The Trump Presidency 2.0

Ok, I am 100% sure this is 7d chess by the Prez- Inviting Whitmer to the White House, praising her highly- and then ambushes her by bringing her into the Oval and talking about how the election was rigged while she stands there.

In my fantastical brainspace, Trump just KNOWS the backlash Whitmer gets for this photo op. Just knows it. Whitmer is a lame duck in her third term (she can't get re-elected), but the heavy praise Trump gave her and the utterly predictable reaction of the left ("APOSTASY!" the fish-mouthed blue hairs cried) opens Whitmer up to the rage of her own party, and damages her for a run in '28.

Just comedy all around.
 
BloodStripe said:
DoD Sets Policies on Consolidating and Eliminating Offices and Civilian Jobs

Part of the initiative to lower the manpower level is to outsource jobs. Can someone name one job that is cheaper to contract for than to hire a GS/WG to do? This is @AWP’s wet dream.

I like the concept of cutting waste (especially to consolidate supervisors where people only have few staff), but having contractors do work is not more efficient and certainly not cheaper, especially professional employees. Do they not realize how bad the Government is at writing PWS’s?
Click to expand...
I would rather in-source to a green suitor. I already look at DA Civilians as "out-sourcing". If you can't carry a gun...why have you?

AWP said:
Ironically we had this convo today, a bunch of Gov and Ctr types. The number of horrific cyber sustainment contracts we deal with is staggering. Honestly, our greatest insider threat is the person writing the contract because if they don't bake cyber into the initial contract then we play hell catching up. I could go on and on, but the flaws I see in cyber alone bother me because if we're being missed, what else is being missed?

Contractors are to fill gaps and I've seen first hand how they don't fill "gaps," they are an institution on some contracts. I know, because I was "that guy" for 15 years on TWO contracts. That's not a gap, that's an industry. What's the break point where it is cheaper to go Gov than Ctr? Gotta' be less than 5 years.

That GS-14 or equivalent with no one or almost no one working for them? Why do they exist?

Here's a good one I learned this week.That "replace 1 for every 4 departures" is disingenuous. Say we lose 4 engineers, we don't hire one in their place. Ech II decides where that one person goes. If Ech II says we need more...cyber or contract or financial managers than engineers, it isn't hiring an engineer. It might not even hire one for the losing organization.

We had a major defense contractor deliver PCs that were never patched. Bare bones Win 11 images. Why? Contracting didn't write that in the PWS and when the Gov complained, the major defense firm dropped a polite version of "fuck you, pay me." The solution? Put a couple of contractors on the road for 4-ish months flying around and patching these systems. We are totally spending money wisely and helping the warfighter with that move...
Click to expand...

Sounds like an H1B at InfoSys working on some random thing at Google that he'll never hired for, just replaced at contractor level...
 
BloodStripe said:
DoD Sets Policies on Consolidating and Eliminating Offices and Civilian Jobs

Part of the initiative to lower the manpower level is to outsource jobs. Can someone name one job that is cheaper to contract for than to hire a GS/WG to do? This is @AWP’s wet dream.

I like the concept of cutting waste (especially to consolidate supervisors where people only have few staff), but having contractors do work is not more efficient and certainly not cheaper, especially professional employees. Do they not realize how bad the Government is at writing PWS’s?
Click to expand...

I don't think you read the article. I'll sum it up:


FIRE Turds, save $$$$$$$. Use that $$$$$$ to hire PROBLEM solvers! SOLVE problems, become more LETHAL! Become more LETHAL, do what the DOD is made to do!!!!

:ROFLMAO: :thumbsup:
 
amlove21 said:
Ok, I am 100% sure this is 7d chess by the Prez- Inviting Whitmer to the White House, praising her highly- and then ambushes her by bringing her into the Oval and talking about how the election was rigged while she stands there.

In my fantastical brainspace, Trump just KNOWS the backlash Whitmer gets for this photo op. Just knows it. Whitmer is a lame duck in her third term (she can't get re-elected), but the heavy praise Trump gave her and the utterly predictable reaction of the left ("APOSTASY!" the fish-mouthed blue hairs cried) opens Whitmer up to the rage of her own party, and damages her for a run in '28.

Just comedy all around.
Click to expand...

I'll be honest, she scored points with Michiganders doing this...but got nothing out of it if she wants to be POTUS. But she's as vile as Newsom. Polis also attacking her, what a limp. Colorado's electorate is just California in the mountains and everything about how the Denver Metropolitan area votes is why the Democrats lost. My BIL lives in Denver, a wealthy neighborhood...especially when you cross the street north...the local library has multiple drag queen book readings per month. My SIL took their toddler to one two years ago, I can't believe they're not divorced but that's a different subject.

Anyways, Whitmer was already trash, but it seemed like she scored some points here to get some of that pork in the next budget.
 
SpongeBob*24 said:
I don't think you read the article. I'll sum it up:


FIRE Turds, save $$$$$$$. Use that $$$$$$ to hire PROBLEM solvers! SOLVE problems, become more LETHAL! Become more LETHAL, do what the DOD is made to do!!!!

:ROFLMAO: :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
If only…

Sure, get rid of jobs that aren’t war fighting capabilities. But I’ll never forget being on a FOB without a NEX and getting a monthly run to Anaconda to stock up on shit. Best morale booster ever. So when we start looking at if we go to war today and that job doesn’t exist, would we create it, maybe privatizing a lot of jobs isn’t the answer because yes those jobs would be created.

ThunderHorse said:
I would rather in-source to a green suitor. I already look at DA Civilians as "out-sourcing". If you can't carry a gun...why have you?
Click to expand...

lol good luck fielding an extra 1 million plus person Army and all the extra costs that come with it. Pay is going to to need to vastly increased at all ranks to attract recruits. Same with bonuses; unless of course you want to draft people, which as a free society is a scary thought when we aren’t at war.

My E7 neighbor makes more money per year between basic pay and BAH than a GS 14 does. This not even counting the medical benefits and his retirement that will come two decades earlier. Further, have you seen how much VA claims have skyrocketed over bogus bullshit? GS don’t get disability for “sleep apnea” or having sand on our crotch yet we do the same exact job. And finally do you really expect green side folks to stay around long enough to retire and to constantly fill the gaps when they leave service or get medically separated? Or fired for loss of confidence? Or charged under the UCMJ for motorboating subordinates?

At the end of the day, most of the military jobs (civilian included) will be replaced by robots controlled by AI. Which is a good thing for saving lives, and more importantly enriching the companies who make those things since the Government basically no longer makes our own shit and we purchase everything.
 
AWP said:
Honestly, our greatest insider threat is the person writing the contract
Click to expand...
Blame the TPOC not the KO. It’s crazy to me the number of conversations a week I have to have asking for the requirement owner to start taking ownership of their requirement. They have to live with the outcomes of the contract, I don’t. If it fails, no skin off my back but the program office who needs it will feel the pain.

Modernizing Defense Acquisitions and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base

I do hope there are major acquisition changes. This is a start but the bulk of the number of actions is for routine commercial shit (software, services, furniture, etc) yet they are honestly more complex than purchasing non commercial large program stuff because we have bastardized commercial purchases. I hope the next EO is on reducing the size and constraints of the nearly 99 million word Code of Federal Regulations we have. Just citing DOGE, in 2024 there were 18.45 rules per law.
 
ThunderHorse said:
I'll be honest, she scored points with Michiganders doing this...but got nothing out of it if she wants to be POTUS. But she's as vile as Newsom. Polis also attacking her, what a limp. Colorado's electorate is just California in the mountains and everything about how the Denver Metropolitan area votes is why the Democrats lost. My BIL lives in Denver, a wealthy neighborhood...especially when you cross the street north...the local library has multiple drag queen book readings per month. My SIL took their toddler to one two years ago, I can't believe they're not divorced but that's a different subject.

Anyways, Whitmer was already trash, but it seemed like she scored some points here to get some of that pork in the next budget.
Click to expand...
I have close friends in the political space in Colorado... it's absolutely disgusting.

if you want to hear about the Army Ranger Captain famously quoted in Rolling Stone as saying, "(During the Jan 6th event)- It was the most scared I have ever been in my life. I called my wife, and my kids, and told them I might not come home"... I have the episode for you. Rep Jason Crow is an abomination, and Colorado has fallen.
 
amlove21 said:
This is "cause". When you write an email shit talking the admin you work for as a commander, that's a bridge too far. FAFO.

Pentagon fires Greenland US base commander who 'undermined' JD Vance after Pituffik visit
Click to expand...

So yesterday Jim LaPorta tweeted "relieved for loss of trust and confidence" more as a predictive joke.

This lady could have just submitted her letter of resignation. I don't even know what he said in his speech...but I know what she wrote in here email!

BloodStripe said:
If only…

Sure, get rid of jobs that aren’t war fighting capabilities. But I’ll never forget being on a FOB without a NEX and getting a monthly run to Anaconda to stock up on shit. Best morale booster ever. So when we start looking at if we go to war today and that job doesn’t exist, would we create it, maybe privatizing a lot of jobs isn’t the answer because yes those jobs would be created.



lol good luck fielding an extra 1 million plus person Army and all the extra costs that come with it. Pay is going to to need to vastly increased at all ranks to attract recruits. Same with bonuses; unless of course you want to draft people, which as a free society is a scary thought when we aren’t at war.

My E7 neighbor makes more money per year between basic pay and BAH than a GS 14 does. This not even counting the medical benefits and his retirement that will come two decades earlier. Further, have you seen how much VA claims have skyrocketed over bogus bullshit? GS don’t get disability for “sleep apnea” or having sand on our crotch yet we do the same exact job. And finally do you really expect green side folks to stay around long enough to retire and to constantly fill the gaps when they leave service or get medically separated? Or fired for loss of confidence? Or charged under the UCMJ for motorboating subordinates?

At the end of the day, most of the military jobs (civilian included) will be replaced by robots controlled by AI. Which is a good thing for saving lives, and more importantly enriching the companies who make those things since the Government basically no longer makes our own shit and we purchase everything.
Click to expand...

So when the next war kicks off we should send GS-14s who for the most part have never held a rifle to the front but as DA Civilians. Every time you cut end strength, you lose capability. If you look at the Army in particular, the amount of green suitors that just replaced by a GS employee over the last 30 years is stupid.
 
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amlove21 said:
I have close friends in the political space in Colorado... it's absolutely disgusting.

if you want to hear about the Army Ranger Captain famously quoted in Rolling Stone as saying, "(During the Jan 6th event)- It was the most scared I have ever been in my life. I called my wife, and my kids, and told them I might not come home"... I have the episode for you. Rep Jason Crow is an abomination, and Colorado has fallen.
Click to expand...
Colorado is the new California. Many of the dipshits that ruined California flocked to Colorado with their same ideologies and are running that state into the ground as well.
 
Blizzard said:
Colorado is the new California. Many of the dipshits that ruined California flocked to Colorado with their same ideologies and are running that state into the ground as well.
Click to expand...

It's been a minute but I was stationed in California in the late 80s and at Carson for 5 years in the 90s. Colorado was a pretty cool place with lots to do, but even then it was headed in that direction. Like California, there are some sensible, middle ground folks but it's those dipshits that give the entire states the bad rep.
 
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ThunderHorse said:
So when the next war kicks off we should send GS-14s who for the most part have never held a rifle to the front but as DA Civilians. Every time you cut end strength, you lose capability. If you look at the Army in particular, the amount of green suitors that just replaced by a GS employee over the last 30 years is stupid.
Click to expand...
I’m going to guess over 80% of the military doesn’t fire a rifle more than once per year. How do you plan to staff your active duty only military without civilians? Whats that recruitment process like? How are you going to pay for it? How are you going to keep retention rates high enough to sustain any level, especially in the mid career and higher areas? Bonuses? What do promotions look like? Are you still PCSing every two to three years? What’s that cost like? Where are they going to sleep? Eat? Where’s their uniforms coming from?

What you are describing is like marxism, where it sounds like it will work on paper but is absolutely shit in practice.
 
BloodStripe said:
I’m going to guess over 80% of the military doesn’t fire a rifle more than once per year. How do you plan to staff your active duty only military without civilians? Whats that recruitment process like? How are you going to pay for it? How are you going to keep retention rates high enough to sustain any level, especially in the mid career and higher areas? Bonuses? What do promotions look like? Are you still PCSing every two to three years? What’s that cost like? Where are they going to sleep? Eat? Where’s their uniforms coming from?

What you are describing is like marxism, where it sounds like it will work on paper but is absolutely shit in practice.
Click to expand...
Weird comments, we had civilians in the 50s, but we also had a far larger service and far few DoD Civilians as it relates to roles. BACK in the day you literally had guys who became permanent colonels. Determine that they would not be Brigadiers but they had a desire to serve and the Army had a desire to keep them. Heck the Navy even has a technical program for things like this called Limited Duty Officers. Do those people fire rifles, no.

The point is we have cut to the bone on our war fighting capacity. Fix it. It's not that deep of a concept.

The French also have an enlisted concept called Caporal Chef, they're still an NCO, but they're essentially a technical warfighting expert that remains at squad level. These men don't get forced out of the Army. It's really easy to change the up or out system if we want to.
 

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