ATL Bear said:
whiterock said:
ATL Bear said:
BearFan33 said:
ATL Bear said:
boognish_bear said:
The first step is to recognize that the Trump administration and MAGA aren't conservative. They are big government populists. The fact it aligns on some issues with conservatism is merely coincidental or opportunistic. This is why people like Massie, Paul as well as others are on an island.
I agree with some of this, but it's important to realize that team trump are sane, logical and conservative in comparison with the alternative. Also I don't think someone that is big government would start DOGE and look to do away with departments like the DOE.
The problem with Massie and Paul is that often they shouldn't count in the republican majority. I like that they seem to hold true to their principles but with a slim majority they put improvements that we could make in danger of not happening at all. The refuse to believe a small win is sometimes better than no win.
Shifting the size of government (reduce DOE increase ICE) and applying overreach to other areas is simply policy shift under the same political approach. Aside from the fact expenditures are up year over year, "big government" isn't only about budget size, but also how and how much its authority is used.
Lie. Federal workforce is 3m people, 300k of whom have been separated from service. That's 10% of the federal workforce. That's not a "shift." That's a cut.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5465964-trump-administration-federal-workforce-cuts-opm/
Federal spending increased by $275 Billion in 2025 compared to 2024. That's a fact.
FACT: 2025 budget is Biden's budget, which Trump pared with payroll cuts and recissions.
EDIT: Furthermore, a "shift" in where and how government authority is applied has little if anything to do with Federal workforce levels, so I don't know why you brought that up. Strokes of pens change the impact on millions of Americans without requiring one additional government employee all the time.
You clearly indicated "shift" toward LE/Military and non-defense spending.
Fact: 2025 budget is Biden's budget, which Trump pared with payroll cuts and recissions.
Fact: you clearly indicated "shift" from non-defense spending to LE/Military. That did occur, amid an overall context of significant spending cuts.
You say you are a conservative/Republican, yet are as ardent a critic of this admin as any of the libs here. Take some Ivermectin. It will kill the worms in your brain.
