This is going to be the kind of thing that will ultimately bring Trump down in some way, or at least render him as not as in control as he thinks he is. If Elon and his crew have, or believe they have, carte blanche to enter any facility of the US Government, tell Security to “Get out of my way,” and proceed to point fingers and say, “You’re fired; get out,” that takes a lot of control away from Trump. And we know how much he likes being in control.
“Waitaminute—I didn’t tell Elon’s boys to go into a post office in Ames, Iowa, and fire the two guys in the back. What the hell is he doing?” Donald, he’s doing what he thinks you want him to do. If you don’t want him doing what he’s doing, then at least put some boundaries on him.
Elon’s an unelected loose cannon with no safeguards, no boundaries, who Trump may regret hiring after Elon has made the fertilizer hit the ventilator a few too many times.
So, with USAid shut down and the supply of humanitarian aid stopped, including essential medicines, so we can expect disease outbreaks in countries dependent on this aid, with the Department of Education about to be dismantled along with much of the federal civil service, with NOAA facing deep cuts because they’ve had the audacity to talk about climate change, I now see that the wrecking crew of dumbfucks is fine with shutting down the entire CIA:
[quote]Most Americans opposed ending the nation’s longstanding practice of granting citizenship to children born in the US even if neither parent has legal immigration status, the poll found. About 59% of respondents – including 89% of Democrats and 36% of Republicans – said they opposed ending birthright citizenship.
A federal judge last week temporarily blocked the Trump administration from making changes to birthright citizenship, but the White House has vowed to fight on.
Seventy per cent of respondents oppose renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, an action Trump ordered on his first day in office. Only 25% of respondents supported the idea, with the rest unsure.
About 59% of respondents, including 30% of Republicans, opposed Trump’s moves to end federal efforts to promote the hiring of women and members of racial minority groups. When asked specifically about Trump’s order to close all federal diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, offices, respondents were more evenly divided, with 51% opposed and 44% in favor, largely along partisan lines.
Support for expanding fossil fuel drilling – another early policy change in the new administration – was highly concentrated in Trump’s party, with 76% of Republicans backing the easing of drilling restrictions and 81% of Democrats opposing it. About 59% of respondents said they opposed the United States pulling out of the Paris climate accords.
Public views also split along partisan lines for the billionaire businessman Elon Musk, one of Trump’s most prominent allies. While 75% of Republicans in the survey said they had a favorable view of Musk, 90% of Democrats said they had an unfavorable view.[/quote]
The “deferred resignation” offer keeps getting tweaked and refined:
The agreement that resigning employees have to sign is now pretty lopsided:
New language makes clear that employees must comply with ethics rules, which at some agencies require prior approval for outside employment.
In another section, employees are asked to acknowledge that “this agreement cannot be rescinded, except in the sole discretion of the [AGENCY HEAD], which shall not be subject to review at the Merit Systems Protection Board or otherwise.” The language indicates that federal agencies would be able to rescind the agreement and that employees would not have the opportunity to appeal.
The Merit Systems Protection Board is an independent, quasi-judicial agency that hears appeals from federal workers over issues involving federal employment rules.
The sample contract agreement also asks employees to waive their right to “pursue through any judicial, administrative, or other process, any action against [AGENCY] that is based on, arising from, or related to Employee’s employment at [AGENCY] or the deferred resignation offer” – and to similarly waive any claim that might be brought on their behalf by a labor union or other entity.
Last I heard, about one in a hundred feds have signed up for deferred resignation. I wonder how it will go for them. I keep thinking of the xultation scene from Cloud Atlas…
When I was in Kenya recently, our driver pointed out a USAID clean water station in a village, explaining projects like that were more important in fostering favorable attitudes towards the US than larger things such as even the ongoing election. Just struck me as such a no-brainer of a sensible, low cost way to encourage good will while doing something unquestionably good.
Dear god, it’s like being on the receiving end of a pie-throwing contest.
Is this the same TikTok that was out of favor about 15 minutes ago? And it’s owned by a company in China. Are we playing with the Chinese or not?
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order directing the U.S. to take steps to start developing a government-owned investment fund that he said could be used to profit off of TikTok if he’s successful at finding it an American buyer.
Trump signed an order on his first day office to grant TikTok until early April to find an approved partner or buyer, but he’s said he’s looking for the U.S. to take a 50% stake in the massive social media platform. He said Monday in the Oval Office that TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, was an example of what he could put in a new U.S. sovereign wealth fund.
“We might put that in the sovereign wealth fund, whatever we make or we do a partnership with very wealthy people, a lot of options,” he said of TikTok. “But we could put that as an example in the fund. We have a lot of other things that we could put in the fund.”
…
My bold.
By all means, let’s partner with very wealthy people and make more wealth for them.
…
The president put Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick for commerce secretary, in charge of laying the groundwork for creating a the fund, which would likely require congressional approval. The executive order says a plan for the fund — including recommendations for investment strategies and a governance model — has to be submitted to Trump within 90 days.
“The extraordinary size and scale of the U.S government and the business it does with companies should create value for American citizens,” Lutnick told reporters.
…
At least regular American citizens will get “value” out of this deal. Whatever that is.
Silly boy. It’s only socialism if it helps poor and middle-class people, you know, like with doctor bills and education and stuff. It’s Double Secret Socialism if it helps non-white, non-Christian people-- can’t allow that!
It’s Just Plain Good Sense if it makes rich people richer.
I woke up this morning, took a look at my phone, and realized, “Fuck. We’re back in it. Waking up every morning wondering what stupid shit the president of the United States has pulled since we went to bed.”
Man, I miss Biden. I miss not having to worry about him driving off the edge of a cliff.
He’s going to demand access to the super secret file on his father, who was definitely important and not an irrelevant nobody, that proves his daddy loves him lots and lots.
If the employees who opt for the buyout actually do receive their regular salary through September, and the employer now has to hire all new people and pay their salaries, how does that reduce spending and not add to the national debt?
Is Trump planning to buy Gaza? Who gets the money? Or will everybody just hand it over to him. And–what happens to all of the debris from the ruined buildings if he just “levels it?” Can it be recycled, or dumped somewhere, or lugged out to sea as he trashes his “Riviera of the Middle East?”
That’s the part you don’t get -they won’t be replacing those people.
They really believe that most government employees don’t do anything of any real importance, and this is a good way to get rid of them. They figure, if someone is so unconcerned about their work that they’re willing to just walk away from it in exchange for 8 months’ salary, that job probably isn’t important.
Not sure what makes you think they’ll be hiring new peeps after the deferred resignations. In fact, since so few people are quitting, the plan is to try to fire more:
It remains to be seen how many more they’ll actually be able to let go - but there’s no reason to expect that any who are let go will be replaced any time soon.
It’s already leveled. And the rocks will just be used for rock gardens, sculptures etc… With the undesirables cleared out there’ll be plenty of open space.
The only issue is who is going to do all the construction and other labor…oh look there’s a couple million people nearby willing to literally work for peanuts (or any other foodstuff)
There’s a simple solution to this–make Tesla the exclusive vendor for government vehicles. The fact that this is incongruent with MAGA’s anti-electric and pro-fossil fuel dedication will just be hand-waved away.
It’s only socialism if it helps poor and middle-class people, you know, like with doctor bills and education and stuff. It’s Double Secret Socialism if it helps non-white, non-Christian people-- can’t allow that!