Author Topic: Draining the swamp ... where to start  (Read 1305 times)

Hawkmoon

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Draining the swamp ... where to start
« on: July 25, 2017, 10:29:58 PM »
Maine, perhaps?

http://www.newser.com/story/246248/sen-collins-on-rep-so-unattractive-its-unbelievable.html

Susan Collins is supposed to be a Republican, but this came out of her mouth:

Quote
Collins called the Trump administration's handling of the federal budget "incredibly irresponsible." She said it seems like whenever the budget includes the word "grant," the administration would "just X it out with no measurement, no thinking about it, no metrics, no nothing."

Maybe President Trump and "his people" HAVE thought about it. Maybe they've looked at that musty old Constitution and discovered that the redistribution of money from some states and some citizens to other states and other citizens is not one of the limited, enumerated powers assigned to the federal government.

And as for calling people unattractive ...
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
100% Politically Incorrect by Design

Scout26

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Re: Draining the swamp ... where to start
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2017, 12:08:58 AM »
How about everywhere ??

Direct every federal agency to reduce headcount by 25% then agree to compromise at 15% once the left starts gnashing their teeth, wailing, and rending their garments.

Then do again the next year.  20%, but compromise to 10%.  And do it every year after.

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Fly320s

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Re: Draining the swamp ... where to start
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2017, 09:58:20 AM »
Collins is a Maine Republican, which makes her a democrat.
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makattak

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Re: Draining the swamp ... where to start
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2017, 10:27:33 AM »
You know, Collins annoys me, but it's Murkowski and her ilk that really gall me.

Alaska is a RED red state. And we get this self-serving hack from it?

Every one of the red state senators ought to be solid. Instead the RNC pushes squishes in completely safe seats. It's almost as if the RNC doesn't want to enact the things in their platform. (Hey, wait a minute...)
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MechAg94

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Re: Draining the swamp ... where to start
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2017, 10:55:39 AM »
The federal budget is too big to start arguing each and every item to cut.  Better to cut large chunks at a time.  Argue about what items ought to be put back in if you need to.
“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.”  ― Calvin Coolidge

HankB

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Re: Draining the swamp ... where to start
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2017, 10:59:28 AM »
. . . It's almost as if the RNC doesn't want to enact the things in their platform. (Hey, wait a minute...)
FIFY
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Pb

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Re: Draining the swamp ... where to start
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2017, 12:58:33 PM »
Perhaps cut departments a certain % and let the heads decide what to elminate, so we don't fight over every little think.

RevDisk

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Re: Draining the swamp ... where to start
« Reply #7 on: July 26, 2017, 01:02:27 PM »
Perhaps cut departments a certain % and let the heads decide what to elminate, so we don't fight over every little think.

Every time that happens, they cut the most essential first to protect the least essential. Hence spending money to block off WW2 monument and whatnot.
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Ben

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Re: Draining the swamp ... where to start
« Reply #8 on: July 26, 2017, 01:16:27 PM »
Every time that happens, they cut the most essential first to protect the least essential. Hence spending money to block off WW2 monument and whatnot.

Yup.

It's actually a sticky wicket though from either side. An example I have some expertise on is scientific satellites. Trump slashed the satellite budget in his proposed FY18 budget, predominately to cut "climate change" spending. He was right and wrong. Data from many scientific satellites was absolutely used for political agendas. However, that doesn't invalidate the importance of the raw data for actual science.

While some knuckleheads may have been using data from a sat that measures ocean temps for some "biased science", that doesn't mean the raw data were unimportant or invalid for many other analyses. It's just that somebody had clout to retask the sats for stuff the previous administration was big on. Further, if you kill off an ocean temp sat (for example), you're not just killing off SST (Sea Surface Temperature) data. These satellites are typically multi-use. So while the main sensor may be for SST, it will also have other sensors for meteorological stuff, and even SAR transceivers, so you could actually be putting lives at risk.

In the same way an agency would protect their non-essential stuff* if given an option, from the other side of the coin, just slashing can do more damage than good. In the satellite example, Trump would have done better getting more expert opinions and doing surgical strikes on how the sat data were/are used rather than nuking entire programs. It's also kind of an inefficient waste to say, "we're done with this satellite" even thought it may have many more years of life as something other than disused space trash.


*The old saw about the Air Force comes to mind. The standing joke I always heard from AF people I worked with was that when you build a new base, you always put the bowling alley in first and the runway last. That way when you run over budget, well, you can't not have a runway on an Air Force base, right?  :laugh:
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MechAg94

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Re: Draining the swamp ... where to start
« Reply #9 on: July 26, 2017, 04:59:28 PM »
Every time that happens, they cut the most essential first to protect the least essential. Hence spending money to block off WW2 monument and whatnot.
That ought to be the same as wearing a "Fire Me" sign.  I guess it depends on who is in charge.
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Scout26

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Re: Draining the swamp ... where to start
« Reply #10 on: July 26, 2017, 05:38:40 PM »
Again, have Dept heads make the cuts based on recommendations from their deputies.  These guys should be able to sniff out BS.  Especially, if you tell them their job is on the line if they make BS recommendations.
Some days even my lucky rocketship underpants won't help.


Bring me my Broadsword and a clear understanding.
Get up to the roundhouse on the cliff-top standing.
Take women and children and bed them down.
Bless with a hard heart those that stand with me.
Bless the women and children who firm our hands.
Put our backs to the north wind.
Hold fast by the river.
Sweet memories to drive us on,
for the motherland.

just Warren

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Re: Draining the swamp ... where to start
« Reply #11 on: July 26, 2017, 07:48:50 PM »
Pay people to eliminate their job.

Get a one-time 3x base salary bonus if you can eliminate your job and not cause a budget increase elsewhere.

Also you will be able to take a percentage of your first five years pf pension money as a lump sum as long as you promise to never work in government at any level, even as a contractor, ever again.

Both of these are free of any Federal taxes.

It would take quite a bit of willpower to turn away from such a huge check.
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RoadKingLarry

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Re: Draining the swamp ... where to start
« Reply #12 on: July 26, 2017, 09:19:15 PM »
Where to start....
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