Politics

[Wheels]

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

The quote below from that link lets me know this is more propaganda from the administration.

"Collins reinforced VA’s dedication to fulfilling its mission under President Trump’s leadership and concluded his message with an assurance of ongoing transparency regarding developments at VA."

Do we know who the 1000 people are. I would doubt they are healthcare providers. Could they have been DEI administrators or others creating rules and bottle necks making it harder to perform the core mission of the VA.

 

[1dirthawker]

Give me a RIF requirement of X %. Give me the eight month early out tool to use selectively. Give me six-months to accomplish it. At the end of that time I would have cleared out the least productive and probably the longest tenured and most costly employees. I certainly would not have arbitrarily cut my new, less expensive, and typically more motivated employees.

i will try not to use bold, caps or 500 words.

that has not happened in the DOD/military, yet. i was merely asking how you would do it. apparently neither you or anyone in the military since the clinton era has done that. or passed an audit.(in i believe the last 8 years). again, not trying to be poopy, or attack you. if it was so easy, i would think that "management 101" would have taken hold in at least some of these agencies over the years.

 

[Wheels]

A question to those of you who are veterans.

I have two family members (Korea and Vietnam) who felt they received excellent medical care from the VA. I have another family member (Vietnam) who was shuffled around and feels like the medical end of the VA has taken years of his life. I have a good friend (Vietnam) who has dementia and will be in a VA facility the rest of his life. The family feels the care is good but probably not the equivalent of some private facilities. I know individuals that live hours from a VA medical facility and have to wait months sometimes for an appointment then waste a full day to spend 15 minutes with a medical provider.

Could the medical component of the VA be farmed out with vouchers to the private sector in the form of VA provided insurance?

 

[Altitude sickness]

I have had bad VA care in Detroit. But my local VA clinic provides great service and everyone that I know uses that clinic agrees.

A freind that recently passed was a Marine in the Nam. Shot 3 times. His leg was saved but 5” shorter than the other leg his whole adult life. He worked hard as an equipment operator. I never heard him complain about being shot up. Or the VA.

He was exposed to Agent Orange and suffered those typical ailments.

The ongoing issue with benefits from AO and now burn pits is acknowledging it and lack of funding.

Local GWOT vets seem to agree that care is good. Also we have great private support groups now that previously were not available to Nam and WW2 vets.

 

[steve white]

Do you have a plan for how everything will get done if 90% are let go? Love to hear it!

A large percentage is for things that perhaps shouldn't get done in the first place? The Babylon Bee says one Chick Fila employee could handle the rest...lol

 

[John Wasmuth]

There are provisions for local urgent care, alternative local care for a lot of non-va facilities. I was given a choice on my last audiology to be seen by the va facility or an outside audiologist. They offer a ton of reference material both hard copies and on line.

 

[Red Leg]

I agree, he should hit Hamas/Al Qaeda hard today. But Israel agreed to the release of 3 today.

I frankly do not believe there was a meaningful military option on the table. There was nothing we could hit that Israel couldn't. In fact, I doubt our targeting intel was nearly as good as what Israel already had developed within Gaza. I don't personally know anyone with a military background who had come to a different conclusion. Maybe there are some over on X. Of course, I have no idea how Hegseth, using his vast strategic experience, may have advised the president.

We could have struck Iran, and done so very effectively. Might even have been the right thing. But that would have started a war.

I am sure the TWS crowd will disagree, but Presidents, including this one, can not afford to make idle threats and ultimatums.

 

[Brent in Az]

I feel that veterans deserve top notch healthcare services, and not have to wait months to get it.
The billion's of dollars that are being saved by the Trump administration and DOGE, could have been better spent on Veteran healthcare & housing for homeless Vet's, compared to the lunacy that much of it was wasted on over the years.

 

[Red Leg]

i will try not to use bold, caps or 500 words.

that has not happened in the DOD/military, yet. i was merely asking how you would do it. apparently neither you or anyone in the military since the clinton era has done that. or passed an audit.(in i believe the last 8 years). again, not trying to be poopy, or attack you. if it was so easy, i would think that "management 101" would have taken hold in at least some of these agencies over the years.

That is indeed exactly how I would do it, and every secretary of every department has the authority to implement exactly the same deliberative process. More importantly, the president has the authority to direct it. But he did not. He ordered mass firings of what turns out to be primarily low cost new hires in the GS system. Something like that is for effect - not to make meaningful change. Judging by the mindless cheering on the right and angst on the left, that part seems to be working. I assume we'll see if he has an actual new governance model in mind or not.

 

[steve white]

I do not accept that we only have two years to see if DOGE can make changes--we should give any coming administration HELL on earth if they do not cease throwing trillions away! I hope we are reaching the point where only squeaky clean is acceptable. We foolishly trusted them once...no more.
I WISH DOGE COULD GO TO WORK ON EVERY STATE BEAURACRACY!!!
Over 30 years ago, for example, the Dallas Morning News had an article critiquing an audit of DISD (school administration) which concluded that there were "200+ too many administrators." How outrageous would it be today?
Several years ago, a medium sized city in CA was revealed to have half million dollar packages for city managers plus lucrative retirements.
It is probable that ALL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES are corrupt to one degree or another. I would like to have my money back! And...have no doubt we could be out of debt quickly if not for fraud. The real solution is not just oversight, either--it is jailing a bunch of people and clawing back ill gotten gains. If a drug dealer made huge deposits without reportable income, they would be confiscated along with houses and properties. Happens all the time. If a head of USAID makes $180K but is worth $30 million, jail time should be the order of the day. Both sides of the aisle. Wasters are not my allies.

 

[CJW]

Just another day in Europe with the peaceful refugees. A 14 yr old is dead and 4 injured, 2 critically.

Austria: Villach knife attack leave teenager dead and four wouded - BBC News

Police have reportedly detained a Syrian man following the attack in the southern city of Villach.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Altitude sickness]

I frankly do not believe there was a meaningful military option on the table. There was nothing we could hit that Israel couldn't. In fact, I doubt our targeting intel was nearly as good as what Israel already had developed within Gaza. I don't personally know anyone with a military background who had come to a different conclusion. Maybe there are some over on X. Of course, I have no idea how Hegseth, using his vast strategic experience, may have advised the president.

We could have struck Iran, and done so very effectively. Might even have been the right thing. But that would have started a war.

I am sure the TWS crowd will disagree, but Presidents, including this one, can not afford to make idle threats and ultimatums.

Word on the street is that Hamza BinLaden is the big picture guy over anyone working against Israel and the US.

Even though Al Qaeda is not a fan of Hamas any enemy of my enemy works for Hamza. He is smarter than his father Usama. He will use others to do his dirty work and stay under the radar. He is apparently coordinating with the Houthis, Hamas, Isis, Hezbollah. He will not take credit for any successful attacks. He learned that his father was a little too boastful. And is happy for them to take all the credit.

So, he squirted out of Pakistan and is now in Afghanistan. He would be and hopefully is soon a target of this administration.

 

[Altitude sickness]

https://www.livemint.com/news/world/osama-bin-ladens-dead-son-is-alive-hatching-another-9-11-style-attack-from-afghanistan-says-report-hamza-bin-laden/amp-11726234310582.html

 

[Beaufort]

I do not accept that we only have two years to see if DOGE can make changes--we should give any coming administration HELL on earth if they do not cease throwing trillions away! I hope we are reaching the point where only squeaky clean is acceptable. We foolishly trusted them once...no more.
I WISH DOGE COULD GO TO WORK ON EVERY STATE BEAURACRACY!!!
Over 30 years ago, for example, the Dallas Morning News had an article critiquing an audit of DISD (school administration) which concluded that there were "200+ too many administrators." How outrageous would it be today?
Several years ago, a medium sized city in CA was revealed to have half million dollar packages for city managers plus lucrative retirements.
It is probable that ALL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES are corrupt to one degree or another. I would like to have my money back! And...have no doubt we could be out of debt quickly if not for fraud. The real solution is not just oversight, either--it is jailing a bunch of people and clawing back ill gotten gains. If a drug dealer made huge deposits without reportable income, they would be confiscated along with houses and properties. Happens all the time. If a head of USAID makes $180K but is worth $30 million, jail time should be the order of the day. Both sides of the aisle. Wasters are not my allies.

Wanting it and getting it are two very different things. I learned that after I’d circled dozens of items from the Sears Toy Catalog as a kid only to have none of the show up Christmas morning. And right now, Trump appears to be Santa Claus - the only chance we have of getting what we really want - and deserve!

 

[YancyW]

Truth Social

Truth Social is America's "Big Tent" social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating on the basis of political ideology.

truthsocial.com

This is going to cause some pearl clutching.

 

[barryk]

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

Not sure what rights an illegal alien has in this country.....for sure protection from murder, robbery, rape , and other violent crimes. There must be a host of others we afford as laws of protection. I'm not sure they have a right to be taught how to avoid consequences for illegal entry into our country....in particular not by one of our members of Congress.

 

[CJW]

2 yr old girl and her mother die from their injuries due to the Islamist terror attack in Munich.

Contrary to what The Guardian and other pathetic news outlets say, the car attacked nobody.

Two-year-old girl and her mother die from Munich car attack injuries

Afghan man was arrested on suspicion of deliberately driving car into trade union demonstration on Thursday

www.theguardian.com

 

[Altitude sickness]

https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/5736

The law making government propaganda legal

This is when Obama and Congress repealed the law from 1948 that made it illegal for the US Government to disseminate propaganda or disinformation to its own citizens.

But let’s look across the isle. Bush and Lincoln did worse to suppress freedom.

They both suspended Habeas corpus of its own citizens. And the President is still allowed to do it.

 

[lwaters]

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

 

[barryk]

Not to change the subject, but wasn’t there something about a Trump ultimatum today and all hostages being released? Just asking.

I wonder if Xi or Putin will believe the next one?

Wondered about that also.....could be wrong, but my bet is Trump wasn't bluffing....I'm sure he knows he cannot "draw the line" and not follow through...hope civilian casualties are minimized.