Is object permanence too advanced for your brain that is smoother than a greased bowling ball? Let me dumb it down: Just because your IQ can’t handle two thoughts without a nap and a juice box doesn’t mean the rest of us want to marinate in your mental diapers. Quick question—when they diagnosed you as retard, did they at least offer your family a coupon for a better kid? Oh and JFYI - It is on topic if I say it is.
All the Red Counties are having a bad case of FAFO. DOGE job cuts bring pain to Trump heartland https://www.reuters.com/world/us/doge-job-cuts-shake-trump-voting-west-virginia-town-2025-03-07/ DOGE Cuts Upend Trump-Voting West Virginia Town ‘Nobody that I’ve talked to understood the devastation that having this administration in office would do to our lives,’ said one fired Treasury Department worker in Parkersburg. https://www.inc.com/reuters/doge-cuts-upend-trump-voting-west-virginia-town/91157915
"As much as I think President tRump is doing wonderful things for the country in some regards, I don't understand this at all" she said. Wonderful things being someone else getting firing! As the saying goes, a recession is your neighbor being fired, a depression is you getting fired. tRump almost never smiles, talk about a depressed person.
Elon Musk and DOGE tried to fire Air Traffic Controllers. Keep in mind that our country's airports are already undermanned for air traffic controllers -- and firing any controllers would likely lead to disruption of flights across the U.S. At this point, Elon is just trying to be a chaos monkey. There is no rhyme or reason behind his approach with DOGE. Elon Musk's DOGE Tried to Fire Air Traffic Controllers: Report https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musks-doge-tried-fire-air-traffic-controllers-report-2041505 Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was accused by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy of attempting to fire air traffic controllers despite the series of recent plane crashes, according to The New York Times. The heated exchange reportedly occurred Thursday when President Donald Trump called his Cabinet into the Oval Office to clarify the scope of Musk's authority within the administration. Trump emphasized that Cabinet secretaries, not Musk, hold ultimate responsibility for staffing and policy decisions in their respective agencies. This account is based on interviews with five people with knowledge of the events. Why It Matters The meeting was a critical moment in Trump's second term, marking the first significant sign that the president was willing to put limits on Musk's expanding role in reshaping the federal government. While many cabinet officials agreed on the need to reduce waste and inefficiency, frustrations grew over Musk's "hacksaw" approach, which frequently resulted in abrupt and disruptive shake-ups, most notably at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). What To Know According to reporting by The Times' Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman, who interviewed five people with knowledge of the events, during a heated exchange over the state of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Musk and Duffy clashed over proposed changes to air traffic control staffing. Musk, backed by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, discussed the need for updates to the FAA's tracking equipment, but tensions rose when Duffy accused Musk's team of trying to lay off air traffic controllers despite ongoing plane crashes and flight-safety concerns. Musk, according to The Times, denied the claim, calling it a "lie," while Duffy insisted he had heard it directly from Musk's staff. When Musk demanded names of those supposedly fired, Duffy clarified that no one had been dismissed because he had personally prevented the layoffs. The confrontation escalated when Musk reportedly suggested that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hires were in control towers, though he did not provide details when challenged by Duffy. "What am I supposed to do?" Duffy asked. "I have multiple plane crashes to deal with now, and your people want me to fire air traffic controllers?" At another point, Musk suggested that air traffic controllers hired through DEI programs were responsible for inefficiencies in control towers, though when pressed, he failed to provide specific examples. The exchange ended when Trump once again stepped in, offering his own solution. "Hire geniuses from M.I.T.," he instructed Duffy. "These air traffic controllers need to be the best." When reached for comment, the Department of Transportation referred Newsweek to a social media post by Duffy published Friday, in which he said he would continue working closely with Musk and DOGE. "DOGE is doing incredible work helping agencies identity inefficiencies as well as advising us as we work on the critical upgrades to our air traffic control system. During the Cabinet meeting, I discussed the importance of safety, particularly at the FAA and with air traffic controllers. The DEI Department at the FAA was eliminated on day 2," Duffy posted on X (formerly Twitter). Rubio Confronts Musk Senator Marco Rubio also weighed in on Musk's growing role in government, confronting him during the closed-door session, according to The New York Times. Seated across from each other at the elliptical mahogany table, Musk and Rubio exchanged sharp words as President Trump and his top officials looked on. The New York Times reported that Musk accused Rubio of failing to cut his department's workforce, sneering that the only person Rubio had fired was someone from Musk's DOGE. Rubio, whose frustrations had been boiling for weeks, according to The Times shot back. The billionaire, he said, was not being truthful. "What about the more than 1,500 State Department officials who took early retirement in buyouts?" Rubio asked sarcastically. "Do you want me to rehire them just so I can fire them again?" He then laid out his reorganization plans for the department. Musk remained unimpressed, dismissing Rubio with a smirk and a condescending jab. "You're good on TV," Musk said, implying that the senator was better at political theatrics than governing. Trump, who had been watching the exchange unfold like a spectator at a tennis match, finally leaned forward and intervened. "Rubio's doing a great job," Trump said, acknowledging the senator's heavy workload while urging everyone in the room to "work together." Newsweek reached out to the White House and the Secretary of State via email for comment. What People Are Saying President Donald Trump, during an Oval Office press conference after the meeting on Thursday: "Elon and the group are gonna be watching them. If they can cut, it's better. And if they don't cut, then Elon will do the cutting." Elon Musk, head of DOGE, after the meeting on X: "Very productive." Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in a statement to The Times: "As President Trump said, this was a great and productive meeting amongst members of his team to discuss cost-cutting measures and staffing across the federal government. Everyone is working as one team to help President Trump deliver on his promise to make our government more efficient." What Happens Next Trump expects to hold meetings with Musk and Cabinet members every two weeks for the foreseeable future about DOGE's cost-cutting efforts. Following the meeting, Trump posted on Truth Social that the next phase of his cost-cutting initiative would be conducted with a "scalpel" rather than a "hatchet."
Either trump is in charge or he is not in charge......simply call musk and say stop making unilateral cuts, I must approve them and the head of the agency you are attacking..... but no....trump sent his wind up toy out there with no mandates or parameters at all..
More DOGE-OCY Billionaire investor Mark Cuban warns ‘this is how recessions start’ as federal cuts ripple through the economy Mark Cuban at the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat on April 10, 2024 in Miami. · Fortune · Megan Briggs—Getty Images Jason Ma Sat, March 8, 2025 at 3:40 PM EST 3 min read Mark Cuban warned the federal government's abrupt and deep cuts are having spillover effects across the economy, eventually leading to a downturn. The latest jobs report showed solid gains, but it pointed to early effects of DOGE cuts and didn't capture the wave of layoffs that have come more recently. Meanwhile, Wall Street is pricing in greater odds of a recession. Billionaire investor Mark Cuban warned the spillover effects of the federal government's massive cuts could send the economy into a downturn. In a post on Bluesky on Sunday, he commented on another thread about federal contractors furloughing staff and slashing pay. "This is a bigger issue than people realize. Not just jobs lost. But their families losing benefits. Landlords losing tenants. Cities and towns losing revenue. This is how recessions start," Cuban wrote. "Ready Fire Aim is no way to govern." Since that warning, data about the labor market has raised some red flags. On Wednesday, ADP's survey of private-sector payrolls found that just 77,000 jobs were added last month, well below expectations of 148,000 and January's gain of 186,000. Education and health services—sectors with exposure to government spending—saw a decline of 28,000. Meanwhile, businesses that would be affected by President Donald Trump's tariffs, namely the trade, transportation and utility category, saw a loss of 33,000 jobs. “Policy uncertainty and a slowdown in consumer spending might have led to layoffs or a slowdown in hiring last month,” ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson said in the report. “Our data, combined with other recent indicators, suggests a hiring hesitancy among employers as they assess the economic climate ahead.” On Thursday, the Challenger, Gray & Christmas report showed employers announced 172,017 layoffs last month, up 245% from January and the most since July 2020. The staffing firm estimated that 62,242, or about one-third of those cuts, could be attributed to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. "With the impact of the Department of Government Efficiency [DOGE] actions, as well as canceled Government contracts, fear of trade wars, and bankruptcies, job cuts soared in February," Andrew Challenger, senior vice president and workplace expert for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in the report. And on Friday, the Labor Department reported a gain of 151,000 jobs in February, below forecasts for 170,000. While hiring was still solid, the report showed federal government employment declined by 10,000. And the monthly survey period came before a recent wave of recent cuts, meaning the next report should reflect a fuller impact. Among those later cuts was the General Services Administration's 18F office, which developed software and technology for federal agencies to improve efficiency. In a separate Bluesky post, Cuban urged those laid off from 18F to form a consulting company and even offered to invest in it. "It’s just a matter of time before DOGE needs you to fix the mess they inevitably create," he wrote. "They will have to hire your company as a contractor to fix it. But on your terms." Meanwhile, other economic data and financial markets are signaling a slowdown, or even an outright downturn. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tracker shows the first quarter is currently on pace for a 2.4% contraction after signaling a 1.5% decline last week and reversing from 2.3% growth on Feb. 19. While the widely followed indicator can be volatile and was hammered by a deeper trade deficit, Wall Street analysts are downgrading their views. In an op-ed on Wednesday, market gurus Ed Yardeni and Eric Wallerstein said they still see a 55% chance of a “Roaring 20s” scenario where the US economy continues to power ahead, fueled by a tech-driven boost. But they cut the odds of a bullish “meltup” to 10% from 25%, while raising the odds of a bear market and a tariff-induced recession to 35% from 20%. “We are still betting on the resilience of consumers and the economy,” they warned. “However, Trump Turmoil 2.0 is significantly testing the resilience of both.”