Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy❤
No. of Recommendations: 21
Excerpt from his Substack:
Imagine how a private business would react if it hired a supposed efficiency expert who quickly fired crucial employees while making grandiose claims about the money he’s saving, but kept releasing progress reports that were full of ludicrous errors. You wouldn’t keep him on; you’d have security escort him out of the building and immediately change all the locks.
But Trump went out of his way to praise Musk, who is still wreaking havoc that goes beyond the immediate impact of the layoffs. Think about what his actions must be doing to the morale of those federal workers who remain.
Sooner or later, and probably sooner rather than later, important things are going to break.
No. of Recommendations: 4
Senate getting in on it:
Republicans push Musk to let Congress vote on DOGE cuts
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/05/politics/musk-d...Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CNN’s Dana Bash on Tuesday that the DOGE effort should involve more compassion for how federal workers are being treated.
“You also have to pay attention to the aftermath of that and how it impacts people. I mean, these are real people. They need to be treated that way,” he said, speaking of affected federal workers.Yeah, Musk doesn't do compassion.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Yeah, Musk doesn't do compassion.
"The fundamental weakness of western civilization is empathy." Musk on the Joe Rogan podcast.
No. of Recommendations: 15
Sooner or later, and probably sooner rather than later, important things are going to break.
Far from being an unforeseen result, that’s the point.
The point is to destroy a government that works for the people. Collapse the bureaucracy to the point where the whole affair can be drowned in a bathtub. By that time, democracy will be gone. The congress is already neutered, the Justice Department is staffed with Trump Loyalists and the courts can make all the rulings they want but nobody will be there to enforce those rulings.
Having destroyed democracy and the government that was established to uphold that democracy, the only thing left will be King Trump, collecting whatever tax money he wants to collect, assisted by whatever aristocracy that pledges loyalty to him personally, and a mercenary army, also loyal to him alone (he pays them)
If you want a service performed? Pledge loyalty to King Trump or his official and pay him. If you want to open a business? Well, first you need a royal commission, so pledge your loyalty to Trump and pay him for the right to make a living- and that’s before we even start talking about taxes, the amount of which you will not determine. No, you will be told how much you owe, and that amount will go up or down, depending on your “loyalty score” which will be re-calculated on a daily basis by DOGE or its successor.
Likewise, if you have a pension, it will also be adjusted on a daily basis
You need surgery or treatment for cancer? Well, you get the picture.
Feudalism: that’s where we increasingly seem to be headed, which is ironic, given that our democratic republic was specifically set up to prevent that outcome, and for over two centuries we’ve managed to more or less succeed in that.
But the barbarians have cracked the code, and we believed their lies enough to elect them. And now they own the castle.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Sooner or later, and probably sooner rather than later, important things are going to break.
What if that is the goal?
No. of Recommendations: 0
The fundamental weakness of a psychopath is lack of empathy.
No. of Recommendations: 7
“ Far from being an unforeseen result, that’s the point.”
No doubt. But the problem is that a lot of Trump voters want government to keep its hands off their Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, VA benefits, etc. They want their mail delivered promptly, their food safe to eat, and planes not to crash.
MAGA doesn’t believe in reality. But reality bites.
No. of Recommendations: 4
No doubt. But the problem is that a lot of Trump voters want government to keep its hands off their Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, VA benefits, etc. They want their mail delivered promptly, their food safe to eat, and planes not to crash.
MAGA doesn’t believe in reality. But reality bites.
That is indeed the crux.
For a very long time, small-government conservatives have been arguing that much (most?) of what the federal government does is either unimportant or just waste, and would not be missed if it went away. For the first time, there's an Administration that is strong enough within the GOP to just go ahead and make massive reductions in federal staffing and programs without paying any attention to the constituencies that have traditionally been able to use Congressional power to protect them. Trump has enormous political capital within the GOP, and he's apparently been willing to give a lot of it to the DOGE project and force Congress to swallow it.
So now, the central thesis of small-government conservatism is going to be tested: was there really a large proportion of the federal government that was either useless (like surplus staff) or doing things that won't really be missed much? If yes, DOGE will be able to accomplish it's goals without much blowback on the Administration. If no, then reality will bite them, and they'll have to stop long before there's much change to the size and scope of the government at large.
No. of Recommendations: 3
No doubt. But the problem is that a lot of Trump voters want government to keep its hands off their Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, VA benefits, etc. They want their mail delivered promptly, their food safe to eat, and planes not to crash.
So? Increasingly, he appears to be going for broke, for all the marbles, for “All the bases are belong to us.”
Another couple of months of this and “separation of powers” and “will of the American voters” will be relegated to the realm of “interesting historical discussions”.
