Department of Government Efficiency - DOGE

[n_huffhines]

A healthy distrust of DC politicians and their pronouncements is the best way.

Good to see you, friendo

 

[Orange_Crush]

So if Elon said he stopped us from paying $17 billion to teach dolphins to play checkers off the coast of Australia, you'd just believe him. Got it

I never said that. I said that I don't need proof of that to believe that the swamp is swampy, the gov't wastes our money, and bureaucracy needs to be trimmed. Further, I stated that you and I don't need receipts for Trump to do the job he was elected to do.

Further, I said you guys are welcome to your own personal level of incredulity, for all the good it'll do beyond allowing you to form a bit of implausible deniability about the swampiness of your favorite swamp team.

 

[Orange_Crush]

Indeed…and a lot of Republicans up there have been more concerned with political survival too and need to pay a price for just going along with all of this.

I've just assumed that Republicans are by and large just as dirty as the dems are, by and large.

 

[NashVol11]

I never said that. I said that I don't need proof of that to believe that the swamp is swampy, the gov't wastes our money, and bureaucracy needs to be trimmed. Further, I stated that you and I don't need receipts for Trump to do the job he was elected to do.

Further, I said you guys are welcome to your own personal level of incredulity, for all the good it'll do beyond allowing you to form a bit of implausible deniability about the swampiness of your favorite swamp team.

So wait, which is it? If Elon said he saved us from spending $17B teaching dolphins to play checkers, you WOULDN'T automatically believe him? What would it take for you to believe him in that scenario? Because it sounds like you're agreeing with me

 

[SamRebel35]

Imagine if a dem was elected and did the same exact things Trump is doing. . . they'd be cheering from the mountaintops.

And most Trump supporters would also be cheering from a mountaintop if a democrat was elected and decided to take a chainsaw to the most corrupt institution we've heard of to date. I bet we might even see a certain fart sniffing "Lib"ertarian cheering it on. Alas, it was the orange man and Elon who started this particular fire, so it is bad unless and until we each receive evidence by way of certified mail proving the corruption of this particular institution.

 

[apevol]

Simple. Because it generates visceral responses. Easy for me to see through.

Not me. But I do have my limits.

Noted.

That is not me, either. Haven’t lied. Not trying to skew anyone’s perspective.

Agreed.

So, how much money should we spend on the global effort against AIDS? Dollars or %.

Not a gotcha; I’m just curious your thoughts.

My take on this is Trump trying to drum up dirt/scare the piss out of people he doesn't like + throwing Musk a bone by handing him the motherlode of data for his AI ambitions (he's pissed at who got dibs for Trump's new AI research funding.)

im skeptical that we'll cut out a lot of genuine fraud without causing headaches by cutting things that shouldn't have been cut.

I do believe that its absolutely mandatory to cut not only real fraud but also legitimate spending, because we're in a bad place financially and need to start working on a triage

 

[Orange_Crush]

I don't care about Trump or Putin and never put stock in that either. There goes your whatabout. So where are the screenshots she claimed to make available?

I seemed to remember much different, but whatever.

"Never put much stock"? Is that the same as filling pages of forum space demanding notarized proof and transparency over the entire affair? You know... Like you're doing here because you're afraid your swamp team may miss the playoffs again?

Trump's presser: "We have contracts and will be happy to send them out, as well as daily reports."

You: I need screenshots!!!

TrumputenGate: Hooker piss, treason, quid pro quo. Shifty Shifter completely fabricating testimony to congress.

What were you? Silence at best during a soft political coup against the sitting president of the US?

OK. Noted and corrected.

 

[VOLS INC.]

So wait, which is it? If Elon said he saved us from spending $17B teaching dolphins to play checkers, you WOULDN'T automatically believe him? What would it take for you to believe him? Because it sounds like you're agreeing with me

I’ll chime in.

I would believe him. If credible evidence were brought forth that proved he was lying, of course I would change my position and obviously be more cynical moving forward.

But my initial belief has virtually nothing to do with the messenger. Kamala could have communicated that information. Or Biden. Or CNN etc. I’ve just seen so much ridiculousness out of our Federal Government, that I’m not surprised by anything anymore.

 

[Fun coupon VOL]

A healthy distrust of DC politicians and their pronouncements is the best way.

At what cost though? Elon is looking at SSN, dang it.

 

[Orange_Crush]

So wait, which is it? If Elon said he saved us from spending $17B teaching dolphins to play checkers, you WOULDN'T automatically believe him? What would it take for you to believe him in that scenario? Because it sounds like you're agreeing with me

I'm saying that I'm willing to let it play out, and I won't **** on the process of the gov't getting audited as its going on, until being given really good reason to **** on it.

 

[NashVol11]

I seemed to remember much different, but whatever.

"Never put much stock"? Is that the same as filling pages of forum space demanding notarized proof and transparency over the entire affair? You know... Like you're doing here because you're afraid your swamp team may miss the playoffs again?

Trump's presser: "We have contracts and will be happy to send them out, as well as daily reports."

You: I need screenshots!!!

TrumputenGate: Hooker piss, treason, quid pro quo. Shifty Shifter completely fabricating testimony to congress.

What were you? Silence at best during a soft political coup against the sitting president of the US?

OK. Noted and corrected.

They said they'd be happy to send them out, but did they?

I don't think we see those for at least a few days, at which point people will read them and conclude they're relatively innocuous, but the masses will have already moved on to the next "scandal" that Elon tweets with no evidence

 

[just bob]

My take on this is Trump trying to drum up dirt/scare the piss out of people he doesn't like + throwing Musk a bone by handing him the motherlode of data for his AI ambitions (he's pissed at who got dibs for Trump's new AI research funding.)

im skeptical that we'll cut out a lot of genuine fraud without causing headaches by cutting things that shouldn't have been cut.

I do believe that its absolutely mandatory to cut not only real fraud but also legitimate spending, because we're in a bad place financially and need to start working on a triage

It's best to never trust anyone in office. There's just those you trust less than others. Everyone knows there's massive corruption everywhere. If that can be reined in, fantastic. The way it was before is not sustainable. Just seeing how this goes....

 

[Orange_Crush]

I’ll chime in.

I would believe him. If credible evidence were brought forth that proved he was lying, of course I would change my position and obviously be more cynical moving forward.

But my initial belief has virtually nothing to do with the messenger. Kamala could have communicated that information. Or Biden. Or CNN etc. I’ve just seen so much ridiculousness out of our Federal Government, that I’m not surprised by anything anymore.

I would lean toward the possibility, maybe even probability, until being given good reason not to. Like I posted on recent pages, the gov't has proven themselves to be idiotic, bureaucratic, wasters of our tax money, giving it to incredibly stupid initiatives.

It's not a stretch to believe they'd waste money on damn near anything.

 

[NashVol11]

I'm saying that I'm willing to let it play out, and I won't **** on the process of the gov't getting audited as its going on, until being given really good reason to **** on it.

That's not an answer, though. Does the bold mean you'll take Elon's word for things unless/until he's proven wrong? With the dolphins you implied a different approach, so do you take the things he says at face value or not?

 

[Orange_Crush]

They said they'd be happy to send them out, but did they?

I don't think we see those for a few days, at which point people will read them and conclude they're relatively innocuous, but the masses will have already moved on to the next "scandal" that Elon tweets with no evidence

OK. Noted.

 

[NashVol11]

I’ll chime in.

I would believe him. If credible evidence were brought forth that proved he was lying, of course I would change my position and obviously be more cynical moving forward.

But my initial belief has virtually nothing to do with the messenger. Kamala could have communicated that information. Or Biden. Or CNN etc. I’ve just seen so much ridiculousness out of our Federal Government, that I’m not surprised by anything anymore.

I would lean toward the possibility, maybe even probability, until being given good reason not to. Like I posted on recent pages, the gov't has proven themselves to be idiotic, bureaucratic, wasters of our tax money, giving it to incredibly stupid initiatives.

It's not a stretch to believe they'd waste money on damn near anything.

Good to know. Elon could say we spend $20 billion on DEI for penguins and a good number of people would react with "OK, that seems truthful." Says a lot about where we are in terms of trust/distrust, which isn't a shot at anyone

 

[Orange_Crush]

That's not an answer, though. Does the bold mean you'll take Elon's word for things unless/until he's proven wrong? With the dolphins you implied a different approach, so do you take the things he says at face value or not?

I've been pretty clear.

I would lean toward the possibility, maybe even probability, until being given good reason not to. Like I posted on recent pages, the gov't has proven themselves to be idiotic, bureaucratic, wasters of our tax money, giving it to incredibly stupid initiatives.

It's not a stretch to believe they'd waste money on damn near anything.

 

[Orange_Crush]

Good to know. Elon could say we spend $20 billion on DEI for penguins and a good number of people would react with "OK, that seems truthful." Says a lot about where we are in terms of trust/distrust, which isn't a shot at anyone

We're dealing with people who have amassed in some cases hundreds of millions in personal wealth, on public servant salaries. The government is famous for lack of ability to pass audits. Having worked for the gov't sector, I've personally seen processes that would basically have had to be designed to eschew transparency.

These are the same people that name legislature the opposite of what the legislature actually does, and basically refuses to pass any bill that isn't weighed down with pork.

CIA black ops that have to be secretly funded somehow...

If you told me, "Yah, the line item said they paid millions of dollars to promote DEI and gender equality among arctic penguins", I'd absolutely consider it possible that that line item was tax moneys being funneled somewhere it isn't supposed to go--whether into congressional personal accounts, bureaucratic personal accounts, to arm Iranian Contras, or topple a Central American gov't and set up the next banana republic.

If there is a level of lost trust, it's been earned many times over.

ETA: I just saw a video of the Ukrainian president claiming that they only got roughly 70-ish million dollars of the claimed 170-ish million dollars that Biden and the gang claim to have sent them.

Yep. I believe that a distinct possibility. (Just because a database says that $$$ was spent on X, doesn't mean it was spent on X.)

 

[dovervolz]

How is this complicated? If you make claims about massive fraud and huge scandals and "radical left" blah blah blah, you should have something to back it up. It shouldn't just be blind trust unless random individuals with less information prove it wrong. I'm surprised people can even argue against that

You want proof, just listen to all the low life liberal politicians in DC. They're crying like bunch of little bit#### ( much like the libs on this board). If he wasn't finding anything they wouldn't squalling at the top of their lungs.

 

[McDad]

Good to see you, friendo

Thanks.

 

[McDad]

At what cost though? Elon is looking at SSN, dang it.

I don't think there is a cost for personal distrust. I have no control over what the DC partisans are doing or saying. All I have is control over what or who I believe.

 

[jmacvols1]

this idiot should be criminally charged...

 

[apevol]

We're dealing with people who have amassed in some cases hundreds of millions in personal wealth, on public servant salaries. The government is famous for lack of ability to pass audits. Having worked for the gov't sector, I've personally seen processes that would basically have had to be designed to eschew transparency.

These are the same people that name legislature the opposite of what the legislature actually does, and basically refuses to pass any bill that isn't weighed down with pork.

CIA black ops that have to be secretly funded somehow...

If you told me, "Yah, the line item said they paid millions of dollars to promote DEI and gender equality among arctic penguins", I'd absolutely consider it possible that that line item was tax moneys being funneled somewhere it isn't supposed to go--whether into congressional personal accounts, bureaucratic personal accounts, to arm Iranian Contras, or topple a Central American gov't and set up the next banana republic.

If there is a level of lost trust, it's been earned many times over.

hundreds of billions?

 

[Orange_Crush]

hundreds of billions?

I saw it and edited. Look at your quote.

 

[apevol]

I saw it and edited. Look at your quote.

i was about to run for office