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I was willing to put up with the risky, indiscriminate slash and burning of the government if it meant America was going to reduce its deficit. This is a major thing Elon and DOGE campaigned on.
But the Trump budget proposal to Congress, which slashes spending proposes to slash taxes even further and net increase the deficit overall.
That's just beyond the pale for me.
The below is from Tom Woods last Thursday. I think I agree with him:
Some people are unhappy about the new spending bill that just passed.
It envisions $2 trillion deficits as far as the eye can see.
How, in this age of DOGE, people wonder, can this be happening?
Answer: nobody cares about cutting spending. I think Thomas Massie does. But nobody else.
Why would they? The constituency for drastically lower spending, which is what we obviously need, is nonexistent. If you poll even Trump voters and give them a list of possible areas to cut, all they'll agree on is foreign aid, which doesn't come close to solving the main problem.
So it's time to face the situation squarely: no one really wants to see spending cut, especially once they come to terms with what that would really mean.
In a way, this realization is liberating. It puts you at peace. You understand that the problem will never be solved until a fiscal crisis occurs.
Then you can begin to have realistic expectations of politics and politicians.
Maybe you can hold off the civilization destroyers for a while. Even defund them.
You can make sure the Supreme Court isn't dominated by left-wing lunatics.
And if you have the will and the desire, you can change foreign policy.
If these things happened, I'd be perfectly content even if spending were not brought under control. This inner peace comes from recognizing that nobody cares and that it's never going to happen.
I had been resigned to this. Then Elon and Trump appeared initially quite serious about fixing the deficit. If there was a silver lining to these greedy unprincipled clowns taking control of the government, to the fucking all-in podcast / PayPal mafia now being in the President's ear, it would be that they were at least serious about the budget. Libertarians rejoice!
Except they aren't. Or, at least, Trump used Elon. Or, Elon was never serious about it either.
Instead we're slash and burning the government, which includes useful important stuff with no replacement. And we're doing it for, what... approximately nothing? Because the cruelty is the point? To own the libs?
I truly don't understand this argument. The DOGE has canceled government-funded-ism (through DEI), which is cruel in itself. The mass firings of worthless bureaucrats elicit glee from yours truly because they're so obviously needed. I take no joy in their suffering, even if they are the type of people incapable of replacing a smoke alarm battery. The contribution of these people to the debt is significant, and only getting worse as pension obligations balloon. Attacking the workforce is an incredibly valid tactic, and these games of pretending that nobody can unlock bathrooms if anyone gets fired only confirms my suspicions.
I don't think either of the two campaigned on keeping taxes high while slashing medicare/medicaid and setting an end date for social security benefits. It's political suicide because Americans are stupid and selfish.
Was it dishonest for them to pretend like they'd permanently fix the problem? Yes. Am I happy with any cuts at all being possible, even if my Javier Milei fantasies are ultimately no closer to reality? Also yes.
Genuine question - do we know if this is that people are incapable of replacing the smoke alarm battery, or if they are not allowed to by a union work rule?
No union work rules apply in one's personal residence.
True - I'm at work so I can't watch the video, and assumed the smoke alarm was in a government office.
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