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Post by granolamom on Nov 19, 2024 19:10:29 GMT -4
Ramaswamy and Musk are supposed to head the new Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE, which will almost certainly transfer wealth to private hands and usher in a cryptocurrency-based kleptocracy.
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ahah
Landed Gentry
Posts: 734
May 18, 2021 10:34:59 GMT -4
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Post by ahah on Nov 19, 2024 19:48:54 GMT -4
Musk is also proposing that employees who are eliminated got 2-3 years of severance to give them time to get training, move, or do whatever they need to adjust into new jobs. That's a lot of money for all the employees they'd cut to make government smaller. Where are we going to come up with that kind of money? Two to three years is crazy. It's nice, but still totally crazy. A large portion of the idea behind streamlining bureaucracy is that we don't have the money now. Debt service is currently 14% of the federal budget. For comparison, the military is 13% of the overall budget. So yes, it's a lot of money. But if most of the jobs eliminated don't get re-created, then it's an expense for 2-3 years as opposed to decades. Now the piece of that I don't think Musk is thinking about because he hasn't had to deal with it in his companies is how the pensions of those laid off play in. In fairness, Ramaswamy goes on, in that video, to say it's a thought experiment. What he'd prefer (again, from the video) is that government employees be retained on the basis of their knowledge of the Constitution and general fitness for their jobs. The host points out that if the 25% percent who are left in their jobs are smart and competent, then other smart and competent people will be attracted to government jobs. I am in no way a supporter of Ramaswamy, his ideas, or anyone else in the incoming administration; just wanted to say that the SSN elimination method is a random idea, not a policy proposal YET. He likes the idea because he thinks it would ward off wrongful termination lawsuits. Also, the first digit of one's SSN is a reflection of where you were born (or where you lived when you first applied for a SSN), not where you live now. Since there's a certain amount of internal migration in the US, firing people based on that number would not necessarily harm one state or another. Each new Cabinet nomination makes me want to retch. I can't believe that R senators are our last line of defense against the s#!+show that is looming in January. Thanks for making that point. I listened to the podcast this afternoon and was going to post the same thing. He said a couple of times that it was a thought experiment, and specifically said it is NOT a policy prescription. Overall I thought that in the podcast Ramaswamy came across as some of the people that were in my college poli-sci classes who thought dominating the class discussion would get them a good grade, and then discovered that many professors loved to obliterate a blow hard. But I did not come away from that thinking Ramaswsamy was genuinely ready to start his SSN inventory. |
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Post by Spinderella on Nov 19, 2024 20:07:12 GMT -4
In fairness, Ramaswamy goes on, in that video, to say it's a thought experiment. What he'd prefer (again, from the video) is that government employees be retained on the basis of their knowledge of the Constitution and general fitness for their jobs. The host points out that if the 25% percent who are left in their jobs are smart and competent, then other smart and competent people will be attracted to government jobs. I am in no way a supporter of Ramaswamy, his ideas, or anyone else in the incoming administration; just wanted to say that the SSN elimination method is a random idea, not a policy proposal YET. He likes the idea because he thinks it would ward off wrongful termination lawsuits. Yes, he did say it was a "thought experiment" but also said that he didn't find the idea crazy. I know it isn't a policy proposal (YET!), but the mere fact that these blowhards are even entertaining or bringing up such a wackadoo idea just shows you the way their minds work. If he could come up with it being one way at handling elimination of governmental employees, just think of what else he could come up with. |
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opalescent
Valet
Posts: 83
Mar 17, 2020 9:21:42 GMT -4
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Post by opalescent on Nov 19, 2024 20:10:54 GMT -4
It seems to me that Musk and Ramaswamy are under the mistaken impression that American citizens work for them.
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cremetangerine82
Blueblood
“These are the times that try men's souls.” - Thomas Paine
Posts: 1,834
Nov 29, 2021 1:38:37 GMT -4
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Post by cremetangerine82 on Nov 19, 2024 21:08:42 GMT -4
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mimiblue
Valet
Posts: 34 
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Post by mimiblue on Nov 19, 2024 21:38:36 GMT -4
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Post by Spinderella on Nov 20, 2024 0:50:29 GMT -4
Trump taps former WWE CEO Linda McMahon to serve as education secretary. It seems fitting that they should have the CEO of a fake enterprise that's totally staged be in charge of a department that they're going to end up dismantling and have no use for her at some point.
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cremetangerine82
Blueblood
“These are the times that try men's souls.” - Thomas Paine
Posts: 1,834
Nov 29, 2021 1:38:37 GMT -4
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Post by cremetangerine82 on Nov 20, 2024 2:12:00 GMT -4
Trump taps former WWE CEO Linda McMahon to serve as education secretary. It seems fitting that they should have the CEO of a fake enterprise that's totally staged be in charge of a department that they're going to end up dismantling and have no use for her at some point. Dr. Phil as Surgeon General is going to happen, right? |
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Post by Malle Babbe on Nov 20, 2024 5:21:39 GMT -4
Nah, it's going to be Dr. Stella Immanuel, the doctor they trotted out during the pandemic who thimgs endometriosis is caused by getting plowed by an incubus.
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Post by MrsOldManBalls on Nov 20, 2024 12:23:58 GMT -4
Geez...while I was typing this I got a news alert that Dr. Oz will lead Medicare and Medicaid. Dr. Phil is patiently awaiting his appointment as Surgeon General. I want to laugh but….. |
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