Sometimes when you are overbudget in a family, you have to cut even good things. And right now, the federal government is so freaking bloated and has its reach so far into places it shouldn't really be in the first place, people are going to feel that. An acquaintance who sends her child to private school, was lamenting that a "free" STEM program her kid and classmates liked to go to was affected by the funding freeze. I'm sorry, but there's no reason for the Fed. govt. to be funding a STEM program in podunk America. If it's so good, let the state fund it, or the community!
And all the pearl clutchers highlighting the lost jobs for fed workers didn't seem to care or have much empathy when Joe Biden fired 10,000 Keystone Pipeline workers with the stroke of a pen. Or when federal workers, healthcare professionals, or servicemen lost their jobs for not taking a Covid shot. Or when Obama told coal miners to "learn to code." I say, cut, cut! And while they are at it, get rid of Obamacare.
DOGE needs to hit the States, too. Not only the Federal government. This will be harder. Trump is a unicorn doing this because he can’t be reelected. JD or another can always say ‘Trump went too far on X, Y or Z, and we’ll bring that back’ in 2028.
I would advocate for Trump to lay out what will happen to Social Security and Medicare if we don’t take certain budget cutting actions. Such as the age of eligibility will need to increased or there will be means testing, or payouts will decline. Show the shit at the end of the stick. Then show how we can wipe it clean and extend these safety nets to future generations, including those yet born. Framing this is important. As important as simply showing government can actually be shrunk. No one alive in America has ever seen the Federal government go smaller. Ever. People can’t see it because it’s never been shown before. Show it !
Fact is, at this point we don't know if the present value based predictions are anything like correct, because we don't know how much of all of this is just pissed out the window. We may soon.
Lets see what's uncovered.
I don't think it will be a remedy, but it might go a long way.
Show me the federal agency that has been completely shut down and salted the earth, thereafter. Even USAID has a skeleton crew remaining (600 person or so it’s reported). It’s only been a month so yes, will wait and see.
Here's the deal - last FY we financed the interest on the debt with $1 trillion of new debt. That's called a feedback loop, and the only way to stop it is to not do that again - the budgets have to be at least balanced - ideally with a trillion or two to pay down debt every FY. There is no "Social Security Trust Fund", the taxes go into the general fund, and the appropriations come from there, too. Medicare is closer to being an insurance plan, but SS and SSDI are not. If we hit a debt crisis, we end up being only able to pay interest on debt plus maybe defense, and everything else goes away. And if you look up the law, you'll find that people have no property rights in SS or SSDI payments - if they get reduced or don't get made, tough. you can't sue.
The mestasizing of admin corps was bad enough before whole new departments not even associated with actual educators were invented out of thin air .. DEI - and really most of HR - if you have problems that bad, and unresolvable between adults or by the boss or over a beer - we used to have company socials for a reason - our office even went to strip clubs on the company morale dime (that is now spent on struggle sessions), then just call the police - we already have a judicial system.
Yes, but lets not lose the House and Senate ... DOGE must ensure the popular vote or else it all reverts back to the Black Hole Status Quo if the House and Senate falls back into the hands of the disingenious ...
But, what is the size of the electorate that will do nothing--until virtually EVERYTHING is taken away or gone? They, along with many others, don't know the difference between bankruptcy and insolvency....
I can feel the trepidation from you, Sasha, as a former person on the left, because you are still so worried about what MSM will say, about their imagined power over the political discourse. What has changed is this: We are not listening to them anymore. America understands this is a perilous time, a time that a lesser country might not be able to fight its was back from. Argentina level times -- and for that, to worry about the level of staffing at National Parks, to me, trivializes the level of catastrophe we are facing. Like Argentina we need to understood there will be pain in right sizing, it's inevitable, but the alternative is a national pain we don't want to imagine. The next time you can't see a doctor for 6 months, ask yourself if that has something to do with every illegal being awarded free health care. Give DOGE time to restore services to its citizens. Yes, there will be some who unjustly suffer along the way and I feel bad for them, but this mission is bigger than any one individual. And I believe America understands this and has the fortitude to see it through.
Yeah, it's like a little bit of FOMO, or PTSD. As a former person on the Left, and in the NYC arts, I have never looked back. They are of zero interest and importance to me now. They operate more as a chimera and theater of ruin than anything else. Like The Truman Show, It's not real. I think Sasha takes these people too seriously. They have almost no power left. That's Trump is being so bold now, and relaxed. They're done. People who have real power are very quiet, like the cabal was for DECADES. So quiet, in fact, we were all asleep at the wheel and had no real idea what was happening to our country--our world--culturally or politically. It was all done largely behind the scenes, in silence. Demolition is loud.
Interesting perspective. I think you may be giving the forces of good and light undeserved credit for victories not yet won. With the left shifting and tightening the focus of their rage from President Trump to Elon Musk and his Bobs, it's a coin flip whether they can successfully clip Elon's wings and hinder or even bring down DOGE. Remember, Elon has bigger and better things in mind than simply to scrap over government nickels and dimes. At a minimum, we're going to want him in top form to deal with 2024 YR4 in 2032 if and when its Earth target and effects are identified...
Yes! We need to show our grit and determination now more than ever as the Left do everything they can to divide us and regain power. This a dose of reality. Thank you for this.
Excellent response and totally agree. Media made a big deal about the one and only guy who had the keys at a National Park ( can’t remember which one, possibly Yellowstone) was fired. What’s absurd is why just one guy has keys or just get new keys made. Media as usual making a big deal when in fact 70% of people agree with what Trump’s doing. Keep cutting waste and give us the ability to cut the budget with each department cutting back. Job numbers were promoted as positive for Biden only because he grew the government and not private sector jobs.
Hey James, I don’t like Joy at all for her views. But I could care less about her God-given immutable characteristics which includes her black skin. She is still a member of the human race. No need to use the ‘N’ word, here or anywhere.
We are still in the first impressions of Trump’s second term. The news is coming in fast and hot, like a week of news every day, even Sunday. The $20 Billion EPA slush fund was Democrat graft. How many more will turn up? I’d say half a dozen at least. All the green energy programs were set up just to spend money, not to cause any measuable effect in the climate. All the DEI training too. We still have a long way to go.
The left is supported, protected, and especially FINANCED by government itself—most especially the apparatus of the administrative state—using rules and regulations in addition to oceans of taxpayers' money and national debt. The system is rotten all the way down.
You won't ever seiously weaken or destroy the left through argument or electoral politics. You must cut off their means of support, the lifeblood of their subversion. That involves rooting out every grant, loan, subsidy, contract, salary, award, and tax break the leftists within the government have, over a period of more than a half century, managed to route to their compatriots.
THAT is the mission of DOGE and the aim of the Trump II administration. More power to them. Damn the media flaks (and those, um, faint of heart)—full speed ahead!
So all of the federal workers who have been cut like young people working as park rangers are thieves and crooks? You may come to "care" if some of them are Repubs who decide to change their votes.
No....the rank and file who lose their jobs will suffer short term. But if they were hired unnecessarily for meaningless jobs, they become expendable and unfortunately learn a painful lesson.
Don't fall for the innocent puppy trap, ie, if you cut this program this poor puppy will die. If a few puppies have to die, or a few good people are put out of work to cut $37T of debt, that's life. The talented hard working people will find jobs elsewhere.
Suggest you delve a bit deeper into various American institutions to broaden your understanding of just where and how the left lives, works, and prospers.
Start with the larger foundations, following (if you can, it's not easy) their grants to smaller non-profits and NGOs. Then look into the upper tier of American colleges and universities and see the revolving door of fellowships, visiting professorships, seminars (with honoraria), funding of various "institutes," "chairs," "councils," "centers," and "schools." Finally, look at the CVs and resumés of the American elite (NYT marriage announcements are a GREAT source!). See as well the prior "work" histories of the heads of large non-profits and corporate entities with large public exposures (e.g. national media, banks, and insurance companies).
I'm confident that once you get a little more knowledge under your belt, you'll see more clearly the myriad linkages and networking apparatus that support and extend the cultural, economic, and governmental power of the left in the USA and around the world.
So no one who does research at a university or works at a large non-profit or a corporate entity such as national media, banks, and insurance companies performs any useful work? And they are only leftists? I thought DJT headed, and people like Jared Kushner work in large corporate entities. Kushner even got his buddy the MSB to invest $2B in his hedge fund. Trump ran various fraudulent entities such as Trump charity, Trump university, etc.
Your ignorant questions and irrelevant observations along with a few juvenile suppositions and sliming thrown in for good measure indicate:
1) you have not taken my suggestions to heart and embarked on learning the essentials prior to engaging those who have, and
2) you have little intention of doing so, preferring instead to hurl poo and repeat the left's silly "talking points" apparently thinking they successfully deliver you the argument rather then simply causing those seeking dialogue and understanding to disengage. I'm of the latter persuasion. Good night and good bye.
I worked for the Federal government for 23 years. I would typically only do about 15 hours of work in a week. Most of the work I did wasn't really necessary. It did bother me that I was getting paid to do so little but I had a family to support and I rationalized it. It's not something that I'm proud of. I took an early out at 51 and got a pension and was able to keep my health insurance. How many people in the private sector have such opportunities?
We will hear countless sob stories of dedicated government employees who are tossed out on the street despite being great workers. Let me assure you that for every one these, there are a dozen people who are doing very little and getting paid for it. I saw a Facebook post from a former colleague of mine complaining that a Census Bureau study on the LGBT community was being cut. Is it really necessary that we have a government agency asking people about their sex lives?
I love the National Parks too and have visited most of them (well most of the ones that people know, not all those new obscure parks that nobody has ever heard of). But I am the exception. Most people I know never go to a National Park. Maybe they went to the Grand Canyon as a kid but that's about it. For a country that is 36 trillion dollars in debt, I don't think the National Parks should be the one area that is untouchable.
Government workers have long been shielded from the consequences of poor performance at work and they have come to believe they have a right to lifetime employment. For the first time in my lifetime we are seeing real change. The fact that some people are squealing is proof that Trump and Musk are actually getting something done.
Today on ‘Jotting in Purple’ Substack the guest post was from someone who also worked as consultant to government over many years going back to mid 1980’s. Wonder if any of his observations you experienced?
I hope people understand that our country is in such a mess that there will be some pain involved in fixing it. If you are 100 lbs overweight, the road back to health will not be a walk in the park. It takes desire and discipline to do what’s needed, despite the short term pain.
I hope people will understand that. But I fear many will not.
Ah, I am in that tiny generation born in WWII, which absorbed the values of the
Great Generation who,of course,went through the Great Depression. people like us have clothes in our closets that qualify as vintage. We recycle leftovers until
they are gone. Plates taken from a meal better be clean. We rode city buses 5
miles to school. We had chores. We didn’t get to take an out the family car on a date, unless we were perfect drivers. I, myself, have never received a traffic ticket in all my 70 years of driving. When Dr. Spock changed the child rearing methods,
into the permissive style, I thought my parents had lost their minds in the ways my boomer siblings were being raised. And the boomers turned out to really not
I agree with the first sentence. That said, if things are not rectified while there is still some freedom of action, it will need to be addressed when there is precious little. At that point, discomfort will be best described as commodious.
I agree with the second sentence. This is not the WW2 Generation. Alas not even the Vietnam generation .. they might not have been quite as stoic or tough, but they made up for it with GENUINE tolerance of everyone and everyone's bad jokes. (Are Dead Baby jokes even still a thing?)
Absolutely. The Greatest Generation was the greatest and they could endure. Because they had to fight a war. Fourth Turning. According to Howe & Strauss, we are in the Fourth Turning now. We are due for a war. It has to be a major war that causes people to have to sacrifice everything, endure, & toughen up. The generation that fights is the Hero generation, which is supposed to be Millennials. However, this 4th Turning has been slow & we haven't gotten to the war yet, so I wonder if it will actually be Gen Z. Regardless, whoever does the fighting will hopefully become Heroes like the WW2 Generation & then we will have an American High like we did in the 1950s.
I’m not sure if this or future 4th Turnings will be full out wars. Maybe if they are civil wars. But external wars of great bloodletting magnitude that typify past 4th Turnings in USA and English history were done not under the reality of nuclear weapons. Nukes to me change the historical calculus when it comes to a an all-out external war, turning us from a full Crisis Winter to the High of a new Spring. We could just go from Winter to Nuclear Winter.
Trump, Vance, Musk and key cabinet officials need to get in front of this. A weekly “here’s what we discovered this week and here’s what we’ve done about it” press conference. Or even a weekly town hall. Show the American people in no uncertain terms how we’ve been ripped off. But then show why they’re making the cuts and the long term difference it’s going to make. Show a chart (remember Reagan’s chart?) of what the financial picture of this country looks like if the status quo is maintained 10 years down the road or even five years. And how disastrous that would be for most Americans.
Some people may be just people, but the Administrative state is also just that. If the last eight years are any indication, the federal bureaucracy has no intention of relinquishing power. Proceed accordingly.
It is going to have to sting for a minute. Cut all of the nonessential staff you can and then hire back or contract out what is needed.
If this is about the claims on X about the ONLY PARK RANGER LOCKSMITH got axed and now people can get locked into the bathrooms and the entire park has no available options to help people who lock themselves in the bathroom and can't figure out how to unlock the door, it is ridiculous. This story just fuels why it needs to be razed and rebuilt with competent people that have common sense and a work ethic.
Don't fall for their gaslighting. Regarding the post from the lady on X: is that the former State Senator O'Brien? If so, did she pull strings for her daughter? Also, seems like there's two offices for the Manistee National Forest (which sounds like duplication efforts which should be streamlined.) Sorry, but my kid didn't have a luxurious government job with full benefits to even be laid off from. Second, regarding Yosemite and that protest stunt? Fire. Those. Employees. Now. If the rest of us average hard-working citizens tried that at our jobs we'd be fired before we even got that protest flag into position for hanging. Remember the original Ghostbusters? And Dan Ackroyd's character's remark about the private sector and how they expected results? Well, IMHO, it's about time for government employees to get results - we, the Taxpayers, are owed that much. Cut away, Trump, cut away. And, if he thinks Musk can do it the best, then have at it. As for Musk having Asperger's? Who cares - I'd rather have an employee with that trying to fix our spending problems than having some pink-haired Woke idiot with a major in Lesbian Dance Theory sipping lattes and giving our money to Stacey Abrams. As for Kirn and Taibbi? Walter mentioned about how the miners in Montana sweat their butts off, get dirt on their hands that never comes out and, sometimes, die on the job. There's not just sweat on those dollars we send to DC, sometimes there's blood on those dollars...
Sasha, excellent post. I wonder if you realize what a service you render when you initiate this kind of conversation.
I wasted about eight hours this past week trying to defend Trump’s moves, online, to panic-stricken Leftwing Trump haters who were posting fearmongering false charges against the current administration. I offered them thoroughly documented papers explaining why Trump and his team are taking these actions.
My efforts went nowhere. These people don’t want logical arguments. They want their echo-chamber reinforcements, not actual facts or reassurance that Trump is not a fascist. And they resort to ad hominem attacks when countered.
Reading this interchange restores my hope in the American people. Thanks, y’all!
“Reading this interchange restores my hope in the American people.”
The American people no longer are a people. We lack a common reality and can no longer agree on things as basic as borders, immigration, meritocracy, gender, education or on much of anything. It’s simply an ever more unworkable society. I don’t say this to be Mr Doom and Gloom. It’s what I see every single day in my city, Chicago, country and world.
I used to live in Chicago, so I get it. But the vibe you feel is because you’re in one of the small number of blue areas of the country. When you live in a red area like I now do, you definitely do not the feel doom and gloom. https://vividmaps.com/2024-presidential-election-county-by-county/
Yes, great post. I’ve done the same. When President Trump won, and one of these people tried to bait me into an argument, I said, “you don’t listen or reason. I have preached and I am not doing it anymore. I have to put my energy into my family.”
There’s a lot of “exaggeration” going on, a lot of lying, a lot of overreacting. We need to maintain our focus on the goal. We’ve been told that it was going to get worse before it gets better, we’ve been told that there was going to be some pain involved. Our government is severely bloated and there is rampant fraud everywhere in it. DOGE needs to sift through this mountain of shit and root it out. The left, the deep state, are pulling out all the stops trying to discredit and shut down Trump, DOGE and all of us who voted for change. They will say and do anything to achieve their goal.
We cannot allow that to happen. We must keep our eyes on the prize. I have no worries whatsoever about DOGE, if anything, I wish they would move faster and break more things.
DOGE is already codified into our law. Look up what Sen. Coburn (R-OK) did on Wiki
when he discovered that USAID was funding a prostitution ring of young Eastern Indian girls who had been sex trafficked. His fury resulted in a law being codified for transparency in our taxpayer money. This was two decade ago. Other open book places were part of this where anyone could look at where money was going.
I saw that Clinton and Gore also went after waste and efficiency in government.
Clinton left office with No Debt. Remember Gore in his famous “lock box” remarks?
I'm with the chainsaw gang. Will there be some collateral damage? Yep. There always is and those people can find their way in the real world or spend the rest of their lives crying on tiktok. I don't care.
The government employees 2.7 million. There are at least that many contractors. And another 5 million working for NGOs and other entities receiving funding from the govt and allegedly carrying out policy. Total is 10-11 million.
I don’t know what the correct number might be. But it’s not 10 million. And it’s not 2.7 million.
Literally millions need to go.
Oh and just an FYI. The distress flag display at Yosemite. I asked AI. There are about 1100 employees. Half are government and direct contract workers. The other have are service workers, all of whom fall under the lease auspices of the government. Most get subsidized or free housing.
So of the 1100 less than 20 total are being removed from their positions.
Exactly. I looked up the percentages of the park rangers last night and it’s not that high for all of their doomsday theatrics. It really makes me wonder how they will react when something back actually does happen.
Sometimes when you are overbudget in a family, you have to cut even good things. And right now, the federal government is so freaking bloated and has its reach so far into places it shouldn't really be in the first place, people are going to feel that. An acquaintance who sends her child to private school, was lamenting that a "free" STEM program her kid and classmates liked to go to was affected by the funding freeze. I'm sorry, but there's no reason for the Fed. govt. to be funding a STEM program in podunk America. If it's so good, let the state fund it, or the community!
And all the pearl clutchers highlighting the lost jobs for fed workers didn't seem to care or have much empathy when Joe Biden fired 10,000 Keystone Pipeline workers with the stroke of a pen. Or when federal workers, healthcare professionals, or servicemen lost their jobs for not taking a Covid shot. Or when Obama told coal miners to "learn to code." I say, cut, cut! And while they are at it, get rid of Obamacare.
Or fire some of the absolute HORDE of useless Vice Principals and other bullshit admins that plague schools and use THAT money...
DOGE needs to hit the States, too. Not only the Federal government. This will be harder. Trump is a unicorn doing this because he can’t be reelected. JD or another can always say ‘Trump went too far on X, Y or Z, and we’ll bring that back’ in 2028.
I would advocate for Trump to lay out what will happen to Social Security and Medicare if we don’t take certain budget cutting actions. Such as the age of eligibility will need to increased or there will be means testing, or payouts will decline. Show the shit at the end of the stick. Then show how we can wipe it clean and extend these safety nets to future generations, including those yet born. Framing this is important. As important as simply showing government can actually be shrunk. No one alive in America has ever seen the Federal government go smaller. Ever. People can’t see it because it’s never been shown before. Show it !
Uh... It gets shown... Over and over.
Fact is, at this point we don't know if the present value based predictions are anything like correct, because we don't know how much of all of this is just pissed out the window. We may soon.
Lets see what's uncovered.
I don't think it will be a remedy, but it might go a long way.
Show me the federal agency that has been completely shut down and salted the earth, thereafter. Even USAID has a skeleton crew remaining (600 person or so it’s reported). It’s only been a month so yes, will wait and see.
Here's the deal - last FY we financed the interest on the debt with $1 trillion of new debt. That's called a feedback loop, and the only way to stop it is to not do that again - the budgets have to be at least balanced - ideally with a trillion or two to pay down debt every FY. There is no "Social Security Trust Fund", the taxes go into the general fund, and the appropriations come from there, too. Medicare is closer to being an insurance plan, but SS and SSDI are not. If we hit a debt crisis, we end up being only able to pay interest on debt plus maybe defense, and everything else goes away. And if you look up the law, you'll find that people have no property rights in SS or SSDI payments - if they get reduced or don't get made, tough. you can't sue.
The mestasizing of admin corps was bad enough before whole new departments not even associated with actual educators were invented out of thin air .. DEI - and really most of HR - if you have problems that bad, and unresolvable between adults or by the boss or over a beer - we used to have company socials for a reason - our office even went to strip clubs on the company morale dime (that is now spent on struggle sessions), then just call the police - we already have a judicial system.
Yes, but lets not lose the House and Senate ... DOGE must ensure the popular vote or else it all reverts back to the Black Hole Status Quo if the House and Senate falls back into the hands of the disingenious ...
But, what is the size of the electorate that will do nothing--until virtually EVERYTHING is taken away or gone? They, along with many others, don't know the difference between bankruptcy and insolvency....
I can feel the trepidation from you, Sasha, as a former person on the left, because you are still so worried about what MSM will say, about their imagined power over the political discourse. What has changed is this: We are not listening to them anymore. America understands this is a perilous time, a time that a lesser country might not be able to fight its was back from. Argentina level times -- and for that, to worry about the level of staffing at National Parks, to me, trivializes the level of catastrophe we are facing. Like Argentina we need to understood there will be pain in right sizing, it's inevitable, but the alternative is a national pain we don't want to imagine. The next time you can't see a doctor for 6 months, ask yourself if that has something to do with every illegal being awarded free health care. Give DOGE time to restore services to its citizens. Yes, there will be some who unjustly suffer along the way and I feel bad for them, but this mission is bigger than any one individual. And I believe America understands this and has the fortitude to see it through.
Yeah, it's like a little bit of FOMO, or PTSD. As a former person on the Left, and in the NYC arts, I have never looked back. They are of zero interest and importance to me now. They operate more as a chimera and theater of ruin than anything else. Like The Truman Show, It's not real. I think Sasha takes these people too seriously. They have almost no power left. That's Trump is being so bold now, and relaxed. They're done. People who have real power are very quiet, like the cabal was for DECADES. So quiet, in fact, we were all asleep at the wheel and had no real idea what was happening to our country--our world--culturally or politically. It was all done largely behind the scenes, in silence. Demolition is loud.
Interesting perspective. I think you may be giving the forces of good and light undeserved credit for victories not yet won. With the left shifting and tightening the focus of their rage from President Trump to Elon Musk and his Bobs, it's a coin flip whether they can successfully clip Elon's wings and hinder or even bring down DOGE. Remember, Elon has bigger and better things in mind than simply to scrap over government nickels and dimes. At a minimum, we're going to want him in top form to deal with 2024 YR4 in 2032 if and when its Earth target and effects are identified...
Yes! We need to show our grit and determination now more than ever as the Left do everything they can to divide us and regain power. This a dose of reality. Thank you for this.
Maybe a 'DOGE' of reality?....
Excellent response and totally agree. Media made a big deal about the one and only guy who had the keys at a National Park ( can’t remember which one, possibly Yellowstone) was fired. What’s absurd is why just one guy has keys or just get new keys made. Media as usual making a big deal when in fact 70% of people agree with what Trump’s doing. Keep cutting waste and give us the ability to cut the budget with each department cutting back. Job numbers were promoted as positive for Biden only because he grew the government and not private sector jobs.
Excellent explanation.
"you are still so worried about what MSM will say"
Oh piss on them. They are dropping like flies hit with Raid.
Just today... First class nigger cunt racist / sexist Joy Reid bit the dust.
I hope she jumps off a cliff.
I’m happy, too, that Joy Reid’s program was pulled, but crude language really degrades the quality of the discussion.
Oh horseshit. You are playing the David French role. To hell with the don't say shit if you had a mouthful of it crowd.
There is NOTHING you can throw at a parasite like Reid that is too much. Tying it to two horses and swatting horse ass wouldn't be too much.
Thinking you should be principled with unprincipled creeps like the left is stupid.
That BTW is a big problem on the right. Their religion, which is valuable to them and animates much of their thinking, is just too "nice."
The only reason to turn the other cheek is to grab a new can of whoopass.
James, the rank racist language is demeaning and mean spirited. Not cool.
I'm way too old to give a damn about dumb cocksuckers who use words like "cool."
Some things should be demeaned. Some things should be sworn at. Reid is the kind of thing that fits that category.
Language , please.
Hey James, I don’t like Joy at all for her views. But I could care less about her God-given immutable characteristics which includes her black skin. She is still a member of the human race. No need to use the ‘N’ word, here or anywhere.
I hate Joy Reid too, but no need for racist terms
We are still in the first impressions of Trump’s second term. The news is coming in fast and hot, like a week of news every day, even Sunday. The $20 Billion EPA slush fund was Democrat graft. How many more will turn up? I’d say half a dozen at least. All the green energy programs were set up just to spend money, not to cause any measuable effect in the climate. All the DEI training too. We still have a long way to go.
Well said Kurt.
You're missing a major consideration here, Sasha.
The left is supported, protected, and especially FINANCED by government itself—most especially the apparatus of the administrative state—using rules and regulations in addition to oceans of taxpayers' money and national debt. The system is rotten all the way down.
You won't ever seiously weaken or destroy the left through argument or electoral politics. You must cut off their means of support, the lifeblood of their subversion. That involves rooting out every grant, loan, subsidy, contract, salary, award, and tax break the leftists within the government have, over a period of more than a half century, managed to route to their compatriots.
THAT is the mission of DOGE and the aim of the Trump II administration. More power to them. Damn the media flaks (and those, um, faint of heart)—full speed ahead!
That was nicely said, Richard. I don't care if you are red, blue, right, or left. If you are a fraud and a thief, you will be taken down. Clean house!
I'm not a fraud OR a thief! And I generally wear gray and am ambidextrous. Please don't demolish my dirty house. And thanks for the compliment.
Another excellent response. Well said.
So the cuts only hurt "leftists".
The cuts are going to hurt the thieves and crooks profiting off the fraud and waste.
No one cares what political party they affiliate with.
Stealing our money stops now.
So all of the federal workers who have been cut like young people working as park rangers are thieves and crooks? You may come to "care" if some of them are Repubs who decide to change their votes.
No....the rank and file who lose their jobs will suffer short term. But if they were hired unnecessarily for meaningless jobs, they become expendable and unfortunately learn a painful lesson.
Don't fall for the innocent puppy trap, ie, if you cut this program this poor puppy will die. If a few puppies have to die, or a few good people are put out of work to cut $37T of debt, that's life. The talented hard working people will find jobs elsewhere.
The Federal work force is made up of 30% veterans, compared to just 5% in the private workforce. I don't think finding good jobs is that easy.
Let the veterans run the VA instead of DEI hires.
@NWCitizen
Suggest you delve a bit deeper into various American institutions to broaden your understanding of just where and how the left lives, works, and prospers.
Start with the larger foundations, following (if you can, it's not easy) their grants to smaller non-profits and NGOs. Then look into the upper tier of American colleges and universities and see the revolving door of fellowships, visiting professorships, seminars (with honoraria), funding of various "institutes," "chairs," "councils," "centers," and "schools." Finally, look at the CVs and resumés of the American elite (NYT marriage announcements are a GREAT source!). See as well the prior "work" histories of the heads of large non-profits and corporate entities with large public exposures (e.g. national media, banks, and insurance companies).
I'm confident that once you get a little more knowledge under your belt, you'll see more clearly the myriad linkages and networking apparatus that support and extend the cultural, economic, and governmental power of the left in the USA and around the world.
So no one who does research at a university or works at a large non-profit or a corporate entity such as national media, banks, and insurance companies performs any useful work? And they are only leftists? I thought DJT headed, and people like Jared Kushner work in large corporate entities. Kushner even got his buddy the MSB to invest $2B in his hedge fund. Trump ran various fraudulent entities such as Trump charity, Trump university, etc.
Your ignorant questions and irrelevant observations along with a few juvenile suppositions and sliming thrown in for good measure indicate:
1) you have not taken my suggestions to heart and embarked on learning the essentials prior to engaging those who have, and
2) you have little intention of doing so, preferring instead to hurl poo and repeat the left's silly "talking points" apparently thinking they successfully deliver you the argument rather then simply causing those seeking dialogue and understanding to disengage. I'm of the latter persuasion. Good night and good bye.
Your "genius" observations based on NYT marriage announcements give you the basis of a large controlled study to support your beliefs.
You're right. I posted something along the same lines.
My father used to comically say, when working on a project: measure with a micrometer, mark it with a crayon--then cut it with an axe....
I worked for the Federal government for 23 years. I would typically only do about 15 hours of work in a week. Most of the work I did wasn't really necessary. It did bother me that I was getting paid to do so little but I had a family to support and I rationalized it. It's not something that I'm proud of. I took an early out at 51 and got a pension and was able to keep my health insurance. How many people in the private sector have such opportunities?
We will hear countless sob stories of dedicated government employees who are tossed out on the street despite being great workers. Let me assure you that for every one these, there are a dozen people who are doing very little and getting paid for it. I saw a Facebook post from a former colleague of mine complaining that a Census Bureau study on the LGBT community was being cut. Is it really necessary that we have a government agency asking people about their sex lives?
I love the National Parks too and have visited most of them (well most of the ones that people know, not all those new obscure parks that nobody has ever heard of). But I am the exception. Most people I know never go to a National Park. Maybe they went to the Grand Canyon as a kid but that's about it. For a country that is 36 trillion dollars in debt, I don't think the National Parks should be the one area that is untouchable.
Government workers have long been shielded from the consequences of poor performance at work and they have come to believe they have a right to lifetime employment. For the first time in my lifetime we are seeing real change. The fact that some people are squealing is proof that Trump and Musk are actually getting something done.
Brave post. Thank you.
Thank you for giving us first hand information about the culture that has grown as the government bloats up.
Thank you for your honesty. I agree that the squealing is a tell tale sign that sh*t is getting done!
Today on ‘Jotting in Purple’ Substack the guest post was from someone who also worked as consultant to government over many years going back to mid 1980’s. Wonder if any of his observations you experienced?
https://jotpurple.substack.com/p/23-february-2025?triedRedirect=true
There is NO too far, go all the way!!
I’m tired of all the whining
No one in the private sector has any kind of job security
If someone isn’t getting a job done (or doesn’t actually have a job that requires more than 3 hours a day)…they need to find a new job
This ☝️
Sasha Stone, you are at the top of your game! My warmest compliments on this latest Substack offering.
Got to keep up the blitzkrieg through the institutions.
I hope people understand that our country is in such a mess that there will be some pain involved in fixing it. If you are 100 lbs overweight, the road back to health will not be a walk in the park. It takes desire and discipline to do what’s needed, despite the short term pain.
I hope people will understand that. But I fear many will not.
People don't like discomfort. This is not the WW2 Generation.
Ah, I am in that tiny generation born in WWII, which absorbed the values of the
Great Generation who,of course,went through the Great Depression. people like us have clothes in our closets that qualify as vintage. We recycle leftovers until
they are gone. Plates taken from a meal better be clean. We rode city buses 5
miles to school. We had chores. We didn’t get to take an out the family car on a date, unless we were perfect drivers. I, myself, have never received a traffic ticket in all my 70 years of driving. When Dr. Spock changed the child rearing methods,
into the permissive style, I thought my parents had lost their minds in the ways my boomer siblings were being raised. And the boomers turned out to really not
like discomfort.
I agree with the first sentence. That said, if things are not rectified while there is still some freedom of action, it will need to be addressed when there is precious little. At that point, discomfort will be best described as commodious.
I agree with the second sentence. This is not the WW2 Generation. Alas not even the Vietnam generation .. they might not have been quite as stoic or tough, but they made up for it with GENUINE tolerance of everyone and everyone's bad jokes. (Are Dead Baby jokes even still a thing?)
Absolutely. The Greatest Generation was the greatest and they could endure. Because they had to fight a war. Fourth Turning. According to Howe & Strauss, we are in the Fourth Turning now. We are due for a war. It has to be a major war that causes people to have to sacrifice everything, endure, & toughen up. The generation that fights is the Hero generation, which is supposed to be Millennials. However, this 4th Turning has been slow & we haven't gotten to the war yet, so I wonder if it will actually be Gen Z. Regardless, whoever does the fighting will hopefully become Heroes like the WW2 Generation & then we will have an American High like we did in the 1950s.
I’m not sure if this or future 4th Turnings will be full out wars. Maybe if they are civil wars. But external wars of great bloodletting magnitude that typify past 4th Turnings in USA and English history were done not under the reality of nuclear weapons. Nukes to me change the historical calculus when it comes to a an all-out external war, turning us from a full Crisis Winter to the High of a new Spring. We could just go from Winter to Nuclear Winter.
Trump, Vance, Musk and key cabinet officials need to get in front of this. A weekly “here’s what we discovered this week and here’s what we’ve done about it” press conference. Or even a weekly town hall. Show the American people in no uncertain terms how we’ve been ripped off. But then show why they’re making the cuts and the long term difference it’s going to make. Show a chart (remember Reagan’s chart?) of what the financial picture of this country looks like if the status quo is maintained 10 years down the road or even five years. And how disastrous that would be for most Americans.
Some people may be just people, but the Administrative state is also just that. If the last eight years are any indication, the federal bureaucracy has no intention of relinquishing power. Proceed accordingly.
It is going to have to sting for a minute. Cut all of the nonessential staff you can and then hire back or contract out what is needed.
If this is about the claims on X about the ONLY PARK RANGER LOCKSMITH got axed and now people can get locked into the bathrooms and the entire park has no available options to help people who lock themselves in the bathroom and can't figure out how to unlock the door, it is ridiculous. This story just fuels why it needs to be razed and rebuilt with competent people that have common sense and a work ethic.
Don't fall for their gaslighting. Regarding the post from the lady on X: is that the former State Senator O'Brien? If so, did she pull strings for her daughter? Also, seems like there's two offices for the Manistee National Forest (which sounds like duplication efforts which should be streamlined.) Sorry, but my kid didn't have a luxurious government job with full benefits to even be laid off from. Second, regarding Yosemite and that protest stunt? Fire. Those. Employees. Now. If the rest of us average hard-working citizens tried that at our jobs we'd be fired before we even got that protest flag into position for hanging. Remember the original Ghostbusters? And Dan Ackroyd's character's remark about the private sector and how they expected results? Well, IMHO, it's about time for government employees to get results - we, the Taxpayers, are owed that much. Cut away, Trump, cut away. And, if he thinks Musk can do it the best, then have at it. As for Musk having Asperger's? Who cares - I'd rather have an employee with that trying to fix our spending problems than having some pink-haired Woke idiot with a major in Lesbian Dance Theory sipping lattes and giving our money to Stacey Abrams. As for Kirn and Taibbi? Walter mentioned about how the miners in Montana sweat their butts off, get dirt on their hands that never comes out and, sometimes, die on the job. There's not just sweat on those dollars we send to DC, sometimes there's blood on those dollars...
Very good points, great response.
Sasha, excellent post. I wonder if you realize what a service you render when you initiate this kind of conversation.
I wasted about eight hours this past week trying to defend Trump’s moves, online, to panic-stricken Leftwing Trump haters who were posting fearmongering false charges against the current administration. I offered them thoroughly documented papers explaining why Trump and his team are taking these actions.
My efforts went nowhere. These people don’t want logical arguments. They want their echo-chamber reinforcements, not actual facts or reassurance that Trump is not a fascist. And they resort to ad hominem attacks when countered.
Reading this interchange restores my hope in the American people. Thanks, y’all!
“Reading this interchange restores my hope in the American people.”
The American people no longer are a people. We lack a common reality and can no longer agree on things as basic as borders, immigration, meritocracy, gender, education or on much of anything. It’s simply an ever more unworkable society. I don’t say this to be Mr Doom and Gloom. It’s what I see every single day in my city, Chicago, country and world.
I used to live in Chicago, so I get it. But the vibe you feel is because you’re in one of the small number of blue areas of the country. When you live in a red area like I now do, you definitely do not the feel doom and gloom. https://vividmaps.com/2024-presidential-election-county-by-county/
Yes, great post. I’ve done the same. When President Trump won, and one of these people tried to bait me into an argument, I said, “you don’t listen or reason. I have preached and I am not doing it anymore. I have to put my energy into my family.”
There’s a lot of “exaggeration” going on, a lot of lying, a lot of overreacting. We need to maintain our focus on the goal. We’ve been told that it was going to get worse before it gets better, we’ve been told that there was going to be some pain involved. Our government is severely bloated and there is rampant fraud everywhere in it. DOGE needs to sift through this mountain of shit and root it out. The left, the deep state, are pulling out all the stops trying to discredit and shut down Trump, DOGE and all of us who voted for change. They will say and do anything to achieve their goal.
We cannot allow that to happen. We must keep our eyes on the prize. I have no worries whatsoever about DOGE, if anything, I wish they would move faster and break more things.
DOGE is already codified into our law. Look up what Sen. Coburn (R-OK) did on Wiki
when he discovered that USAID was funding a prostitution ring of young Eastern Indian girls who had been sex trafficked. His fury resulted in a law being codified for transparency in our taxpayer money. This was two decade ago. Other open book places were part of this where anyone could look at where money was going.
I saw that Clinton and Gore also went after waste and efficiency in government.
Clinton left office with No Debt. Remember Gore in his famous “lock box” remarks?
I'm with the chainsaw gang. Will there be some collateral damage? Yep. There always is and those people can find their way in the real world or spend the rest of their lives crying on tiktok. I don't care.
I am with you, Steven. Have at it! 100 percent.
The government employees 2.7 million. There are at least that many contractors. And another 5 million working for NGOs and other entities receiving funding from the govt and allegedly carrying out policy. Total is 10-11 million.
I don’t know what the correct number might be. But it’s not 10 million. And it’s not 2.7 million.
Literally millions need to go.
Oh and just an FYI. The distress flag display at Yosemite. I asked AI. There are about 1100 employees. Half are government and direct contract workers. The other have are service workers, all of whom fall under the lease auspices of the government. Most get subsidized or free housing.
So of the 1100 less than 20 total are being removed from their positions.
Exactly. I looked up the percentages of the park rangers last night and it’s not that high for all of their doomsday theatrics. It really makes me wonder how they will react when something back actually does happen.
On different approaches, but both Musk and Trump try something, see how it works, then adjust.
So wait. See what happens.