Your 2024 Presidential Election Thread

Cookie_ said:
There are "this person is a R/D who is qualified for the role" picks and "this person is a R/D who fills a specific political goal".

This guy is seems to be more of the second choice given some of his stances.

Doesn't mean he won't do good, but I don't he think chosen for his experience.
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Surely the ax incident counts as combat experience? 8-)
 
Dame said:
Surely the ax incident counts as combat experience? 8-)
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kim jong un GIF
 
AWP said:
The House and Senate might go along with some cuts to gov't positions, but broad, deep cuts will be opposed because there are too many jobs at stake. Today's Red district is tomorrow's Blue district if you start putting people out of work. Some agencies will backfill cut GS positions with contractors and now you're paying more over the long haul.
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It depends on how and when it's done.

Ripping the band-aid off early is best (next Federal election is 2 years out), but may also require codifing some changes. Ex. No one is going to miss 87,000 IRS agents, but that reduction also needs to accompany a simplified tax code.

We did without the Dept of Education prior to 1972. It brought very little tangible value to education in this country as test scores continue to fall. Remove this layer at the Federal level and allow it to be handled at State and local levels. This may require additional processes at those levels, but it's not a Federal role.

The same can be done with much of DHS and so on. Just look at the bureaucracy operating our space program as opposed to what SpaceX has been able to do.

That's not to say everything should run like a private organization, but there's absolutely a ton of opportunity for efficiency to be gained, even if it doesn't result in the elimination of a full agency.

Will there be resistance? Of course, especially from those sucking on the teet of the Federal government and, probably, some activist groups, especially environmental groups who want studies on everything under the sun in an effort to slow or kill progress.

This will require a mental shift by many. There's certainly a balance to be had, but after some adjustment, my guess is we'll find eliminating many of these inefficiencies doesn't impact the daily lives of most people in a meaningful way.

My concern is ensuring those savings are not squandered. Some must be returned to the people and not simply reallocated to another government agency or program. If people see reduced tax burden, reduced fees, etc., then it becomes real.
 
Cookie_ said:
People routinely vote for things because they think it will only affect other people, then change their tune when it impacts them. My favorite was This story out of Flordia regarding ICE raids on hospitality businesses.
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That guy you quoted is a RINO and not a great example but it is a cherry picked one, lol.

And everyone I know votes for the things they want will be affected by, including myself. Congress votes for things they won't be affected by, big difference from us not in congress.
 
The more I hear about Hegseth, the more I love this guy. He's the a warfighter, and we've had a bunch of technocrats who've pushed DEI nonsense going back to Robert Gates. Folks that have not been focused on Lethality. I remember when I was still in the Army was pivoting to "readiness" and guess what. Our readiness dropped. We got more fat. We got less lethal. But DEI, lots of that. Changing evaluation models to be more corporate...Standards imploded in order to let women into combat arms branches.

Really I'm just seeing way more liberal tears on the site formerly known as twitter, so if it pisses the military woke complex off, I'm about it.

But hey, whatever, I'm just me.
 
I like Hegseth for a lot of reasons. Combat veteran, never made it to the level of being owned by big business (flag officer) and he is anathema to the status quo we saw under Austin.

There is going to be *a lot* of old heads losing their minds on the internet about these appointments- and I am here for it.

Burn it ALL. Break all the glass, sound every alarm.

Topkick said:
Hegseth has said a lot and it's all out there for all to hear. Among those things, he doesn't believe women should serve in combat MOS's. Agree or not, not sure he can put the toothpaste back in that tube. He's also stated that he would fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and every other woke general. We'll see how handles his history of smack talking.
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"Virtuous nations don't send its mothers and daughters to fight its wars." Knowing his body of work, the toothpaste is probably fine just where he left it.
 
Ok, sidebar.

The left kept telling me that only conservatives do this...but I don't recall anyone taking an axe to their father's head when Biden won. This is wild. Also, how can you be a "power lesbian" when you are partnered with a dude that cut his junk off. Well we don't actually know if he "transitioned".

Power lesbian murders her own father in Election Night meltdown
 
amlove21 said:
Virtuous nations don't send its mothers and daughters to fight its wars." Knowing his body of work, the toothpaste is probably fine just where he left it.
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I'm not sure exactly what your point is, but I agree with that quote and with Hegseth. I know it's an old way of thinking but I don't care. Sticks and stones and all that.

My point is that I hope Hegseth makes a lot of the changes he says he would, now that he can, and that he wasn't just talking out his ass.
 
I disagree with this pick because Cotton and Ernst would have been far less of a use of political capital and able to implement much of the stuff the current nominee proposed. This also looks like a base pleaser to mollify the Rubio and Waltz picks.

Oppose the rumored Gabbard as DNI for other reasons but she would be a base pleaser as well.
 
Archangel27 said:
I disagree with this pick because Cotton and Ernst would have been far less of a use of political capital and able to implement much of the stuff the current nominee proposed. This also looks like a base pleaser to mollify the Rubio and Waltz picks.

Oppose the rumored Gabbard as DNI for other reasons but she would be a base pleaser as well.
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Ernst isn't a diehard trump loyalist so I don't think she was a serious contender. I thought it would be Cotton.
 
Archangel27 said:
I disagree with this pick because Cotton and Ernst would have been far less of a use of political capital and able to implement much of the stuff the current nominee proposed. This also looks like a base pleaser to mollify the Rubio and Waltz picks.

Oppose the rumored Gabbard as DNI for other reasons but she would be a base pleaser as well.
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Cotton would be ok, Ernst I'm not willing to put that Senate seat at risk. So far we've seen a lot of Republican establishment folks who lean towards Trump but were solid well before he came to the scene be named to the administration.

Tulsi would be interesting. But we can slow roll some of these other things.

AWP said:
The House and Senate might go along with some cuts to gov't positions, but broad, deep cuts will be opposed because there are too many jobs at stake. Today's Red district is tomorrow's Blue district if you start putting people out of work. Some agencies will backfill cut GS positions with contractors and now you're paying more over the long haul.
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The government added 400,000 jobs alone in October. The only company adding positions is the dotGOV. Like this economy is effed.
 
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