Keep opining. This is a ready room. An awful lot of people back this 100%.
The Wunderkids are coming for the DoD too. And the VA. Will be interesting to watch.
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Hard Power and Soft Power
- Thread starter taxi1
- Start date
The Wunderkids are coming for the DoD too. And the VA. Will be interesting to watch.
Are security clearances still a thing?
If Soros was employing teenagers and young 20-somethings with 'read-only' access to govt systems to conduct an 'audit', there would be pitchforks and torches on the streets
I doubt Secretary of Defense Hegseth will be supportive of anything that really reduces the military's capabilities or harms the veterans.
Maybe, maybe not. If he was attacking the federal bureaucracy, which many (rightly or wrongly) view as an unelected fourth branch of government, there might be a lot of support.
No there wouldn’t be lmao
1) It remains to be seen how much his support or opposition matters, and 2) not everyone agrees on what would reduce military capabilities or harm veterans so whether the secdef's "heart is in the right place" isn't going to prevent drama from the large course changes this admin seems to be going after.
Two things can be true at the same time. In this case, that USAID was probably not a well-run agency that was often in conflict with State Dept and pursued some less than ideal grants/projects AND gutting it in the way it has been will be deleterious to the United States' position in the world. If they had - through the legislative branch - reformed the agency and merged it with State Dept the reaction would probably be more muted. Instead, truly history-changing programs - such as PEPFAR - have been kneecapped and our soft power has been significantly impacted. To say nothing of the many hundreds and thousands of Americans who were serving in some real vacation spots around the world who have now been stranded by the government they serve(d).
As for getting our fiscal house in order, USAID's budget for FY23 was ~40 billion. Total federal expenditures were ~6.1 trillion. So roughly .65%. People who are serious about reducing our deficit would focus on defense and entitlement spending.
I joined my wife while she was working at clinics and hospitals in rural Uganda. It is pretty powerful seeing boxes of medicines all labeled "USAID - from the American People" and talking to rural Ugandans who know all about PEPFAR. That can be just as impactful as the roads being built by Chinese crews not far from those hospitals.
As for getting our fiscal house in order, USAID's budget for FY23 was ~40 billion. Total federal expenditures were ~6.1 trillion. So roughly .65%. People who are serious about reducing our deficit would focus on defense and entitlement spending.
I joined my wife while she was working at clinics and hospitals in rural Uganda. It is pretty powerful seeing boxes of medicines all labeled "USAID - from the American People" and talking to rural Ugandans who know all about PEPFAR. That can be just as impactful as the roads being built by Chinese crews not far from those hospitals.
Lots of weasel words in here. You doubt...maybe, maybe not (rightly or wrongly)
4th branch of govt? get the fuck out of here with this deep state BS.
Also, can we dispense with the notion that ridiculous assertions are "negotiating tactics"?
I think you only need 3 strings total for this concept.
Nothing weasel about it. I do not " know" for sure regarding the SecDef but that is the impression I have. And there is nothing BS about the idea of the "deep state" or the massive alphabet soup's worth of government agencies we have and their huge number of unelected bureaucrats constituting a fourth branch of government. I said "rightly or wrongly" because obviously that's not a cut-and-dried issue, there is nuance, and some people like yourself will say such a position is ultimately wrong, others like myself will disagree.
I honestly don't know what you're posting about here. "Alphabet Soup" of govt agencies. "unelected bureaucrats"...how the fuck do you staff a federal govt with elected bureaucrats?
You're obviously kind of sovereign citizen leaning, and that's fine...I guess
Noooo....I am not one of those kind. The alphabet soup of government agencies should be self-explanatory: the whole ocean of three and four letter government agencies. " Unelected bureaucrats" refers to the sheer number of such who operate the whole alphabet soup. As you point out, obviously you wouldn't have elected bureaucrats staffing agencies. That would be too impractical plus very stupid even if doable. The problem is given the sheer number of such, the bureaucracy begins to turn from an arm of the Executive branch into basically an independent branch unto itself, and one that can make law in the name of enforcing existing law (and that also gets into some weeds in terms of determining whether new rules and regulations constitute just enforcing existing laws or basically creating new laws).
It's not like this is some alien concept either. Everyone knows about the Military-Industrial Complex which can operate as an entity unto itself. And while on paper our intelligence and law enforcement agencies like the CIA and FBI operate with the consent of Congress and the people, the reality is the CIA has engaged in a variety of independent actions over the years and many would argue the FBI is too large and very corrupt.
As said, obviously the issue isn't cut-and-dried.
Your tell is your take on the FBI. It's absurd. No need to debate further really.
Agree to disagree (and again I am not explicitly saying that about the FBI, just that that is an opinion many have).
I have heard, from a few friends I have still in DC working for the government, that the plan is to roll USAIDs functions into State. Some of the things coming out of DOGE are supposed inefficiencies that cause friction. As for DoD, I’ll play the devil’s advocate here, there hasn’t been a genuine shakedown of Defense since the Revolt of the Admirals so maybe it is time. Past actions by Trump (like the creation of Space Force) seemed rather inefficient to me so I’m not sure what we’ll see.
What does that phrase even mean?
Many people thought the Earth was flat for thousands of years.