DOGE for the win. It appears that USAID was just a gigantic grift machine. How many agencies does our government need to dole out our cash?
Two top security officials at the US Agency for International Development were put on administrative leave Saturday night after attempting to refuse officials from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency access systems at the agency, even after DOGE personnel threatened to call law enforcement, multiple sources familiar told CNN.
According to sources, personnel from the Musk-created office physically tried to access the USAID headquarters in Washington, DC, and were stopped. The DOGE personnel demanded to be let in and threatened to call US Marshals to be allowed access, two of the sources said.
The DOGE personnel wanted to gain access to USAID security systems and personnel files, three sources said. Two of those sources also said the DOGE personnel wanted access to classified information, which only those with security clearances and a specific need to know are able to access.
[…]
The condemnation from the tech billionaire underscores mounting reports that President Donald Trump intends to abolish USAID, an independent federal agency, and fold it into the US State Department. Other top Trump officials, such as Stephen Miller, who serves as deputy chief of staff for policy at the White House, have also taken aim at USAID, accusing its workforce of being overwhelmingly Democrats.
On Saturday, USAID’s website went dark and a new page for the agency appeared on the State Department website. USAID’s X account also went offline Saturday.
Shortly after being sworn in last month, Trump issued a sweeping executive order pausing all foreign aid for 90 days, leading to widespread confusion, layoffs and program shutdowns.
USAID Director of Security John Voorhees and his deputy are among dozens of USAID officials who have been put on leave amid fears that the agency is being intentionally dismantled — a move that some aid officials argue would have massive negative implications.
It’s well-known that USAID is controlled by the CIA. Also note that USAID sent money to NGOs which spent money on local DA races; those races were also supported by TIDES and the Soros outfits.
But it would be a bad move to subsume USAID into State. State is–arguably–the Deep State’s largest refuge and has–for years–been supporting policies and governments which are in direct opposition to US interests or even right order. (Tranny education, abortion, birth control implantation, etc.)
Now do DOGE v. Treasury.
Apparently lil’ Marco has already taken over as acting director.
Well, well, well. Musk and his geek squad are turning over all kinds of rocks.
Rabid anti-Trumper Bill Kristol’s Defending Democracy has been an indirect beneficiary of the USAID slush fund through Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors… by way of the Hopewell Fund. At least $2m worth of taxpayer money. Old Billy whored out for cheap.
Heh.
Over $8m across hundreds of USAID grants to Politico. Plus 37 pro subscriptions at $14,000 per.
Zero Hedge has an article indicating up to $32m from various US agencies to Politico during Obama 3.0.
Pop some popcorn… the revelations are just getting started.
https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1887147292412490111
Benny Johnson
@bennyjohnson
This is the biggest scandal in news media history:
No employee at Politico got paid yesterday. First time ever the company missed a pay period. This is a crisis.
Now we learn Politico — a “news company” — which spent the last 10 years trying to destroy the MAGA Movement was being massively funded by USAID.
Trump & Elon deleted their funding.
Now Politico will go out of business.
The corruption is endless.
Good riddance
Mike. Politico is different than Politico Pro. Educate yourself before repeating mindless takes you find on X of all places.
Same daddy. Same pockets. Politico is free for the masses while Politico Pro is an expensive subscription service. Both have high propaganda value. The only difference from yesterday is that the federal government is no longer a client. Maybe.
>Mike. Politico is different than Politico Pro. Educate yourself before repeating mindless takes you find on X of all places.
I am not sure what you are trying to say there, JV. Politico has been spewing anti-Trump crap and ‘debunking’ any and every left failure as right hate speech for many years and they have been receiving the illicit funds. Are you trying to say that only Politico Pro has been receiving money and the sudden money problems Politico is having is unrelated? What are you trying to teach there?
Politico pro is a subscription level of Politico.
I would be curious to know how many non-government entities have a Politico pro subscription.
Same company. Two COMPLETELY different services. Pro is primarily a legislative tracking service. Compare it to the Bloomberg service that tracks stocks in the background. Politico and Pro are separate and independent. Feel free to read more on it. But sure… continue to be uninformed.
And my favorite takes are that because Politico reports on MAGA that they are anti-Trump. Feel free to point me to the “fake news”.
I am just sitting here watching Musk trample the constitution and do things that Republicans screamed about for years. 404 Media, The Verge and Wired are all great sources of info on this.
JV
So pro is for the professional extremists and std politico is to misinform the masses. I am still not sure what your point is. Politico has been a professional hitter against the right and apologists and hiders of the truth favoring the left. Are you trying to say that only one accepted “Aid” from the US while the other didn’t? Or are you complaining that Politico received 8 million while pro only received 1/2 a million (largely rhetorical)? Politico is the criminal, being paid to lie to the masses.
I don’t give 2 shits about Pro, they cater to their own clientele, though paying for the subscriptions with public money is likely still BS too (at least to the tune of $14,000/year). So all this whining is about how Mike added $518,000 of Politico Pro graft to the Politico fraud having been committed over the years of its Dem Governmental financial support and how that should be separate? Ok Fine, take off the 37 subscriptions from Mike’s comment and give us a lib reaction about just Politico.
1)The fact seems to be that Politico can’t pay its bills the same week that illicit funds from our USAID office dried up. If it doesn’t have enough liquidity to pay its employees the same week it loses illegally provided Government funds, doesn’t it mean that it is almost entirely supported by the Democrat provided money?
If not, what does it mean?
I read a wired article on Elon Musk’s ‘takeover’ of Government. That piece, at least, has zero data pointing to illegal or unconstitutional activity though the indirect allegations are there. Choose which parts of the constitution you think are clearly being trampled and list which ones you believe are most obvious. Keep in mind that all public offices have supposedly public records of salaries, aid given and in fact, any non-classified money spent by Government. Most of the Wired report I read are about access given to Musk’s people. I saw nothing illegal or unconstitutional about it, despite the implications. What are you sitting there watching? So far, Musk has only offered suggestions of what to cut in the budget, but Wired is accusing him of putting ‘his people’ in Governmental positions. I see they called out ‘at least’ 6 young men by name who are part of Musk’s team to try and gain outrage or something by age shaming, but aside from pointing out that at least one of them currently has a DOGE email (listing him as a volunteer), Wired listed nothing that their current assignment shouldn’t have.
2) Please list a few constitutional laws/rules that DOGE (or Musk individually) has trampled.
3) I don’t recall Republicans screaming about a Government agency that was created to trim Governmental waste spending and theft, what were you referring to? Trampling the Constitution is a Dem trademark is that what you meant?. Whatever you were referring to please answer accordingly.
3 honest questions/requests, Care to respond to them JV?
JV lies, just like Politico: Politico and Pro are separate and independent.
From Politico Pro’s website:
POLITICO Pro is staffed by a dedicated reporting team within the POLITICO newsroom.
POLITICO provides accurate, nonpartisan, impactful information to the right people at the right time.
Since its launch in 2011, POLITICO Pro has evolved from a subscription news service built on POLITICO’s mission to a comprehensive policy intelligence platform.
Feel free to read more on it.
Politico lies, just like JV: POLITICO Pro provides nonpartisan and trusted coverage.
Isn’t that funny MJM?
One day, jv says “Educate yourself before repeating mindless takes you find ”
The next day he’s vomiting the same bullshit the Left MSM is handing out.
I’m quite enthralled with the left on this – Early on the USAID drama… the left is saying “OMG, starving children and pregnant women are going to die if we even look at USAID’s books”. Now that some details of those books are coming out they have pivoted to “OMG, so what we sent 1.5 million to Serbia to teach LGBTQ’s how to milk chickens… our deficit is 9 TRILLION!”
I’m wondering… if Politico Pro is – and note, these are ESTIMATES ONLY – between 10k and 14k… and USAID spent 8 MILLION last year… why do they need anywhere from 571 and 800 subscriptions? Do they have 571 – 800 people that need the “primarily a legislative tracking service”
Oh and one last thing, rumor has it, the subscriptions to Politico Pro started when Biden took office Prior to that $0 was washed through Politico. Hmmm.
Oh and one last thing. Musk is a turd of a human and I don’t like him at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if he spends much of his day reading through X DM’s. I have zero trust in him. But someone needs to take an axe to the Fed Machina and get control of where our extorted tax dollars are going.
Ah the hypocrisy
A few left politicians on about repairs spend on a house that Hegseth is going to rent…
“The highly paid TV personality wants the public to cover this and other living expenses at a time when many servicemembers and their families reside in unacceptable housing conditions that include mold, lead paint, and other hazards,”
And yet those same dems are lock-step defending USAID that spent 2 Million for “ACTIVITY TO STRENGTHEN TRANS-LED ORGANIZATIONS TO DELIVER GENDER-AFFIRMING HEALTH CARE, ADVOCATE FOR IMPROVED QUALITY AND ACCESS TO SERVICES, AND PROVIDE ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OPPORTUNITIES.” in Guatemala – ASOCIACION LAMBDA.
Asociacion Lambda, looks like a busy place, a great place to hand out 2 million dollars of my money… https://www.google.com/maps/place/Asociaci%C3%B3n+LAMBDA/@14.6352304,-90.5206424,3a,89.6y,302.75h,89.23t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPkUzGy02oxR51daW_w_M8aBPz29sHg9k97r2Ig!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPkUzGy02oxR51daW_w_M8aBPz29sHg9k97r2Ig%3Dw900-h600-k-no-pi0.7729254749399388-ya292.03854553849595-ro0-fo100!7i5760!8i2880!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x8589a2216de40145:0x69ccb535ecab9b2c!2sAsociaci%C3%B3n+LAMBDA!8m2!3d14.6353923!4d-90.521485!16s%2Fg%2F11g7zh2mpc!3m5!1s0x8589a2216de40145:0x69ccb535ecab9b2c!8m2!3d14.6353923!4d-90.521485!16s%2Fg%2F11g7zh2mpc?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDIwNS4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
Jason claims I am spouting Main Street media points. What he doesn’t say is that they are the TRUTH!
8 million among all the gov. Not USAID. Why do they need that many licenses? Probably because it is against terms of service to share them. Pretty standard stuff. USAID paid 24k last year. That’s 1 or 2 licenses probably.
Republicans House committee paid 58k to them.
I also agree that we need to slash budgets. I would start in the military and DoD. Also let the tax cuts expire. But it has to be done the right way. Congress decides the purse. Not the President. All DOGE can do is make recommendations. And there is no way they should have anything other than read-only access to anything. Congress is required to do budgeting.
>JV lies, just like Politico: Politico and Pro are separate and independent.
Ah, I see MJM has answered the questions I asked JV in the first 2 words for him so he feels no need…
>Jason claims I am spouting Main Street media points. What he doesn’t say is that they are the TRUTH!
When you get around to spouting one truth, especially an LSM ‘truth’, please preface it so we know, cuz it ain’t happened here yet.
>8 million among all the gov. Not USAID.
Both you and Jason were wrong on this btw. The 8 million went to supporting Politico (from the USAID office), not subscriptions on Politico Pro. Separately, Merlin noted there were 37 subscriptions to Pro ALONG WITH the 8 million in aid packages to politico for the disinformation provided to the masses. It wasn’t Politico Pro that could not pay their workers, those subscriptions are likely one year subscriptions, so if Pro did not pay their people something is fishy in the Politico and Pro books. The subscriptions were already paid. And just think, if Dems had paid Politico for the fun bias they write out of their own pockets (like should have been done to a private business), it would still be going strong. No they had to pay it with public funds from the AID office. You defending it for an instant once again proves your lack of healthy brain functions. No one should be against plugging an illegal corrupt hole like this. You are mindlessly fighting the fights you are told to fight whether it makes a lick of sense in the first place or not.
You can admit that the budget needs to be slashed, but only if it attacks a valid liberal target like the DoD. I disagree, resetting basic Democracy away from the lies that the much too large bureaucracy has been badly abusing since the 60s is much higher in my priority list. If ‘aid’ is going to a biased hit journal like Politico, that aid office needs to be audited, slashed, and possibly closed and restarted with a new mission because that is not aid, Liberals talking about money is like a carnival game, the entire subject coming from a lib mouth has been rigged to waste money to gain at best a cheap plastic prize. “WE CAN’T STOP A PROGRAM THAT IS BANKRUPTING US, THINK OF THE LITTLE BOY IN A GIRL’S BODY IN BURMA! THE HORROR!!!
T, your reading comprehension is going downhill. i didn’t defend USAID or the Politico subscriptions. i don’t care either way. I was merely stating there is a difference between the two
products.
And I don’t think we ARE wrong. USAID paid 44K for Politico Pro subs. Feel free to point me to any valid news source stating so. The total fed gov paid 34M over the last decade. DECADE, including the last Trump administration.
And their payroll issue apparently had nothing to do with the cuts, literally a payroll bug. As they stated, the govt is 1/1000 of their revenue. It is used primarily by lobbyists.
FWIW USAID did a lot of good things, they also were probably a way for the CIA to push money and agendas in foreign places. It can be both.
So T, pull your head out of your ass and see that the world isn’t black and white. Or keep going down your insane hyper political rabbit hole. I don’t care.
>T, your reading comprehension is going downhill.
And yours was never there.
>i didn’t defend USAID or the Politico subscriptions. i don’t care either way.
Why are all you libs not paying twice what you are paying now in taxes voluntarily? You just said it yourself, you don’t care what Gov does with your money. Can I send you my tax bill? Because every single self aware person I know cares about their financial situation, so if you don’t, please send some money to the Guv in my name. Or did I read “i don’t care either way” incorrectly?
>I was merely stating there is a difference between the two products.
>Feel free to point me to any valid news source stating so. The total fed gov paid 34M over the last decade.
Merlin’s words: “Over $8m across hundreds of USAID grants to Politico. Plus 37 pro subscriptions at $14,000 per.”
You did not question the source, you did not question numbers then, but now you are? You weren’t defending USAID, but now you are? For once have your arguments match your words and keep the same narrative. What was saying the two divisions of the same company are totally different supposed to mean?
> And I don’t think we ARE wrong. USAID paid 44K for Politico Pro subs. Feel free to point me to any valid news source stating so. The total fed gov paid 34M over the last decade. DECADE, including the last Trump administration.
Yep, definitely defending now according to my limited understanding of your words, feel free to tell me how I am wrong again, heh. But wait, there’s more cuz your words are not only going downhill in consecutive paragraphs they are snowballing downward in the same paragraph. First, I would not take your figures over Merlin’s, because he seems to get much of his information from less biased sources, as in this case I think, from DOGE releases, where you get yours through a liberal filter, otherwise the numbers would match…a little. Paragraph 1, not defending USAID, paragraph 2 you are defending USAID.
In the same paragraph, you point out that the payments were over the last DECADE including Trump’s first term, like he is what, therefore complicit?.
This is relevant in only one way and if you can grasp it you will hate it. Trump did not initiate DOGE in his first term, he was forced to fight both parties just to use the toilet. Trump likely saw that sort of waste in his first term and there was nothing he could do about it. This time he came in with a plan, a great plan for the people, and it includes projects like DOGE which he did not hide, he campaigned on it. Do you think Trump saw and approved of the graft the first time? A fake news agency dedicated to find ways to falsely and continually call him a liar paid for by Government foreign aid? If he had brought it up any time during his first term, every lib would have called him a liar with nothing but lies ever coming from his mouth just like they did for his every other word. That is literally one of the dumbest ‘points’ you have made to date. I read where your 44k comment came from, and hey, if you want to continually go back to sources that never make Dems look bad and have been paid by Dems to do so, you can do that.
>FWIW USAID did a lot of good things, they also were probably a way for the CIA to push money and agendas in foreign places. It can be both.
Not worth anything coming from your sources and the money came from the USAID office responsible for handing out and processing foreign aid. And please, every office has done some good things, but that doesn’t make it a permanent fixture of Government when we are drowning in debt. It would be great if we could just eliminate the graft and keep all the good things, but it just isn’t possible when half your Government (closer to 85% including the non-elected Democrat bureaucracy) are interested in that graft and their private ends over any project for the American people.
Does anyone have an explanation on how Politico received free money from the foreign aid agency? You don’t have to bother JV, all credibility lost.
Defend the lib view? “No, I don’t care! But I will point out a worthless (and false) factoid on the commentary that means nothing.”
Answer any questions that take thought or consideration? “Nope, don’t even mention them.”
I rarely claim that anything is black & white. I know Reps are complicit with much of the designs many people only blame Dems for, but Reps may have woken up enough to start tackling the debt and I cheer them on. You keep on praying for a debt larger than the GDP through unquestioning Dem overlordship and secrecy. I will hope for this beginning on the return to a Representative Democracy to continue and get bigger despite idiots like just about every lib I converse with.
LOLOLOLOL. CBSnews, Snopes, AND USASPENDING all have the number at 34M over the last decade and 44k from USAID. Look it up yourself rather than believe me or Merlin. Cause I did. You apparently just believe any random internet commenter, ok Boomer.
I don’t care what happens with USAID. If it stays or goes. It’s a drop in the bucket overall. And if the Politico accounts are useful to keep track of Govt news and bills and staffing, great. I don’t care if they spend that money. As long as it is a useful resource to get their jobs done. Or maybe there is a different subscription service they can use. I want efficiency.
And again T, you are coming at this from a perspective of “liberal agenda”. And “Bad Democrats” learn to step back and look. Stop projecting what you “think” you know. I want a balanced budget. I want WAY HIGHER corporate taxes. And I am ok with higher personal taxes if I feel like they are getting something good out of it. I would pay more for universal healthcare, no question.
Oh, if you think the Republicans have changed at all, you have lost all your marbles. Wait until this next budget and see if they try and attach any less pork. Doubtful. They are all just kissing Trumps ass because they know that is all he really wants is to be popular. He is the dumbest president of our lifetime. Doesn’t make him any less popular or effective. Just dumb.
I don’t mind DOGE as a concept. But it should be done right as an advisory agency and then thru Congress. And probably not led by someone as slimy as Musk and who has a HUGE conflict of interest with SpaceX.
Oh, and if you find yourself only talking to idiots… maybe it isn’t them, maybe it is you?
I want WAY HIGHER corporate taxes.
OK. Who’s going to PAY those way-high taxes?
Talk about “dumb.”
>I want efficiency.
Then don’t condone the systemic corruption of DC.
DOGE/Musk are essentially performing an investigative function within the executive branch at the direction of the chief executive. DOGE is also advisory to the extent that they can make non-binding recommendations, but they do not have independent decision making authority. What’s novel here is that we have a chief executive willing to define government efficiency and forcefully enforce that definition.
>Stop projecting what you “think” you know. I want a balanced budget.
But you don’t vote for it or truly agree with it. If you did, you would be for DOGE, you would understand the basic concept that they do NOT have authority and that spending on all the cabinets in the Executive branch is NOT under the purview of the Legislature, the most blatant lies from the left on the issue. You would not have been FOR adding 166 billion in personal student loans being forgiven to the national public debt, you would not be so excited to throw out a useless and stupid belief about the significance of the difference between Politico and Politico Pro (or bring it up in the first place). You might have noticed that 34 million is more than 8 million and that if only 44k (your numbers) are from subscriptions there is a problem. 44k a year over the last 10 years is only half a million and that is assuming no growth in subscriptions year on year. Where did the other 34 million come from in the Government? None of your articles detail anything when they admit the 34 million except in 2 of them it does say ‘the bulk of which were subscriptions’ with as much proof as any of us here. They could easily both be true, btw. 8 million in the last year and 34 million over 10 years, LOLOLOL. Neither side is giving year over year details. You could say 34 million over the last hundred years too even if it only started in the last 10 to make it sound even more affordable. And yes, that is exactly the sort of true falsehood the LSM perpetrates. Your numbers are more damning, but you see them as truth so everything from the other side is false and everything else in your article must be true, or something (including your CBS citation. Aren’t they settling the multi-billion dollar libel suit against Trump…very trustworthy)
You may fancy a balanced budget in theory, but you won’t support it because you know the liberal agenda includes giving money they don’t have to their followers, I mean, every cause they can think of to buy votes. Then no money spigots can ever be turned off for any reason because “The children!!!”, and BECAUSE THERE IS ZERO OVERSIGHT…except you would cut the DoD, because there is no one in the world who hates us, right?
Don’t project your stupidity on me yourself. I never said I wasn’t looking forward to DoD cuts too, I never said I believed in Republicans, I said I was hopeful some serious housecleaning would happen and I did specifically mean the Executive branch. You said the media only writes about what makes them money, but you won’t consider the idea that a media site that only calls Republicans liars and always defends or mitigates the sins of Democrats is making them money and who is paying for it. You think Republicans are paying Politico? Maybe you should look up the what the terms dumb and stupid mean again. Even most idiots know that politicians do not pay for anything with their own money and I would call a news site that only prints one side of any story a fake news site. I would not want any politician to make all of their decisions based on a Politico Pro type format giving one Party only positive spins and one Party only negative spins. I would be vocal in my resistance to a Musk equivalent to Politico Pro being sold to Government. You? You don’t care because P and PP support the Party you have gone all in on. I would be for a Dem who was doing the same thing Trump is doing now because it is smart, it is necessary, and our country will not survive without it.
If DOGE is ever assigned to investigate Congress or Judges, I will be against it. Currently it is aimed at the Executive branch and you are against it because of the lies of the left. It should not report to Congress. Maybe a Legislature arm of DOGE is necessary too and it should report there. Libs/your biggest problem is that you have little idea what the Constitution means or how to apply it. We don’t subvert the Constitution if we want to control guns, we amend it. We don’t have rogue judges just change the precedented meaning of the Constitution to fit a new liberal belief of the moment. So your reasoning for not minding the idea of DOGE is nonsensical. The left has to call it something bad, though, so they throw out unconstitutional trusting that you will just believe them. It allows you to can glom onto something, I guess.
>Oh, and if you find yourself only talking to idiots… maybe it isn’t them, maybe it is you?
Maybe, but i feel the odds are heavily against it, especially after these interchanges with you.
T, I was wrong. You are just plain certifiably crazy. You blame liberals for all the problems. You refuse to believe hard facts. It’s ok, you are getting old and confused. I feel sorry for you.
All I was doing is correcting information and numbers.
USAID 44k. Only one year… EVER.
34M from the rest of the govt over the last 10 years. It isn’t a tough concept to get.
And if you were informed about this at all, you would understand that people don’t sign up for Politico Pro for the news, although it has it. The public news site is left leaning news. Politico Pro is much more analytical data analysis. But you didn’t bother to look into that and lumped it all together. Think of MSNBC and CNBC. Two completely different orgs, owned by the same company. Is that too tough for you to grok?
It is for research and detailed analysis of bills, and most important to them it keeps track of thousands of people in the federal govt, like a phone book almost. And yes, Republicans had lots of subscriptions to it because they found value in it.
I am fine with 166 B in student loan debt going back into the economy. I think there are plenty of places to cut waste in the federal budget. And there isn’t a person alive who can say that they vote for a balanced budget, because no one does it.
And we will have to wait and see what the courts say. Remember checks and balances, they still exist.
Merlin, I have no issue with DOGE recommending cuts and then happening. I don’t trust Musk. I don’t like them setting up servers to avoid FOIA. Musk has HUGE conflicts of interest here.
I hope if they find a ton of waste they cut it. My guess is they are going to make things worse, but we can wait and see.
Merlin and T have noticed that you did not respond to my “Who Pays?” question. Perhaps you know the real answer, but I doubt that.
Dad29. Users will pay more for higher taxes. No question. Much like Tariffs.
The main difference is that tariffs will lead to trade wars that won’t help our overall economy as much as higher corporate taxes. That is the primary difference.
And has there been a more pathetic look than the photo op from Trump and Musk yesterday. President Elon. Trump looked sad.
>T, I was wrong. You are just plain certifiably crazy. You blame liberals for all the problems. You refuse to believe hard facts. It’s ok, you are getting old and confused. I feel sorry for you.
And you are certifiably programmed, no worries, I accept it. Taking out Trump, list a few negative things Reps have done since Bush (the elder). Rep problems are complete and utter ineffectiveness, laziness and collusion/acceptance of Dem policies in the 21st century. I think that is pretty huge, but virtually no one defends them and so not really much to talk about. Want to? Name an issue and we can condemn them together. I criticize reps all the time, but aside from a very few people on another site, the answers are generally something like “Yeah, we know” or just crickets. The average Republican does not trust their reps to fix anything broken because they have not done so since the 80s.
Libs on the other hand actively defend every action a Dem makes and virtually all the money they spend so we have a lot more conversations, because libs accept any and all lib news sites not just as fact, but as ALL the necessary facts for every issue. You have never once questioned any lib generated ‘fact’ and do not accept any omitted fact from a lib narration as possibly true simply because a proven liar like CBS news leaves out most facts that show Dems in a bad light. Because of this we can very rarely agree on the facts, and of course we will then disagree on the conclusions. Republicans and I likely tend to look at many of the same sources. Because of this few of us trust either side of the Government because of the constant pattern of lies they generate EVERY day. However, since most of the damage is actually perpetrated by Dems this century, there is a lot more talk concerning them. So good news, Dems have been pretty effective, bad news our debt is now about a third of our GDP. Reps were complicit, but not much else.
>And if you were informed about this at all, you would understand that people don’t sign up for Politico Pro for the news, although it has it.
And if you could understand (perhaps too advanced?) English you would have noted that I differentiated between Politico and Politico Pro.
>But you didn’t bother to look into that and lumped it all together.
I did not do this and you don’t read and analyze, you read and apply the rote response you have been programmed to respond with even if it doesn’t quite fit.
From my last comment:> I would not want any politician to make all of their decisions based on a Politico Pro type format giving one Party only positive spins and one Party only negative spins.
Reports made from this sort of analysis would all lead to conclusions favoring Dems and condemning Rep positions on every issue. Sorry. I thought that was obvious. Unless you believe Pro utterly ignores who pays the bills and gives non-biased processed data in Pro, which would many times contradict Politico. I don’t and neither do you so i think it was pretty clear that I was not calling Pro a news site when I referred to it as a format rather than a news site. And to be fair, I got that from you so now you just look more programmed to me when you continue to denigrate me for something that I thought about, looked up, and then differentiated in my later comments. It shows you will argue the same thing over and over, even if it is acknowledged. If Reps only use corrupted data and conclusions from that corrupted data to make policy decisions, I will condemn those sites as well as biased sources of info to make policy from. Do you have a list? Actually, there would be 2 lists you could choose from there, recent policies made by Reps and/or the analysis sites they would have used to make those decisions.
>Think of MSNBC and CNBC. Two completely different orgs, owned by the same company. Is that too tough for you to grok?
Nope, and they report the same bias when they cover the same story. You would think a media company interested in money would have both biases in their different news agencies to make money from everyone. I would be somewhat interested if one were left leaning and one were right leaning, but I would be fascinated by a company that took out both biases and just told us the fucking facts. You seem to think the fact that they are owned by the same company has value. What is that value? Two news companies giving the same news when they overlap. CNBC is more business news so they do not cover all the same topics, but they do overlap and coverage is the same from those two companies when it does. Same concept with Politico and PP, PP processes data from left biased sources so that bias is in the legislative tracking service they offer.
>I am fine with 166 B in student loan debt going back into the economy.
What planet is this from? Going back into the economy? It got added to the debt. If you are suggesting that the people can now spend that money in the economy so it is really a plus to the economy why are you so against tax cuts? If this thought was independent on your part and you believe that concept, that is exactly the same logic Reps use to give tax cuts and you have summarily condemned them in the past. And let’s just mention that since the debt forgiveness targeted a specific group of people at the EXPENSE of all the others, it is favoritism. And if Government run by one party favors a group for absolutely no logical reason the purpose is nefarious, in this case vote pandering. Like when Reps have, in the past, given tax breaks to corps for personal gain. I know that Dems believe that the debt is an unreal and forever growing thing that cannot and does not need to be stopped and paid down, but for those few that disagree, adding to it just to get votes from somebody who otherwise would not give them that vote is disgusting and Trump is a Godsend. Not so ironically, he was accused of planning to go after his political enemies if elected. Going after their Government money sources is going after them too so it was true. It is just a truth that everyone should champion.
T, once again you make up something about me, accuse me, and then make up an argument about that. It’s your patented move. Well done.
I am not against all tax cuts. Student debts are massive anchors on people many times severely preventing them from making any progress. I would rather use money to pay that off than many other Fed expenses. You could say the same about medical debts.
Trump is a moron. Easily manipulated by people.Flash some cash at him or overly compliment him and he rolls over like a puppy. Foreign leaders know it. Corporate leaders know it. Why do you think they are settling these trials that most experts say they would win on first amendment laws. They instead just give him money to go away and kiss ass.
Amazing how Tesla just announced a 400M govt contract. SpaceX is one of the few contractors still getting paid. And now Doge is talking about “going after” govt officials who they think are too wealthy? How will they know? Start digging into citizens tax records or bank accts? How funny. Not to mention the Trump administration pulling money out of an account they don’t own that FEMA distributed already. Nice to see Trump still surrounds himself with grifters. Some things never change.
Again you are a moron if you think Dems are the only bad guy and Rs are just guilty of doing nothing. Rs have spent as much as Ds and guilty of all the pork as any D. Let’s stop supporting all the poor RED states that are sucking off the govt for funds.
>Trump is a moron. Easily manipulated by people.Flash some cash at him or overly compliment him and he rolls over like a puppy. Foreign leaders know it. Corporate leaders know it. Why do you think they are settling these trials that most experts say they would win on first amendment laws. They instead just give him money to go away and kiss ass.
More programming and not a shred of evidence.
Moron? “Judge allows federal worker “buyout” plan to proceed, and Trump administration announces it’s closed”… No
Moron? “Colombia backs down on accepting deportees on military planes after Trump’s tariffs threats”… No
I bet you think he’s racist too.
-Trump is a moron. Easily manipulated by people.
You can legitimately call Trump a lot of things, but a moron and easily manipulated are not among them. He’s figured out how to beat the swamp at its own game… and it’s not going to make a bit of difference which wing of the uniparty they play for. Follow the money. Withdraw the money and stifle the influence it was buying. Simple in theory.
Trump owes Democrats a lifetime of intense pain. No more or less than he, his family, friends, and anyone in his orbit were subjected to purely because of politics. Fair is fair. Maybe not right, but fair by the rules Democrats and GOPe have established. We’ll see how many of them can survive fair treatment as they themselves defined it.
The main difference is that tariffs will lead to trade wars that won’t help our overall economy as much as higher corporate taxes
You make a couple of claims totally without evidence.
First off, why will “trade wars” happen? Every country on Earth MUST have the US as a customer. Last time around, China and Canada both devalued their currency to offset the tariffs. That’s why there was almost zero inflation during the Trump 1 regime. But feel free to prove otherwise!
Secondly, you also claim–without evidence–that “Trade wars” (should they actually happen) will harm the economy more than higher corporate taxes–which you already admit will cost the consumers more. Please give statistical evidence and reasonably-valid statistical projections of your claims.
SpaceX is one of the few contractors still getting paid.
Aside from EVERY Pentagon contractor, of course.
And you call Trump “stupid”………..
>Rs have spent as much as Ds and guilty of all the pork as any D. Let’s stop supporting all the poor RED states that are sucking off the govt for funds.
Sure, they play the add the pork game as much as Dems. Please go on with this fascinating conversation. Note the difference though. As much as 78% of public servants are left leaning, so actual implementation is essentially left to Dems. That is not to say Reps don’t get their pork, but they don’t get to make up whole new agencies made of more libs that we pay for in perpetuity.
>T, once again you make up something about me, accuse me, and then make up an argument about that. It’s your patented move. Well done.
What did I make up and to what accusation(s) are you referring? I accused you of:
Mine>You have never once questioned any lib generated ‘fact’ and do not accept any omitted fact from a lib narration as possibly true simply because a proven liar like CBS news leaves out most facts that show Dems in a bad light.
Go ahead and prove me wrong. (Did you actually watch both the edited and unedited version of the KH hour on network TV? If so, what is your opinion?) What ‘fact(s)’ that were either false or misleading in a Dem feature have you questioned before it was proven wrong?
Mine>And if you could understand (perhaps too advanced?) English you would have noted that I differentiated between Politico and Politico Pro.
I showed you my differentiation and it is there for anyone to read, no retraction, no comment from you at all unless your above refers to this? To be fair to me, this was a conclusion about you, more than an accusation…
Mine>I did not do this and you don’t read and analyze, you read and apply the rote response you have been programmed to respond with even if it doesn’t quite fit.
This happens all the time by you and the majority of libs. I believe it is why you almost always throw a segue factoid in the comments rather than actually discuss the topic. You like the idea of DOGE, but only want it implemented if it is castrated and made obsolete by throwing it under the Congressional bus. These are desperate times concerning the deficit and lip service around elections are not going to get anything done. You ONLY oppose this because it is being implemented by a man you have been trained to hate. You still call him a pussy grabber, but what is/was your opinion when Clinton was accused of his multiple assault charges? Is he also a moronic pussy grabber or just a lovable lech?
Mine>And to be fair, I got that from you so now you just look more programmed to me when you continue to denigrate me for something that I thought about, looked up, and then differentiated in my later comments. It shows you will argue the same thing over and over, even if it is acknowledged.
Kinda self explanatory, but if you feel wrongly accused, sure, let’s open it up.
Mine>You seem to think the fact that they are owned by the same company has value. What is that value?
To clarify, if that is necessary, I meant value to the argument. Multiple companies under the same umbrella corp with similar or identical political views is a meaningless segue. If one network (or Politico company) were left and one were right leaning, it would have had meaning in this thread.
Was it any of these or was it in your fantasies because I can easily defend every one of the above. Once again YOU make up new things without elaboration and blame them on me. That is the Dem/lib way though isn’t it? Never defend your words. When you are beaten, find a new angle to whine and nitpick about. That is a new accusation, in your eyes I guess. To the other readers here it is closer to canon. Tell me what I wrongly accused you of and we could discuss it, but you won’t because you never do and many times can’t.
Then you continually throw out more segues in attempts to turn the conversation. Ooo, Musk has a new contract with the Government for 400M to go with his current 13 billion in Gov contracts, a 4% increase. Ooo, Musk is still getting paid just like every other defense corp. Ahhh, DOGE is ‘talking about’ looking into public ‘servants’ that have millions more than their paychecks provide, the horror!!! If it happens and it turns out to be a Dem only witch hunt I will have as much sympathy as I had for Trump as he faced myriad trumped up charges just last year.
Trump took money out of FEMA run by the Executive branch? Please define “don’t own”. I agree that he does not own it, but he is in charge of running it. Please serve your word salad to your lib friends, they will love it. Your rock is waiting, go crawl back under it unless you want to talk about things currently in or germane to the current thread.
First of all, this entire convo is about DOGE, so Musk isn’t changing the conversation.
Second, the story about funds is that the Govt pulled funds out of a city owned account. Killing payments is one thing, pulling already distributed funds from an account they don’t own is scary and probably illegal shit.
And DOGE has no legal right to look into govt workers. That would be crossing boundaries and not anything they are legally allowed to do. That would be the justice dept or possibly congressional investigators.
I like the idea of DOGE as long as it obeys all legal avenues. They may or may not have already crossed that line. A judge will decide.
And yes, the KH interview was a big nothing burger. They left out a rambling answer on Gaza and it was available online. They didn’t make any dark or secret edits.
Trump is a moron. Easily manipulated by people.
~snort!~. Sez the ass parade enthusiast who voted for Babblin’ Joe and Kacklin’ Kamala.
And DOGE has no legal right to look into govt workers.
Once again, you have no clue.
But but but but Rachel Maddow said so! That means it is TRUE.
MJM, no facts. Show me the authorization that DOGE has. I will wait. Not that I am worried. They won’t do shit.
If it were 2020 again, I would vote for Joe again. He got a lot of shit done and legislation passed. I am glad I didn’t have to vote for him in 2024.
Meanwhile the Rs own all the branches and can’t get organized. Trump sucks at this kind of leadership. He only knows how to yell, and if things don’t go his way, he is lost.
Dad29, is she even still on the air? I haven’t had cable in 15 years. You probably watch and know.
MJM, no facts.
Well, yes, it’s obvious you have none, as I’ve already mentioned.
But I do.
44 USC Chapter 35
Be sure to read it all, not just the headlines. Three, four, five times if need be,
5 USC 3161
Basically, this gives a prez the authority to hire, form, and install in any US Administrative-governed agency…
a) Definition of Temporary Organization.—For the purposes of this subchapter, the term “temporary organization” means a commission, committee, board, or other organization that—
(1) is established by law or Executive order for a specific period not in excess of three years for the purpose of performing a specific study or other project; and..
And I’m guessing you never heard of the USDS. See, Trump didn’t actually create DOGE,
This guy did.
Trump just legally installed new employees and purpose into an existing agency.
If it were 2020 again, I would vote for Joe again
Moron gotta moron.
>MJM, no facts. Show me the authorization that DOGE has.
Ironic considering this.
>And DOGE has no legal right to look into govt workers. That would be crossing boundaries and not anything they are legally allowed to do. That would be the justice dept or possibly congressional investigators.
Your argument is summarized thusly…
jv: l’ll make some bullshit statement without fact or basis
others: jv, you have no clue
jv: Show me the authorization they have from the bullshit statement I said.
How about we start with – you proving that they have or did illegally “look into govt workers”. And better yet, define what exactly “look into govt workers” means. Does that mean First and Last name? Does it include Years of Service? Home Address? SS#? Annual Salary? Performance Reviews? Registered dependents as part of Benefits? Until then, fuck off you kook.
It’s legal to cross-search government workers against foreign bank accounts, large property/securities acquisitions, etc. SAR’s are the tools Treasury uses all the time against ordinary citizens. What makes Government workers special? Good way to find fraud and self-dealing.
You don’t know Maddow is back on the air? Too busy watching Sponge Bob Square Pants, eh?
>T, once again you make up something about me, accuse me, and then make up an argument about that. It’s your patented move. Well done.
Just left your lies on the table…as usual. Face it, you haven’t provided a single fact not endorsed by LSM in your entire time here on B&S. So in your (un)informed opinion, the left ‘facts’ really are at least close to100% factual and that means that every right disagreement with different or Dem omitted facts must be close to 100% wrong. That makes you an outstanding example of the modern day automaton liberal Democrat. No wonder you will call Trump a moron.
The ones who do have independent thought are the ones changing the numbers on Trump’s popularity and approval ratings.
So far, he has done nothing that I wasn’t praying for, but not expecting my whole life from our Government at any level. Ever since the Tom Ament scandal where they could not take away the millions that council stole from Milwaukeans because they were the ones in charge and future boards somehow could not reverse it, it wasn’t even considered. I have believed that all the protections they cover themselves with at every level have been straight up bullshit corruption. If Trump steps on many toes to balance our budget by weighing the cost of public workers and cutting where necessary, I say I hope they aren’t weighing steel toed boots and it hurts a lot. Too much of the waste in Government is in salaries and benefits to unneeded workers, of course they need to be looked at. And if the Government immunity to real life parameters gets roughed up, I say let the elephants loose so they get utterly trampled (the benefits that they consider rights, not the hopefully former Guv workers themselves).
Low morals? We agree. A mouth that won’t stop? Yep, sure, like most politicians and salesmen (currently he is both). A pretty major exaggerator? Sure, just like most politicians. But stupid and has bad business acumen? You are the moron. Your facts for this are from LSM narratives that call him a moron. No facts necessary for lefties, that is why you believe the gibberish coming from Democrats these days. And Reps are unorganized? Despite working on myriad projects that have 60-80% bipartisan support from Americans without a single Dem politician’s support, we are already seeing significant positive effects. Close to 80% of legal Americans wanted the border closed? It is already closed. I predict he will get enough done in the first 2 years that if Dems don’t support him on truly bi-partisan issues we will see something not seen for decades, the midterms will significantly fall in favor of the current administration.
>First of all, this entire convo is about DOGE, so Musk isn’t changing the conversation.
No idea who this is aimed at or what it is referring to. You are the only one here who has tried to sidetrack the conversation with inconsequentialities.
>And yes, the KH interview was a big nothing burger. They left out a rambling answer on Gaza and it was available online. They didn’t make any dark or secret edits.
Sure, they just showed she is mentally lacking and is short on the toughness needed just to answer political questions. And one edit? That was the only one you listened to? Of course it was. Not a segue here to ask if we have ever heard of a POTUS candidate who got out into public less than she did during an election?