Trump / Musk (other than DOGE) Omnibus Thread

[Mulberry Heel]

Unemployment, inflation, and GDP shrinking. Just what maga voted for.

Not to mention gutting the social safety net so that as the economy slides into a deep recession (or worse) those who get laid off will no longer have that safety net available to them. Good times! But I'm sure that as long as Republicans very visibly punish the "right" people they'll stay on board knowing that others are suffering at least as much as they are. MAGA isn't really about making America great again, it's about making sure that everyone stays as miserable and unhappy as they apparently are.

 

[gregh1]

government-by-whim

Did you coin that? That's pretty good if so.

 

[JCTarheel82]

 

[1moretimeagain]

I wonder what percentage of the time Elon works from the office.

 

[nycfan]

Heritage Foundation Staffers Flood Federal Agencies With Thousands of Information Requests​

The conservative think tank’s requests are clogging the pipeline at federal agencies in an apparent attempt to find employees a potential Trump administration would want to purge.​

Heritage Foundation Staffers Flood Federal Agencies With Thousands of Information Requests

The conservative think tank’s requests are clogging the pipeline at federal agencies in an apparent attempt to find employees a potential Trump administration would want to purge.

www.propublica.org

“… Among the documents they’ve sought are lists of agency personnel and messages sent by individual government workers that mention, among other things, “climate equity,” “voting” or “SOGIE,” an acronym for sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.

…
An analysis of more than 2,000 public-records requests submitted by Aamot, Howell and Jankowski to more than two dozen federal offices and agencies, including the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Trade Commission, shows an intense focus on hot-button phrases used by individual government workers.

Those 2,000 requests are just the tip of the iceberg, Howell told ProPublica in an interview. Howell, the executive director of the Oversight Project, estimated that his group had submitted more than 50,000 information requests over the past two years. He described the project as “the most prestigious international investigative operation in the world.”

… Among 744 requests that Aamot, Jankowski and Howell submitted to the Department of the Interior over the past year are 161 that seek civil servants’ emails and texts as well as Slack and Microsoft Teams messages that contained terms including “climate change”; “DEI,” or diversity, equity and inclusion; and “GOTV,” an acronym for get out the vote. Many of these FOIAs request the messages of individual employees by name.

Hundreds of the requests asked for government employees’ communications with civil rights and voting rights groups, including the ACLU; the Native American Rights Fund; Rock the Vote; and Fair Count, an organization founded by Democratic politician and voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams. Still other FOIAs sought communications that mention “Trump” and “Reduction in Force,” a term that refers to layoffs.

Several requests, including some sent to the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, focus on personnel. Some ask for “all employees who entered into a position at the agency as a Political Appointee since January 20, 2021,” the first day of the Biden administration. Others target career employees. Still other FOIAs seek agencies’ “hierarchy charts.” …”

 

[tarheelbillie]

May not be a joke. Value is between $500 million and $1 billion. As long as he is setting money on fire for kicks, why not? There are conservatives begging a billionaire or two to buy it to shut it down (and others suggesting they do the same to BSKY because meanie libs are abandoning Xitter for a place that has moderation standards).

I am not an MSNBC fan or viewer and still want to see BSKY to be less of an echo chamber, but find it pretty concerning that there are a lot of self-proclaimed free speech conservatives who are promoting acquiring and shutting down more liberal spaces.

Elonia Musk needs to go! Lost in space would be fine.

 

[nycfan]

11/25/24 ☀️ AM:

PRESENTED BY IN THIS EDITION Spending wars heat up with Trump pick of VoughtTrump’s Labor pick sparks rare GOP backlashLabor Dems seek new party message

punchbowl.news

Trump’s Labor pick sparks rare GOP backlash​

"... President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks have largely enjoyed public deference from Senate Republicans and from conservatives generally. Not Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.).

Trump picked the Oregon Republican, who lost her reelection bid on Nov. 5, to be his Labor secretary. It immediately prompted criticism from conservatives who see Chavez-DeRemer as too close to labor unions.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who’s set to chair the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the next Congress, had this to say about Chavez-DeRemer, citing her support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act:

“I will need to get a better understanding of her support for Democrat legislation in Congress that would strip Louisiana’s ability to be a right to work state, and if that will be her position going forward.”

It’s a rare case of Senate Republicans — and conservatives more broadly — openly questioning a Trump Cabinet pick. And not because of poor qualifications or alleged personal indiscretions, a la former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).

Instead, Chavez-DeRemer is coming under scrutiny because of her support for a key Democratic agenda item and concerns that she’d undermine GOP efforts to undo the Biden administration’s labor regulations. ..."

 

[aGDevil2k]

The worst man alive

 

[heelinhell]

150 year old Chuck Grassley has thrown down the gauntlet when it comes to purging inspector generals. Let's hope he lives long enough to man the barricades...

'I intend to defend them': Senate Republican warns Trump against government purge

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), despite being a staunch Donald Trump ally, is warning the president-elect against any plan to go on a mass firing spree of government inspectors general.In an interview with Politico, Grassley was asked whether Trump should do as some of his allies suggest and conduct...

www.rawstory.com

 

[superrific]

150 year old Chuck Grassley has thrown down the gauntlet when it comes to purging inspector generals. Let's hope he lives long enough to man the barricades...

'I intend to defend them': Senate Republican warns Trump against government purge

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), despite being a staunch Donald Trump ally, is warning the president-elect against any plan to go on a mass firing spree of government inspectors general.In an interview with Politico, Grassley was asked whether Trump should do as some of his allies suggest and conduct...

www.rawstory.com

1. he's a liar
2. He might have no idea what's actually going on.
3. How many other votes does he have?

 

[aGDevil2k]

Deleted my X account today. Now that some sports teams are starting to co-post on BlueSky, it was just the time to say peace out to Elon's awfulness

 

[ZenMode]

Bessent is a tariff guy. Good.

Seems pretty reasonable.

Where does Bessent stand on tariffs?​

Analysts picked up such signals from Bessent after he made comments comparing tariffs to a loaded gun.

Per a note published earlier this year and seen by The Wall Street Journal, Bessent reportedly wrote that the “tariff gun will always be loaded and on the table but rarely discharged.”

 

[BlooVooDoo]

Seems pretty reasonable.

Where does Bessent stand on tariffs?​

Analysts picked up such signals from Bessent after he made comments comparing tariffs to a loaded gun.

Per a note published earlier this year and seen by The Wall Street Journal, Bessent reportedly wrote that the “tariff gun will always be loaded and on the table but rarely discharged.”

I don’t think his new boss shares that perspective.

 

[superrific]

Seems pretty reasonable.

Where does Bessent stand on tariffs?​

Analysts picked up such signals from Bessent after he made comments comparing tariffs to a loaded gun.

Per a note published earlier this year and seen by The Wall Street Journal, Bessent reportedly wrote that the “tariff gun will always be loaded and on the table but rarely discharged.”

1. He said that before Trump launched onto his love of tariffs and even the word itself. His view has shifted, unsurprisingly. His Fox News op-ed piece published after the election under his own byline is probably a better reflection of his views that a WSJ article reviewing a "note"

2. Having loaded guns on the table is how firefights start. The entire point of GATT and our international trading system is to take the guns off the table. Because nothing good happens when you have loaded guns on a table.

3. What event is sufficient for "discharge"? Such a stupid comment. The US is not a victim of global trade. It is the beneficiary of global trade.

Trump talks about how Europe has a tariff on passenger cars from the United States. That's true. IIRC, it's 10%. Meanwhile, the US has a bigger tariff on light-duty trucks, which I think are about 25%. Ever wonder why there are no light-duty trucks from European manufacturers? That's why. I don't know how crossovers and/or SUVs are treated, but probably not as trucks for purposes of tariffs.

So why are the tariffs organized like that? Because the EU and the US made a deal. US agreed to drop its passenger car tariff while retaining the truck tariff. The EU agreed to drop its truck tariff and reduce its passenger car tariff. I am certain that the numbers were chosen to make this a roughly equal trade in terms of dollar volume, or it was at the time. To clarify: I'm not sure that the dollar value of these specific tariffs were fully offsetting; they were negotiated as part of a huge tariff reduction agreement. The US did not give up money in terms of tariff concessions.

And one result of these tariff policies is that trucks in the US are expensive. There are no Civics around driving down prices.

4. Consider also that the global market is much bigger than the domestic market. Putting tariffs so that American companies (in theory; it doesn't happen in practice) can compete more easily in the domestic market, matched by tariffs abroad to impede competition elsewhere, is a bad trade.

 

[ZenMode]

1. He said that before Trump launched onto his love of tariffs and even the word itself. His view has shifted, unsurprisingly. His Fox News op-ed piece published after the election under his own byline is probably a better reflection of his views that a WSJ article reviewing a "note"

2. Having loaded guns on the table is how firefights start. The entire point of GATT and our international trading system is to take the guns off the table. Because nothing good happens when you have loaded guns on a table.

3. What event is sufficient for "discharge"? Such a stupid comment. The US is not a victim of global trade. It is the beneficiary of global trade.

Trump talks about how Europe has a tariff on passenger cars from the United States. That's true. IIRC, it's 10%. Meanwhile, the US has a bigger tariff on light-duty trucks, which I think are about 25%. Ever wonder why there are no light-duty trucks from European manufacturers? That's why. I don't know how crossovers and/or SUVs are treated, but probably not as trucks for purposes of tariffs.

So why are the tariffs organized like that? Because the EU and the US made a deal. US agreed to drop its passenger car tariff while retaining the truck tariff. The EU agreed to drop its truck tariff and reduce its passenger car tariff. I am certain that the numbers were chosen to make this a roughly equal trade in terms of dollar volume, or it was at the time. To clarify: I'm not sure that the dollar value of these specific tariffs were fully offsetting; they were negotiated as part of a huge tariff reduction agreement. The US did not give up money in terms of tariff concessions.

And one result of these tariff policies is that trucks in the US are expensive. There are no Civics around driving down prices.

4. Consider also that the global market is much bigger than the domestic market. Putting tariffs so that American companies (in theory; it doesn't happen in practice) can compete more easily in the domestic market, matched by tariffs abroad to impede competition elsewhere, is a bad trade.

I'll say this.....

For as much time as people on this site spend obsessing about Trump, it's pretty amazing that you still have no idea how he tends to operate.

Equally amazing is that you will oppose basically anything that he supports and does, while protecting Democrats. I don't doubt for a second that you believe everything that you say. At this point it's just how your mind operates.

Tariffs are a useful tool that gun should be on the table and there is absolutely nothing wrong with letting people know that you are willing to use it. Portraying yourself as weak is the true danger.

 

[lawtig02]

I'll say this.....

For as much time as people on this site spend obsessing about Trump, it's pretty amazing that you still have no idea how he tends to operate.

Equally amazing is that you will oppose basically anything that he supports and does, while protecting Democrats. I don't doubt for a second that you believe everything that you say. At this point it's just how your mind operates.

Tariffs are a useful tool that gun should be on the table and there is absolutely nothing wrong with letting people know that you are willing to use it. Portraying yourself as weak is the true danger.

Have you ever wondered how Trump apologists in the US are able to know when Trump is just bluffing, while simultaneously believing the rest of the world can be manipulated by his machinations?

 

[rodoheel]

I'll say this.....

For as much time as people on this site spend obsessing about Trump, it's pretty amazing that you still have no idea how he tends to operate.

Equally amazing is that you will oppose basically anything that he supports and does, while protecting Democrats. I don't doubt for a second that you believe everything that you say. At this point it's just how your mind operates.

Tariffs are a useful tool that gun should be on the table and there is absolutely nothing wrong with letting people know that you are willing to use it. Portraying yourself as weak is the true danger.

lol chalk another one up in the "Trump is secretly a calculating genius pretending to be a chaotic moron as a strategy" camp

 

[ZenMode]

Have you ever wondered how Trump apologists in the US are able to know when Trump is just bluffing, while simultaneously believing the rest of the world can be manipulated by his machinations?

While it really doesn't matter, Trump apologists are Trump apologists for a reason. They don't think things through,they just blindly apologize. The rest of the world has actual skin in the game that apologists don't...or at least perceive that they don't. They can't afford to hope he's just saying dumb shit.

 

[ZenMode]

lol chalk another one up in the "Trump is secretly a calculating genius pretending to be a chaotic moron as a strategy" camp

Chalk another one up to not even buying the straw man dinner before you force yourself on him.

The next time I say or believe Trump is a genius will be the first.

 

[superrific]

They can't afford to hope he's just saying dumb shit.

Right. That's the problem.

If you think Trump can strongarm other countries into doing his bidding, you are mistaken. He threatened the EU with stuff in 2018; they responded by giving him a deal to buy more US LNG. Problem: EU doesn't have anything to do with LNG purposes. So the US got nothing. Nothing. Trump got duped. Our allies got antagonized for no reason.