As ever, the problem is compounded by the chunk of population who enable it, and the typically larger chunk of population who are unable or unwilling to recognize clear and present danger.
The first part is true, the second is not. Yes, it's run by the ultra wealthy. But the people wanted this. The election wasn't in debate, and this wasn't a case of a popular vote/electoral college split. Also, for all of Trump's faults, hidden agendas really aren't one of them. People know exactly who he is, he said pretty much exactly what he would do, and a majority voted for this.
I think that's why so many "on the left" are resigned. Y'all voted for this shit, so knock yourself out. We may be looking at some massive cases of "But I never thought the leopard would eat MY face!" in the future, but at this point IDGAF, people voted for this.
Like, you can say his policies are bad and you don’t like them for whatever reason. But the “false consciousness” argument applies to Trump the least of any president in my lifetime. He won spending less money both times, with the uniform hostility of big, centralized media. Trump’s big thing this campaign was in person rallies and podcasts.
I don’t watch mainstream media. I listen to some podcasts twice a week driving to work, and follow some people on X. Nothing Trump has done came as any surprise at all to me.
“I think that four years is OK,” Obama said. “Take on some water, but we can kind of bail fast enough to be OK. Eight years would be a problem. I would be concerned about a sustained period in which some of these norms have broken down and started to corrode.”
We're already far beyond some norms breaking down...
Sadly I can't find a great source for that quote. just found it on scmp and jp. weird. I swear I have this memory of that being in politico or nytimes at the time. iirc was from an 'otr' towards the end of his term.
https://www.benzinga.com/government/22/10/29111070/obamas-ta...
That's too high of a chance, IMHO.
The Democrats in Congress? Massive public demonstration?
It feels all but inevitable to me
I don't understand why the people behind January 6 would then go on to allow free and fair elections and politely hand back power when they lose.
This narrative is pure bs.
If you mean something other than “democracy” then say it.
why would you expect future elections to be free and fair?
The money government spends on salaries is money directly injected back into the economy, it could be seen as a form of social welfare.
By all means, we should be critical and say "this plan isn't going to work because xyz". That's an important part of the process. But at some point we do have to try something and see how it pans out, then try to adjust the plan based on the results.
For highly compensated employees who save the majority of their money, no.
(In any case, US federal debt interest payments will be ~$952b in 2025, out of $7.5 trillion budget. That's >> more than the $271b on total salaries for all civilian employees (or the $4.7 trillion tax cuts which expire end 2025). So, intentionally crippling the federal govt still wouldn't touch either the debt or interest payments; except as a blunt instrument to kill govt programs and bypass Congress.)
Trumps original tax plan benefits the higher income earners at the expense of lower and middle income earners.
Source: https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/donald-trump-...
I seriously doubt it’ll be any different this time around.
(technically you have to obtain a document, money, or other thing of value to run afoul of that particular law, but getting a reply to a successful spoof might qualify, and who knows whatever other laws it might violate, 25 CFR § 11.432 perhaps).
Doing so is exactly the type of abusive behavior abusive ex partners are known for.
Agree with it in principle or not, this system really belies the stupidity behind these scenes.
Governments and employers don’t do paperwork around hiring for fun - they do it for an auditable paper trail which has real and important value.
Has there ever been a loyalty component to rank and file federal employment before? This seems to go against the meritocracy they claim to want.
If you do a great job, anything else shouldn't matter...
Civil service in the US has been neutral politically and merit based for the last 140 years. It stands directly opposed to the "spoils system" which awarded positions to friends, campaign contributors, family members, etc. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoils_system
The bit right after the piece you quoted is interesting:
> Employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination.
I hope they start at the top!
There’s nothing in there about being qualified for the job,
Performance culture: The federal workforce should be comprised of the best America has to offer. We will insist on excellence at every level — our performance standards will be updated to reward and promote those that exceed expectations and address in a fair and open way those who do not meet the high standards which the taxpayers of this country have a right to demand.It’s quite possible it’s constitutional to have contractual remedies for termination. I suspect that’s why there’s an 8 month severance.
My read of this is that no 8-month severance has been offered, for whatever that's worth.
It's the things that aren't said that make it feel so Orwellian.
If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the *American people* to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce.Key quote:
"Employees who accept deferred resignation should promptly have their duties re-assigned or eliminated and be placed on paid administrative leave until the end of the deferred resignation period (generally, September 30, 2025, unless the employee has elected another earlier resignation date), unless the agency head determines that it is necessary for the employee to be actively engaged in transitioning job duties, in which case employees should be placed on administrative leave as soon as those duties are transitioned."
https://chcoc.gov/sites/default/files/OPM%20Guidance%20Memo%...
Here's the FAQ that got put up on OPM.
Note: This is pretty much every single one of the federal employees (2.2 million) other than: "military personnel of the armed forces, employees of the U.S. Postal Service, those in positions related to immigration enforcement and national security, and those in other positions specifically excluded by your employing agency."
The quotes are predictably demeaning: Am I allowed to get a second job?
"Absolutely! We encourage you to find a job in the private sector as soon as you would like to do so. The way to greater American prosperity is encouraging people to move from lower productivity jobs in the public sector to higher productivity jobs in the private sector."
Poster (YouDoHaveValue) on Reddit had a pretty great take:
Typical indicators of a scam:
- Sounds too good to be true
- Urgent requests or threats, FOMO
- Spelling / grammar errors
- Payments via unconventional / insecure means
- Links or attachments prompting you to provide personal information
"Last week, federal employees across the government received emails encouraging them to turn in colleagues who they believed to be working on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access initiatives (DEIA) to the OPM via the email address DEIAtruth@opm.gov"
Also, this story seems to have sank remarkably quickly...
Even how they painted Biden's pardons was pretty brilliant IMO. Trump had already pretty much telegraphed that he would pardon anyone who kissed up to him, and had been explicit about how he would use federal power to seek revenge. So while I was very much against Biden's pardon of his family, I'm sure Biden was probably like "F this shizz, it's not like holding the moral high ground is doing anyone any favors." But now, of course, anyone with Trump's blessing will get a pardon regardless of what they do, and they can point to Biden's pardons as "Dems did it first".
I think we are truly and surely fucked in the mid-long term - what we're going through looks pretty much exactly what all previous empires looked like when they fell into decline. It's just kind of stunning to watch with so much transparency.
It's day 8. Good luck all.
Discussion at reddit: https://old.reddit.com/r/fednews/comments/1ibbbh7/this_was_p...
Democrats better hope that this crashes and burns, because if this shows any chance of being effective, we're in for a tough authoritarian ride.
This seems especially spooky.