55dawg said:

Think that’s trumps goal

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jlstone412 said:

Would be lower if not for trump 1.0....my friend...

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-lowcountrydawg said:

Musk should do more of those. Makes everyone who is trying to keep him from even looking for government waste look really stupid. Dude is incredibly smart, and nothing he is discussing is complicated. Unlike politicians, he admits they will make mistakes, and he invites everyone to fact check and challenge any of their cuts. If they make a mistake, they will quickly correct it.

Bottom line - these aren't incompetent jackasses or greedy assholes looking for personal gain. They are simply trying to save all of us money.

My favorite line, from Musk - my goal is to cut $1T of spending and get $1T of growth (i.e. receipts)......bringing interest rates down and keeping inflation flat. "Think about how great that would be for Americans." I doubt that happens, but what if he gets $500B and $500B? You realize how that would move the needle for all of us?

But hey - let's stop these "evil billionaires!" The opposition is such an obvious case of clinging to the way government has always worked, and when looking at conflicts of interest, look no further than those in power who benefit from government spending. The worst thing for Tesla (aka Musk) financially is the Trump admin. Oil production, elimination of EV mandates, China tariffs - all terrible policy for Tesla.

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-lowcountrydawg said:

To say nothing of the tens of millions who wholeheartedly agree with his America first agenda but hate the person so couldn’t vote for him.

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-lowcountrydawg said:

And the unanimous Covid stimulus had nothing to do with that.

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jlstone412 said:

Congress doesn't get a pass here. You need to care about the "waste fraud and abuse" that our reps have been approving. It's literally their job. If congress doesn't know what they are approving, then they all need to be fired. But I have a hard time believing they don't know.

Since 2011, there have been 4 years where democrats controlled the house, and only 2 of those years did they control both chambers (albeit SLIM majorities) and the presidency. This notion that "Dems give away money" is in and of itself a fraudulent statement, given that the republicans have basically controlled spending for the last decade and a half.

I don't know how much more oversight you can get when:

1: budgets are created at the executive agency level
2: they are reviewed and approved to be included in the Presidents budget submission to congress
3: multiple congressional committees exist to review and approve said budgets to determine how to appropriate funds
4: appropriated funds are then voted on in both chambers of Congress for approval
5: the president (who has veto power over approved budgets) signs into law said approved budgets.
6: congress maintains oversight of spending and can subpoena agencies to explain their spending decisions at any time.

But yet we want to bring in people who don't know what they are looking at, don't care about unintended consequences and don't have the authority to freeze spending. That's like bringing someone into your job who has no idea what you do and they are telling you they can do it better. It just doesn't work. Bad things are going to happen to good people (see farmers in Midwest).

You actually get a say in what your tax dollars are being spent on. And you determine every 2 years whether that person responsible for approving where your tax dollars go gets to keep their job. The executive branch, and Elon musk for that matter, is taking that power away from you...you just don't realize it.

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The Machine Fights Back

Inside Treasury's War Against Its Own Reformers

eko.substack.com

-lowcountrydawg said:

1). Did you watch the PC? You are a smart guy. There was nothing in that PC that should do anything but have Americans nodding in approval and address the panic sound bites from the left.

2) The issue of government waste and a desire to audit and cut it out is near universal. It is about accountability. That’s it.

3) If and when good uses of dollars are cut and impact the majority of Americans negatively, let me know. Until then like most things in the Trump admin, let it play out and see how the real outcome compares to the doomsday prognostications.

I would argue as it relates to mandates, Trumps 50 percent is anchored by tens of millions of folks who just couldn’t vote for the man but agree with the policy.

Let it play out. To date all that has been done is an effort to find government waste. If it turns into something bad we will all know it. About time we took a private sector fiduciary and accountability approach to government.

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