Please do this.boognish_bear said:JUST IN: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to consider ending daylight savings time as part of the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE. pic.twitter.com/nAtnwBBDgp
— Remarks (@remarks) December 3, 2024
Elon, Vivek & the D.O.G.E.
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Last: 53 min ago by FLBear5630
Yes. We can cut military spending by targeting massive waste & fraud from defense contractors.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 3, 2024
One example: In October, RTX (Raytheon) was fined $950 million for defrauding DOD, lying about costs, and paying bribes to secure foreign business.
RTX is not alone.
boognish_bear said:JUST IN: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to consider ending daylight savings time as part of the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE. pic.twitter.com/nAtnwBBDgp
— Remarks (@remarks) December 3, 2024
This is long overdue!
that is the hot battle zone.Redbrickbear said:Absolutely https://t.co/SVOpRm0KtK
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2024
Democrats were using the powers of government to coerce corporations and NGOs to push partisan agendas throughout society in ways government itself could not do.
This is super messed up! https://t.co/URQZLJ3tD5
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 27, 2024
Unbelievable. Leftist are all okay with this deep down... the end justifies the means.
Conservatives: the means are the end.
Conservatives: the means are the end.
Is this what you meant by "ends justifying the means?"
Congressional probe into VA facility uncovers 12-person orgy — and official who had sex with 32 coworkers: bombshell report https://t.co/cJMd95JA7Y pic.twitter.com/SaXOxNkFLM
— New York Post (@nypost) December 4, 2024
Good model for the USG. You slash refs, then restructure bureaucracy accordingly.
Idaho hasn't collapsed and burned…..
Idaho hasn't collapsed and burned…..
Wow 😍 pic.twitter.com/AlhDCjWsLR
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 3, 2024
Senior Republican aide on DOGE
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) December 5, 2024
“Two people who know nothing about how the government works pretending they can cut a trillion dollars, both with decent pulpits to preach from, and the ear of an unpredictable president? Disaster. The only good thing is that at some point they’ll… https://t.co/kbniFE4Aab
That sounds like a dude who has never met a consultant. Those guys are pros at knowing nothing about your business and cutting the **** out of the waste.
Bernie and Elon seem to be finding some occasional common ground the last few days
Yes.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 5, 2024
We waste hundreds of billions a year on health care administrative expenses that make insurance CEOs and wealthy stockholders incredibly rich while 85 million Americans go uninsured or underinsured.
Health care is a human right.
We need Medicare for All. https://t.co/dBT4gXN8eO
Bernie is a socialist and he wants socialized medicine. That's the last thing we need. "Medicare for all" is the same thing, or close enough, and the result would be a disaster. Naturally as a senator, Sanders has an elite Cadillac health care plan paid for by the taxpayers. I don't see him, or any of the others, signing up for Medicare.
.....like there aren't any "administrative expenses" with government-run healthcare......historian said:
Bernie is a socialist and he wants socialized medicine. That's the last thing we need. "Medicare for all" is the same thing, or close enough, and the result would be a disaster. Naturally as a senator, Sanders has an elite Cadillac health care plan paid for by the taxpayers. I don't see him, or any of the others, signing up for Medicare.
When the government runs something the result is you pay more and get less. It's inevitable because the government is parasitic.
Bingo. Nothing we could do would make ordinary people pay more attention to government spending than seeing their tax bill on every receipt they get. EVERYONE becomes a taxpayer.bearassnekkid said:Tax consumption instead of income. You keep 100% of your pay. You pay taxes when you buy stuff. Wealthy people pay more tax because they buy more. The collection mechanism is already in place because we already collect state sales tax at transactions. The math is feasible and has been worked out. Of course it should also come in conjunction with massive government spending cuts, but that should be true regardless of the taxation/collection method.J.R. said:Everyone would love to see the IT abolished, but that is fantasy. How would the govt function? Listening.historian said:boognish_bear said:Replace IRS with flat tax. Everyone pays the same rate above 50k. Your first 50k is not taxed, over 50k is taxed at 15%. Zero deductions, zero loopholes. Tax form is 4 lines: https://t.co/fQMkfApy1g
— Zach Von Rosenberg (@ZVR09) November 21, 2024
Great idea but make it 10%
Ultimately, I'd like to see the income tax abolished completely. It was never a good idea, makes government more tyrannical, & encourages government to spend too much money on worthless garbage. Ideally, it's none of their business how much money you make.
However, I don't really believe it will happen since it would require a constitutional amendment to repeal the 16th & 75% of the states to ratify. More than 80% of states have their own income taxes and those politicians will not want to kill the cash cow. It also would require lots of people to rethink how things are done: what government does & its relationship to citizens.
whiterock said:.....like there aren't any "administrative expenses" with government-run healthcare......historian said:
Bernie is a socialist and he wants socialized medicine. That's the last thing we need. "Medicare for all" is the same thing, or close enough, and the result would be a disaster. Naturally as a senator, Sanders has an elite Cadillac health care plan paid for by the taxpayers. I don't see him, or any of the others, signing up for Medicare.
It's not like we could review Canada or the UK and see how that's going. The sheer arrogance to look at places with nationalized healthcare and think "they are just doing it wrong" astounds me.
In fact, if you look at the results of socialism that's the attitude 100% of the time. It's insane.
historian said:
When the government runs something the result is you pay more and get less. It's inevitable because the government is parasitic.
It's inevitable because there's no bottom line to worry about. No shareholders to hold you accountable. So you hire 20 more people than you need, then you hire 6 layers of management to manage those 20 people.
the left always ignores the predictable bad outcomes of its policies with "...but they're not doing it right....."nein51 said:whiterock said:.....like there aren't any "administrative expenses" with government-run healthcare......historian said:
Bernie is a socialist and he wants socialized medicine. That's the last thing we need. "Medicare for all" is the same thing, or close enough, and the result would be a disaster. Naturally as a senator, Sanders has an elite Cadillac health care plan paid for by the taxpayers. I don't see him, or any of the others, signing up for Medicare.
It's not like we could review Canada or the UK and see how that's going. The sheer arrogance to look at places with nationalized healthcare and think "they are just doing it wrong" astounds me.
In fact, if you look at the results of socialism that's the attitude 100% of the time. It's insane.
and/or they engage in Lysenkoism, attacking their critics as the problem, de facto fascists who are destabilizing what would otherwise be highly successful policies.
whiterock said:the left always ignores the predictable bad outcomes of its policies with "...but they're not doing it right....."nein51 said:whiterock said:.....like there aren't any "administrative expenses" with government-run healthcare......historian said:
Bernie is a socialist and he wants socialized medicine. That's the last thing we need. "Medicare for all" is the same thing, or close enough, and the result would be a disaster. Naturally as a senator, Sanders has an elite Cadillac health care plan paid for by the taxpayers. I don't see him, or any of the others, signing up for Medicare.
It's not like we could review Canada or the UK and see how that's going. The sheer arrogance to look at places with nationalized healthcare and think "they are just doing it wrong" astounds me.
In fact, if you look at the results of socialism that's the attitude 100% of the time. It's insane.
and/or they engage in Lysenkoism, attacking their critics as the problem, de facto fascists who are destabilizing what would otherwise be highly successful policies.
I used to work with some consultants. One was an absolutely brilliant young woman and I mean brilliant. She went to Vassar and did her grad work in Denmark and was just one of the smartest people I've ever had the pleasure to work with. She was, however, very much a socialist.
She could not comprehend why policies that worked in Denmark wouldn't work in the U.S.
You just couldn't convince her that an overwhelmingly homogeneous society of 6 million had built in advantages when compared to, say the DFW Metroplex which is 25% larger.
She also couldn't understand why Americans were so against taxes for healthcare. Denmark has a top income bracket of 55% plus 8% for healthcare plus 25% VAT all of which are either the top or near the top for the EU. They also tax capital gains and dividends at 42%. More than 54% of the Danish governments income is personal income taxes. That's over 2X the OECD average.
The fix to health care is free market competition. Let me explain:
1. Lasic - not covered by insurance. So people shop it and it has competitive pricing.
2. When on heath insurance, you dont shop anything. 'Oh, that Tylenol pill costs $16? Its fine, my insurance pays for it.'
3. A few years back, my daughter had to have toe surgery (gymnastics injury.) She did not have insurance, so we shopped it. Found a great doctor that said he'd do it for $995. (The only problem with this guy is he is one of the surgeons for TCU Athletics ) He operated on her at a surgical center that cost us very little. And we had to pay the anesthesiologist...that was the biggest expense. Entire bill was under $5k.
I had a minor scope on my knee but I had insurance at the time. My deductible was $6500 and the total bill was like $48,000. But hey, insurance - so we didnt shop it.
High deductible plans need to be a thing. If people had skin in the game other than their insurance premium, they would shop it like lasik and prices wouldnt be $16 for a Tylenol.
1. Lasic - not covered by insurance. So people shop it and it has competitive pricing.
2. When on heath insurance, you dont shop anything. 'Oh, that Tylenol pill costs $16? Its fine, my insurance pays for it.'
3. A few years back, my daughter had to have toe surgery (gymnastics injury.) She did not have insurance, so we shopped it. Found a great doctor that said he'd do it for $995. (The only problem with this guy is he is one of the surgeons for TCU Athletics ) He operated on her at a surgical center that cost us very little. And we had to pay the anesthesiologist...that was the biggest expense. Entire bill was under $5k.
I had a minor scope on my knee but I had insurance at the time. My deductible was $6500 and the total bill was like $48,000. But hey, insurance - so we didnt shop it.
High deductible plans need to be a thing. If people had skin in the game other than their insurance premium, they would shop it like lasik and prices wouldnt be $16 for a Tylenol.
Married A Horn said:
The fix to health care is free market competition. Let me explain:
1. Lasic - not covered by insurance. So people shop it and it has competitive pricing.
2. When on heath insurance, you dont shop anything. 'Oh, that Tylenol pill costs $16? Its fine, my insurance pays for it.'
3. A few years back, my daughter had to have toe surgery (gymnastics injury.) She did not have insurance, so we shopped it. Found a great doctor that said he'd do it for $995. (The only problem with this guy is he is one of the surgeons for TCU Athletics ) He operated on her at a surgical center that cost us very little. And we had to pay the anesthesiologist...that was the biggest expense. Entire bill was under $5k.
I had a minor scope on my knee but I had insurance at the time. My deductible was $6500 and the total bill was like $48,000. But hey, insurance - so we didnt shop it.
High deductible plans need to be a thing. If people had skin in the game other than their insurance premium, they would shop it like lasik and prices wouldnt be $16 for a Tylenol.
Same for MRI prices.
What insurance companies need to do is start rebating part of the savings back to the consumer. So if getting your Dr to do it costs $5000 and getting it at an MRI center costs $50 then there's no reason the insurance company can't reward you in some way. If they rebated you even $500 that would feel like a huge win to most consumers and be a gigantic savings to them.
There's so much waste in healthcare. I take a medication that is 400Mg. They don't make 400s. They do offer 100, 200 and 300. It's shockingly more money to have them fill 200s X 2 than 300s X 1 and 100 X 1.
that's cost shifting. Medicare attempts to pay near-cost for most procedures, so physicians have to charge insurance more. Like 2x more.Married A Horn said:
The fix to health care is free market competition. Let me explain:
1. Lasic - not covered by insurance. So people shop it and it has competitive pricing.
2. When on heath insurance, you dont shop anything. 'Oh, that Tylenol pill costs $16? Its fine, my insurance pays for it.'
3. A few years back, my daughter had to have toe surgery (gymnastics injury.) She did not have insurance, so we shopped it. Found a great doctor that said he'd do it for $995. (The only problem with this guy is he is one of the surgeons for TCU Athletics ) He operated on her at a surgical center that cost us very little. And we had to pay the anesthesiologist...that was the biggest expense. Entire bill was under $5k.
I had a minor scope on my knee but I had insurance at the time. My deductible was $6500 and the total bill was like $48,000. But hey, insurance - so we didnt shop it.
High deductible plans need to be a thing. If people had skin in the game other than their insurance premium, they would shop it like lasik and prices wouldnt be $16 for a Tylenol.
We already know what socialized medicine would look like.....a lot closer to insurance costs, with most cost reduction focused on simply performing less medicine.
When the health care issue heated up in the Obama era, I spent a day riding on a quail rig with my (BU frat brother and life-long friend) cardiologist. He's a slash & burn conservative, MAGA before there was a MAGA. I asked him "how do we cut spending on health care." He said "that's the easiest question of all to answer = we have to perform less healthcare."
That's what socialized medicine REALLY does - it attempts to cut medical costs by practicing less medicine. Ergo the long delays for treatment in socialized medical systems..................................
It's the same across the board for everything. The lack of competition or people's awareness of the scams involved (ie Big Pharma) fuels the cost increases.
The best thing we could do for American health care would be to get the government out of it completely. This is complicated because they have taken over most of it. We see the results. We can start be undoing the grossly misnamed ACA (Obamacare). It's actually the Unaffordable Care Act because that's what it did.
The best thing we could do for American health care would be to get the government out of it completely. This is complicated because they have taken over most of it. We see the results. We can start be undoing the grossly misnamed ACA (Obamacare). It's actually the Unaffordable Care Act because that's what it did.
Pretty dumb. So if the FBI saw the violence coming, why didn't they stop it? They had all the Federal Bureau power behind them, not even counting what Pelosi and Liz Chaney could bring. All the time in the world to stop this so-called "insurrection" and did either did nothing or probably, started it.Porteroso said:historian said:And here is,
— 🇺🇸RealRobert🇺🇸 (@Real_RobN) November 15, 2024
“ONE OF THE GREATEST CRIMES AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE”
Rep. Clay Higgins:
“The FBI’s involvement was deep, not just on J6, but on the days and weeks and months prior.”
“The FBI was not only involved in the actions on J6 from within. They had, over 200 agents… https://t.co/1R7PbnOHVQ pic.twitter.com/oVW5b5esIJ
Pretty dumb. The FBI saw violence coming and was there to stop it. It is a miracle the militias decided to not bring guns into the mix, but the FBI knew they planned to.
You guys are always trying to refrain the narrative to be victims. As I said, pretty dumb.
You guys are always trying to refrain the narrative to be victims. As I said, pretty dumb.
Facebook Groups at; Memories of... Dallas, Texas, Football in Texas, Texas Music, Memories From a Texas Window and Dallas History Guild. Come visit!
Had a spinal cord stimulator installed in my back earlier this year. It took four surgeries to get it done. Always thought they were milking the insurance company. But apparently, that is the norm for this procedure. Not sure why...whiterock said:that's cost shifting. Medicare attempts to pay near-cost for most procedures, so physicians have to charge insurance more. Like 2x more.Married A Horn said:
The fix to health care is free market competition. Let me explain:
1. Lasic - not covered by insurance. So people shop it and it has competitive pricing.
2. When on heath insurance, you dont shop anything. 'Oh, that Tylenol pill costs $16? Its fine, my insurance pays for it.'
3. A few years back, my daughter had to have toe surgery (gymnastics injury.) She did not have insurance, so we shopped it. Found a great doctor that said he'd do it for $995. (The only problem with this guy is he is one of the surgeons for TCU Athletics ) He operated on her at a surgical center that cost us very little. And we had to pay the anesthesiologist...that was the biggest expense. Entire bill was under $5k.
I had a minor scope on my knee but I had insurance at the time. My deductible was $6500 and the total bill was like $48,000. But hey, insurance - so we didnt shop it.
High deductible plans need to be a thing. If people had skin in the game other than their insurance premium, they would shop it like lasik and prices wouldnt be $16 for a Tylenol.
We already know what socialized medicine would look like.....a lot closer to insurance costs, with most cost reduction focused on simply performing less medicine.
When the health care issue heated up in the Obama era, I spent a day riding on a quail rig with my (BU frat brother and life-long friend) cardiologist. He's a slash & burn conservative, MAGA before there was a MAGA. I asked him "how do we cut spending on health care." He said "that's the easiest question of all to answer = we have to perform less healthcare."
That's what socialized medicine REALLY does - it attempts to cut medical costs by practicing less medicine. Ergo the long delays for treatment in socialized medical systems..................................
Facebook Groups at; Memories of... Dallas, Texas, Football in Texas, Texas Music, Memories From a Texas Window and Dallas History Guild. Come visit!
Well, all I have to say on healthcare is Big Pharmaceutical is an offender, I believe Insurance companies are the real problem. I also know that the US is the only industrialized country whose companies subsidize healthcare. That came from WW2 when munitions factories offered to subsidize HC in order to get folks to build munitions (I have done a lot of research on the subject), hence the consumer doesn't have skin in the game and cannot "shop insurance) which is the only way to bring down the cost. As far as ACA is concerned, I'm all for it with some tweets and upgrades, but for some of us who have pre existing conditions,and are self insured, (paying 100% out of pocket for pr, emiums. If not for the ACA, we could not get insurance. It isn't the best, but better than nothing. I finally said eff it and moved to Conciege Docs. Not cheap, but it is the best option for me.historian said:
It's the same across the board for everything. The lack of competition or people's awareness of the scams involved (ie Big Pharma) fuels the cost increases.
The best thing we could do for American health care would be to get the government out of it completely. This is complicated because they have taken over most of it. We see the results. We can start be undoing the grossly misnamed ACA (Obamacare). It's actually the Unaffordable Care Act because that's what it did.
J6 was a modern Reichstag fire. It was used to justify all kinds of crimes & tyranny including an endless propaganda barrage, numerous bogus investigations, the imprisonment of countless individuals for minor offenses or process crimes, and 2 presidential impeachment attempts. All of this was predicated on the ridiculous narrative of an "insurrection", a label our fascists still use, with the language of the 14th amendment. But it was always a huge con.
Yep. 100% Power grab.historian said:
J6 was a modern Reichstag fire. It was used to justify all kinds of crimes & tyranny including an endless propaganda barrage, numerous bogus investigations, the imprisonment of countless individuals for minor offenses or process crimes, and 2 presidential impeachment attempts. All of this was predicated on the ridiculous narrative of an "insurrection", a label our fascists still use, with the language of the 14th amendment. But it was always a huge con.
“Some agencies have moved to reclassify jobs with titles that could clash with Trump’s agenda, especially those promoting DEI, boosting environmental justice, & fighting the effects of climate change.”
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 8, 2024
The bureaucracy is trying to conceal what it has done & dodge accountability. pic.twitter.com/Hs6vl2DE1K
Redbrickbear said:“Some agencies have moved to reclassify jobs with titles that could clash with Trump’s agenda, especially those promoting DEI, boosting environmental justice, & fighting the effects of climate change.”
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 8, 2024
The bureaucracy is trying to conceal what it has done & dodge accountability. pic.twitter.com/Hs6vl2DE1K
Should we have faith Elon can root these rats out? These are the people FL seems to want to save that we are all super excited to drain out of DC.
If you're curious about what DOGE and OMB will do:
— ib (@Indian_Bronson) December 10, 2024
DOGE will go through *every* email, document store, office memo, etc. to find *everything* pulling US tax dollars
OMB will then end payroll by shifting apportionments at Treasury and National Finance Center. Just RIPPING it. https://t.co/VUl6gqAEqG
You got it, they are protecting themselves. Better to have a seat at the table when the decisions are made. I love how you guys actually think they are going to make the Govt more efficient. You really think Elon is going to have less Govt contracts when this is over? You really think Vivek is going to not make money on his decisions?Married A Horn said:boognish_bear said:Billionaires Bill Ackman, Marc Andreessen, and Travis Kalanick are reportedly getting involved in Department Of Government Efficiency, per FORTUNE.
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) November 28, 2024
They better be cutting stuff and not getting in to make sure their companies get more fluff.
This is a grift. I can't wait to see how much they cut from their contracting agencies...
We have Twitter as an example of Musk being successful in his efficiency endeavors. Do you have anything to suggest Musk fails at efficiency?
Let's let your example tell the tale. So, how has X done with Musk in charge? More profitable? The answer is "No". It is worth a 75% less than when he bought it. But he fired a lot of people. Is that the goal here? Fire a lot of people and the US value drop 75%? What about Tesla? When did Tesla start making money? Probably when they received 4.9 B in Govt subsidies... How about SpaceX and Govt contracts?Married A Horn said:
We have Twitter as an example of Musk being successful in his efficiency endeavors. Do you have anything to suggest Musk fails at efficiency?
Self made? Govt subsidies are evil debt producing spending, right? BS, Govt subsidies and Contracts are what made Musk. Now he wants to shut it down.
Are we trading one problem for another?
Fidelity Values Elon Musk's X At $9 BillionAlmost A Fifth Of What He Paid
SpaceX secures new contracts worth $733.5 million for national security space missions - SpaceNews
FLBear5630 said:Let's let your example tell the tale. So, how has X done with Musk in charge? More profitable? The answer is "No". It is worth a 75% less than when he bought it. But he fired a lot of people. Is that the goal here? Fire a lot of people and the US value drop 75%? What about Tesla? When did Tesla start making money? Probably when they received 4.9 B in Govt subsidies... How about SpaceX and Govt contracts?Married A Horn said:
We have Twitter as an example of Musk being successful in his efficiency endeavors. Do you have anything to suggest Musk fails at efficiency?
Self made? Govt subsidies are evil debt producing spending, right? BS, Govt subsidies and Contracts are what made Musk. Now he wants to shut it down.
Are we trading one problem for another?
Fidelity Values Elon Musk's X At $9 BillionAlmost A Fifth Of What He Paid
SpaceX secures new contracts worth $733.5 million for national security space missions - SpaceNews
Do you not remember all the lies in Twitters accounting (or # of legit users.) He overpaid massively for it and almost backed out.
What did he do with Twitter's budget? Trimmed it massively. You went to all these other points that are off topic. We are discussing his ability to trim fat. He has shown he can do that.