Maybe Joy Reid can go back to Harvard and study Eastern European history and geography. Remember her comments about Ivana and Melania Trump (both obviously Kremlin spies, since they are from Eastern Europe), then getting the countries wrong?
What salary? The poor thing can only afford 2 outfits: the black one she wears on her show, and the black shirt, pants and sneakers when she's speaking somewhere. (Sarcasm, obviously.) I read that her ratings tanked after Russiagate was exposed.
I believe she had a Fullbright Scholarship, which almost guarantees she would promote and probably believe in the perspective of England and the U.S.right to make War whenever and wherever they want to and all their joint Wars for Empire and Resources. attending Harvard and Yale can also produce the same result - such as Obama. If she wasn't fired over Russiagate - it is because the people who watched her gave them great ratings. Not so much anymore. The line Maddow so completely promoted was what people believed in the first place.
They're never throwing white women under the bus. White women run the illusion for the deep state that the "democratic" party still exists to serve democratic voters.
It’s amusing …. She never alleged racism, but still she’s being slammed by you and ridiculed by Matt and Walter for simply giving what sounded like a perfectly classy good bye. Welcome to Trump 2.0.
She is not being slammed for her "classy good bye," she is being slammed for her relentless, psychopathic RACIST rants -- and if she has not yet blamed it on "RACISM," she soon will.
What could be just as bad as than someone who constantly complains of racism? Someone who invents out of thin air that someone is complaining about racism.
Noteworthy that the facilities are being built in Texas, not California.
and
"Trump Names ‘Pardon Czar’ to Advise on Clemency
President Trump commuted Alice Johnson’s life sentence during his first term, and later pardoned her for her drug conviction. She will advise him on similar cases.
NY Times headline: "UK Announced Increase in Military Spending Ahead of Trump Meeting"
It seems the M.O. of the Dems and Western Europe, is to pitch a fit when Trump announces big changes, act like the change is going to destroy the world, then agree to it and act like they think it's best.
I'm starting to wonder if maybe Trump gave then all an ultimatum on day one - go ahead and say what you want in public, bang your fist on the podium if you want, but get in my way and I will steamroll you flat! The fact is, he now has all the info. He can fry whoever he wants, whenever he wants.
Also, James Carville explains: "The Best Thing Democrats Can Do in This Moment"
Unless his advice is to gather en masse at the Grand Canyon and then jump in, I doubt he's got the answer.
"With no clear leader to voice our opposition and no control in any branch of government, it’s time for Democrats to embark on the most daring political maneuver in the history of our party: roll over and play dead. Allow the Republicans to crumble beneath their own weight, and make the American people miss us. Only until the Trump administration has spiraled into the low 40s or high 30s in public approval polling percentages should we make like a pack of hyenas and go for the jugular. Until then, I’m calling for a strategic political retreat."
James Carville tells the country, "The right thing to do when you've been stalked by a bear for hours, is to lay down and play possum." No James, that's how you become dinner.
What it means is that they don't really believe the "fascism" arguments that were made and expect that elections in the future will be the same as before, starting with 2025 off year elections.
They have no argument. They only have the power-entrenched, the cultists, and the mentally ill. That's not gonna win elections. Also, they just lost a profound percentage of "followers" by simply losing the election. This is a group that was in it for the rah-rahs, for the entertainment, and they just jumped ship because, hey, who want's to side with the losers? They just went back to their Starbucks life, and said, "screeeew that! OMG! I need a soy latte with fecal cocoa! Does anyone have an Adderall?"
Trump owns the current situation. If any one of the remaining wierdos gets too feisty, he will destroy them, and they know it.
Left with only blue haired harridans looking for their next outrage fix. The mentally ill, the dispossessed, the angry, and the lost queers fearful that their run with power is over.
One last thought. Trump's last big event before election day was at Madison Square Garden. He was labeled by MSM as doing it at the location of a Nazi rally.
The Veep had her last big event in DC. Because . . ? And her boss was inside the White House contemporaneously labeling Trump supporter, "garbage."
They just sort of believe the federal government belongs to them, and them only. There is a lot of rot.
Elon has gotten some push back (aka "resistance") this week on his five-bullet-points email. Maybe the email itself was clumsy and ill-framed. But if the whole philosophy of the new government is "radical transparency", then "we don't want to tell you" simply cannot be considered an acceptable response. But I don't think it's a big deal in the long run b/c I think Elon, RFK Jr. and Kash are all completely on the same page as far as cutting needless Federal waste and bloat. This is simply the kind of friction all newlyweds experience, and they will work it out.
American Spectator has a great story today ---- "Federal Bureaucrats Launch Resistance Website." Slimming down employed "democracy" is wrong. Transparency about "democracy" is wrong.
And it is SO INTERESTING that the website is "WE, THE BUILDERS." See, how clever! For all of us rubes in flyover --- replacing, "We, the People . . ."
But it reminds me less of the Preamble, than Pres. Obama, " . . . You didn't build that . . ." "We, the Builders." "Organizing for America." So much in common.
it is funny when they say they took an oath "to defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic", implying that Trump and Musk are domestic threats to the constitution. In effect, they seem to be saying "I took an oath to the constitution" to never be laid off from this job.
I listened to the live stream, and I think I heard both Matt and Walter express "not much sympathy" for the individuals who might lose their jobs from the DOGE cutbacks. Here is what I think is happening: Walter and Matt are thinking about the higher ups, who have a hand in the status quo. I am thinking of the rank and file, who really have no control over how things work. These are the people who enter the service with job titles which might as well be "assistant smuck". They have nothing to do with running things. Out of a thousand people who enter the civil service, maybe one will eventually have some control over influencing the big picture. And these will be, by virtue of having reached this point, the people who will be able to read the landscape and "go along to get along". (Were they independent thinkers, they should not have risen so high.) Of the others, the 99.9% of the civil service whose lives will be upset by the DOGE cuts, I think we are well-advised to have some sympathy. We ignore their plight at our peril.
Yes! I agree. And how is this different than the usual Republican/conservative policy to cut the public service? It means they can get rid of unionized workers--net good for the establishment as per usual--this is always the result when governments 'cut-back' [and it never has resulted in reducing costs].
The rank and file are generally the equally useless people who do their bidding. I feel no remorse for them. Period. Just remember the pink haired prima donna who seems miffed you are making her walk across the room to get your vehicle tabs.
To do what to whom and when? I suspect you are surrounded by what you believe are like minded people, Billy. That would be your legion, right? How do you know that I am not? What are those not in your legion to do to prepare for the arrival of your legions and what will you do? Perhaps you are left wingers, how do I know? What did Pavel do to you to elicit such a threat, Billy? Just curious.
Agree, these are start-up costs. Restructurings are painful, with the bigger and more complex the entity plus the breadth and depth of the problems to be defined and solved the more difficult the task. So...we are in for some rough road no doubt, but there really is no other choice.
These kind of organizational upheavals are unfortunate but no different than that of the private sector. Every company goes through this kind of reorganization. A great deal of analysis is done to find savings and adjustments are made. But it always comes back to the biggest expense. People.
Your compassion and sympathy is applauded but no one saved employees of the millions of employees who lives were affected by the Financial disasters over the last 20 years. AIG, Lehman Brothers, Ford , Chrysler, GM, Author Anderson etc. This is just a very small sample.
Are the everyday employees responsible? Not directly but yes for being apart of the institutional failure. Sad but life is bitch sometimes.
The irony about the Federal Employees is they never suffered loss of jobs, salary, bonuses during ANY recession. When the entire country’s mortgage market collapsed in 2008 Washington and surrounding areas was mostly exempt. The housing market got a little stale but never negative.
These employers have effectively been responsible as a result of apathy, turning a blind eye and like the German citizens during WW2 playing
dumb or being indifferent.
So what goes round comes around just like the rest of us. It’s sad but for all the benefits and stability over the years they now must pay the price and don’t deserve any more consideration than you.
Is it sad? During Covid here in small town rural America our Illinois gov doubled-down on rules about shut downs, etc., so many people then in a small business, are now --- history. Collateral damage.
In New York all sorts of people—teachers, firefighters etc. were fired for not taking a “vaccine” that didn’t prevent transmission or have any liability for its manufacturers. No one protested. In fact, these people are still trying to get rehired.
It's true, as others here have noted, that millions of private sector workers lost their jobs and rarely received any special help from the government. This is especially true for the thousands of workers whose industries were off-shored to Mexico, China, Vietnam and other places. So, maybe displaced private sector workers should be included in a "Displaced Worker Land Trust" scheme as well! What I like about the idea of displaced workers benefiting from privatizing some Federal land is that it would be good for the U.S. economy overall, as well as for the displaced workers. Its in the nation's interest that some of that land be developed. The resulting construction on this land would create a lot of jobs.
I really feel sorry for the civil servants caught up in this, whose lives have been totally upended. These were for the most part dependable workers who were offered these jobs, took them in good faith, were getting good performance reviews, etc., and expecting stable futures. Through no fault of their own, their lives have been really upset. I used to do this type of work myself, so I'm sympathetic. They are naturally now very angry, as you can read on this Reddit page:
to me, the displaced Federal workers who are caught up in this are in a situation akin to hurricane victims, except that the hurricane was man-made. But, on the other hand, I think its existentially important that we cut Federal spending as quickly as possible.
Anyone with a cursory understanding of money flows in the economy knows that if one economic sector (government) runs a deficit, it creates surpluses in the private sphere (e.g. corporate profits).
All the big profit boom in recent years is a direct result of government deficits, not any "genius" on the part of the corporate C-suites.
It's a big pendulum and it swings back and forth -- capital to labor to capital to labor. It swings too far each way. There is no equilibrium except through extreme consciousness -- which humans aren't good at. It wrecks and kills innocent people at both extremes. Maybe Elon is too much an idiot-savant to fully grok this. Or maybe he's just philosophically shallow.
There's obscene waste in both ends of the spectrum. The virtue of private enterprise is that it's supposed to be able to go bankrupt and flush obscene waste down a financial toilet. But we've been in a Fed-put, money print, corporate bailout economic regime for years now. So the fat and sloth at that end of the spectrum hasn't really gotten the axe.
But since the fed govt has ballooned, we have never been allowed access to the books. All Doge needs to do is publish a continuous list of the money amounts and where they are going. If it wants to get fancy, publish who is boardofdirecting these falsely necessary entities, of one legal status or the other.
Instead of PBS, we need one of those all night infomercial channels. Doge, 24/7.
imho, something should be done to help this class of workers. here's my idea:
a proposal to create a "Federal Displaced Workers Land Trust"
rationale: Trump's historic downsizing of the Federal bureaucracy will necessarily displace huge numbers of Federal workers, subjecting these individuals to particularly severe economic hardships.
solution: A small portion of Federal land should be transferred to a Federal Displaced Workers Land Trust, for the economic benefit of these displaced workers.
how it would work:
1. Some Federal land would be moved into the trust.
2. Ownership shares in the land trust would be issued to displaced Federal workers based on years of service.
3. The former Federal employees holding these shares would be free to hold them as investments or sell them to outside investors in an open market.
4. At a point certain in the future, an auction would be held to sell the designated land to private developers, in exchange for the outstanding land trust shares acquired in the open market.
Aren’t displaced government workers eligible to receive unemployment benefits just like other Americans? Also many belong to unions (one of the great obstacles to downsizing government) so they undoubtedly receive some form of unemployment benefits through those unions.
In any case, lots of private sector employees lose their jobs and never get anywhere near the support of these federal workers.
"Maximal transparency" paired with "We don't want to tell you" is a clear indication that we're being hornswoggled.
Getting rid of inspectors general and agencies and laws that exist to prevent government and industry corruption is a clear indication of their motives.
I'm not one of the viewers who complains about MSNBC clips, but maybe tonight you could've done a little less of Joy Reid crying to make room for just a little of the promised commentary about Kash Patel?
Yes, that was a bit of click-bait, the notifying email with Kash Patel being confirmed. And what about that Bongino character? Much more interesting than Mangione conspiracy theories.
She got fired because NOBODY is watching her. I swear I see more MSNBC AND CNN on here than I have EVER. She deserved to be fired and that’s how life goes. Who the fuck cares.
We get it Taibbi; Rachel Maddow sucks, Joy Reid sucks, MSNBC sucks, the Legacy Media sucks, the dems don’t suck because they’re dead, they’re a corpse, but, Ok they still suck. But what’s your point? Where are you going with this? You virtually say nothing about Trump’s approach. Does everything Trump does have to be within the context of how the other side fucked it up first the place?
Even some Republicans partisans are beginning to raise an eyebrow on Musk's chainsaw approach to federal cost cutting. Are you? You’re a journalist, not political operative, so what’s up?
Plenty of comment on MSNBC, but no comment on the status of CFPB. Time for the author of Griftopia to re-read his book. Ukraine…had Boris Johnson, Biden, NATO not pressured Zelensky into fighting a proxy war…over 3 years ago.
Jeffrey Sachs needed to be our SoS for the last 35 years.
It’s heartwarming to watch Matt still feel some genuine agony and disbelief over his continued unearthing of the LOSS of real journalism. And I mean heartwarming in a “Bless your heart” kind of way. Keep your chin up Matt. You are fighting the good fight. It has all been pure propaganda for quite some time. The majority of the American people are realizing it now and diving media ratings are the proof. No amount of alarmism will save them now.
Matt, I think listening to too much BS inures you to it rather than allows you to recognize it. I stopped listening to and watching mainstream media 25 years ago and it was the best thing I have ever done. No more slimey Cheneys ringing in my ears, no more Smarmy Kissingers....the truth rings loud and clear when spoken by unforked tongues. It has allowed me to recognize when I am being lied to. People are not safe from propaganda...not at all....it takes too much energy to create bulwarks to it....best to protect oneself from it and take many, much needed breaks.
Interesting comment. I used to have MSNBC running in the background when caring for my elderly father. I stopped all mainstream media right before the pandemic and never went back. It worked wonders for me. I could have become one of those people riding a bicycle alone wearing a mask.
Same for me, age 71. Anti-Vietnam marcher. Was stunned when NATO wasn’t disbanded after the Soviet Union collapsed. Both parties propping up the military-industrial complex.
I was against the first Gulf wars, the excuse for which was mostly “hey let’s test what our fancy new planes & weapons can do for real. And didn’t all the network talking heads look great in their desert fatigues.
I went to a lot of protest marches in 2003 against the coming Iraq war. Back then, if you were looking, it was still possible to find articles by former diplomats and Middle East academics who predicted with total accuracy what a disaster Iraq would be, because I read them. And Chomsky! But I don’t think any of them dreamed it would be kept going for 20 years.
We did a lot of vacation travel all over the country in those 25 years — so many small towns just gutted by NAFTA and the loss of youth to military adventurism.
The American electorate is very long suffering, but has finally had enough.
Query:* Thousands of federal employees supposedly continuously working from home. Were their kitchen-counter computers or bedroom tablets --- secure? But the creator of PayPal doesn't know how to securely distill info to produce answers to basic efficiency questions?
*Thank you to commenter downstream who used "query," first.
Maybe Joy Reid can go back to Harvard and study Eastern European history and geography. Remember her comments about Ivana and Melania Trump (both obviously Kremlin spies, since they are from Eastern Europe), then getting the countries wrong?
Query: when will MSDNC dump Screechel Maddow?
When her numbers tank enough that the obscene salary they pay her becomes untenable.
What salary? The poor thing can only afford 2 outfits: the black one she wears on her show, and the black shirt, pants and sneakers when she's speaking somewhere. (Sarcasm, obviously.) I read that her ratings tanked after Russiagate was exposed.
Yes
Clearly a diversity admission
I believe she had a Fullbright Scholarship, which almost guarantees she would promote and probably believe in the perspective of England and the U.S.right to make War whenever and wherever they want to and all their joint Wars for Empire and Resources. attending Harvard and Yale can also produce the same result - such as Obama. If she wasn't fired over Russiagate - it is because the people who watched her gave them great ratings. Not so much anymore. The line Maddow so completely promoted was what people believed in the first place.
They're never throwing white women under the bus. White women run the illusion for the deep state that the "democratic" party still exists to serve democratic voters.
Interesting thought! One wonders how many of them will get MSNBC or CNN shows when they leave DOJ, or become "legal analysts" on those networks.
Joy’s video came off like an acceptance speech for an award.
Admire your courage - and your stomach - for enduring it. Jimmy Dore did a hilarious piece on Reid's You're Fired, check it out.
You just know that Joy Reid is going to blame her firing on "RACISM!"
That’s why MSNBC should inoculate themselves against that charge by also firing Rachel and Jen.
Nope - they fired 3 more today - all of them racial minorities.
They would do the world a lot of favors by ditching Rachel Maddow and Joe and Mika - but so far they survive.
Maybe they have photos…?
and Hayes and Joe the coffee drinker
Fascism too. It's the Night of the Long Knives, or something.
She would never admit that it was because she had become cartoonishly unhinged.
Will the sun rise in the east tomorrow a.m.?
It is a Racist firing - even though I have not watched MSM since Russiagate and not much before that.
<yawn>
Of course it is.
It’s amusing …. She never alleged racism, but still she’s being slammed by you and ridiculed by Matt and Walter for simply giving what sounded like a perfectly classy good bye. Welcome to Trump 2.0.
She is not being slammed for her "classy good bye," she is being slammed for her relentless, psychopathic RACIST rants -- and if she has not yet blamed it on "RACISM," she soon will.
Thanks, at least you come out and say it, Matt is too cowardly to do so…
What could be just as bad as than someone who constantly complains of racism? Someone who invents out of thin air that someone is complaining about racism.
And goofball trolls who ignore the fact that Joy Reid has always been all about "RACISM!" are even worse!
A couple of things worth noting:
"Apple To Hire 20,000 Workers As Part Of $500 Billion U.S. Investment
By Chris Westfall, Contributor.
Feb 24, 2025, 10:00am EST"
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriswestfall/2025/02/24/apple-to-hire-20000-workers-as-part-of--500-billion-us-investment/
Noteworthy that the facilities are being built in Texas, not California.
and
"Trump Names ‘Pardon Czar’ to Advise on Clemency
President Trump commuted Alice Johnson’s life sentence during his first term, and later pardoned her for her drug conviction. She will advise him on similar cases.
By Erica L. Green
Feb. 21, 2025"
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/us/politics/trump-pardon-czar-johnson.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/us/politics/trump-pardon-czar.html
NY Times headline: "UK Announced Increase in Military Spending Ahead of Trump Meeting"
It seems the M.O. of the Dems and Western Europe, is to pitch a fit when Trump announces big changes, act like the change is going to destroy the world, then agree to it and act like they think it's best.
I'm starting to wonder if maybe Trump gave then all an ultimatum on day one - go ahead and say what you want in public, bang your fist on the podium if you want, but get in my way and I will steamroll you flat! The fact is, he now has all the info. He can fry whoever he wants, whenever he wants.
Also, James Carville explains: "The Best Thing Democrats Can Do in This Moment"
Unless his advice is to gather en masse at the Grand Canyon and then jump in, I doubt he's got the answer.
The Carville piece was amusing:
"With no clear leader to voice our opposition and no control in any branch of government, it’s time for Democrats to embark on the most daring political maneuver in the history of our party: roll over and play dead. Allow the Republicans to crumble beneath their own weight, and make the American people miss us. Only until the Trump administration has spiraled into the low 40s or high 30s in public approval polling percentages should we make like a pack of hyenas and go for the jugular. Until then, I’m calling for a strategic political retreat."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/opinion/democrats-trump-congress.html
If ever there was a perfect moment for this clip, it’s now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HVejEB5uVk
James Carville tells the country, "The right thing to do when you've been stalked by a bear for hours, is to lay down and play possum." No James, that's how you become dinner.
perfect clip for Carville's comments!
What it means is that they don't really believe the "fascism" arguments that were made and expect that elections in the future will be the same as before, starting with 2025 off year elections.
Just politics as usual.
They have no argument. They only have the power-entrenched, the cultists, and the mentally ill. That's not gonna win elections. Also, they just lost a profound percentage of "followers" by simply losing the election. This is a group that was in it for the rah-rahs, for the entertainment, and they just jumped ship because, hey, who want's to side with the losers? They just went back to their Starbucks life, and said, "screeeew that! OMG! I need a soy latte with fecal cocoa! Does anyone have an Adderall?"
Trump owns the current situation. If any one of the remaining wierdos gets too feisty, he will destroy them, and they know it.
Left with only blue haired harridans looking for their next outrage fix. The mentally ill, the dispossessed, the angry, and the lost queers fearful that their run with power is over.
One last thought. Trump's last big event before election day was at Madison Square Garden. He was labeled by MSM as doing it at the location of a Nazi rally.
The Veep had her last big event in DC. Because . . ? And her boss was inside the White House contemporaneously labeling Trump supporter, "garbage."
They just sort of believe the federal government belongs to them, and them only. There is a lot of rot.
To be fair, they did buy a large part of the federal government with our tax money, our inflation, and our debt
Their own gravy train...
Elon has gotten some push back (aka "resistance") this week on his five-bullet-points email. Maybe the email itself was clumsy and ill-framed. But if the whole philosophy of the new government is "radical transparency", then "we don't want to tell you" simply cannot be considered an acceptable response. But I don't think it's a big deal in the long run b/c I think Elon, RFK Jr. and Kash are all completely on the same page as far as cutting needless Federal waste and bloat. This is simply the kind of friction all newlyweds experience, and they will work it out.
American Spectator has a great story today ---- "Federal Bureaucrats Launch Resistance Website." Slimming down employed "democracy" is wrong. Transparency about "democracy" is wrong.
And it is SO INTERESTING that the website is "WE, THE BUILDERS." See, how clever! For all of us rubes in flyover --- replacing, "We, the People . . ."
But it reminds me less of the Preamble, than Pres. Obama, " . . . You didn't build that . . ." "We, the Builders." "Organizing for America." So much in common.
Same old crap.
it is funny when they say they took an oath "to defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic", implying that Trump and Musk are domestic threats to the constitution. In effect, they seem to be saying "I took an oath to the constitution" to never be laid off from this job.
Every time you hear the word democracy just remember they actually mean "Muh Fascism."
I listened to the live stream, and I think I heard both Matt and Walter express "not much sympathy" for the individuals who might lose their jobs from the DOGE cutbacks. Here is what I think is happening: Walter and Matt are thinking about the higher ups, who have a hand in the status quo. I am thinking of the rank and file, who really have no control over how things work. These are the people who enter the service with job titles which might as well be "assistant smuck". They have nothing to do with running things. Out of a thousand people who enter the civil service, maybe one will eventually have some control over influencing the big picture. And these will be, by virtue of having reached this point, the people who will be able to read the landscape and "go along to get along". (Were they independent thinkers, they should not have risen so high.) Of the others, the 99.9% of the civil service whose lives will be upset by the DOGE cuts, I think we are well-advised to have some sympathy. We ignore their plight at our peril.
Yes! I agree. And how is this different than the usual Republican/conservative policy to cut the public service? It means they can get rid of unionized workers--net good for the establishment as per usual--this is always the result when governments 'cut-back' [and it never has resulted in reducing costs].
The rank and file are generally the equally useless people who do their bidding. I feel no remorse for them. Period. Just remember the pink haired prima donna who seems miffed you are making her walk across the room to get your vehicle tabs.
MAGA vs. "Resistance." Which has the most firearms?
@DaveL
Neither. We do. And we're tired of BOTH of your BS.
Who's "we" kemosabe?
@Cosmo T Kat
We are legion. Expect us.
To do what to whom and when? I suspect you are surrounded by what you believe are like minded people, Billy. That would be your legion, right? How do you know that I am not? What are those not in your legion to do to prepare for the arrival of your legions and what will you do? Perhaps you are left wingers, how do I know? What did Pavel do to you to elicit such a threat, Billy? Just curious.
@Cosmo T Kat
(Quote)
"What did Pavel do to you to elicit such a threat, Billy? "
----------
Who is "Pavel"?!
Agree, these are start-up costs. Restructurings are painful, with the bigger and more complex the entity plus the breadth and depth of the problems to be defined and solved the more difficult the task. So...we are in for some rough road no doubt, but there really is no other choice.
a rough road, indeed!
I was reading the EO's, (link below)
and the scope of the changes they are contemplating are amazing:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/
These kind of organizational upheavals are unfortunate but no different than that of the private sector. Every company goes through this kind of reorganization. A great deal of analysis is done to find savings and adjustments are made. But it always comes back to the biggest expense. People.
Your compassion and sympathy is applauded but no one saved employees of the millions of employees who lives were affected by the Financial disasters over the last 20 years. AIG, Lehman Brothers, Ford , Chrysler, GM, Author Anderson etc. This is just a very small sample.
Are the everyday employees responsible? Not directly but yes for being apart of the institutional failure. Sad but life is bitch sometimes.
The irony about the Federal Employees is they never suffered loss of jobs, salary, bonuses during ANY recession. When the entire country’s mortgage market collapsed in 2008 Washington and surrounding areas was mostly exempt. The housing market got a little stale but never negative.
These employers have effectively been responsible as a result of apathy, turning a blind eye and like the German citizens during WW2 playing
dumb or being indifferent.
So what goes round comes around just like the rest of us. It’s sad but for all the benefits and stability over the years they now must pay the price and don’t deserve any more consideration than you.
Is it sad? During Covid here in small town rural America our Illinois gov doubled-down on rules about shut downs, etc., so many people then in a small business, are now --- history. Collateral damage.
In New York all sorts of people—teachers, firefighters etc. were fired for not taking a “vaccine” that didn’t prevent transmission or have any liability for its manufacturers. No one protested. In fact, these people are still trying to get rehired.
It's true, as others here have noted, that millions of private sector workers lost their jobs and rarely received any special help from the government. This is especially true for the thousands of workers whose industries were off-shored to Mexico, China, Vietnam and other places. So, maybe displaced private sector workers should be included in a "Displaced Worker Land Trust" scheme as well! What I like about the idea of displaced workers benefiting from privatizing some Federal land is that it would be good for the U.S. economy overall, as well as for the displaced workers. Its in the nation's interest that some of that land be developed. The resulting construction on this land would create a lot of jobs.
Any transition to private solutions I’m all for but it’s got to be competitive not just a federal funded contractor.
Thank you. I hope they can start laying off at the Fed, which has caused so much pain and hardship for average Americans.
I really feel sorry for the civil servants caught up in this, whose lives have been totally upended. These were for the most part dependable workers who were offered these jobs, took them in good faith, were getting good performance reviews, etc., and expecting stable futures. Through no fault of their own, their lives have been really upset. I used to do this type of work myself, so I'm sympathetic. They are naturally now very angry, as you can read on this Reddit page:
https://www.reddit.com/r/fednews/
to me, the displaced Federal workers who are caught up in this are in a situation akin to hurricane victims, except that the hurricane was man-made. But, on the other hand, I think its existentially important that we cut Federal spending as quickly as possible.
You are correct, sir.
Your analogy is good.
Anyone with a cursory understanding of money flows in the economy knows that if one economic sector (government) runs a deficit, it creates surpluses in the private sphere (e.g. corporate profits).
All the big profit boom in recent years is a direct result of government deficits, not any "genius" on the part of the corporate C-suites.
It's a big pendulum and it swings back and forth -- capital to labor to capital to labor. It swings too far each way. There is no equilibrium except through extreme consciousness -- which humans aren't good at. It wrecks and kills innocent people at both extremes. Maybe Elon is too much an idiot-savant to fully grok this. Or maybe he's just philosophically shallow.
There's obscene waste in both ends of the spectrum. The virtue of private enterprise is that it's supposed to be able to go bankrupt and flush obscene waste down a financial toilet. But we've been in a Fed-put, money print, corporate bailout economic regime for years now. So the fat and sloth at that end of the spectrum hasn't really gotten the axe.
You are correct, hurricane is a good analogy.
But since the fed govt has ballooned, we have never been allowed access to the books. All Doge needs to do is publish a continuous list of the money amounts and where they are going. If it wants to get fancy, publish who is boardofdirecting these falsely necessary entities, of one legal status or the other.
Instead of PBS, we need one of those all night infomercial channels. Doge, 24/7.
imho, something should be done to help this class of workers. here's my idea:
a proposal to create a "Federal Displaced Workers Land Trust"
rationale: Trump's historic downsizing of the Federal bureaucracy will necessarily displace huge numbers of Federal workers, subjecting these individuals to particularly severe economic hardships.
solution: A small portion of Federal land should be transferred to a Federal Displaced Workers Land Trust, for the economic benefit of these displaced workers.
how it would work:
1. Some Federal land would be moved into the trust.
2. Ownership shares in the land trust would be issued to displaced Federal workers based on years of service.
3. The former Federal employees holding these shares would be free to hold them as investments or sell them to outside investors in an open market.
4. At a point certain in the future, an auction would be held to sell the designated land to private developers, in exchange for the outstanding land trust shares acquired in the open market.
Aren’t displaced government workers eligible to receive unemployment benefits just like other Americans? Also many belong to unions (one of the great obstacles to downsizing government) so they undoubtedly receive some form of unemployment benefits through those unions.
In any case, lots of private sector employees lose their jobs and never get anywhere near the support of these federal workers.
@Ken D.
"Fed reservations" in the style of the "Indian reservations"?!
Would we require they send their children away to boarding schools where the kids would become assimilated into mainstream US culture?
"Maximal transparency" paired with "We don't want to tell you" is a clear indication that we're being hornswoggled.
Getting rid of inspectors general and agencies and laws that exist to prevent government and industry corruption is a clear indication of their motives.
I'm not one of the viewers who complains about MSNBC clips, but maybe tonight you could've done a little less of Joy Reid crying to make room for just a little of the promised commentary about Kash Patel?
Yes, that was a bit of click-bait, the notifying email with Kash Patel being confirmed. And what about that Bongino character? Much more interesting than Mangione conspiracy theories.
I actually share Matt's interest in MSNBC shenanigans, but I do wish he would talk about what he promises to talk about, at least sometimes.
So, no comment on Trump selecting Dan Bongino for Deputy FBI Director? MSNBC is drama is top priority.
She got fired because NOBODY is watching her. I swear I see more MSNBC AND CNN on here than I have EVER. She deserved to be fired and that’s how life goes. Who the fuck cares.
Yes. And in that regard ... Why am I subjected to any video from The View? I have never watched it. Yet it gets airplay on other networks. Why?
Real good question James… I think it’s because Matt and Walt want to compare reality versus their unhinged rhetoric.
We get it Taibbi; Rachel Maddow sucks, Joy Reid sucks, MSNBC sucks, the Legacy Media sucks, the dems don’t suck because they’re dead, they’re a corpse, but, Ok they still suck. But what’s your point? Where are you going with this? You virtually say nothing about Trump’s approach. Does everything Trump does have to be within the context of how the other side fucked it up first the place?
Even some Republicans partisans are beginning to raise an eyebrow on Musk's chainsaw approach to federal cost cutting. Are you? You’re a journalist, not political operative, so what’s up?
Plenty of comment on MSNBC, but no comment on the status of CFPB. Time for the author of Griftopia to re-read his book. Ukraine…had Boris Johnson, Biden, NATO not pressured Zelensky into fighting a proxy war…over 3 years ago.
Jeffrey Sachs needed to be our SoS for the last 35 years.
It’s heartwarming to watch Matt still feel some genuine agony and disbelief over his continued unearthing of the LOSS of real journalism. And I mean heartwarming in a “Bless your heart” kind of way. Keep your chin up Matt. You are fighting the good fight. It has all been pure propaganda for quite some time. The majority of the American people are realizing it now and diving media ratings are the proof. No amount of alarmism will save them now.
Matt, I think listening to too much BS inures you to it rather than allows you to recognize it. I stopped listening to and watching mainstream media 25 years ago and it was the best thing I have ever done. No more slimey Cheneys ringing in my ears, no more Smarmy Kissingers....the truth rings loud and clear when spoken by unforked tongues. It has allowed me to recognize when I am being lied to. People are not safe from propaganda...not at all....it takes too much energy to create bulwarks to it....best to protect oneself from it and take many, much needed breaks.
Interesting comment. I used to have MSNBC running in the background when caring for my elderly father. I stopped all mainstream media right before the pandemic and never went back. It worked wonders for me. I could have become one of those people riding a bicycle alone wearing a mask.
Good for you …. You don’t fully realize how others’ thoughts and opinions eat into your brain until you stop up your ears.
Amen!
Yeah thank you Walter I’m the sixties person now 81 I never stopped being a peacenik
Same for me, age 71. Anti-Vietnam marcher. Was stunned when NATO wasn’t disbanded after the Soviet Union collapsed. Both parties propping up the military-industrial complex.
I was against the first Gulf wars, the excuse for which was mostly “hey let’s test what our fancy new planes & weapons can do for real. And didn’t all the network talking heads look great in their desert fatigues.
I went to a lot of protest marches in 2003 against the coming Iraq war. Back then, if you were looking, it was still possible to find articles by former diplomats and Middle East academics who predicted with total accuracy what a disaster Iraq would be, because I read them. And Chomsky! But I don’t think any of them dreamed it would be kept going for 20 years.
We did a lot of vacation travel all over the country in those 25 years — so many small towns just gutted by NAFTA and the loss of youth to military adventurism.
The American electorate is very long suffering, but has finally had enough.
Query:* Thousands of federal employees supposedly continuously working from home. Were their kitchen-counter computers or bedroom tablets --- secure? But the creator of PayPal doesn't know how to securely distill info to produce answers to basic efficiency questions?
*Thank you to commenter downstream who used "query," first.
As long as Matthew's doesn't feel anything running up his leg I think we will all be better off for it. Later Matt & Walt! 🤔👍🏻
Perhaps Walter's imagination to entertain the idea that Trump and zelensky are working together to pretend discord and play a mind game on Putin.