Open Thread – DOGE and other topics
Angry Bear did have “open threads” in the past. They were meant to allow commenters to discuss topics which were important to them. The same rules apply in that you have to be polite, unruly, etc. I added one topic to this Open Thread. If there are other topics you wish to talk about, have at it. The Open Thread Topic?
“Conflicts of interest with DOGE or Not?”
“A Public Citizen report, titled Duplicitous Oligarchy Grifting Endlessly, “maps out the entities DOGE has targeted and identifies which ones carry a known conflict of interest for Elon Musk’s business entanglements” as the executive office leads the Trump administration’s purge of federal agencies.” An example:
Conflicts are listed to the tight. The issue here is Musk and team DOGE deciding on Government contracts his company SpaceX has. Public Citizen has a list of Musk projects with the Government to which DOGE may or may not have an impact.
CONTRACT WITH AMERICA: Remember Newt’s 1994 contract? Well, Democrats need one now. Trump is wrecking the country & world; yet 69% of the public think Dems are “out of touch.” Midterms are coming, candidates are planning, & the public needs a uniform & specific message of what Democrats stand for.
Trump at 100 Days:
Recession Fears, Policy Pushback –
Yet Still an Edge Over the Democrats
Trump at 100 Days: Recession Fears, Policy Pushback – Yet Still an Edge Over the Democrats
J.P.
The contract? Win in The House November 2026. Hopefully, America wakes up again.
the only thing Democrats stand for is more Democrats and more Government employment. That is about it—of course Democrats like to wrap their desires in a more feel good message like “for the children” as long as they spend other people’s money.
Please tell me what Do Democrats want as in a Contract to America
@Jackson:
Democrats support:
• habeus corpus;
• right to due process;
• an independent legislative branch;
• an independent department of justice;
• freedom of speech;
• federally funded scientific research;
• NPR and PBS;
• getting the nanny state out of managing private universities;
• getting the nanny state out of reproductive choice;
• sensible gun control;
• strong unions;
• universal healthcare;
• the rule of law applies to everyone;
• vaccines;
• scientific evidence;
• progressive taxation;
• renewable energy;
• a free and independent Ukraine.
Republicans oppose all of these. The only thing Republicans stand for is more Republicans and more government subsidy of businesses. That is about it—of course Republicans like to wrap their desires in a more feel-good message like “freedom” as long as they spend other people’s money.
Heh.
Good one, Joel!!!!!
Yes Joel; that is why I vote for them whenever I do vote. Here in VA, statewide elections are mostly safe for the Democratic Party in this century except when a Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee runs while a Democrat is POTUS. The VA Republican Party defeated itself when it ran Ken Cuccinelli against Terry McAuliffe in 2013 during O’Barry’s 2nd term since Ken was one of the few politicians in VA that was vastly more unpopular than Terry.
Biden has resurfaced!?! Usually former Presidents just retire or just deliver speeches to bankers and industry associations.
The most amazing part, however, is that Biden is the closest thing Democrats have been able to dredge up as a face of the party, despite all his physical and mental infirmities.
Sadly, Biden is an apt symbol of a senescent, sclerotic and corrupt political party incapable of recognising and addressing the nation’s problems.
Biden Blasts Trump in BBC Interview
Yes, yes John:
Biden did have an unfortunate debate with Trump. He does have issue as he ages. However, they are far less than what Trump displays in public.
What is most alarming is how far Trump has declined in the last four years. In a petition signed by 3,000 medical professionals warning that Trump’s probable diagnosis is dementia, you said that sometimes forgetting a word is normal aging, whereas inventing words or using non-words is not. Could you elaborate?
“His 2023 State of the Union speech showed him to be lively, feisty, and able to engage appropriately and extemporaneously with the audience — as he also has done during interviews since that time. To this geriatrician, he is not exhibiting signs of dementia. Should he have formal cognitive testing as part of his yearly comprehensive physical examination? Of course he should, and the results should be made public. Indeed, why not ask for the same from all members of Congress over a certain age?”
Was and is Biden old? Of course, he was and is. And the above comment about Biden is from 2 years ago. I do not see much changing for him. He is slower in his thoughts and he should be as a president, Should he have stepped aside. Probably so . . .
What I have seen in the last three elections is people not voting for women for President in two elections. Clinton did get a majority vote but lost in other states. There were increases in voting for others or not voting.
What we have in office is someone who would have trouble managing his own checking account without assistance by others. Your boy has some serious mental capacity issues.
Yeah, yeah, Mr. Haskell. FYI I think Trump is an abomination…hardly.” In fact, I voted third party for President for the past 30 years, precisely because I am disgusted by the choice between the two evils foisted on us by the two major parties. Unlike other disgusted voters who sit at home and get labeled as disinterested, I choose to register my disgust. I wish many more would follow suit.
But, Mr. Haskell, you since haven’t addressed my point–why, after getting clobbered in the last election, don’t Democrats have a better to show the public than the repudiated Biden’s? My guess is that Democrats are a spent force, an empty vessel and can’t find any charismatic stooge to repeat their vacuous taking points.
@John,
You parrot your Trump masters well. Good job!
@JohnH,
Fate (or destiny if you prefer) is history. In 1944 not even Marriner Eccles supported the Bancor reserve currency recommended by Keynes. Keynes knew in 1944 that basing international currency exchange and trade on a sovereign currency would eventually lead that sovereign to persistent twin deficits (fiscal and trade) and finally political instability in the same manner that he knew in 1919 to write the Economic Consequences of the Peace detailing how the reparations levied on the German people for WWI would eventually lead to German political instability and WWII. When that German political instability later happened just as Keynes had predicted, then no one said that Keynes had been correct, but rather they said that Keynes was antisemitic. FDR got the global systems that he and Harry Dexter White (and US bankers and major shareholders) wanted almost literally over Keynes dead body.
When Robert Triffin explained his dilemma (a.k.a., paradox, which Keynes had correctly predicted in 1944) in 1960 it was an academic matter only as the political economy had already decided its own fate. America and its political and intellectual elite are always ready to take responsibility for success, but never willing to take responsibility for failure. Rentier capitalism is about the next quarters profit’s and capital gains rather than any egalitarian motive or even just simple socioeconomic stability. Maybe political instability is a feature and not a bug given working people are more vulnerable to it than billionaires.
In any case, I am just living my own life for the better of what little remains of my time. After sixty years of sociopolitical activism I have admitted defeat. I still read Keynes and put some little hope in William S. Milberg and a few others, but do not expect to live to see the change that I was hoping for.
New York Times article carried in the San Francisco Examiner which you can access to as I did.
“That is Not Who We Are,”
I see no issues with Joe Biden.
@Bill,
“I see no issues with Joe Biden.”
Neither do I. That’s because we haven’t been drinking the Trump koolaid.
‘It’s time for Joe Biden to go away’: Democrats are triggered by Biden’s return to the spotlight – POLITICO
Of course, some would simply accuse Politico of “parroting Trump well!!!”
@John,
LOL! Don’t know who those “some” are, but I’d just call it click bait.
WHY DEMOCRATS CAN’T GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER: Here’s a great example of the internal battles within the Democratic Party between “Progressives” & “Centrists.” The “Big Tent” may not be politically viable. Dem Leadership needs to attempt to find solutions.
https://tinyurl.com/d9a9jxda
https://tinyurl.com/3tk3axwa
@McJ,
Internal battles/debates in a political party are good, particularly for a major party in a system like ours that can only sustain two major parties. In a parliamentary system, the “progressives” and “centrists” would be two separate parties.
I’d rather belong to a party that has members challenging one another than a cult party like the GOP that only does what Dear Leader says.
Now is a good time to sort this out–the next presidential election isn’t until 2028.