How in the world did the government spending get so far off the tracks? In less than a month Elon will and his 20 year olds will pry 1 trillion dollars out of the politicians cold dead hands. will

[Bigbrog]

1 minute ago, red viking said:

The people being let go are not being let go because of poor performance. The vast majority are being let go because they are enforcing regulations that President Musk doesn't like. 

In reality, Musk PREFERS that they don't do their job. 

Wow...again you just don't get it...of course not all being let go are because of poor performance!!!  If the work that they were employed to do is no longer needed, then their position is no longer needed.  Happens ALL the time in every industry.  And once again...PROVE the bolded statements!!

[red viking]

1 minute ago, Bigbrog said:

What does that have to do with what you wrote....RV " It just won't be scrutinized as much so there will actually be more fraud. Musk is laughing all the way to the bank and now has a free ticket to violate whatever rules he wants. "

How is Musk laughing all the way to the bank and how does he have a free ticket to violate whatever rules he wants??  Because there are investigation against him??  Can't wait to hear your mental gymnastics on this one....

It's very simple. Fewer staff to enforce, investigate or even discover his rule violations. 

[Bigbrog]

1 minute ago, red viking said:

It's very simple. Fewer staff to enforce, investigate or even discover his rule violations. 

LOL...man you never disappoint.  Just spew out statements that are completely false and you can't prove.

Again HOW he is laughing all the way to the bank how??

[Le duke]

Dictators and presidents don’t get investigated wouldn’t he just kill the investigations if he was a dictator ?
 
if I was a dictator.  I would just take the $ no?  Why come up with this crazy doge scheme just to get rich.  Just take it.  Seems strange.  

That’s exactly what Musk did…

He had investigators at the FAA, FDA and NHTSA fired.

[red viking]

7 minutes ago, Bigbrog said:

LOL...man you never disappoint.  Just spew out statements that are completely false and you can't prove.

Again HOW he is laughing all the way to the bank how??

It's very simple. Fewer regulations to comply with means he can take more shortcuts and hence bigger profits. 

[Caveira]

7 minutes ago, Le duke said:

That’s exactly what Musk did…

He had investigators at the FAA, FDA and NHTSA fired.

But why didn’t he just give himself the money ?   World’s least effective dictator ever.  

[Le duke]

LOL...man you never disappoint.  Just spew out statements that are completely false and you can't prove.
Again HOW he is laughing all the way to the bank how??

You sure about that?

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fda-staff-reviewing-musks-neuralink-were-included-doge-employee-firings-sources-2025-02-17/


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jross]

I don't follow all of the Musk investigations.

But I did notice that the investigations went up after he poked the bear.

And Biden's words

• “I think that Elon Musk’s cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at,” Biden said. “Whether he is doing anything inappropriate, I’m not suggesting that. I’m suggesting they’re worth being looked at.”

 

And I notice people focused on smearing his character without a drip of credit for targeting wasteful spending.

 

[Le duke]

But why didn’t he just give himself the money ?   World’s least effective dictator ever.  

You were saying?

https://www.kcra.com/article/faa-spacex-starlink-airspace-upgrade/63918020


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[red viking]

2 minutes ago, Caveira said:

But why didn’t he just give himself the money ?   World’s least effective dictator ever.  

We're heading in that direction but he can't quite get away with that yet. Even some whacko wingers may view that as corrupt. He has to do it indirectly, as provided by the numerous examples that have been provided here. 

Edited Tuesday at 07:30 PM by red viking

[Caveira]

1 minute ago, red viking said:

We're heading in that direction but he can't quite get away with that yet. Even some whacko wingers may view that as corrupt. 

Dictators don't need the buy in from ………. anyone.  

[red viking]

FACT SHEET: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, DOGE PUNISH AGENCIES INVESTIGATING ELON MUSK’S COMPANIES Several Federal Agencies That Were Investigating Elon Musk’s Companies Have Become The Early Targets Of The Trump Administration And Musk’s Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) • Department of Labor (DOL): DOL, which oversees the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) had over a dozen open investigations into Tesla and SpaceX regarding alleged unfair labor practices, safety violations, and discriminatory work practices. • NLRB filed a complaint against SpaceX after eight employees said they were fired in retaliation for speaking critically of Musk; SpaceX sued the NLRB in response. OFCCP was conducting an audit of potential workplace discrimination at Tesla. EEOC sued Tesla for alleged racial harassment and retaliation in 2023. • The DOL Inspector General was unlawfully fired by Trump during his midnight purge of inspectors general on Jan. 24. • Trump fired the chair of the NLRB and has effectively shut down NLRB’s ability to rule on cases. • Trump gutted OFCCP via an executive order on Jan. 21st before their investigation’s findings could be made public. • Trump fired two of the three Democratic Commissioners on the EEOC. • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): Consumers have submitted over 300 complaints about Elon Musk’s Tesla to the CFPB. 66 of these complaints were submitted in the last year. • Trump fired CFPB Director Rohit Chopra and installed Project 2025 architect Russ Vought as the bureau’s acting director. • CFPB’s Washington headquarters has been closed, and staff and contractors have been told that they cannot “perform any work tasks.” • Musk tweeted “Delete CFPB” less than a week after the agency finalized a rule that could put his planned collaboration with Visa to offer a real-time payments system on the platform into the agency’s crosshairs. • U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID): The USAID Inspector General initiated a probe into Starlink satellite terminals provided to the Government of Ukraine • USAID has been shuttered after Musk’s DOGE took a wrecking ball to the agency. • The USAID Inspector General was fired days after publishing a report critical of the Trump Administration’s dismantling of the agency. • Department of Transportation (DOT): DOT, which oversees the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), had several open investigations into Tesla. FAA had recently ordered SpaceX to carry out a formal investigation into the loss of a Starship vehicle during a test flight, and previously ordered over $630,000 in civil penalties against SpaceX. • The DOT Inspector General was fired by Trump. • The FAA Administrator resigned effective Jan. 20, following pressure from Musk.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): The USDA Inspector General launched a probe into Elon Musk’s Neuralink in 2022 for potential violations of the Animal Welfare Act. As of January, the investigation was ongoing. • The USDA Inspector General, a 22-year veteran of the agency, was fired by Trump and later escorted out of her office by security guards. • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): EPA regulators have settled multiple lawsuits with Tesla over violations of the Clean Air Act and hazardous waste laws at the company’s automotive manufacturing plant in Fremont, California. • The EPA Inspector General was fired by Trump. • Federal Election Commission (FEC): The FEC is set to rule on a number of complaints filed during the 2024 election cycle, including complaints pertaining to Musk’s America PAC. • The Trump Administration unlawfully removed FEC chairwoman Ellen Weintraub from her post. • Department of the Interior (DOI): DOI oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which monitors the federal lands near SpaceX’s launch site in Texas for any damage to threatened species’ habitats. Musk has repeatedly clashed with FWS, calling their review process “unacceptable.” • The DOI Inspector General was fired by Trump. • Department of Defense (DOD): Concerns that SpaceX has repeatedly failed to comply with federal reporting protocols aimed at protecting state secrets, including by not providing some details of Musk’s meetings with foreign leaders, have reportedly triggered federal reviews by DOD’s Office of Inspector General, the Air Force, and the Pentagon’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. The Air Force also recently denied Musk high-level security access, citing potential security risks associated with the billionaire. • The DOD Inspector General was fired by Donald Trump. • Department of Justice (DOJ): DOJ filed a lawsuit in 2023 against SpaceX for allegedly discriminating against asylees and refugees in hiring. DOJ also opened investigations into whether Tesla has been candid in describing the features of its vehicles. • While leaving its Inspector General in place, for now, the Trump Administration has taken several actions to gut the DOJ, including firing top leadership and prosecutors. • Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): The SEC sued X in January 2025, alleging Musk misled shareholders about his Twitter stock purchases in 2022 and ordering Musk to pay the federal government as much as $150 million. Musk called the agency a “totally broken organization” in response to the lawsuit. • Trump vowed to fire the SEC Chair Gary Gensler “on day one”; Gensler stepped down before Trump could fire him, leaving a Republican majority at the SEC. • Office of Government Ethics (OGE): Days after Members of Congress requested that OGE investigate Mr. Musk’s conflicts of interest—given his status as a Special Government Employee and his extensive business holdings that receive billions of dollars in federal government contracts and subsidies—the Director of OGE was fired by Trump.

https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/2025.02.13_fact_sheet_re_musk_investigations.pdf

[jross]

17 minutes ago, Le duke said:

You realize that none of the supervisors of, or the actual people who were fired, were given the chance to respond to those questions, right?

This is normal.  It sucks.

I've had to layoff people that I would not have done, without input into who I'd rather layoff for performance instead.

 

18 minutes ago, Le duke said:

One of my former soldiers is a NPS Ranger. They just lost their only EMT due to DOGE. How do they provide medical services at their extremely remote NPS property? Should Rangers who do multi-day wilderness movements be fired for not responding within 24hrs to an email they won’t know they got until after the deadline?

It is unreasonable if the lacks email access.

Does he carry a satellite device?

What exactly did his email say?  Did his email have a firm cutoff?

[wrestlingguy]

13 minutes ago, Le duke said:

You sure about that?

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fda-staff-reviewing-musks-neuralink-were-included-doge-employee-firings-sources-2025-02-17/


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The article says they weren't targeted because of their work on Neuralink.

[Paul158]

50 minutes ago, Bigbrog said:

Wow...again you just don't get it...of course not all being let go are because of poor performance!!!  If the work that they were employed to do is no longer needed, then their position is no longer needed.  Happens ALL the time in every industry.  And once again...PROVE the bolded statements!!

I applaud you for efforts with RV. But I believe they may be futile. I will give you an A+ for effort, though.

Edited Tuesday at 08:06 PM by Paul158
missed a word

[Paul158]

30 minutes ago, red viking said:

FACT SHEET: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, DOGE PUNISH AGENCIES INVESTIGATING ELON MUSK’S COMPANIES Several Federal Agencies That Were Investigating Elon Musk’s Companies Have Become The Early Targets Of The Trump Administration And Musk’s Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) • Department of Labor (DOL): DOL, which oversees the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) had over a dozen open investigations into Tesla and SpaceX regarding alleged unfair labor practices, safety violations, and discriminatory work practices. • NLRB filed a complaint against SpaceX after eight employees said they were fired in retaliation for speaking critically of Musk; SpaceX sued the NLRB in response. OFCCP was conducting an audit of potential workplace discrimination at Tesla. EEOC sued Tesla for alleged racial harassment and retaliation in 2023. • The DOL Inspector General was unlawfully fired by Trump during his midnight purge of inspectors general on Jan. 24. • Trump fired the chair of the NLRB and has effectively shut down NLRB’s ability to rule on cases. • Trump gutted OFCCP via an executive order on Jan. 21st before their investigation’s findings could be made public. • Trump fired two of the three Democratic Commissioners on the EEOC. • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): Consumers have submitted over 300 complaints about Elon Musk’s Tesla to the CFPB. 66 of these complaints were submitted in the last year. • Trump fired CFPB Director Rohit Chopra and installed Project 2025 architect Russ Vought as the bureau’s acting director. • CFPB’s Washington headquarters has been closed, and staff and contractors have been told that they cannot “perform any work tasks.” • Musk tweeted “Delete CFPB” less than a week after the agency finalized a rule that could put his planned collaboration with Visa to offer a real-time payments system on the platform into the agency’s crosshairs. • U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID): The USAID Inspector General initiated a probe into Starlink satellite terminals provided to the Government of Ukraine • USAID has been shuttered after Musk’s DOGE took a wrecking ball to the agency. • The USAID Inspector General was fired days after publishing a report critical of the Trump Administration’s dismantling of the agency. • Department of Transportation (DOT): DOT, which oversees the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), had several open investigations into Tesla. FAA had recently ordered SpaceX to carry out a formal investigation into the loss of a Starship vehicle during a test flight, and previously ordered over $630,000 in civil penalties against SpaceX. • The DOT Inspector General was fired by Trump. • The FAA Administrator resigned effective Jan. 20, following pressure from Musk.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): The USDA Inspector General launched a probe into Elon Musk’s Neuralink in 2022 for potential violations of the Animal Welfare Act. As of January, the investigation was ongoing. • The USDA Inspector General, a 22-year veteran of the agency, was fired by Trump and later escorted out of her office by security guards. • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): EPA regulators have settled multiple lawsuits with Tesla over violations of the Clean Air Act and hazardous waste laws at the company’s automotive manufacturing plant in Fremont, California. • The EPA Inspector General was fired by Trump. • Federal Election Commission (FEC): The FEC is set to rule on a number of complaints filed during the 2024 election cycle, including complaints pertaining to Musk’s America PAC. • The Trump Administration unlawfully removed FEC chairwoman Ellen Weintraub from her post. • Department of the Interior (DOI): DOI oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which monitors the federal lands near SpaceX’s launch site in Texas for any damage to threatened species’ habitats. Musk has repeatedly clashed with FWS, calling their review process “unacceptable.” • The DOI Inspector General was fired by Trump. • Department of Defense (DOD): Concerns that SpaceX has repeatedly failed to comply with federal reporting protocols aimed at protecting state secrets, including by not providing some details of Musk’s meetings with foreign leaders, have reportedly triggered federal reviews by DOD’s Office of Inspector General, the Air Force, and the Pentagon’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. The Air Force also recently denied Musk high-level security access, citing potential security risks associated with the billionaire. • The DOD Inspector General was fired by Donald Trump. • Department of Justice (DOJ): DOJ filed a lawsuit in 2023 against SpaceX for allegedly discriminating against asylees and refugees in hiring. DOJ also opened investigations into whether Tesla has been candid in describing the features of its vehicles. • While leaving its Inspector General in place, for now, the Trump Administration has taken several actions to gut the DOJ, including firing top leadership and prosecutors. • Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): The SEC sued X in January 2025, alleging Musk misled shareholders about his Twitter stock purchases in 2022 and ordering Musk to pay the federal government as much as $150 million. Musk called the agency a “totally broken organization” in response to the lawsuit. • Trump vowed to fire the SEC Chair Gary Gensler “on day one”; Gensler stepped down before Trump could fire him, leaving a Republican majority at the SEC. • Office of Government Ethics (OGE): Days after Members of Congress requested that OGE investigate Mr. Musk’s conflicts of interest—given his status as a Special Government Employee and his extensive business holdings that receive billions of dollars in federal government contracts and subsidies—the Director of OGE was fired by Trump.

https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/2025.02.13_fact_sheet_re_musk_investigations.pdf

Can you say Lawfare on steroids.

[Caveira]

32 minutes ago, red viking said:

FACT SHEET:

From Jamie Raskin 

[Caveira]

55 minutes ago, Le duke said:

You realize that none of the supervisors of, or the actual people who were fired, were given the chance to respond to those questions, right?

Welcome to the real world.  This is how they roll in corporate America.  My buddy just got fired recently this way …… unfortunately.   One day out of nowhere.   No access to corporate systems.  Your badges don’t work.   Gone.  

[Paul158]

1 hour ago, uncle bernard said:

1. The government budget doesn't work like a family budget. The government should run at a deficit for the good of the economy.

2. They aren't cutting the real waste. Any serious attempt to actually reduce government spending would start (and probably end) at the pentagon.

You start with the lower hanging fruit. Then you go after the more difficult waste, fraud and inefficiency. They will get there. When you do house cleaning regularly it is not so painful. When you waited 30 years to do it, it is going to be very, very painful. It's going to be very painful.

[Husker_Du]

1 hour ago, red viking said:

It's very simple. Fewer staff to enforce, investigate or even discover his rule violations. 

we get it now. you're a communist. 

[Bigbrog]

28 minutes ago, Paul158 said:

I applaud you for efforts with RV. But I believe they may be futile. I will give you an A+ for effort, though.

I know...I go through phases of trying to interact with him/her/they, but often end up in the same spot that it is truly futile.

[Caveira]

2 minutes ago, Husker_Du said:

we get it now. you're a communist. 

A communist???? Communists look at him and say man your way far to the left.  

Edited Tuesday at 08:33 PM by Caveira

[fishbane]

4 hours ago, jross said:

The bigger picture is that local trumps global.  We should address local HIV before global HIV, and address other local needs before HIV at all.  It's not a zero sum game... but we don't have a surplus to spend...

 

There are trade offs.  Rapid bold change with mistakes OVER quality with no change.  DOGE has chosen wisely.

There will be less loud mistakes over time.

It will work out.

With the condoms mix up I wasn't trying to justify it as an unnecessary cut vs a necessary one it was more to point out how DOGE is proceeding in such a careless manner that they do not realize what they did not even notice the difference.  I don't know how anyone can conclude whether or not what they did was wise at this juncture.  I would find it impossible to grade their actions as positive being even they don't seem to fully realize what all they have done.

It may work out to be far less than advertised.  

4 hours ago, Bigbrog said:

This!  I would take making mistakes on how much is actually being saved then doing nothing at all.

Making mistakes on how much is being saved is the same as making mistakes on how much is actually being spent.  Government agencies that can't pass an audit is a problem that any serious undertaking to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse must tackle.  DOGE hastily posting misleading and inaccurate savings further obfuscates actual spending levels from the public.  

[Offthemat]

It’s like the dimocrats all contracted a UTI on inauguration day.  Been pissin’ and moanin’ ever since.

[1032004]

14 hours ago, jross said:

I don't follow all of the Musk investigations.

But I did notice that the investigations went up after he poked the bear.

And Biden's words

• “I think that Elon Musk’s cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at,” Biden said. “Whether he is doing anything inappropriate, I’m not suggesting that. I’m suggesting they’re worth being looked at.”

 

And I notice people focused on smearing his character without a drip of credit for targeting wasteful spending.

 

Wow this x post is incredibly misleading.

-We’ve already been over that Reuters and “Thompson Reuters” are separate divisions.  Not to mention there’s nothing indicating that the government contracts paid to Thompson Reuters had anything to do with Musk’s companies.  This is the Politico nonsense all over again, trying to tie unrelated funding to a bias for something totally different.  Major stretch IMO.  Besides, was there anything false in the Reuters reporting into Musk’s companies?  I would think we should celebrate shining a light on dangerous workplace conditions, regardless of who the CEO is, but maybe that’s just me.

-Is there evidence that “all 11 agencies targeted Elon’s businesses”?   I just see a picture with a bunch of lines, some of which just say “oversight.”  Others say “violations/fines,” if the violations were legitimate I wouldn’t call that being “targeted.” I can’t seem to find the source of the image, possibly this but it’s paywalled - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/20/us/politics/elon-musk-federal-agencies-contracts.html

-Interesting to call out millions in government funding paid to Reuters, but not billions paid to Musk’s companies.  As I’ve said before, hopefully DOGE can find some waste there too.

 

Edited Wednesday at 09:52 AM by 1032004