Politics

[roverandbrew]

There is zero chance Trump or Hegseth will lead any calls for cuts to veterans benefits. Or the Military buildup.

Effective, efficient service maybe. But not cuts.

The leftist inside these agencies will try to slow or degrade service to blame on the Trump team. But it won’t be due to cuts to benefits.

In regards to military readiness did he not this week say publicly we can cut DODs budget in half?

In regards to the VA I am unsure how we can say the culling of employees increases productivity. 20 people doing any task at 75% capacity is by far faster than 2 people at 100% capacity. If we culled bad employees and hired some great ones that makes a bit of sense. I am very unclear of the plan beyond firing people. What is the way ahead?

 

[Altitude sickness]

You are fine with the past performance and status quo. That’s fine. Many of us are not.

We as a nation are broke. Fat. diseased. And artificially feeling free and safe.
Staying on this trajectory is unsustainable.

Yes it would’ve been nice to start this and do it gradually over the last 40 years, but that hasn’t happened. And never will if certain people have their way

 

[roverandbrew]

There is zero chance Trump or Hegseth will lead any calls for cuts to veterans benefits. Or the Military buildup.

Effective, efficient service maybe. But not cuts.

The leftist inside these agencies will try to slow or degrade service to blame on the Trump team. But it won’t be due to cuts to benefits.

Strategy = Ends+Ways+Means

Ends. Make American Great Again +Ways. Fire everyone, threaten, make noise + Means...ZERO CLUE

 

[roverandbrew]

You are fine with the past performance and status quo. That’s fine. Many of us are not.

We as a nation are broke. Fat. diseased. And artificially feeling free and safe.
Staying on this trajectory is unsustainable.

Yes it would’ve been nice to start this and do it gradually over the last 40 years, but that hasn’t happened. And never will if certain people have their way

Im still asking if you know the plan..the strategy... or just blind faith?

 

[roverandbrew]

You are fine with the past performance and status quo. That’s fine. Many of us are not.

We as a nation are broke. Fat. diseased. And artificially feeling free and safe.
Staying on this trajectory is unsustainable.

Yes it would’ve been nice to start this and do it gradually over the last 40 years, but that hasn’t happened. And never will if certain people have their way

I am not fine with the VA. I despise them. Saying that I despise abuse of power, inability to build a team, and failure to articulate a plan even more. Very poor leadership.

 

[Tanks]

This one will be interesting to see what Bondi/DOJ does. Guess AOC wasn't in Congress and subject to "Speech and Debate Clause".

Border czar Homan refers AOC to Justice after her office's advice to illegals on how to avoid ICE

The guide Ocasio-Cortez shared for migrants said that they do not have to open the door when agents come and they have the right to remain silent.

justthenews.com

Still First Amendment. She wasn't talking about illegal methods either. Are we a fascist state now?

The comments follow Ocasio-Cortez's office on Wednesday hosting a webinar that was about migrants knowing their rights if ICE agents came to their door.

 

[WAB]

In regards to military readiness did he not this week say publicly we can cut DODs budget in half?

In regards to the VA I am unsure how we can say the culling of employees increases productivity. 20 people doing any task at 75% capacity is by far faster than 2 people at 100% capacity. If we culled bad employees and hired some great ones that makes a bit of sense. I am very unclear of the plan beyond firing people. What is the way ahead?

Take my comments with a grain of salt as I have zero knowledge of the VA. However, I have significant experience leading large organizations. An overstaffed organization is an inefficient and typically unprofitable one. People will find something to do, and if there is not value added work to do they will find other things to keep them busy, becoming a cancer to the organization. I once cut an organization by twenty percent along with many other initiatives to turn it around. It became the most profitable asset with the best safety record in a twenty billion dollar corporation. Morale went through the roof. Bottom line, sometimes lower staffing levels can be the answer.

 

[Red Leg]

There is zero chance Trump or Hegseth will lead any calls for cuts to veterans benefits. Or the Military buildup.

Effective, efficient service maybe. But not cuts.

The leftist inside these agencies will try to slow or degrade service to blame on the Trump team. But it won’t be due to cuts to benefits.

Tell that to my portfolio. Defense stocks crashed this past week because Trump claimed he would be able to cut defense expenditures in half as soon as he could sit down with Xi and Putin to I assume sing kumbaya.

What military buildup? I served through the Regan reconstitution of the US military, and have yet to see even a mirage of something similar from this administration - First time or now.

I truly believe this guy has no real understanding of our national interests beyond our shores.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/13/defense-stocks-drop-after-trump-says-defense-spending-could-be-halved.html

 

[Red Leg]

Take my comments with a grain of salt as I have zero knowledge of the VA. However, I have significant experience leading large organizations. An overstaffed organization is an inefficient and typically unprofitable one. People will find something to do, and if there is not value added work to do they will find other things to keep them busy, becoming a cancer to the organization. I once cut an organization by twenty percent along with many other initiatives to turn it around. It became the most profitable asset with the best safety record in a twenty billion dollar corporation. Morale went through the roof. Bottom line, sometimes lower staffing levels can be the answer.

No one is arguing that. I have done the same sort of thing. But I gave my subordinate leadership that I was retaining manpower goals to meet, my desired productivity end state, and them the latitude to ensure it was dead weight we were cutting and not productive employees. In my experience, that requires more than a weekend.

The military has regularly gone through reductions in force following wars. The one following WWII was a catastrophe that led to Task Force Smith. Those following Vietnam were far more deliberative and led to the Army that fought in Desert Storm.

 

[roverandbrew]

Take my comments with a grain of salt as I have zero knowledge of the VA. However, I have significant experience leading large organizations. An overstaffed organization is an inefficient and typically unprofitable one. People will find something to do, and if there is not value added work to do they will find other things to keep them busy, becoming a cancer to the organization. I once cut an organization by twenty percent along with many other initiatives to turn it around. It became the most profitable asset with the best safety record in a twenty billion dollar corporation. Morale went through the roof. Bottom line, sometimes lower staffing levels can be the answer.

Absolutely value your opinion. You have a great perspective and I am always impressed with your common sense approach. I also have managed some very large organizations. From my experience with the VA and many government offices they do need a responsible shake up.

Back a few pages on this thread we discussed DOD recruiting numbers and goals for 2024. They surpassed expectations for FY 2024 because someone identified and fixed the problem. The problem was not too few recruits it was too few medical providers. The young men and women had little patience for their MEPS physical and moved on the other pastures. The hiring of additional medical providers for physicals is what increased throughput.

I retired from the Army in 2020. It took me 4 years to get a primary care provider because there were not enough. Targeted firings can allow the reallocation of billets to other fields in an organization. Firing 100 DEI advisors to hire 30 doctors makes sense. Firing all probationary employees doesn't seem to fix the problem.

I appreciate your thoughts on this.

 

[lwaters]

Tell that to my portfolio. Defense stocks crashed this past week because Trump claimed he would be able to cut defense expenditures in half as soon as he could sit down with Xi and Putin to I assume sing kumbaya.

What military buildup? I served through the Regan reconstitution of the US military, and have yet to see even a mirage of something similar from this administration.

I truly believe this guy has no real understanding of our national interests beyond our shores.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/13/defense-stocks-drop-after-trump-says-defense-spending-could-be-halved.html

A lot of people in my area think Trump will pour money into Ft Riley. I sincerely doubt that. I think his idea for defense spending is space force an iron dome for the country. Musk will benefit. Maybe some defense stocks that develop new technologies will come back. When Trump is done we my all wish we owned I-bonds and Tips.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Our beloved Reagan promised these same Nuclear arms cuts.

Stocks falling is so they can short or make money on the turn. It’s a game. Where are those same stocks today or next week. Shocker. Right back where they were.

 

[mutedblade]

The VA just fired a 1000 people when they were already short staffed. Actions speak louder than words.

Any idea where the cuts were (maintenance, IT, food service, Dr's, Nurse's, etc.) or are you just pissing and moaning because you have TDS and regurgitate the lamestream media's nonsense to get veterans fired up? If you click the link below, you'll find that there are over 2500 positions available, even after the 1000 that were just cut.

Jobs currently available at the VA.

Had an appointment at the McGuire VA facility yesterday. 2 incidents of note.

1. Watched a veteran in a wheelchair try to get checked in for more than 20 minutes. Receptionist didn't acknowledge him until he made a scene. Same idiot receptionist I had an issue with for the same reason a year ago. Liked it better when there were kiosks and we didn't need to wait to get checked in, but during the Biden admin, someone removed them and hired more people to handle check-ins instead. A useless position! Probably a few thousand of those sitting around that could be put on the chopping block.

2. Overheard a female employee talking to her significant other on the phone while waiting for the elevator and during the ride to the 2nd floor. She was complaining because her supervisor caught her listening to music while she was supposed to be working, which implies she wasn't allowed to do so or she wasn't completing the work given to her. Dude on the phone gave her a great answer though. "you listen to your music during your own time". Made me and the wife laugh afterwards because he was absolutely right.

The amount of BS that we vets deal with is astounding and honestly disgusting. Most veterans are easy going and just roll with it because we can adapt, but at this point I'd say the entire VA needs to go away and simply issue insurance to veterans so we can get our own care local to us.

 

[Doubleplay]

Still First Amendment. She wasn't talking about illegal methods either. Are we a fascist state now?

Not yet but we're getting there slowly....

 

[USN]

VA receptionist at one of the OKC clinics will not acknowledge you, can not speak English, wears a mask and mumbles unintelligible language. Several times the clerk at another desk 30 feet away will call the veterans over to check them in. The self check in going away was a good thing in my case because multiple times after swiping my card informed my appointment was cancelled but would still show as “filled” on computer tracking, at least now am informed of cancelled appointments before driving down to VA.

 

[Altitude sickness]

It’s obvious who here is fine with how things have been going for decades.

Also, no one here is saying they are aligned with 100% of the tactics Trump is using, but at least he’s doing something.

and for military contractors and stocks. The last time I heard peace through strength. It was a boom for anyone associated with the military. I think this term will be good for recruiting a better class of soldier and Sailor. And we will have a better equipped and trained military.

Please remember, they all had the same machinations and fears of Reagan.
He will get us into WW3, Etc. etc. etc.

 

[Doubleplay]

No, he didn’t not.
Where did you get this idea from?
What he said was that the “elites” should not predetermine the results of an election and cancel it if they don’t like the results. That action contradicts the basic principle of a democracy. (I just summarized his entire speech in a sentence. )

Before we get into a polemic I should mention that I’m replying from Romania, since Vance used it as a prime example.

"Vice President JD Vance urged European leaders on Friday to end the isolation of far-right parties across the continent, an extraordinary embrace of a once-fringe political movement with which the Trump administration shares a common approach on migration, identity and internet speech.

The address stunned and silenced hundreds of attendees at the Munich Security Conference, a forum where top-level politicians, diplomats and analysts had gathered expecting to hear President Trump’s plans for ending the war in Ukraine and Europe’s defense against a rising Russian threat.

The vice president singled out his German hosts, telling them to drop their objection to working with a party that has often reveled in banned Nazi slogans and has been shunned from government as a result. He did not mention the party, the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, by name, but directly referred to the longstanding agreement by mainstream German politicians to freeze out the group, parts of which have been formally classified as extremist by German intelligence."

Do you need more from the speech or is this enough?

 

[Beaufort]

I don't consider Musk as any type of savior, and I honestly don't care for the guy. Just another billionaire douchebag.
Personal feelings aside, I do appreciate that someone is taking a deep dive into the swamp, and ferreting out the ,waste corruption, and putting things in the spotlight.
Musk is not invincible, and needs to be careful. There are some areas of the deep state that will send some covert bad guy's after you. That's all I'm saying.

What makes him a billionaire douchebag in your opinion?

 

[Beaufort]

Tell that to my portfolio. Defense stocks crashed this past week because Trump claimed he would be able to cut defense expenditures in half as soon as he could sit down with Xi and Putin to I assume sing kumbaya.

What military buildup? I served through the Regan reconstitution of the US military, and have yet to see even a mirage of something similar from this administration - First time or now.

I truly believe this guy has no real understanding of our national interests beyond our shores.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/13/defense-stocks-drop-after-trump-says-defense-spending-could-be-halved.html

Have you ever heard the old saying, “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket?”. Hopefully you had investments that did well and softened the blow your defense stocks took.

 

[Red Leg]

It’s obvious who here is fine with how things have been going for decades.

Also, no one here is saying they are aligned with 100% of the tactics Trump is using, but at least he’s doing something.

and for military contractors and stocks. The last time I heard peace through strength. It was a boom for anyone associated with the military. I think this term will be good for recruiting a better class of soldier and Sailor. And we will have a better equipped and trained military.

Please remember, they all had the same machinations and fears of Reagan.
He will get us into WW3, Etc. etc. etc.

Simply pointing out what the President of the United States said. Still waiting to see what he will do with respect to defense. And no, I have zero blind faith in him or any other politician.