Trump / Musk (other than DOGE)
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CFordUNC
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Right, that’s my point, I definitely believe there are a lot of Republican voters and some Republican politicians who want a more secure border. I’m not a Republican voter nor am I a Republican politician and I want a more secure border. But I’m saying that actual bonafide beefed up border security is not a legislative priority of the Republican Party, because if it was, they would have done something about it when they had all levers of power in 2017-2019, and they would do something about it when they have all levers of power right now (maybe now that they’ve won the election we can dust off Jim Lankford’s bill!).
But it’s not going to happen, because as soon as the border is secure, the Republican Party loses perhaps its single most effective electoral wedge issue.
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This characterization of Northern Democrats versus Southern Conservatives is so doltishly stupid. It's really pretty sad that anyone would think like that and say it out loud.
You know, there just MIGHT be a correlation in the fact that southern state economies are growing faster and the fact that they have more immigration. Whether that's a direct correlation or not I can't say, but I think we can all definitively say that higher immigration rates have not hindered southern states from being desirable places to live, work, and do business.
Be careful of the problems you "fix" because you might just break something else in the process.
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Elon Musk targets Lutheran Social Services of Illinois
Elon Musk targets Lutheran Social Services of Illinois
On February 1, Elon Musk said his Department of Government Efficiency was going to rapidly shut down what he called “illegal payments” to Lutheran Social Services, including the Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. Peter Medlin reports…
www.northernpublicradio.org
“… Musk didn’t show any evidence of why these payments would be illegal. But LSSI President and CEO Mark Stutrud said in a statement that they’re likely being targeted because some Lutheran Social Service groups receive funding for refugee resettlement or Head Start. It doesn’t provide those services in Illinois, which Stutrud says are vital.
The social media criticism of Lutheran Social Services was originally started by former Trump advisor and conspiracy theorist Michael Flynn. The president's former National Security Advisor posted a list of federal grants awarded to Lutheran organizations.
That list included a nearly $3 million grant from the Department of Health & Human Services to Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. Jajko says that grant is to support a move to a new model of support with their community behavioral health clinic. She says the clinic is meant to be a "one stop shop" that integrates their substance use and mental health services. …”
Would any of you define what border security actually is? I personally think it's a chimera than no one can really define and that no one really agrees with. If you don't think we need the labor and human potential , you're misguided and if you think that what's happening is any kind of invasion, criminal or not, you're misled. Look at the real numbers of immigrants, look at our labor needs, look at the fact that they traditionally have a lower crime rate than native citizens and quit being complete idiots and equating immigration and drug trafficking and then give me an answer.
ZenMode
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I really think you'll see border legislation passed within the next month or so. It's not going to stop illegal border crossing and it's not going to stop asylum seekers coming to ports of entry, but Republicans, if they want to continue to win, have to take action the border. To not take action would be political suicide.....
But we shall see.
ChileG
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My fear is that all this spending that at least ostensibly is to help people is cut and then just redirected to the pockets of people like Musk and Trump. That doesn’t help anyone. It doesn’t even really help the uber wealthy who stand to get the tax cuts.
We will have to wait and see, but if all these cuts don’t lead the budget surpluses because of tax cuts to the most wealthy among us, are the Trump voters on this site going to be happy about that?
We will have to wait and see, but if all these cuts don’t lead the budget surpluses because of tax cuts to the most wealthy among us, are the Trump voters on this site going to be happy about that?
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Canada and Mexico tariffs risk inflating US housing crisis, Trump is warned
Exclusive: Dozens of congressional Democrats urge president to reconsider threatened import duties on US’s two largest trading partners
In a letter to Trump seen by the Guardian, Democrats noted that the US imports key construction materials worth billions of dollars – from lumber to cement products – from Canada and Mexico each year.
“Given the severe housing shortage, compounded by rising construction costs, persistent supply chain disruptions, and an estimated shortfall of 6m homes, these looming tariffs, while intended to protect domestic industries, risk further exacerbating the housing supply and affordability crisis while stifling the development of new housing,” they wrote.
In a statement, the White House claimed Trump would use tariffs to “usher in a new era of growth and prosperity” for the US.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico, a move he has said will spur his country’s neighbors to work harder to reduce the number of immigrants crossing into the US, and stem the flow of fentanyl.
The proposed duties are sweeping, however – hitting all imports from both countries – raising concerns that they could raise prices throughout the US economy. Trump pulled back from the brink earlier this month following 11th-hour talks with Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico and Justin Trudeau of Canada.
US officials are in talks with both countries ahead of the new deadline, 4 March, when tariffs are now due to be enforced.
More than 40 Democrats in the House of Representatives, led by Jim Costa of California, urged the White House to consider housebuilding industry estimates that the proposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico, paired with duties already charged on Chinese goods, will raise the cost of imported construction materials by up to $4bn.
CFordUNC
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I'm with you 100% on the importance of immigrants in our country for 100% of the reasons you stated.
To answer your initial question, I'll answer how I personally would define border security. To me, border security is investing in more personnel and more technology (AI, biometrics/facial recognition, transportable surveillance towers, cameras, radar/sensors, etc.) at the southern border. But just as important, ans perhaps more so, it's investing in more immigration system personnel (processing personnel, judges, etc.) to make our system of legal immigration quicker, more efficient, and more humane.
Anyone who thinks we can "close" the southern border or who thinks that 100% of illegal border crossings can be stopped, is delusional. But I do think that there are technological means to beef up border security in a way that isn't performative political theater.
CFordUNC
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I was thinking about it last night, about what irritates me so much about DOGE. I was thinking to myself, "why am I so particularly opposed to this? Is it simple partisan haterade? Am I missing or misunderstanding something? Isn't attempting to make government spending more efficient a good thing? Shouldn't anyone, regardless of political partisanship, think that reducing or eliminating wasteful spending is good?"
I came to the conclusion that, for myself personally, it's not the "what" that annoys me, it's the "who" and the "how." The "what"- working to identify and correct wasteful or inefficient government spending- is generally a good thing regardless of political persuasion. But the "who"- Elon Musk, as an unqualified, unelected individual with clear conflicts of interest as one of the biggest government contractors- is problematic. And the "how"- essentially taking a chainsaw to the federal government with a "shut shit down and figure it out later" mentality- is potentially very harmful.
There have been no attempts to understand what positions and what agencies are needed and which are not. It's been "slash and burn first, ask questions later." His attempts to shutter statutory federal agencies is blatantly unconstitutional. The mass resignation offer that he tendered to the entire federal workforce is likely illegal. Slashing the size of the federal workforce so quickly and seemingly randomly, instead of methodically doing so over time after observation and analysis, is going to lead to, among other things, dramatic reduction in capability for critical agencies like the VA and others which are already sorely understaffed.
The conceptual idea of DOGE isn't bad at all, IMO. It's the person leading it, and the methods of execution, that are bad. If it was so important to streamline government inefficiency and reduce or eliminate wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars- and let me be clear that I think it is always very important to do both- then this should have been a 2-year project and analysis of where the most inefficiency and waste is coming from, and working to systematically reduce or eliminate programs that are deemed unnecessary. Instead, Musk has taken a giant chainsaw haphazardly to the entire federal government in 3 weeks, and the fallout is going to prove to be very detrimental to all Americans in the coming3, 6, 9, 12+ months.
I came to the conclusion that, for myself personally, it's not the "what" that annoys me, it's the "who" and the "how." The "what"- working to identify and correct wasteful or inefficient government spending- is generally a good thing regardless of political persuasion. But the "who"- Elon Musk, as an unqualified, unelected individual with clear conflicts of interest as one of the biggest government contractors- is problematic. And the "how"- essentially taking a chainsaw to the federal government with a "shut shit down and figure it out later" mentality- is potentially very harmful.
There have been no attempts to understand what positions and what agencies are needed and which are not. It's been "slash and burn first, ask questions later." His attempts to shutter statutory federal agencies is blatantly unconstitutional. The mass resignation offer that he tendered to the entire federal workforce is likely illegal. Slashing the size of the federal workforce so quickly and seemingly randomly, instead of methodically doing so over time after observation and analysis, is going to lead to, among other things, dramatic reduction in capability for critical agencies like the VA and others which are already sorely understaffed.
The conceptual idea of DOGE isn't bad at all, IMO. It's the person leading it, and the methods of execution, that are bad. If it was so important to streamline government inefficiency and reduce or eliminate wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars- and let me be clear that I think it is always very important to do both- then this should have been a 2-year project and analysis of where the most inefficiency and waste is coming from, and working to systematically reduce or eliminate programs that are deemed unnecessary. Instead, Musk has taken a giant chainsaw haphazardly to the entire federal government in 3 weeks, and the fallout is going to prove to be very detrimental to all Americans in the coming3, 6, 9, 12+ months.
WaynetheDrain
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You are so naive.
There is one, and only one, endgame for the Trump administration (and Republican Congress under Trump) regarding the border:
To put a stop to immigration. Period.
Notice I didn't say illegal immigration. I said immigration. They don't want illegals. They don't want legal asylum seekers. Bottom line: They don't want brown people coming across our border.
They will gladly accept white South Africans, though. Go figure.
They are white and well to do. Only one percent of them are below the poverty level in South Africa. They are a disadvantaged class, indeed.
ZenMode
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Based on what?
Trump has said he plans to implement his "Wait in Mexico" program. That doesn't imply stopping legal immigration. That implies handling asylum seekers in a different way.
He's also never said, as far as I know, anything implying completely stopping legal immigration.
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PARDONS AND COMMUTATION OF SENTENCES FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES RELATING TO THE EVENTS AT OR NEAR THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6, 2021
Granting Pardons And Commutation Of Sentences For Certain Offenses Relating To The Events At Or Near The United States Capitol On January 6, 2021
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the
www.whitehouse.gov
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Trump pardons Silk Road dark web market creator Ross Ulbricht
Trump pardons Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht - BBC News
Trump said he had called Ulbricht's mother to let her know he had granted her son a full pardon.
www.bbc.com
“… Silk Road, which was shut down in 2013 after police arrested Ulbricht, sold illegal drugs using Bitcoin, as well as hacking equipment and stolen passports.
Ulbricht was found guilty of charges including conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking.
During his trial, prosecutors said Ulbricht's website, hosted on the hidden "dark web", sold more than $200m (£131m) worth of drugs anonymously.
Prosecutors said he also solicited six murders-for-hire, including one against a former Silk Road employee, though they said no evidence existed that any killings were actually carried out. …”