For those who were duped into believing that DOGE is serious about defense budget cuts rather than centralizing control of spending and aligning spending with the political priorities of the Trump/Musk Administration, here’s Secretary of Defense Hesgeth: “Hegseth said beginning immediately, the Pentagon will pull 8% — or roughly $50 billion — from nonlethal programs […]
It is very easy to disrupt a complex system and very hard to get it going again. Trump, Musk, and the Muskateers decided to limit overhead on NIH grants to 15% fearing that some of the overhead might get money to DEI deans. They also limited communication of government health agencies with the public. The […]
Trumps FTC believes the ABA is corrupt. Having been around enough attorneys in my lifetime, they are not corrupt. They are smarter than we are on legalities. Reading the first sentence of Trump’s FTC letter reveals their beliefs: “federal antitrust enforcers and the private antitrust bar have enjoyed a cozy relationship facilitated by the Antitrust […]
– by New Deal democrat Let’s take our weekly look at jobless claims. These are a short leading labor market indicator. Also, it is likely that the firings in the federal labor force will shortly be reflected in this data. This week initial claims rose 5,000 to 219,000, while the four week average declined -1,000 […]
Both my dad and my father-in-law worked throughout their post-military careers at Y-12 in Oak Ridge. During the war, Y-12 was the site of uranium enrichment by the calutrons (K-25 was the gaseous diffusion plan, enrichment by gas chromatography). Having grown up in Oak Ridge, I’m quite familiar with its role in national security, unlike […]
“Palantir stock fell 10% for a second day on Thursday, adding to Wednesday’s 10% drop following a Washington Post report that said the Trump administration has told the Pentagon to plan for massive budget cuts over the next five years, casting doubt on a major source of the tech firm’s revenue.” I’d be happy to […]
So-called “pro-life” extremists want to define the beginning of life as the moment of conception. Setting aside the fact that both the sperm and egg are also alive so life doesn’t begin at conception, one might ponder why those who want to criminalize abortion as murder don’t similarly criminalize miscarriages as murder or assault when […]
Trump’s new VA secretary is a bigger threat to veterans’ care than Elon Musk. A ‘Middle Finger’ to Vets – The American Prospect, Suzanne Gordon and George Early In a scene that has become familiar in Washington these days, angry federal workers and concerned members of Congress gathered outside a government office to protest the […]
The 2024 election was, to some extent, a referendum on inflation. Voters were mad about higher prices, and they vented their wrath on the Democrats. Was that fair? USA TODAY asked economists to ascribe blame for the historic run of inflation, which reached a 40-year peak in mid-2022. Inflation has cooled since then, to an annual rate of […]
Wanna know why nobody wants to cut defense spending? It’s because defense dollars are spread all over the country. There’s a military installation in every state. Many companies have contracts with the DoD. So any discussion of cuts ends up with folks saying “don’t cut our piece, cut their piece.” No Congressman wants their piece […]