Everyone knows conservatives are pro-life, which is why they're annihilating biomedical research which saves unborn babies. Great job, Trump and Musk.
Army wives often get military base jobs, but because they're always being moved, they never get out of probationary status. That didn't use to matter. Military families rocked by Trump’s federal government cuts https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/20/politics/military-families-federal-government-cuts/index.html
I'm totally excited by what Trump is doing, I don't care why he's doing it, because I'm getting by his decrees what I've been unable to get at the ballot box for decades, voting for libertarian candidates.
Oh Snap. About 42 million Americans are about to FAFO at the supermarket. ‘It’s been a lifesaver’: millions risk going hungry as Republicans propose slashing food stamps Snap helps more than 42 million people, and is considered the country’s most effective tool to fight hunger https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/27/snap-foodstamps-republicans-propose-cuts
Just a matter of time until we don't have a functioning Social Security Administration under Trump. When the checks stop properly showing up and nobody can get anyone to answer the SSA phone line, we can expect masses of retirees protesting in the streets. Social Security Administration Could Cut Half Its Workforce Sources tell the Prospect that a meeting called for a 50 percent reduction in an agency that millions rely on for benefit implementation. https://prospect.org/health/social-security-administration-could-cut-half-its-workforce/
Do you think retirees are going to revolt when their Social Security checks stop showing up? Social Security has never missed a payment. DOGE actions threaten ‘interruption of benefits’ https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/01/dog...rity-benefit-interruption-ex-agency-head.html
Elon Musk cuts the government technology which allowed you to login to government websites and see your Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security information. Surely this will go well (NOT). DOGE Deletes Agency Behind Login.gov, IRS Direct File, Other Tech Projects The cuts at 18F, announced at 1 a.m. ET on Saturday morning, affect about 70 employees. https://www.pcmag.com/news/doge-del...-logingov-irs-direct-file-other-tech-projects The General Services Administration (GSA) has axed a technology unit that developed key public-facing IT services like Login.gov, the central login system for key government services like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. The decision, unearthed in an internal memo seen by Politico, was ordered by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as part of broader Trump administration plans to cut government spending. The unit—known as 18F—was founded in 2014 and played a role in numerous high-profile projects, including redesigning the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s complaint submission process, as well as the free online tax return service IRS Direct File. 18F was a cost-recoverable office, meaning it charged agencies for its work. "GSA funds 18F through the Acquisition Services Fund (ASF), which allows for investment in the development and delivery of products and tools that will be used by other agencies on a reimbursable basis," according to its website. The cuts were announced at 1 a.m. ET on Saturday morning, Politico says. They affect about 70 employees, including product and account managers, procurement specialists, user interface engineers, researchers, and front-end, content, and service designers. 18F had been subject to ideological attacks in recent months. In February, DOGE lead Musk retweeted a post that called the group “far left” and claimed it “viciously subverted Trump during his first term.” “That group has been deleted,” Musk said at the time. The news follows the US Digital Service, which provided consultation services to federal agencies on information technology, being gutted earlier this month and renamed the US DOGE Service. USDS laid off 40 employees, while 21 resigned in protest last week, leaving less than half of its original workforce remaining. The abrupt move to axe the agency left many 18F employees in the lurch. 18F staff alleged in an official statement that they had been locked out of their computers and emails, leaving them "no chance to assist in an orderly transition of our work." The former staff claim they can’t even find out where to return their equipment, due to their lack of email access. Meanwhile, many senior executives at the former US Digital Service allege that the rapid transition to DOGE is bringing new risks to federal IT systems. Vivian Graubard, a founding member of the US Digital Service, alleged in a LinkedIn post that DOGE engineers were "walking in and getting access to highly sensitive systems without proper clearances or vetting." Other commenters said that the swift, sudden cuts could open the door to private sector contractors swooping into the federal government. Don Moynihan, a professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, claims that DOGE "appears to be a temporary wrecking crew paving the way for aligned Silicon Valley vendors to fill the gap" and that removing "18F will make that easier."
MAGA trying to play with the math so the tax cuts magically appear to cost nothing -- despite the reality that they will add trillions in red ink over the upcoming decade. The accounting maneuver that could make the cost of extending Trump's tax cuts look like zero https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-...trumps-tax-cuts-look-like-zero-150057205.html A controversial budget maneuver is gaining steam on Capitol Hill that could help make Donald Trump's first-term tax cuts permanent while also making room for additional tax break pledges he made on the campaign trail. But it would push up the national debt by trillions of additional dollars beyond what's already planned. The idea is to essentially make the cost of extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act free, at least for accounting purposes. That can be done by assessing changes using a so-called current policy baseline, a bit of Washington arcana with trillions in potential consequences. But no matter how you count it, extending Trump's 2017 cuts will add somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 trillion to America's debt, and fiscal hawks are strenuously objecting, calling it "a massive budget gimmick." The tactic congressional leaders are considering is to count this year's tax rate as "current policy" and therefore make the cost of extending the rate — at least for the purposes of assessing the bill — zero. The political appeal is obvious in that such a move could potentially help alleviate a giant math problem facing lawmakers looking to cut taxes as deeply as possible. But in a recent episode of Yahoo Finance's Capitol Gains podcast, the architect of those expiring 2017 cuts made clear that either approach would come with trade-offs. Kevin Brady, former chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, called the current policy approach "a curious way of Washington thinking" but also pointed out it's clearly a way to more easily make the tax cuts permanent — a key Trump priority. The political reality is also that there is going to be a need to keep fiscal hawks on board, with Brady predicting a serious deficit reduction number will eventually be needed no matter how it's counted — comparing the dynamic to "two rock climbers tethered together." He said that serious deficit reduction will ultimately be the deciding factor in how big a tax bill is ultimately possible. It's a balance that Brady's successor atop the tax-writing committee, Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, also appears to be balancing. A move that could 'allow trillions of dollars of new borrowing' The maneuver is clearly under increasing consideration, with House Speaker Mike Johnson appearing to warm to the idea this week after House Republicans had previously pushed a different counting approach. "The policy makes a lot of sense to me," Johnson told reporters after a meeting at the White House where Trump aides and Senate leaders pushed the tactic. Johnson said that current policy approach "comports with reality." The tactic also has a supporter in Johnson's top tax deputy, Rep. Smith, who supports the idea but also raised "huge concerns" this week in an interview with Politico about whether the move would eventually pass muster. This policy debate appears to be coming to a head after a win this week for House Republicans and Trump's push for "one big, beautiful bill" with a budget resolution that passed in a 217-215 vote. House Concurrent Resolution 14 lays out a framework and puts aside $4.5 trillion for tax cuts while outlining $1.5 trillion in federal spending cuts to offset at least some of the cost. If lawmakers adopt the more conservative "current law" approach, that entire $4.5 trillion tax bucket could be filled simply by extending the 2017 law. But if the tab of that move is counted as zero, then there's plenty of space to extend the cuts permanently, as well as for things like Trump's ideas for eliminating taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security benefits and lowering the corporate tax rate for domestic manufacturers. But even the smallest estimates of Trump's overall tax promises — which count well over a dozen distinct ideas — put the deficit impact of his agenda at about $10 billion. The higher-side projections amount to much more: almost $18 trillion in new red ink over the coming decade. The idea has understandably raised the ire of budget hawks, with one analysis from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Budget calling it "a massive budget gimmick that would justify and allow trillions of dollars of new borrowing." The analysis finds that the "current policy" approach could mean an extra $3.4 trillion to $4.6 trillion of deficit increases over the coming decade. There are multiple ways this counting method could falter. Fiscal hawks in the House — of which there are plenty — could balk and sink the nascent effort. There is also a concern that the Senate parliamentarian could object to the approach, leading to a possible standoff with Senate leaders who are perhaps most strenuously pushing the idea. But the recent conversation with former Congressman Brady underlined how keenly President Trump is likely to push any maneuver that will get his additional tax ideas into law and how Congress is likely to try to find any way it can to accommodate him. "I can tell you from experience," Brady said, "I didn't pay so much attention to the president's tweets each day. I paid attention to his campaign promises because that's what he was calling me about."
Because Biden follows the law in regards to adhering to budget legislation Congress passes into law. Businesses and individuals did their tax planning based around particular tax rates and rules being in place until the end of 2025. Hence Biden did not try to alter it. The problem at this point is that continuing these TCJA tax cuts blows an extraordinarily large hole in our federal government accounts raising the national debt by trillions. This is at a time we should be reducing the debt rather than expanding it. No amount of Republican playing games with the accounting can hide the reality.