US Politics Megathread

[gibson]

If doge was a serious organization it would be largely made up of accountants not programmers. The idea that several 25 year old programmers can audit a billion dollar agency in 2 days is hilarious.

[Goodspeed]

Executing laws and issuing executive orders gives the President a lot of control over how the laws Congress passes are carried out.

Which is fine, that's the responsibility of the president. But refusing to spend money allocated by congress is effectively nullifying their laws which is directly counter to what the president is supposed to be doing.

Yes, in some cases it is fine that the President can refuse to spend allocated money.

You can't just get the "some cases". If it's allowed, then presidents can do it in all cases. That will include cases you don't like.

The government is made up of people and all people will have their own self interests unless you think the current bureaucracy is selfless and somehow they just happen to enable large scale fraud. I much prefer what Musk is doing and it isn't like he is hiding in the shadows he is obviously being scrutinized.

You are worried about the richest man in the world stealing from the US people

I'm not worried about that at all. What I'm "worried" about is that Musk will reduce spending without giving a fuck about how it will affect people who rely on these government programs. He has no reason to care. He's also completely unqualified for the job. He has no experience working in government and doesn't understand the agencies he's supposed to be auditing. In what universe will this go well?

at the cost of ignoring all the stealing that is currently happening it doesn't make any sense.

Again, it's fine to be critical about where public money is going. Just the way it's being done is obviously not going to lead to good results, unless you want to see the US federal government even more dysfunctional than it already is. Which is why I asked you earlier (phrased differently): Is that what you want?

[Dolan]

If doge was a serious organization it would be largely made up of accountants not programmers. The idea that several 25 year old programmers can audit a billion dollar agency in 2 days is hilarious.

They're not doing audit, that stuff takes months. They're just kicking doors open, going around looking for some fault or just making a big fuss about how that agency is spending a sum on something. Then later in the day, Musk goes on his toysite and starts exposing the deep state: look people, FRAUD, they are spending your money on this and that. SHUT IT DOWN. It's just media circus. They know they have to produce something bomb every day to keep the newscycle going.

A few days ago, Musk complained on his site that he tried to install Windows on a newly bought laptop and he couldn't do it without a Microsoft account, which meant giving Microsoft's AI access to his computer. It was a subtle dig at Microsoft, as their OpenAI project is ahead of Musk's AI and he made an offer to buy them but they said no. Everything about this guy is just bluster, playing the media for hype, and manipulating public perceptions so he can gain some advantage. Anyone remember that Hyperloop project that some years ago he kept advertising in the media as the Next Big Thing in transportation? He keeps playing these PR stunts in front of cameras or on social media to keep his profile boosted, so he won't slide out of public relevance.

[Sensei]

Executing laws and issuing executive orders gives the President a lot of control over how the laws Congress passes are carried out.

Which is fine, that's the responsibility of the president. But refusing to spend money allocated by congress is effectively nullifying their laws which is directly counter to what the president is supposed to be doing.

Yes, in some cases it is fine that the President can refuse to spend allocated money.

You can't just get the "some cases". If it's allowed, then presidents can do it in all cases. That will include cases you don't like.

The government is made up of people and all people will have their own self interests unless you think the current bureaucracy is selfless and somehow they just happen to enable large scale fraud. I much prefer what Musk is doing and it isn't like he is hiding in the shadows he is obviously being scrutinized.

You are worried about the richest man in the world stealing from the US people

I'm not worried about that at all. What I'm "worried" about is that Musk will reduce spending without giving a fuck about how it will affect people who rely on these government programs. He has no reason to care. He's also completely unqualified for the job. He has no experience working in government and doesn't understand the agencies he's supposed to be auditing. In what universe will this go well?

at the cost of ignoring all the stealing that is currently happening it doesn't make any sense.

Again, it's fine to be critical about where public money is going. Just the way it's being done is obviously not going to lead to good results, unless you want to see the US federal government even more dysfunctional than it already is. Which is why I asked you earlier (phrased differently): Is that what you want?

I understand the that if Presidents can refuse to spend allocated money that they could do it in all cases if they wanted to at the expense of political capital and if they did it enough they'd risk impeachment but you asked me if I think it is fine that presidents do that hence my answer in some cases yes I think they should. I'm well aware that the power the President has resides with whoever is in office whether I agree with them or not.

I'm more concerned about getting rid of the corruption, waste and abuse to the maximum extent possible then I am about the already dysfunctional government getting more dysfunctional. I'll take the chance on making something that is corrupt that functions badly less corrupt at the risk of it functioning somewhat worse.

[Cometk]

god bless JDPON Don for abolishing USAID

[gibson]

If doge was a serious organization it would be largely made up of accountants not programmers. The idea that several 25 year old programmers can audit a billion dollar agency in 2 days is hilarious.

They're not doing audit, that stuff takes months. They're just kicking doors open, going around looking for some fault or just making a big fuss about how that agency is spending a sum on something. Then later in the day, Musk goes on his toysite and starts exposing the deep state: look people, FRAUD, they are spending your money on this and that. SHUT IT DOWN. It's just media circus. They know they have to produce something bomb every day to keep the newscycle going.

A few days ago, Musk complained on his site that he tried to install Windows on a newly bought laptop and he couldn't do it without a Microsoft account, which meant giving Microsoft's AI access to his computer. It was a subtle dig at Microsoft, as their OpenAI project is ahead of Musk's AI and he made an offer to buy them but they said no. Everything about this guy is just bluster, playing the media for hype, and manipulating public perceptions so he can gain some advantage. Anyone remember that Hyperloop project that some years ago he kept advertising in the media as the Next Big Thing in transportation? He keeps playing these PR stunts in front of cameras or on social media to keep his profile boosted, so he won't slide out of public relevance.

I’m aware they aren’t, as it’s not possible. If it was a serious organization they would be.

[Goodspeed]

Executing laws and issuing executive orders gives the President a lot of control over how the laws Congress passes are carried out.

Which is fine, that's the responsibility of the president. But refusing to spend money allocated by congress is effectively nullifying their laws which is directly counter to what the president is supposed to be doing.

Yes, in some cases it is fine that the President can refuse to spend allocated money.

You can't just get the "some cases". If it's allowed, then presidents can do it in all cases. That will include cases you don't like.

The government is made up of people and all people will have their own self interests unless you think the current bureaucracy is selfless and somehow they just happen to enable large scale fraud. I much prefer what Musk is doing and it isn't like he is hiding in the shadows he is obviously being scrutinized.

You are worried about the richest man in the world stealing from the US people

I'm not worried about that at all. What I'm "worried" about is that Musk will reduce spending without giving a fuck about how it will affect people who rely on these government programs. He has no reason to care. He's also completely unqualified for the job. He has no experience working in government and doesn't understand the agencies he's supposed to be auditing. In what universe will this go well?

at the cost of ignoring all the stealing that is currently happening it doesn't make any sense.

Again, it's fine to be critical about where public money is going. Just the way it's being done is obviously not going to lead to good results, unless you want to see the US federal government even more dysfunctional than it already is. Which is why I asked you earlier (phrased differently): Is that what you want?

I understand the that if Presidents can refuse to spend allocated money that they could do it in all cases if they wanted to at the expense of political capital and if they did it enough they'd risk impeachment but you asked me if I think it is fine that presidents do that hence my answer in some cases yes I think they should. I'm well aware that the power the President has resides with whoever is in office whether I agree with them or not.

I'm more concerned about getting rid of the corruption, waste and abuse to the maximum extent possible then I am about the already dysfunctional government getting more dysfunctional. I'll take the chance on making something that is corrupt that functions badly less corrupt at the risk of it functioning somewhat worse.

"Corruption, waste, and abuse" is not going to magically go away when this rando takes some swings with a sledgehammer. It'll get worse if anything. He has no idea what he's doing, has misaligned incentives (he would actually love more corruption) and the guy who appointed him just wants a photo op

[gibson]

The trump administration is a serious administration and doge is a serious department.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/p ... 235265633/

[Goodspeed]

And the US is a serious country

[iNcog]

The trump administration is a serious administration and doge is a serious department.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/p ... 235265633/

the real goal behind that announcement is to pump up the shares of TESLA. tesla is one of the most overvalued companies on the planet

[iNcog]

A few days ago, Musk complained on his site that he tried to install Windows on a newly bought laptop and he couldn't do it without a Microsoft account,

To be fair, valid concern.

[Dolan]

He got mocked a lot on the internets for being le boygenius extraordinaire, but not knowing a trick you can use to install Windows without an MS account (when the country location menu appears, disconnect from the internet, press shift F10 and run oobe\bypassnro in the console). Another option is to join a domain during the setup. But I doubt his post was about Windows, he just wanted to put down Microsoft and link this with their AI, to create bad publicity, as his offer to buy OpenAI just got rejected.

[Sensei]

The trump administration is a serious administration and doge is a serious department.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/p ... 235265633/

the real goal behind that announcement is to pump up the shares of TESLA. tesla is one of the most overvalued companies on the planet

There we go something we actually agree on.

[minimoult21]

Congress doesn’t agree to a huge deficit every year. Yet there is a huge deficit every year. So why are we defending that all spending is backed by congress. There are gaps in what we say we are spending and what we are spending.

Audits can be very tedious and long processes, but also you can walk into an audit and know that the books don’t check out. If someone is building a mill in age 1 it doesn’t take you too long to realize what you are working with.

[iNcog]

The trump administration is a serious administration and doge is a serious department.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/p ... 235265633/

the real goal behind that announcement is to pump up the shares of TESLA. tesla is one of the most overvalued companies on the planet

There we go something we actually agree on.

[iNcog]

He got mocked a lot on the internets for being le boygenius extraordinaire, but not knowing a trick you can use to install Windows without an MS account (when the country location menu appears, disconnect from the internet, press shift F10 and run oobe\bypassnro in the console). Another option is to join a domain during the setup. But I doubt his post was about Windows, he just wanted to put down Microsoft and link this with their AI, to create bad publicity, as his offer to buy OpenAI just got rejected.

well I mean yeah that's exactly the kind of bogus crap he was pulling yes

so far I've been able to install windows without MS accounts but I know they're trying really hard to force that down my throat. like I'm still on windows 10 and will do everything I can to dodge W11. unless there's a way to run W11 without the bloat/telemetry/AI and other nasty shit

like I'm uninstalling onedrive like it's a fucking virus on W10 as it is.

[Dolan]

Yeah same, staying on 10 and don't see the appeal of 11 so far. It comes packed with too much shady AI cloud stuff

[gibson]

I had 11 on my work laptop and realized that for what I did it was essentially identical to windows 10.

[Sensei]

The main issue with win 11 is all the bullshit bloat/spyware/cloud. I feel quite sure that some of the same things exist elsewhere Microsoft is just particularly bad at hiding it. They are also dropping support for windows 10 in the fall to force people to switch and I don't think 10 has been out all that long. It is really weird seeing how privacy has eroded in my life time and many people don't care.

[RefluxSemantic]

I'd try to use Linux instead. At work we use Linux mint, which is just about as user-friendly as windows is.

Steam has also embraced Linux with the steamdeck, so Linux gaming shouldnt be as bad as it used to be.

[iNcog]

My laptop has mint on it which does work well. However I am truly unsure about running flight sims in vr on that os. I like my headset but I fucking hate meta

[iNcog]

“This morning, my financial team shockingly uncovered that President Trump and his crony Elon Musk illegally executed a revocation of $80 million in congressionally-appropriated FEMA funding from New York City’s bank accounts late yesterday afternoon. This is money that the federal government previously disbursed for shelter and services and is now missing.

https://comptroller.nyc.gov/newsroom/st ... a-funding/

FAKE NEWS

[iNcog]

Senior spokesman for Hamas Sami Abu Zuhri told Al Jazeera the terror group had no intention of releasing all of the hostages on Saturday. "Trump's announcement created tension and led to Israel avoiding its commitments to the deal," he said adding that threats of a renewed war in Gaza if the hostages were not freed, made by Defense Minister Israel Katz were silly and banal.

"Trump's threats mean nothing and do not scare us," he said. "Egypt and Qatar are making great efforts to push Israel to meet its obligations and we are pleased with the official position of Arab states who reject the plan to uproot Palestinians. The administration of Gaza is a Palestinian affair and we will not be dictated to. We are committed to the deal as it was agreed and will not be releasing all of the prisoners next Saturday."

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/b1quhy9t1x

Master negotiator or master baiter? Who's to say? I can't handle all of this winning!!

[iNcog]

Hey can someone ELI5 what the big deal about Soros was? I'm having a hard time understanding what conservatives were saying about him.

[iNcog]

Congress doesn’t agree to a huge deficit every year. Yet there is a huge deficit every year. So why are we defending that all spending is backed by congress. There are gaps in what we say we are spending and what we are spending.

Audits can be very tedious and long processes, but also you can walk into an audit and know that the books don’t check out. If someone is building a mill in age 1 it doesn’t take you too long to realize what you are working with.

GOP House resolution has been released. They want to increase the debt limit to $4T. I'm sure that this is in line with what you voted for.

I also don't expect a response to this comment.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-repu ... ion-trump/
https://tennesseelookout.com/2025/02/12 ... -tax-cuts/