Doge sits down with Bret Baier. Worth a watch.

[Mik]

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6370654580112

[Horace]

It's been noted that Baier is a more contentious interview setting than Hannity or Ingraham would be. Granted, not as contentious as CNN, but maybe more productive.

[89th]

Thanks Mik, I plan to watch it soon.

[Horace]

I listened, it was good. For those who think DOGE is really just a thinly veiled ideological purge (that's a common talking point from the TDS tribe), or a completely useless agency doing nothing meaningful whatsoever, imagine the conspiracy you're watching in action in that interview. Terrifying.

[89th]

Meh, I watched it and as I’ve mentioned before I’m overall a fan of Musk as well as the idea of DOGE. But this interview was a repeating of their previous claims which aren’t exactly accurate, which is my problem. Felt a bit like a marketing stunt.

They said there’s 15 million people in the social security system marked as alive, yeah even if that’s true it’s not like they’re getting payments. Or that there are 1400 people whose “only job is to give out laptops and cell phones” to IRS employees, which I’m quite confident is not an accurate portrayal of their duties. Or that they’re using a scalpel and not a sledgehammer and treating everyone with respect….which might be what they want to do now but is demonstrably untrue in January and February. Or his claim that “there was a $1 billion contract to ask the simple question of whether or not you like national parks”, which is SUBSTANTIALLY misleading… at the very worst there was a contract that included many efforts to include a survey. So misleading, which is why I can’t trust their claims. Wish I could!

Anyway, I think the government should have a constant emphasis on reducing waste fraud and abuse, so I hope their mission lasts long term, and that their claims eventually gain credibility over time too.

[Jolly]

I don't see how it can last, with everybody taking potshots at it.

You know, someday in the future, we will pay the piper. I don't know what it's going to look like, but it's not going to be good. Hyperinflation? A civil war? An international war? The end of the republic?

[89th]

I know, how dare I point out lies.

Not potshots.

[Copper]

@Jolly said in Doge sits down with Bret Baier. Worth a watch.:

I don't see how it can last, with everybody taking potshots at it.

obamacare, for example.

[Mik]

@89th said in Doge sits down with Bret Baier. Worth a watch.:

Meh, I watched it and as I’ve mentioned before I’m overall a fan of Musk as well as the idea of DOGE. But this interview was a repeating of their previous claims which aren’t exactly accurate, which is my problem. Felt a bit like a marketing stunt.

They said there’s 15 million people in the social security system marked as alive, yeah even if that’s true it’s not like they’re getting payments. Or that there are 1400 people whose “only job is to give out laptops and cell phones” to IRS employees, which I’m quite confident is not an accurate portrayal of their duties. Or that they’re using a scalpel and not a sledgehammer and treating everyone with respect….which might be what they want to do now but is demonstrably untrue in January and February. Or his claim that “there was a $1 billion contract to ask the simple question of whether or not you like national parks”, which is SUBSTANTIALLY misleading… at the very worst there was a contract that included many efforts to include a survey. So misleading, which is why I can’t trust their claims. Wish I could!

Anyway, I think the government should have a constant emphasis on reducing waste fraud and abuse, so I hope their mission lasts long term, and that their claims eventually gain credibility over time too.

Where is your evidence these are lies? I think it is supposition on your part. You may well be right, but it’s no secret that the government has been a cash cow for all sorts of schemes.

This is the first real effort in 30 years. I’ll go with it.

[jon-nyc]

How do you call it a real effort when, off the Twitter feeds, the GOP is adding 19T (Massie says 20T) to the debt over 10 years?

Jolly (correctly) says ‘you gotta start somewhere’. I agree in theory, but for that to be true you actually have to start. That means you can’t simultaneously plan loud cuts of X and quiet deficit additions of 100X.

[Horace]

I would think that DOGE and the budget are orthogonal considerations. One can be good and the other bad. You can accuse the administration as a whole of not being serious, but that doesn't mean the people tasked with DOGE aren't serious.

[89th]

@Mik said in Doge sits down with Bret Baier. Worth a watch.:

@89th said in Doge sits down with Bret Baier. Worth a watch.:

Meh, I watched it and as I’ve mentioned before I’m overall a fan of Musk as well as the idea of DOGE. But this interview was a repeating of their previous claims which aren’t exactly accurate, which is my problem. Felt a bit like a marketing stunt.

They said there’s 15 million people in the social security system marked as alive, yeah even if that’s true it’s not like they’re getting payments. Or that there are 1400 people whose “only job is to give out laptops and cell phones” to IRS employees, which I’m quite confident is not an accurate portrayal of their duties. Or that they’re using a scalpel and not a sledgehammer and treating everyone with respect….which might be what they want to do now but is demonstrably untrue in January and February. Or his claim that “there was a $1 billion contract to ask the simple question of whether or not you like national parks”, which is SUBSTANTIALLY misleading… at the very worst there was a contract that included many efforts to include a survey. So misleading, which is why I can’t trust their claims. Wish I could!

Anyway, I think the government should have a constant emphasis on reducing waste fraud and abuse, so I hope their mission lasts long term, and that their claims eventually gain credibility over time too.

Where is your evidence these are lies? I think it is supposition on your part. You may well be right, but it’s no secret that the government has been a cash cow for all sorts of schemes.

This is the first real effort in 30 years. I’ll go with it.

In previous threads I feel I've covered the DOGE "untruths" pretty well... the contracts cut 20 years ago they took credit for, the contract they quadruple-counted by accident, the FEMA money "found" to pay for NYC migrant housing, that really congress specifically passed for DHS/FEMA to do, the claim of 100 billion saved when the receipts only verified like 80 million (million with an M)... for evidence above, I suppose I should rephrase, will they show that 15 million people above the age 120 are getting payments? Perhaps they can just say the data in Social Security needs to be cleaned up since many records do not have the "Alive/Dead" field accurately updated, despite no payments going to the dead. Are they showing evidence that 1400 people's "only job is to hand out a laptop and cell phone" (my hunch is they're really part of an IT support wing and do more than just hand out devices), and we've covered the claim in the other thread about $1 billion charged to the government for a single-question survey.

I'm all for prudent reform... just these headline chasing statements are (to me, and maybe no one else) undercutting the credibility. It's like crying financial wolf... and when they take down a wolf, who will believe them?

[Jolly]

@89th said in Doge sits down with Bret Baier. Worth a watch.:

I know, how dare I point out lies.

Not potshots.

Jots and tittles. Chasing gnats and swallowing camels.

[Axtremus]

@Jolly said in Doge sits down with Bret Baier. Worth a watch.:

Chasing gnats and swallowing camels.

Yeah, like @jon-nyc wrote earlier, DOGE chases the gnats, while the GOP swallows the $19 Trillion camel.

[Jolly]

Go sit in the truck. Adults are talking.

[Mik]

If DOGE accomplishes nothing else, it focuses attention on the issue and plants it in people's mind. That's a good thing. I'd predict we will have more people telling their elected representatives that we want lower spending. That's grass roots.

[LuFins Dad]

1. It seems to me that the CBO pretty routinely underestimates the effects that tax breaks add to growth and underestimate the effect that tax increases slows growth.

2. Those projections also don’t take into account the effect that deregulation will have on growth.

3. Yes, these spending cuts do nothing without fixing FICA and then the cost of servicing our debt, but we’re looking at the Dave Ramsey debt snowball effect. Cutting spending in all of the other areas will allow us to start reducing the outstanding debt. When that number goes down you should see economic growth increase again.

4. The elephant in the room is still the FICA programs, and that will need to be addressed by removing the cap, but you need to earnestly show that you are taking steps to address your profligate spending before asking the bank of the 5% to give you more money…

[Jolly]

TINSTAAFL.

And the sooner the American people know that in their bones, the better off we'll be. Defend the country and its interests, Medicare, some type of healthcare for the indigent, Social Security (possibly in an altered form) and then we pay for what we can.

Yes, there will be pain and grief, but I see no other way to climb out of this mess. At least DOGE is a start.

[LuFins Dad]

@Jolly said in Doge sits down with Bret Baier. Worth a watch.:

TINSTAAFL.

?

[Jolly]

There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

Channeling Heinlein this morning...