Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who has lived through the collapse of a democracy or studied that topic is very worried. Are they crazy or just better informed than you about the signs that institutions are failing and power is being dangerously ceded to one man with authoritarian tendencies?

A lot depends on if the executive still follows the courts. The legislative branch has shown no signs of being a check. They’ve been verbally threatening not to follow court orders for a few days. Threatening judges. Project 2025 says ignore the court rulings and proceed with your policies.

Are we crazy for taking them at their word? Where do other people find the confidence to believe they wouldn’t actually do it?

Really something that reducing the size of the federal workforce and ending ridiculous spending by USAID = the end of democracy.

If this is so obvious, why won’t he just propose these cuts to congress so they can pass a law cutting them? Why does he insist on doing it illegally?

Because Congress is incentivized to stay in power which means doling out funds and special pork projects for their constituents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who has lived through the collapse of a democracy or studied that topic is very worried. Are they crazy or just better informed than you about the signs that institutions are failing and power is being dangerously ceded to one man with authoritarian tendencies?

A lot depends on if the executive still follows the courts. The legislative branch has shown no signs of being a check. They’ve been verbally threatening not to follow court orders for a few days. Threatening judges. Project 2025 says ignore the court rulings and proceed with your policies.

Are we crazy for taking them at their word? Where do other people find the confidence to believe they wouldn’t actually do it?

Really something that reducing the size of the federal workforce and ending ridiculous spending by USAID = the end of democracy.

If this is so obvious, why won’t he just propose these cuts to congress so they can pass a law cutting them? Why does he insist on doing it illegally?

Because congress is absolutely worthless and they can’t legislate. I am absolutely furious that because of them we are in this situation. The goal of Trump has been stated, to remove $2 Trillion from our spending. To have our debt 3% of GDP. Paying down our debt will have a massive positive impact. Will it be easy? No, but we must get our fiscal house in order.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who has lived through the collapse of a democracy or studied that topic is very worried. Are they crazy or just better informed than you about the signs that institutions are failing and power is being dangerously ceded to one man with authoritarian tendencies?

A lot depends on if the executive still follows the courts. The legislative branch has shown no signs of being a check. They’ve been verbally threatening not to follow court orders for a few days. Threatening judges. Project 2025 says ignore the court rulings and proceed with your policies.

Are we crazy for taking them at their word? Where do other people find the confidence to believe they wouldn’t actually do it?

Really something that reducing the size of the federal workforce and ending ridiculous spending by USAID = the end of democracy.

If this is so obvious, why won’t he just propose these cuts to congress so they can pass a law cutting them? Why does he insist on doing it illegally?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who has lived through the collapse of a democracy or studied that topic is very worried. Are they crazy or just better informed than you about the signs that institutions are failing and power is being dangerously ceded to one man with authoritarian tendencies?

A lot depends on if the executive still follows the courts. The legislative branch has shown no signs of being a check. They’ve been verbally threatening not to follow court orders for a few days. Threatening judges. Project 2025 says ignore the court rulings and proceed with your policies.

Are we crazy for taking them at their word? Where do other people find the confidence to believe they wouldn’t actually do it?

Really something that reducing the size of the federal workforce and ending ridiculous spending by USAID = the end of democracy.

This hyperbole is really unhinged. Obama issued EOs that exceeded his authority and were blocked by courts. Biden did the same (ex. student loan forgiveness). This is not at all an uncommon practice and does not equal a Constitutional crisis. The courts will either uphold the EOs or block them. Our democracy won’t fall apart and the left loses credibility by claiming this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who has lived through the collapse of a democracy or studied that topic is very worried. Are they crazy or just better informed than you about the signs that institutions are failing and power is being dangerously ceded to one man with authoritarian tendencies?

A lot depends on if the executive still follows the courts. The legislative branch has shown no signs of being a check. They’ve been verbally threatening not to follow court orders for a few days. Threatening judges. Project 2025 says ignore the court rulings and proceed with your policies.

Are we crazy for taking them at their word? Where do other people find the confidence to believe they wouldn’t actually do it?

Really something that reducing the size of the federal workforce and ending ridiculous spending by USAID = the end of democracy.

If this is so obvious, why won’t he just propose these cuts to congress so they can pass a law cutting them? Why does he insist on doing it illegally?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who has lived through the collapse of a democracy or studied that topic is very worried. Are they crazy or just better informed than you about the signs that institutions are failing and power is being dangerously ceded to one man with authoritarian tendencies?

A lot depends on if the executive still follows the courts. The legislative branch has shown no signs of being a check. They’ve been verbally threatening not to follow court orders for a few days. Threatening judges. Project 2025 says ignore the court rulings and proceed with your policies.

Are we crazy for taking them at their word? Where do other people find the confidence to believe they wouldn’t actually do it?

Really something that reducing the size of the federal workforce and ending ridiculous spending by USAID = the end of democracy.

If this is so obvious, why won’t he just propose these cuts to congress so they can pass a law cutting them? Why does he insist on doing it illegally?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who has lived through the collapse of a democracy or studied that topic is very worried. Are they crazy or just better informed than you about the signs that institutions are failing and power is being dangerously ceded to one man with authoritarian tendencies?

A lot depends on if the executive still follows the courts. The legislative branch has shown no signs of being a check. They’ve been verbally threatening not to follow court orders for a few days. Threatening judges. Project 2025 says ignore the court rulings and proceed with your policies.

Are we crazy for taking them at their word? Where do other people find the confidence to believe they wouldn’t actually do it?

Really something that reducing the size of the federal workforce and ending ridiculous spending by USAID = the end of democracy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who has lived through the collapse of a democracy or studied that topic is very worried. Are they crazy or just better informed than you about the signs that institutions are failing and power is being dangerously ceded to one man with authoritarian tendencies?

A lot depends on if the executive still follows the courts. The legislative branch has shown no signs of being a check. They’ve been verbally threatening not to follow court orders for a few days. Threatening judges. Project 2025 says ignore the court rulings and proceed with your policies.

Are we crazy for taking them at their word? Where do other people find the confidence to believe they wouldn’t actually do it?

Really something that reducing the size of the federal workforce and ending ridiculous spending by USAID = the end of democracy.

Anonymous wrote:83 days 7 hours 36 minutes 10 seconds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only real check on Trump will be when his policies become unpopular. And that will take time, but I’m pretty sure we will get there. Senators Britt and Cassidy have been making noise about NIH cuts that affect research grants in their states. I live near Boston which is a biotech hub so concern here too.

I would save money now and take it one day at a time. Panic helps nothing but it’s good to be realistic.

They already are. That’s why he had to campaign pretending like he’d never heard of Project 2025. Then went full steam ahead when elected, as predicted with anyone with a functioning brain cell. (Much like last time he had to pretend like he’d never heard of the Proud Boys.)

By the way he himself doesn’t actually have any policies. He has little interest beyond sitting on a throne like a boy-king, it’s the people around him who have policies. Frankly, that’s good given his predilection for running casinos into the ground and filing for bankruptcy what was it? 5 times? The scary part is that this time the strings are being pulled by a wacko who would be happy to let it all burn so he can pick it up for pennies on the dollar.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think the President, even this one, has that much to do with what the economy does.

1M+ Federal employees and all the contractors laid off will have an effect. This was an economy that was doing ok by most macroeconomic measures. Some tightening (cutting some weird provisions in the IRA) and trimming here and there, and he could have declared victory. This is going to be painful -- DC will be a company town that lost its main factory.

If that happens, then so be it. The US has a population of 340 million people. If 1 million people are laid off but life becomes drastically better for the other 339 million, that is a net benefit to society.

Horse-and-buggy operators did not do fare well following the invention of the automobile—that does not mean that it was a mistake to cease relying on them for transportation. The only difference is that Trump’s purge is likely to benefit us even more since the primary services that Feds currently provide us are grift and fraud to ensure they can continue to live in homes in North Arlington.

I appreciate a good analogy. But your horse and buggy one doesn’t fly. The horse and buggy operators weren’t all terminated or obsolete all at the same time. There was time for them to realize that they may need to look for a new job or a new way to make a living for their families. Flat out firing then of thousands of people all at once will not help the economy. The repercussions will take decades to repair.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who has lived through the collapse of a democracy or studied that topic is very worried. Are they crazy or just better informed than you about the signs that institutions are failing and power is being dangerously ceded to one man with authoritarian tendencies?

A lot depends on if the executive still follows the courts. The legislative branch has shown no signs of being a check. They’ve been verbally threatening not to follow court orders for a few days. Threatening judges. Project 2025 says ignore the court rulings and proceed with your policies.

Are we crazy for taking them at their word? Where do other people find the confidence to believe they wouldn’t actually do it?

Anonymous wrote:The only real check on Trump will be when his policies become unpopular. And that will take time, but I’m pretty sure we will get there. Senators Britt and Cassidy have been making noise about NIH cuts that affect research grants in their states. I live near Boston which is a biotech hub so concern here too.

I would save money now and take it one day at a time. Panic helps nothing but it’s good to be realistic.