Politics

[Red Leg]

I wasn't impressed at all and he shouldn't be nominated.
There are much more qualified people to do the job.

I have gradually changed my mind. He seems to have had fairly despicable personal issues - not exactly disqualifying in any administration - but he seems genuinely interested in taking an ax to some of the structure of DOD; of focusing on procurements; and focusing on the speed of those procurements. The defense industry itself would be delighted with less bureaucracy and clearer quicker procurement process.

 

[Red Leg]

On a separate note, Pam Bondi is killing it this morning.

 

[Lone Star Bluegrass]

I think Hegseth knew he had the votes before the hearing. Listening to all the democrats pass judgement on him was laughable.

Kaine: Clinton’s running mate is suddenly very concerned with marriage vows of fidelity
Blumenthal: a repeat stolen valor buffoon, who in a sane world would never be heard from in public life
Hirono: either drunk or just had major dental surgery asking him if he’s aware of the UCMJ clause forbidding being impaired on duty
Warren: every job she held in academia was based on her false claims of minority racial status, she’s very concerned that Mr. Hegseth isn’t qualified for his position
Duckworth: never saw a Biden appointee she didn’t endorse (Blinken, Austin, Garland, Buttguy, Mayorkas all met with her approval) but thinks Hegseth is unqualified to be SecDef
Gillibrand: acts like every woman who enlists will be raped shortly after being inducted but is concerned that Hegseth won’t let more women into combat roles
Reed, Shaheen, Peters: all eulogized Ted Kennedy as the “lion of the Senate,” celebrated his life and mourned his death; all think that Hegseth drank and womanized too much as a [slightly] younger man

What a crock. Send it to the floor for a voice vote and get this man to the Pentagon without further delay.

 

[Lone Star Bluegrass]

[emoji6][emoji6]" data-quote="Tanks" data-source="post: 0" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

Interesting that they were hitting him more with personal issues rather than his actual background and experience related to running basically the World's largest corporation.

That’s all they have.
Every time a republican president nominates someone, it’s going to be a somewhat of a bad sequel to the Thomas/Kavanaugh confirmations.

 

[deewayne2003]

I wonder how Prop 13 will play into the fire rebuilds in the Palisades area? My old CA friend tells me a lot of those places are generational being passed down over the years.

What a mess to fix with CA red tape. Hopefully some of it can be bypassed.

@Tanks is correct about the same square footage keeping prop 13 still in affect; however I will add the one phrase that very few people are talking about and you inadvertently touched on when you said....
"My old CA friend tells me a lot of those places are generational being passed down over the years"

The phrase of death for these people looking to rebuild is..... "PERMITTING & INSPECTION"

Some of these people who have inherited these properties for generations are about to be slapped in the mouth with the reality that the home they've had for generations can no longer be built as it was; so even if they do rebuild the same square footage the cost of building will likely be 3X higher than what the house is valued at on the tax rolls.

Also, property taxes will only be lowered by "misfortune/calamity" - Meaning that you can apply to the assessors office that your home burned and thus is not worth the same as listed on the tax rolls; but they will only be lowered by structural loss.

Meaning that if your total property value is $3mil and the structure is valued at $1mil..... then you are still on the hook for paying taxes on $2mil value of the land. So you will be stuck paying 2/3rds of your property tax bill with no house to live in; that alone will force many moderate/less affluent people to sell out as I can only imagine the hell scape of trying to pull a building permit in that environment..... not to mention the engineer/architect fees that will come from submitting plans and approval process, and most likely environmental/costal commission approval as well.

I predict we'll see more of the same from other California wild fires - You'll have LOTS of people throw their hands up and take their insurance/buy out checks and move to Arizona, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, ect.

Of course people are taking advantage of the misfortune of others, I was watching an investment podcast yesterday and they showed a video of a California real estate agent who immediately raised all the rental prices of her properties by 100%.

"People are desperate.... IT'S PROFIT TIME!".... she gleefully proclaimed as she explained her justification on raising the monthly rent for a 3 bedroom furnished home from $15K per month to $30K per month.

 

[Tanks]

That’s all they have.
Every time a republican president nominated someone, it’s going to be a somewhat of a bad sequel to the Thomas/Kavanaugh confirmations.

Well, in Hegseth they did have someone totally unqualified in experience. So, I was surprised why him being a drunk some years ago was more important. We are in the era of Trump where the public do not care about a moral compass but supposedly cares about competence.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Crazy Mazie showing just how easy it is for a moron to get elected….

 

[Tanks]

The phrase of death for these people looking to rebuild is..... "PERMITTING & INSPECTION"

Some of these people who have inherited these properties for generations are about to be slapped in the mouth with the reality that the home they've had for generations can no longer be built as it was; so even if they do rebuild the same square footage the cost of building will likely be 3X higher than what the house is valued at on the tax rolls.

...

I wholeheartedly agree with very strict permitting process with fire resistant/proof building codes. Concrete and steel structures. Buildings similar to the one below survived the fires. If they can't afford it then it is time to sell and move. They can buy a "craftsman" McMansion in TX etc..

Turning into

 

[mdwest]

I have gradually changed my mind. He seems to have had fairly despicable personal issues - not exactly disqualifying in any administration - but he seems genuinely interested in taking an ax to some of the structure of DOD; of focusing on procurements; and focusing on the speed of those procurements. The defense industry itself would be delighted with less bureaucracy and clearer quicker procurement process.

Completely concur..

when his name was initially fielded, I have to admit that I thought he was an extremely bad choice...

Im still not convinced he is a good choice.. but, he's certainly growing on me..

Ive also re-evaluated my position that to be "qualified" to essentially run one of the largest organizations on the planet, someone probably needs very senior GO experience and/or senior executive experience in very large and diverse organizations...

All I need to do is look at the current SECDEF, who has in my opinion been a complete failure from the moment he took his seat, who is both a retired senior GO and a former senior executive with experience in a very large and diverse firm.. and realize, that sort of experience really doesn't guarantee performance as SECDEF..

2 things about Hegseth stand out for me.. if they are true, I think he has a chance at being successful in office... first he made it clear on several occasions that he intends on surrounding himself with the best and the brightest both external to the defense establishment and internal to it.. he's building a team that will actually run the machine.. he's just going to sit at the top as the chief decision maker (which should be his role)... second, he's made it clear that his priority is getting the military to refocus on lethality and survivability.. which is EXACTLY where the DoD's focus should be..

Im hopeful at this point that he is confirmed and we get a chance to see what he is capable of..

 

[gbflyer]

@Tanks is correct about the same square footage keeping prop 13 still in affect; however I will add the one phrase that very few people are talking about and you inadvertently touched on when you said....
"My old CA friend tells me a lot of those places are generational being passed down over the years"

The phrase of death for these people looking to rebuild is..... "PERMITTING & INSPECTION"

Some of these people who have inherited these properties for generations are about to be slapped in the mouth with the reality that the home they've had for generations can no longer be built as it was; so even if they do rebuild the same square footage the cost of building will likely be 3X higher than what the house is valued at on the tax rolls.

Also, property taxes will only be lowered by "misfortune/calamity" - Meaning that you can apply to the assessors office that your home burned and thus is not worth the same as listed on the tax rolls; but they will only be lowered by structural loss.

Meaning that if your total property value is $3mil and the structure is valued at $1mil..... then you are still on the hook for paying taxes on $2mil value of the land. So you will be stuck paying 2/3rds of your property tax bill with no house to live in; that alone will force many moderate/less affluent people to sell out as I can only imagine the hell scape of trying to pull a building permit in that environment..... not to mention the engineer/architect fees that will come from submitting plans and approval process, and most likely environmental/costal commission approval as well.

I predict we'll see more of the same from other California wild fires - You'll have LOTS of people throw their hands up and take their insurance/buy out checks and move to Arizona, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, ect.

Of course people are taking advantage of the misfortune of others, I was watching an investment podcast yesterday and they showed a video of a California real estate agent who immediately raised all the rental prices of her properties by 100%.

"People are desperate.... IT'S PROFIT TIME!".... she gleefully proclaimed as she explained her justification on raising the monthly rent for a 3 bedroom furnished home from $15K per month to $30K per month.

These are the thoughts of my friend as well.

 

[WyoBull]

I wasn't impressed at all and he shouldn't be nominated.
There are much more qualified people to do the job.

There are always more people qualified for any job out there.
Trump does not want the status quo in a lot of these cabinet positions. I admire him for that mindset.
Name some people who you would want in there.

 

[WyoBull]

Completely concur..

when his name was initially fielded, I have to admit that I thought he was an extremely bad choice...

Im still not convinced he is a good choice.. but, he's certainly growing on me..

Ive also re-evaluated my position that to be "qualified" to essentially run one of the largest organizations on the planet, someone probably needs very senior GO experience and/or senior executive experience in very large and diverse organizations...

All I need to do is look at the current SECDEF, who has in my opinion been a complete failure from the moment he took his seat, who is both a retired senior GO and a former senior executive with experience in a very large and diverse firm.. and realize, that sort of experience really doesn't guarantee performance as SECDEF..

2 things about Hegseth stand out for me.. if they are true, I think he has a chance at being successful in office... first he made it clear on several occasions that he intends on surrounding himself with the best and the brightest both external to the defense establishment and internal to it.. he's building a team that will actually run the machine.. he's just going to sit at the top as the chief decision maker (which should be his role)... second, he's made it clear that his priority is getting the military to refocus on lethality and survivability.. which is EXACTLY where the DoD's focus should be..

Im hopeful at this point that he is confirmed and we get a chance to see what he is capable of..

Not having the experience of running a large organization is not a reason to disqualify Hegseth for the job. Did you hear his thoughts on leadership? Leadership is the key contributing qualifier for this job. He said surround yourself with people smarter than you and then let those horses run.
That senator from Michigan talking about how they were the board hiring a new CEO and that he would not hire Hegseth was a joke and quite laughable. What has he done besides becoming a senator? How many people has he led, how many companies has he run? You could run down the list of sensors and most of them could not even carry his jock.
I have been a leader my entire career and I will take a leader every day over “supposed” experience.

 

[Scott CWO]

@Tanks is correct about the same square footage keeping prop 13 still in affect; however I will add the one phrase that very few people are talking about and you inadvertently touched on when you said....
"My old CA friend tells me a lot of those places are generational being passed down over the years"

The phrase of death for these people looking to rebuild is..... "PERMITTING & INSPECTION"

Some of these people who have inherited these properties for generations are about to be slapped in the mouth with the reality that the home they've had for generations can no longer be built as it was; so even if they do rebuild the same square footage the cost of building will likely be 3X higher than what the house is valued at on the tax rolls.

Also, property taxes will only be lowered by "misfortune/calamity" - Meaning that you can apply to the assessors office that your home burned and thus is not worth the same as listed on the tax rolls; but they will only be lowered by structural loss.

Meaning that if your total property value is $3mil and the structure is valued at $1mil..... then you are still on the hook for paying taxes on $2mil value of the land. So you will be stuck paying 2/3rds of your property tax bill with no house to live in; that alone will force many moderate/less affluent people to sell out as I can only imagine the hell scape of trying to pull a building permit in that environment..... not to mention the engineer/architect fees that will come from submitting plans and approval process, and most likely environmental/costal commission approval as well.

I predict we'll see more of the same from other California wild fires - You'll have LOTS of people throw their hands up and take their insurance/buy out checks and move to Arizona, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, ect.

Of course people are taking advantage of the misfortune of others, I was watching an investment podcast yesterday and they showed a video of a California real estate agent who immediately raised all the rental prices of her properties by 100%.

"People are desperate.... IT'S PROFIT TIME!".... she gleefully proclaimed as she explained her justification on raising the monthly rent for a 3 bedroom furnished home from $15K per month to $30K per month.

Don’t forget Colorado. Unfortunately, a lot of them will be moving here. Just what we need.

 

[Tanks]

...
I have been a leader my entire career and I will take a leader every day over “supposed” experience.

The two are not mutually exclusive.

 

[VertigoBE]

[emoji[emoji6]]" data-quote="WAB" data-source="post: 0" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

Russia has lost regardless of the outcome of the war. They cannot replace these young men. As their population collapses, so goes their economy. Putin’s only chance now is not a land grab, it’s a population grab, and that appears highly unlikely.

I’m sure population forecasts are the last thing on his mind right now. He likely just does not want to go into history as the guy who brought Russia to its knees and squandered its future.

 

[CJW]

Don’t forget Colorado. Unfortunately, a lot of them will be moving here. Just what we need.

I was thinking about this a couple days ago. The a-hole in me said, "Nope! They shouldn't be allowed to move away from the mess they helped create".

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I was thinking about this a couple days ago. The a-hole in me said, "Nope! They shouldn't be allowed to move away from the mess the helped create".

You say a-hole... I say practical. TomAto, to-mah-to...

 

[deewayne2003]

I wholeheartedly agree with very strict permitting process with fire resistant/proof building codes. Concrete and steel structures. Buildings similar to the one below survived the fires. If they can't afford it then it is time to sell and move. They can buy a "craftsman" McMansion in TX etc..

View attachment 658291

Turning into

View attachment 658292

100% agree with the building codes needing fire retardant structures in a state/municipality with the lax fire prevention/mitigation in areas known for wild fire danger.

It would also be prudent for people in these areas to install their own fire mitigation systems for the exterior of the home.

For those of you with considerable firearm collections - Consider having a steel lined fire sprinkler installed over your gun safe; even if the house is a total loss the sprinkler over the safe will keep a HOT fire from destroying the contents.

 

[WAB]

I think Hegseth conducted himself very well in the hearing. I still have concerns about his lack of experience, but he will be light years better than what we have currently.

 

[mdwest]

but he will be light years better than what we have currently.

thats not a very high bar to get over lol...