Welcome to the Don of a new day

[The Folk Prophet]

On 11/7/2024 at 9:08 AM, Phoenix_person said:

I greatly look forward to saying "I told you so" in a few years.

Worth it!

 

[Phoenix_person]

2 minutes ago, The Folk Prophet said:

Worth it!

 

I guess we'll see in 4 years.

[The Folk Prophet]

2 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

I guess we'll see in 4 years.

Yep.

And I, for one, am well pleased with the potential here.

I don't actually disagree that the Tariffs will cause economic harm. They will. I believe the other, more important economic things that Trump is likely to enact will more than offset that.

Drilling and de-regulating will make a lot more difference to the economic strength than the cost of goods from China.

And it, honestly, isn't a "we'll see" issue to me. It's a long term security issue. It's worth the pain. It's no different than the philosophy on the left that getting rid of oil and gas systems, while painful, is good for us long term. (A point with which I don't fully disagree.)

Some pain is worth it. Some things are worth higher costs. Some things are worth dying for.

China is out of control. They have to be reigned in. Even at the cost of goods rising.

Tariffs do cause some pain to the US. They cause more pain to the countries being tariffed. And they're a whole heck of a lot better way to curb other country's bad behavior than bombing them or the like. Or, alternatively, as the Dems seemed to choose, letting them just run amok.

Maybe there are other, better ways. But the pre-pandemic economy under Trump before belies your point a bit. Sure, there were some pains because of the Tariffs. But the economy was great.

The same is true of what I hope Musk does to the government agencies under Trump. Will it be painful for the economy and other things if the government's alphabet agencies are gutted? Yes. But, in my opinion, nothing would be better for the country in the long term.

[Still_Small_Voice]

On 11/7/2024 at 1:09 PM, mirkwood said:

My 401K jumped quite a bit yesterday.

Gold has done very well in the last year.  I was thinking about buying into the exchange trade fund symbol QQQ for a few months maybe.

[Backroads]

On 11/8/2024 at 1:41 PM, The Folk Prophet said:

Will it be painful for the economy and other things if the government's alphabet agencies are gutted? Yes. But, in my opinion, nothing would be better for the country in the long term.

This is where I'm trying to get comfortable and I'm not necessarily there yet in many ways beside philosophically.

I like the idea of people having to complain to closer organizations than the federal government.

I'm willing to detox from China.

I'm still not entirely sure about other things. A lane change here, but education. No one has approached of how ending the Department of Education benefits special education.

[JohnsonJones]

8 hours ago, Backroads said:

This is where I'm trying to get comfortable and I'm not necessarily there yet in many ways beside philosophically.

I like the idea of people having to complain to closer organizations than the federal government.

I'm willing to detox from China.

I'm still not entirely sure about other things. A lane change here, but education. No one has approached of how ending the Department of Education benefits special education.

If they end the Department of Education it would mean a very large difficulty for those involved with Special Education as in many states a majority of their funding for that program comes from the Federal Government. 

If I understand that question well enough.

I'm probably more concerned if they do away with the CDC and the FDA or gut or destroy those programs.  If you've ever been to some of the other nations out there you start to realize what a blessing these government agencies are.  You don't have to worry about whether the next meal may be your last because we have some pretty strict regulation which ensure our food is safe, as well as other medical concerns which (though not as successful, far more than many other locations) which help to ensure that disease and other deadly things are kept more in check. 

I think doing away with the Department of Education is bad (don't get me wrong), but there are other things which are going to be having a larger impact more quickly than that.

The ironic thing is that this won't save a ton of money.  Getting rid of Welfare and Social Security as well as Military (the three mainstays of our expenditures) would probably do so, but if we get hit with something even as slight as a strong recession (no depression needed) you will have people starving in the streets visibly on the night time news. 

Walmart would also have a problem with that solution (as they depend on those three pillars to keep their employees paid and afloat, customers that are poor - but not too poor to keep coming in, and of course military floats all boats that are near their installations).

[Carborendum]

10 hours ago, Backroads said:

I'm still not entirely sure about other things. A lane change here, but education. No one has approached of how ending the Department of Education benefits special education.

In the short term, that will be a downside.  But in the long run, private industry and charities will pick up the slack.  And so will independent efforts (like homeschooling).

A few generations ago, there weren't enough resources for families to effectively homeschool and keep up with the academic standards of public schooling.  Then a generation later, there was a big enough impetus that homeschoolers were doing better academically than public schoolers.  Today, public school is in the toilet (in more ways than one).  And many families would love to homeschool if they had the ability to do so.

Any time there is a societal shift, there is an adjustment period.  What we really need to watch for is what happens after the adjustment period.

Today, with the internet, the adjustment would only be as long as it takes to get the word out.  If something goes viral, the solution to the problem could be within a few months.

Special Education Classes Online | K12

I know many people who would be happy do donate to causes like this so that disadvantaged households with a special needs child would not be left out.

Edited November 12, 2024 by Carborendum

[Carborendum]

I wonder if that FEMA supervisor would have been fired if Trump had lost.

[Backroads]

42 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

In the short term, that will be a downside.  But in the long run, private industry and charities will pick up the slack.  And so will independent efforts (like homeschooling).

A few generations ago, there weren't enough resources for families to effectively homeschool and keep up with the academic standards of public schooling.  Then a generation later, there was a big enough impetus that homeschoolers were doing better academically than public schoolers.  Today, public school is in the toilet (in more ways than one).  And many families would love to homeschool if they had the ability to do so.

Any time there is a societal shift, there is an adjustment period.  What we really need to watch for is what happens after the adjustment period.

Today, with the internet, the adjustment would only be as long as it takes to get the word out.  If something goes viral, the solution to the problem could be within a few months.

Special Education Classes Online | K12

I know many people who would be happy do donate to causes like this so that disadvantaged households with a special needs child would not be left out.

Now what I'm about to say obviously proves part of the issue, but K12 is just as public as anything. I teach for a similar obligation school, and we have had parents of special needs kids who can't hack it. I hate to say it, but sending their kid off to an out of the home school is often the only way the family can function, to have a break for six hours.

I think we might see the rise of more institutionalized situations. And I don't know if that's necessarily a bad thing. A friend of mine had her life changed when she stopped caring what people thought and put her oldest in a home. And it benefited the whole family, kid included.

But it will take some social adjustment for that. Many people prefer to think of the kid in special education as the adorable child with a few funny social quirks and not the kid that many parents honestly can't raise on their own where an online school just won't work.

For food or for bad, current special education policies have taken a huge burden from families we hadn't seen before and I don't know how many families are ready to take that back. 

 

Edited November 12, 2024 by Backroads

[Carborendum]

14 minutes ago, Backroads said:

Now what I'm about to say obviously proves part of the issue, but K12 is just as public as anything.

I didn't realize that.  Back when it began, it was mostly private.  I haven't kept up after our first semester.  It was fine for one semester.  But there were aspects that made it a bad fit for us.  So, we left.

OTOH, I do believe it is acceptable for special needs children (if they truly are special needs) to have a state funded education.  But I believe it should be at a state level, not a federal one.  So, get rid of the Federal DOE.  States can continue.

Edited November 12, 2024 by Carborendum

[Backroads]

15 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

 

OTOH, I do believe it is acceptable for special needs children (if they truly are special needs) to have a state funded education.  But I believe it should be at a state level, not a federal one.  So, get rid of the Federal DOE.  States can continue.

In that regard, I doubt we'll see much difference in funding, as the federal government never bothered to give the funding it promised.

[estradling75]

1 hour ago, Backroads said:

I think we might see the rise of more institutionalized situations. And I don't know if that's necessarily a bad thing. A friend of mine had her life changed when she stopped caring what people thought and put her oldest in a home. And it benefited the whole family, kid included.

But it will take some social adjustment for that. Many people prefer to think of the kid in special education as the adorable child with a few funny social quirks and not the kid that many parents honestly can't raise on their own where an online school just won't work.

For food or for bad, current special education policies have taken a huge burden from families we hadn't seen before and I don't know how many families are ready to take that back. 

 

I have a 14 year old son who look like he is going to develop the build for a line backer.  He also has the mental capacity of a non verbal toddler...  So yeah a special needs kid..  Your comments hit.

We love (and he loves) going to school.  Its a nice change for all involved.  All of last week he was sick (Schools are still germ factories) and we kept him home and this required adjustments.  I have been fortunate that I can work remotely (A good thing from COVID) but last week I was traveling out of state. My wife has started going back to school, she had to miss the in person classes and do what she could do remote to cover the time he would have been in school.  Most extended family are also busy with there lives and family so not much ability to help there.  Grandparents are retired but they are also old and winding down.  They just can't keep up with him for more then an hour or two at a time.

My family and I are fortunate/blessed to keep things covered but it wouldn't take much to put us over the edge.

[Phoenix_person]

Efficiency means putting two people in charge of one department, apparently 

[Manners Matter]

10 hours ago, Phoenix_person said:

Efficiency means putting two people in charge of one department, apparently 

Considering how much needs to be addressed, maybe they're each taking a big chunk so it can be done by the deadline.

Edited November 13, 2024 by Manners Matter

[Carborendum]

37 minutes ago, Manners Matter said:

11 hours ago, Phoenix_person said:

Efficiency means putting two people in charge of one department, apparently 

Considering how much needs to be addressed, maybe they're each taking a big chunk so it can be done by the deadline.

There is no single person on the planet who can look at the US Government's ledgers and decipher all the waste that goes on.  But this is certainly a team who can come close.

[zil2]

21 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

There is no single person on the planet who can look at the US Government's ledgers and decipher all the waste that goes on.  But this is certainly a team who can come close.

I listened to an interview with Vivek Ramaswamy and I gotta say, he had some great and simple ideas for how to cut down the size of government quickly.  I think it was this one:

 

[NeuroTypical]

11 hours ago, Phoenix_person said:

Efficiency means putting two people in charge of one department, apparently 

I have something approaching fleeting hope with this announcement.  I mean, the response to your criticism is pretty easy.  "Musk and I met, he's taking Interior/Ag/Commerce/Health/Housing/Transportation, and I'm taking DOE and the rest."

But my promise remains.  If DOGE just turns into another stupid bloated bureaucracy with functionaries wielding unelected and unlegislated power, I will join you in the glorious revolution.   

Anyway, fleeting hope is enough to change my avatar.

[Phoenix_person]

7 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

I have something approaching fleeting hope with this announcement.  I mean, the response to your criticism is pretty easy.  "Musk and I met, he's taking Interior/Ag/Commerce/Health/Housing/Transportation, and I'm taking DOE and the rest."

But my promise remains.  If DOGE just turns into another stupid bloated bureaucracy with functionaries wielding unelected and unlegislated power, I will join you in the glorious revolution.   

Anyway, fleeting hope is enough to change my avatar.

My hope is that this administration will follow the same pattern of the last: high turnover. We'll see how many Scaramuccis Elon lasts in government.

[NeuroTypical]

I had to look that up, but dang it's funny.

 

 

[Carborendum]

11 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

My hope is that this administration will follow the same pattern of the last: high turnover. We'll see how many Scaramuccis Elon lasts in government.

I vaguely remember the name.  And I remember some hubbub about him. But by the time I heard about it, it was over.  So I never knew.

But here's an interesting find from the BBC:

Quote

And, topping it all, it was revealed on the same day of his sacking that he had been wrongly declared dead in the latest Harvard Law School alumni directory. A spokesman apologized, saying that the error will be corrected in subsequent editions. He graduated from Harvard Law in 1989.

No wonder he didn't get anything done. They had to replace him because he was dead.  

Edited November 13, 2024 by Carborendum

[Vort]

1 hour ago, zil2 said:

I listened to an interview with Vivek Ramaswamy and I gotta say, he had some great and simple ideas for how to cut down the size of government quickly.  I think it was this one:

 

In a more ideal world, Ramaswamy, not Trump, would have been the Republican nominee. How fun that would have been, watching the Democrats and their lapdog media trying, and failing, to eviscerate Ramaswamy without appearing to be the unmitigated racists they really are.

[Phoenix_person]

2 minutes ago, Vort said:

How fun that would have been, watching the Democrats and their lapdog media trying, and failing, to eviscerate Ramaswamy without appearing to be the unmitigated racists they really are.

I won't deny that we have some low lifes on our side, but let's not pretend that Democrats are the reason why Nikki Haley doesn't use her birth name. At least Vivek owns his. And honestly, I don't think Dems have a lot of beef with him, policy-wise. Vivek vs Biden or Harris would have been far less stressful for all parties involved, imo.

[Carborendum]

13 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

I won't deny that we have some low lifes on our side, but let's not pretend that Democrats are the reason why Nikki Haley doesn't use her birth name. At least Vivek owns his. And honestly, I don't think Dems have a lot of beef with him, policy-wise. Vivek vs Biden or Harris would have been far less stressful for all parties involved, imo.

Nikki is her birth (middle) name just like a non-insignificant portion of Americans do.  It was just pure slander that she "Americanized" it for politics.  I'm surprised that you've bought into it.  This is easily verifiable.  She's gone by Nikki since she was a child.

If you don't believe me, then trust your own liberal media.

Social posts revive false claim about Haley’s name | AP News

Edited November 13, 2024 by Carborendum

[Phoenix_person]

57 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

Nikki is her birth (middle) name just like a non-insignificant portion of Americans do.  It was just pure slander that she "Americanized" it for politics.  I'm surprised that you've bought into it.  This is easily verifiable.  She's gone by Nikki since she was a child.

If you don't believe me, then trust your own liberal media.

Social posts revive false claim about Haley’s name | AP News

I knew Nikki was her middle name. I actually didn't realize that Haley was her married name. My mistake.