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The New Coffee Room

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  3. Doge sits down with Bret Baier. Worth a watch.

Doge sits down with Bret Baier. Worth a watch.

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  • 89th8 Online
    89th8 Online
    89th
    wrote on last edited by 89th
    #5

    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.

    MikM 1 Reply Last reply
    • JollyJ Offline
      JollyJ Offline
      Jolly
      wrote on last edited by
      #6

      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?

      “Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”

      Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton

      CopperC 1 Reply Last reply
      • 89th8 Online
        89th8 Online
        89th
        wrote on last edited by 89th
        #7

        I know, how dare I point out lies.

        Not potshots.

        JollyJ 1 Reply Last reply
        • JollyJ 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?

          CopperC Offline
          CopperC Offline
          Copper
          wrote on last edited by
          #8

          @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.

          1 Reply Last reply
          • 89th8 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.

            MikM Away
            MikM Away
            Mik
            wrote on last edited by
            #9

            @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.

            “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill

            89th8 1 Reply Last reply
            • jon-nycJ Offline
              jon-nycJ Offline
              jon-nyc
              wrote on last edited by jon-nyc
              #10

              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.

              Only non-witches get due process.

              • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
              1 Reply Last reply
              • HoraceH Offline
                HoraceH Offline
                Horace
                wrote on last edited by
                #11

                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.

                Education is extremely important.

                1 Reply Last reply
                • MikM 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.

                  89th8 Online
                  89th8 Online
                  89th
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #12

                  @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?

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • 89th8 89th

                    I know, how dare I point out lies.

                    Not potshots.

                    JollyJ Offline
                    JollyJ Offline
                    Jolly
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #13

                    @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.

                    “Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”

                    Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton

                    AxtremusA 1 Reply Last reply
                    • JollyJ 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.

                      AxtremusA Offline
                      AxtremusA Offline
                      Axtremus
                      wrote on last edited by Axtremus
                      #14

                      @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.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      • JollyJ Offline
                        JollyJ Offline
                        Jolly
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #15

                        Go sit in the truck. Adults are talking.

                        “Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”

                        Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        • MikM Away
                          MikM Away
                          Mik
                          wrote on last edited by Mik
                          #16

                          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.

                          “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          • LuFins DadL Offline
                            LuFins DadL Offline
                            LuFins Dad
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #17
                            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…

                            The Brad

                            AxtremusA 1 Reply Last reply
                            • JollyJ Offline
                              JollyJ Offline
                              Jolly
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #18

                              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.

                              “Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”

                              Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton

                              LuFins DadL 1 Reply Last reply
                              • JollyJ 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 DadL Offline
                                LuFins DadL Offline
                                LuFins Dad
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #19

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

                                TINSTAAFL.

                                ?

                                The Brad

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                • JollyJ Offline
                                  JollyJ Offline
                                  Jolly
                                  wrote on last edited by Jolly
                                  #20

                                  There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

                                  Channeling Heinlein this morning...

                                  “Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”

                                  Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  • JollyJ Offline
                                    JollyJ Offline
                                    Jolly
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #21

                                    What The Federalist thought were the highlights... https://thefederalist.com/2025/03/28/6-unbelievably-scammy-federal-practices-doge-staff-reveal-in-fox-interview/

                                    “Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”

                                    Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    • LuFins DadL 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…

                                      AxtremusA Offline
                                      AxtremusA Offline
                                      Axtremus
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #22

                                      @LuFins-Dad said in Doge sits down with Bret Baier. Worth a watch.:

                                      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.

                                      What evidence do you have to support this claim?

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

                                      What evidence do you have to support this claim?

                                      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.

                                      I take it you recognize the importance of "reducing outstanding debt." Let's put a pin on that and we will return to it soon enough.

                                      1. 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…

                                      You argue about showing earnestness in cutting spending right after you stressed the importance of reducing debt. Where's the earnestness when you see the GOP proposing to tag on $19 Trillion of debt to finance tax cuts? You expect the people to accept losing government services and government benefits when they see the national debt go up by $19 Trillion? For what? Tax cuts for the already rich?

                                      Srsly, reevaluate your earnestness.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      • JollyJ Offline
                                        JollyJ Offline
                                        Jolly
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #23

                                        And this is why we can't have nice things..

                                        “Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”

                                        Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        • MikM Away
                                          MikM Away
                                          Mik
                                          wrote on last edited by Mik
                                          #24

                                          It's certainly why we can't seem to get a handle on spending and debt.

                                          “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill

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