Elon musk shuts down govt

[Mike Honcho 5,251]

29 minutes ago, Engorgeous George said:

 

Pretty sure a lot of these were sold in New Jersey.  

[thegeneral 3,136]

Donald floats abolishing the debt ceiling all together this afternoon. Liz Warren agrees. 

[RaiderHaters Revenge 4,321]

3 hours ago, The Phantom's Phantom said:

If you're serious about cutting spending then you have to cut medicare, medicaid, SS and the military.  But you're not serious.  You'd rather cry about molasses.

Cut them all. They have never been sustainable 

[Mike Honcho 5,251]

21 minutes ago, thegeneral said:

Donald floats abolishing the debt ceiling all together this afternoon. Liz Warren agrees. 

Everyone should agree - the debt ceiling is stupid.  Congress has to raise the debt ceiling to allow us to borrow money to pay for the things they already bought.  It's absurd. 

[The Real timschochet 6,690]

22 minutes ago, thegeneral said:

Donald floats abolishing the debt ceiling all together this afternoon. Liz Warren agrees. 

Thats hilarious. 

It actually really makes it a lot of sense if you think about it. Whenever the debt ceiling comes up, Congress hems and haws and makes a lot of noise but eventually they raise it. What choice do they have? It’s debt that’s already happened and if we don’t pay the dollar collapses. So this whole debt ceiling thing is for show. But it’s an important show for conservatives. 

Musk is pretending he can seriously cut the budget with this DOGE thing. But all he ever talks about specifically is cutting DEI and “woke” programs. I’m sure that makes conservatives happy everywhere but even if we cut all of that it amounts to what, .1% of the budget? Or less? Let’s wait and see if he proposes real cutting- which means defense or entitlements. And then let’s see if Republicans are truly willing to do it. 

[Hardcore troubadour 15,305]

Glad an Alpha is back in charge. 

[The Real timschochet 6,690]

19 minutes ago, RaiderHaters Revenge said:

Cut them all. They have never been sustainable 

I do believe you’re honest about this and I respect you for it. The politicians you support, however, are not honest about this and it’s never going to happen. 
 

Right now we’re 36 trillion in debt. That number is so huge it’s become meaningless. In 20 years it will be 70 trillion, which is just as meaningless as 36 trillion. 
 

But hey maybe cryptocurrency is the answer. 

[RaiderHaters Revenge 4,321]

2 minutes ago, The Real timschochet said:

I do believe you’re honest about this and I respect you for it. The politicians you support, however, are not honest about this and it’s never going to happen. 
 

Right now we’re 36 trillion in debt. That number is so huge it’s become meaningless. In 20 years it will be 70 trillion, which is just as meaningless as 36 trillion. 
 

But hey maybe cryptocurrency is the answer. 

There are tons of answers.  Depending on the govt should have never been one 

[TheNewGirl 1,475]

3 hours ago, IGotWorms said:

I no longer care

Hahahahaa, wanna bet? You care. There's no possible way that you no longer care. 

 

[thegeneral 3,136]

7 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

Glad an Alpha is back in charge. 

Elon?

[thegeneral 3,136]

15 minutes ago, Mike Honcho said:

Everyone should agree - the debt ceiling is stupid.  Congress has to raise the debt ceiling to allow us to borrow money to pay for the things they already bought.  It's absurd. 

How will Republicans in Congress feign interest in spending now? 

[Engorgeous George 2,301]

52 minutes ago, lickin_starfish said:

Looks neat, but it's $100,000 and only goes 20 miles per charge.

So, highly competitive with many E.V.'s in the market for both price and range.

[Engorgeous George 2,301]

45 minutes ago, Mike Honcho said:

Pretty sure a lot of these were sold in New Jersey.  

That is what I was thinking.

[Engorgeous George 2,301]

51 minutes ago, Mike Honcho said:

That's perfect, as the crow flies I'm 7.3 miles from work! 

No more red taffic lights, stop signs, or road hogs.    Would be difficult to go through a drive through lane, though.

[Engorgeous George 2,301]

I'm picturing Mike Honcho riding down from the sky at work as he blares Ride of the Valkyries over his onboard stereo.  

[The Phantom's Phantom 254]

1 hour ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

Can’t do a stand alone bill to provide relief for the disaster areas? 

Apparently not.  The house had months to do it and didn't.

[thegeneral 3,136]

I like that they gave themselves a fat raise in this budget. Least productive Congress in forever, except for bitching and chaos.

[Hardcore troubadour 15,305]

18 minutes ago, The Phantom's Phantom said:

Apparently not.  The house had months to do it and didn't.

So they haven’t been getting any help? 

[shadrap 227]

2 hours ago, Mike Honcho said:

I did not know that. Apparently 1.3 million active duty service members will go without pay.  

And...

 

 

 

 

they won't get paid on time.  they will get paid everything that is due them.

[Strike 5,467]

21 minutes ago, The Phantom's Phantom said:

Apparently not.  The house had months to do it and didn't.

So these high paid legislators didn't do THEIR JOB?  And to hold them accountable you're good with giving them a big fat raise and exempting them from the medical plan they are forcing on millions of Americans?

[The Phantom's Phantom 254]

3 minutes ago, Strike said:

So these high paid legislators didn't do THEIR JOB?  And to hold them accountable you're good with giving them a big fat raise and exempting them from the medical plan they are forcing on millions of Americans?

Well I tried to vote them out.  What do you think should be done?  Let Elon Musk stop all spending and shut down the govt?

[Strike 5,467]

Just now, The Phantom's Phantom said:

Well I tried to vote them out.  What do you think should be done?  Let Elon Musk stop all spending and shut down the govt?

Elon Musk doesn't have the authority to stop sh*t.

[shadrap 227]

so in this bill they want a a pay raise.

They also want to be exempt from Obamacare.

They also want a billion or so to repair a bridge in Baltimore that is privately owned, insured & collects tolls.

not to mention the billions for pet projects that are too numerous to describe.

you wonder why this thing is hated?

you wonder why congress is hated?   This bill explains it.

[The Real timschochet 6,690]

3 minutes ago, shadrap said:

 

They also want a billion or so to repair a bridge in Baltimore that is privately owned, insured & collects tolls.

 

This particular comment betrays a real misunderstanding on your part. That bridge results in untold amounts of revenue for the area, and for the government. 

[The Phantom's Phantom 254]

6 minutes ago, Strike said:

Elon Musk doesn't have the authority to stop sh*t.

He is Trump's puppet.

[Cdub100 3,894]

Joe Biden gave me Christmas Eve off.

Thanks Joe 

[jbycho 754]

 

8 hours ago, The Phantom's Phantom said:

I didn't read the bill.

 

5 minutes ago, shadrap said:

so in this bill they want a a pay raise.

They also want to be exempt from Obamacare.

They also want a billion or so to repair a bridge in Baltimore that is privately owned, insured & collects tolls.

not to mention the billions for pet projects that are too numerous to describe.

you wonder why this thing is hated?

you wonder why congress is hated?   This bill explains it.

[The Phantom's Phantom 254]

Oh and about this pay raise, it's 3.8%, and they haven't gotten a raise since 2009.  It really has no effect either way

[jbycho 754]

3 minutes ago, The Phantom's Phantom said:

Oh and about this pay raise, it's 3.8%, and they haven't gotten a raise since 2009.  It really has no effect either way

So, what are they making now that they can't survive on their salaries in their supposed public service roles? 

[Engorgeous George 2,301]

3 minutes ago, The Real timschochet said:

This particular comment betrays a real misunderstanding on your part. That bridge results in untold amounts of revenue for the area, and for the government. 

Curious, and I truely do not know and have not been following the matter since the collapse, but it looks like the State has estimated the cost of the rebuild at under 2 billion dollars, so why would it need a federal grant of 8 billion? Would that expedite the rebuild?  If so why would the Bridge Commission not be responsible for pay back as it seems it may be insured?   Certainly getting this up and running would have some economic benefits beyond Baltimore.  it would seem to inure to the benefit of our economy generally, but why is this gift needed?

 

See the link for the figure I have referenced...

Maryland officials release timeline, cost estimate, for rebuilding bridge | AP News

[Engorgeous George 2,301]

The article I linked is 7 months old, but it does seem that of the less than 2 billion needed the State already has recovered 350 million from the insurer.  Seems then that 1.5 billion would be more than needed and so more than generous.  At 8 billion it seems we are inviting waste and fraud.

[Strike 5,467]

8 minutes ago, The Phantom's Phantom said:

He is Trump's puppet.

Then at best it's Trump stopping the bill but I'll let you in on a little secret - Trump doesn't have the authority to stop the bill either.

[Strike 5,467]

Apparently there's a new "deal.".  Details "forthcoming.".  IOW, we're focked.

[Engorgeous George 2,301]

More current bridge rebuild article...

Federal Government to Cover Cost of Key Bridge Rebuild | Roads and Bridges

 

i still do not see how the cost has increased 4 fold in 9 months time.  Are they going to build something of far larger capacity than the original?

[The Phantom's Phantom 254]

4 minutes ago, Strike said:

Then at best it's Trump stopping the bill but I'll let you in on a little secret - Trump doesn't have the authority to stop the bill either.

I don't think you understand how politics works.

[Engorgeous George 2,301]

I thought Tim would chime in since he apparently knows enough about this subject to question another poster on their subject knowledge.  Me, I know basically nothing about this.  Maybe we have a local who has followed the developments that could chime in.

[Strike 5,467]

1 minute ago, The Phantom's Phantom said:

I don't think you understand how politics works.

I don't think you understand how our government works.

[jbycho 754]

6 minutes ago, The Phantom's Phantom said:

I don't think you understand how politics works.

So, you said Musk shut down government, and then you said Musk has no power, then you said  you don't know what's in the bill because you didn't read it, and then you said you want the congressmen to have higher salaries. 

And now you say someone else doesn't know how politics work. 

wow. 

[Strike 5,467]

1 minute ago, jbycho said:

So, you said Musk shut down government, and then you said Musk has no power, the you said  you don't know what's in the bill because you didn't read it, and then you said you want the congressmen to have higher salaries. 

And now you say someone else doesn't know how politics work. 

wow. 

Gutterboy used to be an entertaining poster around here until Trump broke him, but he was never the sharpest tool in the shed.

[TheNewGirl 1,475]

38 minutes ago, The Phantom's Phantom said:

Well I tried to vote them out.  What do you think should be done?  Let Elon Musk stop all spending and shut down the govt?

There's more we can do than just "vote them out." Not give them raises is just one. 

Elon isn't stopping all spending or shutting down the govt. If our govt is SO WEAK that they rely on a couple of Tweets, then we are more focked than we think we are. "Oh noe! Elon tweeted that the bill sucks, we should all vote no."

Mmm. Kay. Same with Trump; he isn't even voting on that bill. If his party is voting it down because they are SCARED of him, then something IS wrong and maybe they should be gone. 

I really wish people would stop thinking guys like Elon have power; it's the weakness of the ones that listen to him. They could have just as easily said, "Fock that guy, I am pushing this through."