Potomac... How are you liking the Musk & Trump Admin so far?
Posted by Fanin on February 15, 2025, 8:47 pm
I'm not surprised that they're trying to vastly expand the power of the Executive branch. you have to accept reality. it was stolen but there is no way to prove it.
Very busy; some good moves, some terrible; Musk should move on
If I were an employee or shareholder of one of Musk's companies, I'd be thinking, hey, you have companies to run. What are you doing??
I don't like expansion of executive power or excessive use of executive orders, same as you, unless it's undoing a previous one or for relative fine-tuning. I don't like a prostrate Congress that has shown weak resistance for quite some time, on top of delegating far too much power to agencies and departments, prompting proper smackdowns from the SCOTUS. That's one of the best things about the current Court.
The Cabinet selections show the chaos. Some people seem like excellent fits or should do well. I hope they can succeed. For others, no.
I'm a believer in articulating a plan to show your goals, why people should support your plan, and how you intend to get there. Let's take the Education Department. You can't just kill something created by law. You can't wipe out everything it does, as some is very important and some preceded the creation of the department. So say, "Here's what I want to happen with the role of the federal government in education, and how that maps onto the future of the Dept of Education. The school lunch program is important to many Americans, and don't worry, it will be fine.... Student loans got out of control, and we'll announce our proposal to fix that soon...." Too rational, I guess.
The Eric Adams case is an embarrassment, as is the Kennedy Center. Why is he wasting even one iota of energy of something as trivial as the Center?
Trying to cut the budget and reduce onerous regulations are good, even they happen. I don't understand the panic when Trump cuts something that previously a lot of people didn't know squat about. Don't they think we waste billions of research dollars on unimportant stuff? Can't you cut 5-10% of almost any sizable organization and make little to no impact on outcomes?
The CFPB should never have been created in its unconstitutional manner, out of control. Yet if you want to get rid of it or put the squeeze, again articulate a plan, say where you want to put the good parts, and execute with less chaos.
Immigration is a complicated topic. He said he would make stuff happen, and well, he is.
Israel and Ukraine. No comment for now. The comment about taking over Gaza was idiotic. It's another one of his "shithole" countries.
One of my constant complaints is the federal deficit, where we can't keep overrunning by $1T-$2T or more every year. Biden didn't care, and was handing out money like it was subway tokens. Trump has said nothing about reducing spending other than the DOGE stuff that won't add up to much, and he wants to spend more elsewhere. When some of the chaos settles, this will remain, whether or not he guts some agencies.
Did I answer enough? Do you have predictions to share? A typical person should be able to find something positive to say about every POTUS. I can say something good to say about every POTUS of my lifetime. Is there something positive about Trump in your opinion?
Thanks. Musk wants to funnel more government money to his companies
and especially for his space exploration. Musk is a much bigger con man than Trump...
The deficit will grow more under Trump than Biden due to more tax breaks for billionaires, but the economy will probably still keep ticking along...
Trump will be a foreign policy disaster. He admires tyrants way too much.
As you probably know, I have no desire to bend over backwards and find something good to stay about MAGA. LOL. Immigration, Higher Ed/Student Loans and DEI all need major reforms, but Trump will go overboard on all...
Hopefully, the left has learned their lesson and won't put underqualified people like Kamala Harris in high positions of power just to check off multiple diversity boxes. She was a disaster and insufferable.
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If I were an employee or shareholder of one of Musk's companies, I'd be thinking, hey, you have companies to run. What are you doing??
I don't like expansion of executive power or excessive use of executive orders, same as you, unless it's undoing a previous one or for relative fine-tuning. I don't like a prostrate Congress that has shown weak resistance for quite some time, on top of delegating far too much power to agencies and departments, prompting proper smackdowns from the SCOTUS. That's one of the best things about the current Court.
The Cabinet selections show the chaos. Some people seem like excellent fits or should do well. I hope they can succeed. For others, no.
I'm a believer in articulating a plan to show your goals, why people should support your plan, and how you intend to get there. Let's take the Education Department. You can't just kill something created by law. You can't wipe out everything it does, as some is very important and some preceded the creation of the department. So say, "Here's what I want to happen with the role of the federal government in education, and how that maps onto the future of the Dept of Education. The school lunch program is important to many Americans, and don't worry, it will be fine.... Student loans got out of control, and we'll announce our proposal to fix that soon...." Too rational, I guess.
The Eric Adams case is an embarrassment, as is the Kennedy Center. Why is he wasting even one iota of energy of something as trivial as the Center?
Trying to cut the budget and reduce onerous regulations are good, even they happen. I don't understand the panic when Trump cuts something that previously a lot of people didn't know squat about. Don't they think we waste billions of research dollars on unimportant stuff? Can't you cut 5-10% of almost any sizable organization and make little to no impact on outcomes?
The CFPB should never have been created in its unconstitutional manner, out of control. Yet if you want to get rid of it or put the squeeze, again articulate a plan, say where you want to put the good parts, and execute with less chaos.
Immigration is a complicated topic. He said he would make stuff happen, and well, he is.
Israel and Ukraine. No comment for now. The comment about taking over Gaza was idiotic. It's another one of his "shithole" countries.
One of my constant complaints is the federal deficit, where we can't keep overrunning by $1T-$2T or more every year. Biden didn't care, and was handing out money like it was subway tokens. Trump has said nothing about reducing spending other than the DOGE stuff that won't add up to much, and he wants to spend more elsewhere. When some of the chaos settles, this will remain, whether or not he guts some agencies.
Did I answer enough? Do you have predictions to share? A typical person should be able to find something positive to say about every POTUS. I can say something good to say about every POTUS of my lifetime. Is there something positive about Trump in your opinion?
you have to accept reality. it was stolen but there is no way to prove it.
Obviously I prefer more discipline and control. I hope this time he has a stronger team around him who can control some excess and help him gets some wins after he settles down, especially in areas that desperately need them.
If he screws up, wonderful opportunities might be lost.
There seems to be a lot more synchopants in this second Admin and he'll surely run again in 2028, if he's still alive.
Surely the right will find a rationale for why Trump can run for a third term but Obama can't.
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Obviously I prefer more discipline and control. I hope this time he has a stronger team around him who can control some excess and help him gets some wins after he settles down, especially in areas that desperately need them.
If he screws up, wonderful opportunities might be lost.
you have to accept reality. it was stolen but there is no way to prove it.
There seems to be a lot more synchopants in this second Admin and he'll surely run again in 2028, if he's still alive.
Surely the right will find a rationale for why Trump can run for a third term but Obama can't.
Previous Message
Obviously I prefer more discipline and control. I hope this time he has a stronger team around him who can control some excess and help him gets some wins after he settles down, especially in areas that desperately need them.
If he screws up, wonderful opportunities might be lost.
Many thought Trump didn't have a chance at a second term after Jan 6.
There seems to be a lot more synchopants in this second Admin and he'll surely run again in 2028, if he's still alive.
Surely the right will find a rationale for why Trump can run for a third term but Obama can't.
Previous Message
Obviously I prefer more discipline and control. I hope this time he has a stronger team around him who can control some excess and help him gets some wins after he settles down, especially in areas that desperately need them.
If he screws up, wonderful opportunities might be lost.
you have to accept reality. it was stolen but there is no way to prove it.
There seems to be a lot more synchopants in this second Admin and he'll surely run again in 2028, if he's still alive.
Surely the right will find a rationale for why Trump can run for a third term but Obama can't.
Previous Message
Obviously I prefer more discipline and control. I hope this time he has a stronger team around him who can control some excess and help him gets some wins after he settles down, especially in areas that desperately need them.
If he screws up, wonderful opportunities might be lost.
you have to accept reality. it was stolen but there is no way to prove it.
There seems to be a lot more synchopants in this second Admin and he'll surely run again in 2028, if he's still alive.
Surely the right will find a rationale for why Trump can run for a third term but Obama can't.
Previous Message
Obviously I prefer more discipline and control. I hope this time he has a stronger team around him who can control some excess and help him gets some wins after he settles down, especially in areas that desperately need them.
If he screws up, wonderful opportunities might be lost.
No way we get a constitutional amendment passed. If he tried to get on the ballot, states would immediately challenge, and his effort would lose in a rout.
Trump would be 82. He is more vigorous than Biden was, yet watch what three years do to him. As with lots of old people, to me Biden was on a certain slope downward that accelerated. We have probably all seen that in other elderly. Trump could reach an inflection point, too.
If he does poorly enough, people will want him gone anyway. If he does well enough, he should retire in triumph (in his mind), either standing aside for a free-for-all or picking a proposed successor.
President's don't have much influence over the economy but they do have a lot of influence over foreign policy and Trump seems to be infatuated with dictators, especially Putin.
There seems to be a lot more synchopants in this second Admin and he'll surely run again in 2028, if he's still alive.
Surely the right will find a rationale for why Trump can run for a third term but Obama can't.
Previous Message
Obviously I prefer more discipline and control. I hope this time he has a stronger team around him who can control some excess and help him gets some wins after he settles down, especially in areas that desperately need them.
If he screws up, wonderful opportunities might be lost.
you have to accept reality. it was stolen but there is no way to prove it.
Get some more work done in America? OK, maybe some. Won't balance the jobs lost. Will it solve our massive trade deficit? Of course not.
I see no economic argument for doing this.
I don't see how Trump even has authority to do this. We are not in an emergency. We complained when Biden and governors blew up the definition of an emergency and did all kinds of crap. They deserved it.
Maybe there are tariff refinements and tweaks and all the usual stuff that make sense. Not this.
I haven't read any decent source that thinks otherwise.
Excerpt:
Mr. Trump said at the White House there was “no room left” to negotiate with the two American trade treaty partners. Some of his smarter advisers have been hoping he’d start renegotiating the USMCA and delay the tariffs. But Mr. Trump wants tariffs for their own sake, which he says will usher in a new golden age.
We’ve courted Mr. Trump’s ire by calling the Mexico and Canada levies the “dumbest” in history, and we may have understated the point. Mr. Trump is whacking friends, not adversaries. His taxes will hit every cross-border transaction, and the North American vehicle market is so interconnected that some cars cross a border as many as eight times as they’re assembled.
Mr. Trump also objected when we reported an analysis by the Anderson Economic Group that the 25% tariff will raise the cost of a full-sized SUV assembled in North America by $9,000 and a pickup truck by $8,000. Is this how the new Republican Party plans on helping working-class voters?
Mr. Trump is volatile, and who knows how long he’ll keep the tariffs in place. Retaliation that hits certain states and businesses may also cause him to reconsider sooner than he imagines. Investors are trying to read this uncertainty as they also watch growing evidence of a slowing U.S. economy. Unbridled Tariff Man was always going to be a big economic risk in a second term, and here we are.
Get some more work done in America? OK, maybe some. Won't balance the jobs lost. Will it solve our massive trade deficit? Of course not.
I see no economic argument for doing this.
I don't see how Trump even has authority to do this. We are not in an emergency. We complained when Biden and governors blew up the definition of an emergency and did all kinds of crap. They deserved it.
Maybe there are tariff refinements and tweaks and all the usual stuff that make sense. Not this.
you have to accept reality. it was stolen but there is no way to prove it.
I haven't read any decent source that thinks otherwise.
Excerpt:
Mr. Trump said at the White House there was “no room left” to negotiate with the two American trade treaty partners. Some of his smarter advisers have been hoping he’d start renegotiating the USMCA and delay the tariffs. But Mr. Trump wants tariffs for their own sake, which he says will usher in a new golden age.
We’ve courted Mr. Trump’s ire by calling the Mexico and Canada levies the “dumbest” in history, and we may have understated the point. Mr. Trump is whacking friends, not adversaries. His taxes will hit every cross-border transaction, and the North American vehicle market is so interconnected that some cars cross a border as many as eight times as they’re assembled.
Mr. Trump also objected when we reported an analysis by the Anderson Economic Group that the 25% tariff will raise the cost of a full-sized SUV assembled in North America by $9,000 and a pickup truck by $8,000. Is this how the new Republican Party plans on helping working-class voters?
Mr. Trump is volatile, and who knows how long he’ll keep the tariffs in place. Retaliation that hits certain states and businesses may also cause him to reconsider sooner than he imagines. Investors are trying to read this uncertainty as they also watch growing evidence of a slowing U.S. economy. Unbridled Tariff Man was always going to be a big economic risk in a second term, and here we are.
you have to accept reality. it was stolen but there is no way to prove it.
Are tariffs worth it, even if they cause a recession?
The tariffs make no sense. I talked with my son from Pittsburgh last night about what's going on. He's relatively non-political, I'd say, and he also finds the tariffs baffling.
As we like to say, "Exactly what problem are you solving?" or "What's the plan?" or "What's the end game?" Just as in work, if you don't have good answers, that's a problem
Pittsburgh has invested heavily in health care and medicine in business, at U Pitt, and in a large hospital system. The chaos with medical cuts has Pitt and the city worried, according to local news. They don't have anything else to fall back on, same as many other cities. Trump is undermining much of his own support. Why can't the team articulate a coherent plan and phase it in for FY2026?
I don't doubt that the federal disbursement of research and medical dollars can be cut significantly. Cut overhead, prioritize projects, etc. Blanket blow-ups are the mark of desperation or poor discipline, among others.
The tariffs make no sense. I talked with my son from Pittsburgh last night about what's going on. He's relatively non-political, I'd say, and he also finds the tariffs baffling.
As we like to say, "Exactly what problem are you solving?" or "What's the plan?" or "What's the end game?" Just as in work, if you don't have good answers, that's a problem
Pittsburgh has invested heavily in health care and medicine in business, at U Pitt, and in a large hospital system. The chaos with medical cuts has Pitt and the city worried, according to local news. They don't have anything else to fall back on, same as many other cities. Trump is undermining much of his own support. Why can't the team articulate a coherent plan and phase it in for FY2026?
I don't doubt that the federal disbursement of research and medical dollars can be cut significantly. Cut overhead, prioritize projects, etc. Blanket blow-ups are the mark of desperation or poor discipline, among others.
you have to accept reality. it was stolen but there is no way to prove it.
The tariffs make no sense. I talked with my son from Pittsburgh last night about what's going on. He's relatively non-political, I'd say, and he also finds the tariffs baffling.
As we like to say, "Exactly what problem are you solving?" or "What's the plan?" or "What's the end game?" Just as in work, if you don't have good answers, that's a problem
Pittsburgh has invested heavily in health care and medicine in business, at U Pitt, and in a large hospital system. The chaos with medical cuts has Pitt and the city worried, according to local news. They don't have anything else to fall back on, same as many other cities. Trump is undermining much of his own support. Why can't the team articulate a coherent plan and phase it in for FY2026?
I don't doubt that the federal disbursement of research and medical dollars can be cut significantly. Cut overhead, prioritize projects, etc. Blanket blow-ups are the mark of desperation or poor discipline, among others.
you have to accept reality. it was stolen but there is no way to prove it.
The tariffs make no sense. I talked with my son from Pittsburgh last night about what's going on. He's relatively non-political, I'd say, and he also finds the tariffs baffling.
As we like to say, "Exactly what problem are you solving?" or "What's the plan?" or "What's the end game?" Just as in work, if you don't have good answers, that's a problem
Pittsburgh has invested heavily in health care and medicine in business, at U Pitt, and in a large hospital system. The chaos with medical cuts has Pitt and the city worried, according to local news. They don't have anything else to fall back on, same as many other cities. Trump is undermining much of his own support. Why can't the team articulate a coherent plan and phase it in for FY2026?
I don't doubt that the federal disbursement of research and medical dollars can be cut significantly. Cut overhead, prioritize projects, etc. Blanket blow-ups are the mark of desperation or poor discipline, among others.
on February 15, 2025, 8:47 pm
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