biden's use was terrible and enabled trump's abuse. So far, trump's use is as bad and likely to get worse. My comments, knowing the characters on this board, were to preemptively call out the hypocrisy that was sure to follow.

Please explain how Biden's use of pardons enabled Trump in pardoning:

Joe Arpaio
Rod Blagojevich
Steve Bannon
Paul Manafort
Charles Kushner
Roger Stone
Dinesh D'Souza
Michael Flynn
Bernie Kerik.

I look forward to hearing what will surely be a cogent explanation blaming Biden for these.

 

[Patb78]

At the time he took over France, it was almost impossible not to improve it.

That’s true. But he did try to make the country’s government and institutions function better. And he succeeded somewhat in that area. However, he more than made up for it with his empire ambitions that brought war to almost all of Europe.

 

[Zoo_View]

“… Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago residence, Trump was asked by BBC News what his message was to Ukrainians who might feel betrayed.

"I hear that they're upset about not having a seat, well, they've had a seat for three years and a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily," he said.

"You should have never started it. You could have made a deal," he later added.

"I could have made a deal for Ukraine," he said.

"That would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land - and no people would have killed, and no city would have been demolished."

After the meeting in Riyadh, Trump said he was "much more confident".

"They were very good," he said. "Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism."

"I think I have the power to end this war," he added.

Donald Trump says Ukraine could have made a deal earlier - BBC News

The US president dismisses concerns Ukraine is not involved in peace talks and says he is confident in success.

www.bbc.com

[a lot of “I” in those thoughts]

“…
Meanwhile, the reaction in Moscow to the change in direction of U.S. foreign policy has been more upbeat.

The U.S. president is "the first, and so far, apparently, the only Western leader who has publicly and loudly said that one of the root causes of the Ukrainian situation was the brazen path of the previous administration to draw Ukraine into NATO," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a speech to Russian lawmakers Wednesday. "No Western leader has ever said this,”

“This is already a signal that he understands our position," Lavrov added in a speech that covered the broader second Trump administration rather than the president's specific remarks Tuesday. ..”

Trump says Ukraine 'should have never started it' in comments about war with Russia

Trump made the remark while deriding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country was invaded by Russia in February 2022.

www.nbcnews.com

Maria still believed the 4% approval BS.

 

[farce©]

Individuals on the higher end of income are paying more than those on the lower end by a wide margin.

Ah. I think you are the one missing the point.

 

[nycfan]

Trump administration expected to issue public health order to restrict immigration at US-Mexico border​

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/19/politics/border-health-immigration

"The Trump administration is expected to issue a public health order as soon as this week labeling migrants at the US southern border as risks for spreading diseases, marking an escalation in the president’s effort to severely restrict immigration, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.

The public health order, which hasn’t yet been finalized, is a call back to one put in place in 2020 during Donald Trump’s first administration based on the coronavirus pandemic. That order sealed off the border to asylum seekers, drawing fierce criticism from immigrant advocates, and fueled repeat crossings that prompted pushback from some Homeland Security officials.

Discussions for the new order have referenced measles and tuberculosis, according to multiple sources. It would be the latest in a string of moves to toughen the administration’s posture on the US-Mexico border even as crossings continue to plummet. ..."

 

[superrific]

market-clearing wage is, as I referenced, functionally a minimum wage. Not literally a minimum wage, but functionally a minimum wage.

If you live in a small, rural town in Iowa and your only doctor is retiring, there is a minimum amount you're going to have to pay to hire a new one. It's not a legally established minimum wage, but there is still a minimum amount/wage you will have to offer and it will be more than the legal minimum wage.

It's not functionally a minimum wage either. First, that concept makes no sense. The minimum wage is a type of law to boost wages in the event that the market clearing wage is too low. In other words, the mimimum wage is a check on the market. It's a negation of the market-clearing wage when the market produces unacceptable outcomes. So how can the market clearing wage be "functionally" its own negation?

Look, I don't know what point you are trying to make here. Maybe you have a good point in there, but you're expressing it terribly. Why don't you try again, and ditch the whole "functional minimum wage" stuff? Try a different approach.