The Second Trump Presidency

You're leaving out the most important part, that I never wrote that. What you should have said was this: In other words, it was from an article in the Washington Post that I quoted from, Musk’s blitzkrieg is unnerving many of Trump’s senior advisers.And nobody, not me or the Washington Post, was "talking about" the American Action Forum. The Post only mentioned the organization in passing because they quoted its president.Why you thought your comments relevant is anyone's guess. We shouldn't have to click on your link to figure it out. You're supposed to make your point in your own words and only use links as supporting references. How long have you been here and still not figured it out?--Percy

Should you file your taxes this year? If you're due a refund then of course you should, but if you owe the government money then maybe you should just skip it, or at least that's what many people are wondering according to the article Trump’s IRS layoffs have some Americans asking: ‘Why bother’ filing taxes this year? from MarketWatch. Some excerpts:

MarketWatch:

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President Donald Trump has a skeptical stance on the Internal Revenue Service — and some people seem to be taking that as a green light to blow off their tax obligations.
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So why bother with taxes this year? Would a scaled-back IRS even miss a couple fewer income-tax returns? Does the agency deserve taxpayers’ money when inefficiency is under the microscope? And will the IRS even be around much longer? 
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Danny Werfel, the IRS chief at the time, said staffers had certain records indicating these nonfilers were making taxable money. It was just a matter of having the staffing required to pursue those leads.
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“How corrosive is this thing that’s happening right now?” he [Bob Kerr, principal at Kerr Consulting] said. The idea that people can skip filing taxes and get away with it “turns the rest of us into chumps,” he said. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t like feeling like a chump.”

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I can't find the numbers right now and have nothing specific, but I recall reading a few years ago that each IRS employee brings in millions and millions of dollars, all for a salary likely a little south of six figures. IRS employees are a bargain, unless you're rich, and then they could cost you, and it's that last little piece of information that's important and explains why Trump and Musk, the richest man in the world, are so fixated on torpedoing the IRS.--Percy

Trump Uses Lies to Lay the Groundwork for Radical Change - The New York TimesIn short: trump is a lying liar who lies.

Might I add "Pants on fire"! I heard about that whole missing Gold conspiracy thing! I can't see how its possible, but time will tell. One thing I agree with the New York Times on is that Mr.Trump is a master at "faux news" and he would argue that the other side did it all the time! . What say the peanut gallery? I think that the efforts to cut big government may hasten the crash (upwards) of the US Dollar. I don't have any solid facts to back my assertion. It is just a hunch.

In the Tribute Thread For The Recently Passed Greats, Tangle mentioned the death of Democracy. Lets elaborate on that a bit! I sense a rant coming on!Tangles Reference: Democracy (R.I.P)

Your country voted with Russia, Belarus and North Korea against Ukraine in the UN General Assembly today. Happy with that?

For a good read on how closely what's happening now resembles Germnay in the early 1930s read How Close Are We to the Third Reich? at Esquire or under the title Never Again...Again at Apple News. I didn't realize until a few sentences in that 45/47 refers to Trump.--Percy

In response to Dwise1 over at Message 1357 ----->You and I see the world differently, and as you know I have been accused of having a deluded mind and a weak grasp of facts. Despite that, I respect and have always respected your detailed and measured responses/replies to myself and many Biblical Creationists of which I identify only in passing. I have neither the time nor desire to fabricate stories gleaned from the creationist propaganda machine which you point out is hypocritical and neither honest nor informed. I believe in a Higher Power which is living and active in our universe at large. I also observe and acknowledge the lies and fabrications of mortal humankind.It is not my intention to lie...either knowingly or unknowingly.My response to the hypothetical death or murder of Democracy is that I see the situation a different way. Granted, Trump may be the antichrist! (In which case it took an atheist to point that out to the MAGAts) I think that the enormous debt that the United States has is being addressed as if we already are./were bankrupt. For example, Social Security alone had an estimated 70 trillion dollars in unfunded obligations. Source

The debt is being increased, not reduced.The cost of tax breaks for those making over ~$300k (and increases for everyone else, with the highest increases for the lowest incomes!) majorly overwhelms the reductions from cuts in the current Republican House budget.The debt will increase by trillions, not exaggerating. This is a trivially solvable problem - the insolvency hasnt happened yet and will not for quite a few years yet. By simply removing the cap on SSI taxes (currently something like incomes over ~$160k if I recall correctly; you only pay SSI until your taxable income reaches the cap, and then you dont pay any more for the rest of the year, meaning the wealthiest benefit) that future insolvency can be pushed back decades and possibly indefinitely.Just remove the cap, make everyone pay their fair share, and the problem is solved (though we should also institute wealth taxes to allow SocSec benefits to be increased and allow earlier retirement - our children should get better retirements than we do, and sliding backward is a result of greed and mismanagement).Note that the fucking Cato Institute is a rightwing fascist think-tank and not to be trusted. I wouldnt trust them as a source for anything. If they told me the time of day I'd still look for a clock.Here's the actual Social Security Administration data on solvency:
Research: The Future Financial Status of the Social Security Program

OPM instructs agencies to turn over plans for mass government layoffs, says a headline at The Hill. The article says that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have directed governmental agencies to submit plans for reductions in force by March 13.The article directs agencies to focus on areas not legally mandated and to make high quality and efficient delivery of legally required functions a priority. The memo suggested that targeted functions might be those that aren't staffed during government shutdowns.The chaotic and willy nilly layoffs of what the government calls probationary employees, which only means they were hired within the last two years, was an excellent example of how not to downsize. Probationary employees were targeted simply because they have fewer protections, not because their jobs weren't essential. That many had to be rehired makes this inarguable, such as the rehiring of nuclear workers. The firing of IRS employees was equally nonsensical. A recently hired employee could be inexperienced and superfluous, perhaps someone they hoped to develop, or could be highly experienced and essential, hired to replace another highly experienced and essential employee who had resigned or retired. Musk's approach was random and dangerous.Whether you agree with downsizing government or not, at least this new approach involves method and process and was what should have been done from the beginning.--Percy

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The chaotic and willy nilly layoffs of what the government calls probationary employees, which only means they were hired within the last two years, was an excellent example of how not to downsize. Probationary employees were targeted simply because they have fewer protections, not because their jobs weren't essential

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It’s worse than that. Probationary status is not just for employees who were recently hired - it also includes employees recently promoted into new positions.

Believing a group of billionaires are working tirelessly for the working class requires a spectacular level of stupidity. Believing the corporate media are working tirelessly for the non-rich requires a spectacular level of stupidity. Believing the supreme court are working tirelessly for liberty and justice requires a spectacular level of stupidity . . .

All reports from Ars Technica Great Lakes fishery under threat. A cheap and effective program to control giant lampreys in the Great Lakes has been hit by staffing cuts. If the giant lampreys are not controlled they will do major damage to the fisheries. Again DOGE just fired probationary employees under the pretence of inadequate performance without bothering to find out if the positions were necessary. Disruptions to US Antarctic Program DOGE has fired the program mangers responsible for running things down there - which has completely messed up administration. Possibly it was targeted as an attempt to suppress the climate research at one of the bases. The prospect of firing workers who have to stay on base until October is in the air.
Other countries are snapping up the scientists who work there in the beginning of a “brain drain” that could well expand to other areas as DOGE takes a chainsaw to science funding.Meanwhile RFK jr is making light of - and spreading misinformation about the worsening measles outbreak in Texas. The number of cases already surpasses the annual totals for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 - and we’ve only just reached March. The only good news is that some vaccine hesitant parents are beginning to realise that vaccination is a good idea after all.

Last night I saw the headlines about the Oval Office meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, then this morning I read some of the articles. The first two were from major outlets, one was WSJ, and they took for granted that Zelenskyy had behaved abysmally and rudely in the Oval Office and disrespected Trump and the American people, but I couldn't find any details, but I had the nagging feeling that it was a setup.Then read a few more articles and discovered the details that revealed that that is what had happened. Trump and Zelenskyy met behind the scenes, then they called reporters into the Oval Office for what is traditionally just an opportunity to take photos, watch a little polite dialog, and ask a couple questions. Instead Trump and Vance berated Zelenskyy for not making more concessions, and when he emphasized the importance of having western help Trump and Vance piled on, blaming Zelenskyy for not being thankful for the help provided so far when the opposite is true.It was a grotesque display, and it was all recorded. There can be no doubt of what happened. Trump is leading America into a partnership with dictators around the world, Putin first among them. At Least Now We Know the Truth about Trump and Vance--Percy

this is what i mean: