Let me start by saying I'm 100% in full support of DOGE and reducing the size of government and reducing waste, fraud and completely unnecessary BS.

And most of the BS that was being spent in foreign countries on DEI and such would have very little if any impact on our economy. However, I don't think you can cut a trillion+ without impacting domestic programs and it likely will have some kind of impact on the economy. You won't feel these changes overnight, but initially I suspect it might not be very good, but long term I expect it very beneficial. Hopefully we can get debt back down to a reasonable % of GDP - like 30%.

Ulysses90 said:

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I could not care less how much the tourists spend in Jackson Hole or Aspen. The NPS isn't responsible for that revenue except to the extent that it makes real estate prices very high by making scenic private land very scarce. If the locals at such places thought that they could buy the national parks and take them private to create an even larger buffer between their mansions and the rest of America, they would do it in a heartbeat.

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Agreed, so the question becomes how much can the National Parks Service budget can be cut and not affect the numbers of visitors. I suspect a lot of budget cuts would have negligible affect.

Quote:

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Agreed, so the question becomes how much can the National Parks Service budget can be cut and not affect the numbers of visitors. I suspect a lot of budget cuts would have negligible affect.

---

As said earlier, they could easily double entrance fees, and not decrease the number of visitors by much, if at all.

A Super 8 in Jackson Hole is $240 a night in the summer, and $2,400 a night is common for luxury accommodations. That's before meals, and the cost of travel to get there.

It's a 2800 mile round trip, and AAA says it costs 70 cents a mile for the average car, so close to 2 grand to get there, plus meals and hotel.

It's $35 a car to get in, or an annual pass for $70. Double that to $140, visit for 5 days, still under $30 a day.

ts5641 said:

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The majority of the federal government does nothing but make your life more difficult and works directly against the American people.

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How lucky your life has been that you've never noticed the impacts of government on your life.

This decision to use a chainsaw as opposed to a scalpel in making funding/staffing cuts will have long term impacts. As I won't be able to shift your thoughts on the benefits of USAID in exercising soft power, or how we are ceding influence around the world to China and Russia, let's stay in the US.

VA is losing valuable research contracts that impact both increasing veterans' service and health outcomes as well as a long tradition of medical innovation (and the administration has already had to scramble to backtrack on cutting clinical care staff hires, for example).

USDA funding for farmers and ranchers has been slashed, in some cases because the program mentioned "equity", not realizing that refers to the economic size of the farm. USDA also conducts valuable monitoring of health/safety conditions which impact the public's health, that funding is vital and will have long lasting impacts should it not be restored.

Elon is publicly scrambling to rehire FAA personnel after they realized that "hey, this is actually super important to safety in transit of both people and cargo!"

Now they are kneecapping our national parks and threatening to sell off our land resources to private groups.

I'm someone who has worked both as a govt contractor and a fed, believe me when I say I understand the perception of government waste. There is absolutely fat to be trimmed, no one would say our government has six-pack abs… but right now DOGE is chopping off a leg and bragging about how we are down 25 pounds.

As every carpenter worth his salt knows, "measure twice, cut once".

aggie93 said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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aggie93 said:

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aggiedent said:

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rocky the dog said:

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Not sure what the cartoonist means by functioning better. The value of twitter is only 20% of what it was when he bought it.

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The product is actually better though. It runs better and it has more features that are relevant. Musk intentionally overpaid for Twitter because he understood the value was far greater than the profitability and that has certainly proved to be the case. I also think the long game is huge for X as advertisers are continuing to come back and the MSM continues to die. It's also really part of a much bigger picture for Elon and all of his companies and investments, the goal in purchasing Twitter wasn't for it to be his big money maker compared to his other companies, it was to help his overall portfolio grow.

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Great point.

If anything, buying Twitter got Elon right where anyone in his position would like to be, in the ear of the president who can help him get all the government contracts he wants.

Sheer genius if you ask me.

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If you think Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post to make money or that Bill Gates had Microsoft partner with NBC to make MSNBC for profit you really haven't been paying attention either. It's not even about government contracts it's about controlling PR and messaging or having the ability to at least make sure you can get your story out.

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Oh, I totally agree. My point is, Elon trumped those guys for he not only owns the social media "town hall" which has significantly more influence than any form of msm, but he literally has the president's ear and full support.

Like I said, sheer genius.

TopoTacos said:

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ts5641 said:

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The majority of the federal government does nothing but make your life more difficult and works directly against the American people.

---

How lucky your life has been that you've never noticed the impacts of government on your life.

This decision to use a chainsaw as opposed to a scalpel in making funding/staffing cuts will have long term impacts. As I won't be able to shift your thoughts on the benefits of USAID in exercising soft power, or how we are ceding influence around the world to China and Russia, let's stay in the US.

VA is losing valuable research contracts that impact both increasing veterans' service and health outcomes as well as a long tradition of medical innovation (and the administration has already had to scramble to backtrack on cutting clinical care staff hires, for example).

USDA funding for farmers and ranchers has been slashed, in some cases because the program mentioned "equity", not realizing that refers to the economic size of the farm. USDA also conducts valuable monitoring of health/safety conditions which impact the public's health, that funding is vital and will have long lasting impacts should it not be restored.

Elon is publicly scrambling to rehire FAA personnel after they realized that "hey, this is actually super important to safety in transit of both people and cargo!"

Now they are kneecapping our national parks and threatening to sell off our land resources to private groups.

I'm someone who has worked both as a govt contractor and a fed, believe me when I say I understand the perception of government waste. There is absolutely fat to be trimmed, no one would say our government has six-pack abs… but right now DOGE is chopping off a leg and bragging about how we are down 25 pounds.

As every carpenter worth his salt knows, "measure twice, cut once".

---

I didn't know the VA was getting cuts.

Looks like there are no sacred cows on the left or right when it comes to Elon's chainsaw.

richardag said:

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Ulysses90 said:

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I could not care less how much the tourists spend in Jackson Hole or Aspen. The NPS isn't responsible for that revenue except to the extent that it makes real estate prices very high by making scenic private land very scarce. If the locals at such places thought that they could buy the national parks and take them private to create an even larger buffer between their mansions and the rest of America, they would do it in a heartbeat.

---

Agreed, so the question becomes how much can the National Parks Service budget can be cut and not affect the numbers of visitors. I suspect a lot of budget cuts would have negligible affect.

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I hope they identify the subversives that run the Alt National Park Service account and ensure that they are fired. The spew all sorts of BlueAnon "we are the resistance " BS.

https://www.facebook.com/share/12CwA1h1Fxa/

TopoTacos said:

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ts5641 said:

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The majority of the federal government does nothing but make your life more difficult and works directly against the American people.

---

How lucky your life has been that you've never noticed the impacts of government on your life.

This decision to use a chainsaw as opposed to a scalpel in making funding/staffing cuts will have long term impacts. As I won't be able to shift your thoughts on the benefits of USAID in exercising soft power, or how we are ceding influence around the world to China and Russia, let's stay in the US.

VA is losing valuable research contracts that impact both increasing veterans' service and health outcomes as well as a long tradition of medical innovation (and the administration has already had to scramble to backtrack on cutting clinical care staff hires, for example).

USDA funding for farmers and ranchers has been slashed, in some cases because the program mentioned "equity", not realizing that refers to the economic size of the farm. USDA also conducts valuable monitoring of health/safety conditions which impact the public's health, that funding is vital and will have long lasting impacts should it not be restored.

Elon is publicly scrambling to rehire FAA personnel after they realized that "hey, this is actually super important to safety in transit of both people and cargo!"

Now they are kneecapping our national parks and threatening to sell off our land resources to private groups.

I'm someone who has worked both as a govt contractor and a fed, believe me when I say I understand the perception of government waste. There is absolutely fat to be trimmed, no one would say our government has six-pack abs… but right now DOGE is chopping off a leg and bragging about how we are down 25 pounds.

As every carpenter worth his salt knows, "measure twice, cut once".

---

There is always a key piece of discussion missing amongst these types of tug at your heart types of commentary.


If the politicians didn't massively abuse and misappropriate funds on such a grand level with a government that was unnecessarily increased to an unsustainable size there would be no need for a chainsaw. Unfortunately, the chainsaw is the appropriate tool and loads of people will have to lose their jobs.

Now back to my point. Their is never a reflection that the democrats/Republics should never have allowed government to get so large and then not call out the corrupt democratic leadership that absolutely operated a corrupt scheme to use tax payer money to make illegal payments to foreign agencies.

There are two ways to do this. I see it in corporate America every week. The spending is unsustainable, so something has to be done.

1) Cut heavy and quick, then fix the **** that breaks.
2) Try to plan, plan, plan while avoiding leaks, then execute your plan, and sometimes stuff still breaks.

Good, hard-working people are lost in both scenarios. That's unfortunate but unavoidable. But I've seen Option 1 be far more successful, especially if those aren't followed up by more cuts and it's communicated that this is over so that people aren't looking over their shoulder.

This situation is even more unique because there's only 4 years (maybe only 2 years) to build anything back. So you can't draw this out over 2-3 years.

We haven't cut off our leg. We're cutting off a huge tumor and the only way to make sure you get the cancer is to get some flesh too.

Quote:

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We haven't cut off our leg. We're cutting off a huge tumor and the only way to make sure you get the cancer is to get some flesh too.

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Terrible analogy, and Im glad you're not a surgeon.

A better comparison might be a rancher who needs to thin the herd. Trump got rid of his first calf heifers (some could go who had terrible mothering instincts) and kept the barren heifers, old cows and steers.

B-1 83 said:

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Quote:

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We haven't cut off our leg. We're cutting off a huge tumor and the only way to make sure you get the cancer is to get some flesh too.

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Terrible analogy, and Im glad you're not a surgeon.

A better comparison might be a rancher who needs to thin the herd. Trump got rid of his first calf heifers (some could go who had terrible mothering instincts) and kept the barren heifers, old cows and steers.

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Have you ever had a skin tumor cut off? You don't get just tumor or it comes back. Your flesh largely recovers.

You're right. All that's left is barren cows. Sorry your USDA buddies got cut. But don't pretend to understand how to cut headcount and balance a budget if you spent that much time as a fed.

Sure, some useful services will be impacted in the short term. So in your analogy, you could just buy the good heifers back.

The finer points of tumor surgery are irrelevant here, but just to play along, while parading around with the removed tumor, the doctor ignored a long time raging infection. Better?

With the rancher, you still wouldn't have enough grass, would still have the barren heifers old cows and steers, and would accomplish nothing. If you're trying to cut budget, do you hire the same folks back? Some budget balancer you are. Im whacking $100,000 a year folks - not $50,000 a year folks. Who saves more money?

I don't know if you are accidentally or intentionally overlooking some of the reasons for blanket firing probationary employees but they are important and valid.

The Biden administration opened hiring authority in the final months of 2024 for a lot of positions that were previously unfunded and indefinitely vacant. Many of these are new positions that had never been filled before i.e. top line growth in civil service. These aren't senior positions in most cases but merely more employees to pad AFGE membership rolls.

More importantly, President Trump and his OPM are significantly changing the terms of employment for new hire civil service employees to make it harder to secure 'permanent' positions. Firing those probationary employees that were hired under the old system allows for a reset on the terms of employment by retiring them under the new rules.

The focus on annual salary of long term employees versus entey level employees is myopic to the extent that a senior employee my earn 3x as much as a probationary employee but has far fewer years left as part of the work force even if that position isn't eliminated or downgraded. Probationary employees that become permanent under the old civil service employment terms will cost far more than under the revised terms that OPM intends to implement.

In that sense, the tumor analogy isn't far off. The Trump administration is eliminating pre-cancerous cells before they become part of the malignancy.

Perhaps valid, but do you really think they're going to rehire those they let go?

B-1 83 said:

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Perhaps valid, but do you really think they're going to rehire those they let go?

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They have already rehired multiple groups across agencies that were paused, let go, etc.

Musk clearly said if you don't have to rehire 25% you did not cut deep enough.

Is that clean and simple? No, but we need a drastic, transformative shakeup and rehiring folks and other "mistakes" are not just expected, but confirmation you are doing things well.

Im a cynic. I'll believe that when I see it.

B-1 83 said:

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Im a cynic. I'll believe that when I see it.

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You are not alone here on f16.

Those who are not incurable cynics are still in a treatment program like I am to be less of a cynic.

Its a process.

Fightin_Aggie said:

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People affected

- Trans community in Columbia
-Great Britain elected a conservative without our interference
-no condoms for Gaza
- people dying in Yellowstone bathrooms because they got locked in
- lgtbq ngos shutting down due to lack of funding
- catholic charities unable to smuggle in more illegals


Look at all the chaos Trump and Musk caused with their cuts.

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-Great Britain elected a conservative without our interference

flown-the-coop said:

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B-1 83 said:

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Perhaps valid, but do you really think they're going to rehire those they let go?

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They have already rehired multiple groups across agencies that were paused, let go, etc.

Musk clearly said if you don't have to rehire 25% you did not cut deep enough.

Is that clean and simple? No, but we need a drastic, transformative shakeup and rehiring folks and other "mistakes" are not just expected, but confirmation you are doing things well.

---

What a joke, Musk is a guy who took his family's apartheid mining money and knows how to get rich buying other companies. When he tries to be hands-on with stuff it turns to crap (see:the massive devaluation of Twitter and how Tesla stock is in free fall right now).

His technocrat, chainsaw-wielding approach is fine in the private sector; if he cuts a bunch of jobs and the widget machine can't make widgets who cares? That is a little different than realizing you fired hundreds of people from the NNSA, for example, and are now scrambling to re-hire an important part of our nuclear defense framework. There's no reason Elon and his gaggle of 20-year old tech lackeys need to hack everything to bits in a month, when you could take a breath and a reasonable timeframe to actually understand what you're doing instead of, say, accidentally locking out all 50 states from Medicaid access. Absolutely moronic.

Government and private business are not a 1:1. Of course there are plenty of areas to improve and cut fat, but the ultimate role of the government is to provide for the safety and wellbeing of its citizenry, not generate better Q3 figures for the stockholders. I hate paying taxes as much as you do, but the sooner you understand that, the sooner we can stop seeing D-list Fox Anchors and podcast hosts appointed to vital functions in our government.

Nice! I needed the humor.

Unless you were being serious with that response. If so, then there is no reason for ongoing discussion when so much false information, misperceptions and flat out poor takes are included in one post.

Quote:

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That is a little different than realizing you fired hundreds of people from the NNSA, for example, and are now scrambling to re-hire an important part of our nuclear defense framework.

---

Yeah, no.

Most were rehired immediately.

They are overseers. DOE contractors do the actual hands-on work.

Quote:

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Musk is a guy who took his family's apartheid mining money

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Nope. Father did not own a mine.

Father was against apartheid

AGC said:

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Build It said:

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Somehow you've gone from me hoping that we can still teach docs in this country to me supporting trans mice research.

You might be the dumbest poster on the boards today. Congrats.

---

Yes, concerned citizen, we'll be able to educate doctors without federal research funding. Yes, important research will still continue.

No, your brother won't get to keep his cushy job at everyone else's expense anymore. And no, it won't be as easy to get anything and everything funded (but since he only researches totally normal legitimate stuff, it shouldn't be an issue).

Feel better?

---

I don't think you understand how research institutions are funded nor the service they provide to us concerned citizens. I'm sure you are OK with A&M not receiving the estimated billion dollars of federal research grants we receive.

Ignorance is not your friend.

CanyonAg77 said:

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Quote:

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That is a little different than realizing you fired hundreds of people from the NNSA, for example, and are now scrambling to re-hire an important part of our nuclear defense framework.

---

Yeah, no.

Most were rehired immediately.

They are overseers. DOE contractors do the actual hands-on work.

---

Again, that they got rehired isn't the point. I'm glad they were able to rectify their mistake, but there was ABSOLUTELY no reason to make that in the first place.

There is/was nothing stopping them from doing this the smart way (i.e. gather data, understand functions, cut where appropriate) aside from their own ego.

Again, let's get rid of the inefficiency! I want everyone in government to be good stewards towards the taxpayers in their role… but this method definitely ain't "efficient".

Quote:

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There is/was nothing stopping them from doing this the smart way (i.e. gather data, understand functions, cut where appropriate) aside from their own ego.

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Were you even alive during the first Trump Administration?

Sorry, the bureaucracy brought this upon themselves. Trump tried a slow, measured response in 2017, and all he got was RESIST!!!!!!

The scalpel was taken away in 2017, so now he's back in 2025 with a chainsaw.

CanyonAg77 said:

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Trump tried a slow, measured response in 2021, and all he got was RESISIT!!!!!!

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Might want to review both your calendar and your spellcheck settings…

aggiedent said:

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rocky the dog said:

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Not sure what the cartoonist means by functioning better. The value of twitter is only 20% of what it was when he bought it.

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Trump was elected because Elon broke the Democrat monopoly on gaslighting the public.

That's invaluable.

Okay. Totally negated the point.

Not.

TopoTacos said:

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flown-the-coop said:

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B-1 83 said:

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Perhaps valid, but do you really think they're going to rehire those they let go?

---

They have already rehired multiple groups across agencies that were paused, let go, etc.

Musk clearly said if you don't have to rehire 25% you did not cut deep enough.

Is that clean and simple? No, but we need a drastic, transformative shakeup and rehiring folks and other "mistakes" are not just expected, but confirmation you are doing things well.

---

What a joke, Musk is a guy who took his family's apartheid mining money and knows how to get rich buying other companies. When he tries to be hands-on with stuff it turns to crap (see:the massive devaluation of Twitter and how Tesla stock is in free fall right now).

His technocrat, chainsaw-wielding approach is fine in the private sector; if he cuts a bunch of jobs and the widget machine can't make widgets who cares? That is a little different than realizing you fired hundreds of people from the NNSA, for example, and are now scrambling to re-hire an important part of our nuclear defense framework. There's no reason Elon and his gaggle of 20-year old tech lackeys need to hack everything to bits in a month, when you could take a breath and a reasonable timeframe to actually understand what you're doing instead of, say, accidentally locking out all 50 states from Medicaid access. Absolutely moronic.

Government and private business are not a 1:1. Of course there are plenty of areas to improve and cut fat, but the ultimate role of the government is to provide for the safety and wellbeing of its citizenry, not generate better Q3 figures for the stockholders. I hate paying taxes as much as you do, but the sooner you understand that, the sooner we can stop seeing D-list Fox Anchors and podcast hosts appointed to vital functions in our government.

---

How many asinine leftist talking points can you get in one post

AIRPLANE CRASHES!!!!!

TopoTacos said:

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CanyonAg77 said:

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Trump tried a slow, measured response in 2021, and all he got was RESISIT!!!!!!

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Might want to review both your calendar and your spellcheck settings…

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Grammar smack

Build It said:

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AGC said:

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Build It said:

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Somehow you've gone from me hoping that we can still teach docs in this country to me supporting trans mice research.

You might be the dumbest poster on the boards today. Congrats.

---

Yes, concerned citizen, we'll be able to educate doctors without federal research funding. Yes, important research will still continue.

No, your brother won't get to keep his cushy job at everyone else's expense anymore. And no, it won't be as easy to get anything and everything funded (but since he only researches totally normal legitimate stuff, it shouldn't be an issue).

Feel better?

---

I don't think you understand how research institutions are funded nor the service they provide to us concerned citizens. I'm sure you are OK with A&M not receiving the estimated billion dollars of federal research grants we receive.

Ignorance is not your friend.

---

How much money does A&M get from the federal government?

I admit I'm not a Google Expert, and probably worse that the average Google Novice, but I found this
Universities Getting the Most Money from the Federal Government

A&M is not on the list. The lowest amount is Yale at $480 Million.

Billions??

Build It said:

---

AGC said:

---

Build It said:

---

Somehow you've gone from me hoping that we can still teach docs in this country to me supporting trans mice research.

You might be the dumbest poster on the boards today. Congrats.

---

Yes, concerned citizen, we'll be able to educate doctors without federal research funding. Yes, important research will still continue.

No, your brother won't get to keep his cushy job at everyone else's expense anymore. And no, it won't be as easy to get anything and everything funded (but since he only researches totally normal legitimate stuff, it shouldn't be an issue).

Feel better?

---

I don't think you understand how research institutions are funded nor the service they provide to us concerned citizens. I'm sure you are OK with A&M not receiving the estimated billion dollars of federal research grants we receive.

Ignorance is not your friend.

---

Your brother, like most Americans, was a frog getting boiled. Free flowing money = good, accountability will end all life as we know it. That's true ignorance. Even good conservatives are starting to realize that so much was spent and laundered, that a good accounting and reset is necessary.

We've moved into the negative world: you have to make your case now, it's not a blank check. Sorry that will make your life hard, but our country and children's future is better for it. Now administrative costs will be measured against R&D and actual mission, and if your brother does the work you claim and it ends, know that's the university's choice to fund other things.

Iraq2xVeteran said:

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From the MSN page, I have noticed numerous articles about angry constituents and protesters giving their congressmembers an earful over Trump-Musk spending cuts.

After an initially tepid response to President Donald Trump's return to the presidency, a series of drastic and possibly unconstitutional cuts to the federal workforce has incited anger among people who fear that they and their communities will suffer from those policies. While a handful of protests outside federal agencies targeted by Elon Musk's DOGE has drawn the most media attention, viral clips of rowdy crowds at lawmakers' town hall meetings have since spread across the internet.

Many of the anti-Trump protests have been organized by progressive groups like Indivisible and MoveOn, who have seen a surge in membership and fundraising. While Republicans contend that the backlash is the creation of liberal activists rather than an organic uprising of Americans in general, videos also show unmistakable anger from constituents in deep-red congressional districts as well.

In one town hall in the district of Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., an attendee, citing cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demanded: "Why is the supposedly conservative party taking such a radical and extremist and sloppy approach to this?"

McCormick tried to assuage his questioner by saying that overspending would result in shortfalls to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, prompting the attendee to retort that the administration was taking a "chainsaw approach" that was "rushed" and done "sloppily." As the town hall continued, McCormick was interrupted several times by constituents saying, "we're pissed," and "don't bend over," as well as chants of "shame!"

Spooked by public outrage, GOP aides urge lawmakers to reconsider future town halls

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This is how you KNOW it is organized left-wing protests.

The right doesn't chant when they're protesting. The left ALWAYS chants when they're protesting.

Enjoy your Doctors from Nigeria, it might be a while for US born and educated docs.