Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy❤
No. of Recommendations: 18
BHM:
No, I am not a spokesman for Trump or Doge but common sense tells me the focus must be on contractors, suppliers, grant recipients, rental space, vehicle lessors, that sort of thing.
Common sense?
Was it common sense to issue an order to freeze ALL federal funding, creating havoc, and then unceremoniously backtracking after the damage became apparent? It did create some interesting reading here while someone tried to defend the fact that “all” didn’t really mean “all” in Bill Clinton-esque style.
Was it common sense to stop native Americans and accuse them of being illegal immigrants?
Was it common sense to not fill the role of FAA Director until after a fatal air crash?
Was it common sense to remove the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), David Pekoske, and eliminate all the members of a key aviation security advisory group before the fatal crash?
Was it common sense to place the blame for a fatal crash on DEI, Obama, and dwarfism without so much of an iota of a fact AND while some of the victims bodies were still under water and the investigation was just getting under way?
Was it common sense to want access to a highly sensitive payable system responsible for payments of over $6 trillion annually?
Was it common sense to fire top FBI officials and many other subordinates without any thought to the fact that they are responsible for keeping criminals off the street and keeping us safe from terrorist attacks?
Was it common sense to issue full pardons for violent criminals who attacked law enforcement officers?
Was it common sense to give presidential power to an unelected immigrant?
Was it common sense to nominate people like Gaetz, Hegseth, RFK Jr, Gabbard, and Patel to roles they are not even close to being qualified for?
These are just off the top of my head and not even 2 weeks yet!
Please don’t insult us and embarrass yourself with talk about common sense and Trump in the same sentence.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Was it common sense to issue an order to freeze ALL federal funding, creating havoc, and then unceremoniously backtracking after the damage became apparent? It did create some interesting reading here while someone tried to defend the fact that “all” didn’t really mean “all” in Bill Clinton-esque style.
Was it common sense to stop native Americans and accuse them of being illegal immigrants?
Was it common sense to not fill the role of FAA Director until after a fatal air crash?
Was it common sense to remove the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), David Pekoske, and eliminate all the members of a key aviation security advisory group before the fatal crash?
Was it common sense to place the blame for a fatal crash on DEI, Obama, and dwarfism without so much of an iota of a fact AND while some of the victims bodies were still under water and the investigation was just getting under way?
Was it common sense to want access to a highly sensitive payable system responsible for payments of over $6 trillion annually?
Was it common sense to fire top FBI officials and many other subordinates without any thought to the fact that they are responsible for keeping criminals off the street and keeping us safe from terrorist attacks?
Was it common sense to issue full pardons for violent criminals who attacked law enforcement officers?
Was it common sense to give presidential power to an unelected immigrant?
Was it common sense to nominate people like Gaetz, Hegseth, RFK Jr, Gabbard, and Patel to roles they are not even close to being qualified for?
These are just off the top of my head and not even 2 weeks yet!
Please don’t insult us and embarrass yourself with talk about common sense and Trump in the same sentence. - AW
------------------
Two points
First of all, I was referring to my own common sense leading me draw a conclusion and I listed the types of things the payment data could be used for. Here is what I said,
No, I am not a spokesman for Trump or Doge but common sense tells me the focus must be on contractors, suppliers, grant recipients, rental space, vehicle lessors, that sort of thing.
What does that word "me" mean to you? I was by no means conferring common sense on the entirety of Trumps policies or his statements.
Second point, of the ten things you listed, only one has anything to do with the payment system and I have already agree with Lambo that if you assume Trump wants to enter data directly into the payment system so as to cancel authorized payments, that would be chaotic and should be opposed. However, if the Office of the President just studies the data to identify cost improvement opportunities and to question various Executive Branch agencies about their performance and decision making, then that is a legitimate, refreshing and productive use of the data.
No. of Recommendations: 8
BHM:
No, I am not a spokesman for Trump or Doge but common sense tells me...
Why is it that when people start talking about 'common sense', some form of BS is shortly to follow.
Prime example:
Asked by a reporter how he could blame diversity programmes for the crash when the investigation had only just begun, the president responded: "Because I have common sense."
No, Trump, you are a narcissistic fool suffering from the Dunning-Kruger effect.
No. of Recommendations: 9
What does that word "me" mean to you? I was by no means conferring common sense on the entirety of Trumps policies or his statements.
Mike, my point was that everything Trump has done since January 20th defies common sense.*
I thought that you were inferring that your good common sense applied to someone who has yet to show any common sense? My apologies.
*Add ‘sending early retirement notices to air traffic controllers the day after the worst fatal crash in decades’ to the list of no common sense.
No. of Recommendations: 2
>>Asked by a reporter how he could blame diversity programmes for the crash when the investigation had only just begun, the president responded: "Because I have common sense."<<
No, Trump, you are a narcissistic fool suffering from the Dunning-Kruger effect. - ges-------------------
No, what the reporter and you are missing is this,
Trump is NOT asserting that an unqualified DEI hire was piloting either aircraft.
Trump is not asserting that an unqualified DEI hire was in the tower directing the aircraft.
What Trump was saying that there is the severe ATC staffing shortage throughout the country including the Reagan National Airport tower that night.
He did not state his reason to the reporter, but common sense leads him to conclude that the ATC shortage is due in part to DEI influenced hiring practices at the FAA going back to the Obama years.
https://simpleflying.com/faa-air-traffic-controlle...The FAA Is Being Sued For Throwing Out Air Traffic Controller Applications Based On Applicants' RaceA class-action lawsuit by the Mountain States Legal Foundation has found a substantial amount of documents showing discriminatory hiring practices by the Obama-era Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) initiative, which rejected qualified air traffic controllers based solely on race.
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The lawsuit alleges that the FAA turned away more than 1,000 qualified air traffic controller applicants. These applicants passed the normal tests before the Obama-era FAA threw out the test results and the applicants with it.
The applicants were part of the Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI), which started in 1997. The FAA worked with colleges and universities to offer air traffic control degrees, and as a result, these graduates became the main source for hiring controllers. The program's candidates were highly qualified. They have already graduated from a 200-hour training program and achieved high scores on the AT-SAT.
Before the Obama-era FAA, a high rate of graduating students were hired as controllers. However, changes in the hiring process saw these CTI graduates being passed over for jobs over high school graduates.
... more at link
No. of Recommendations: 1
>What does that word "me" mean to you? I was by no means conferring common sense on the entirety of Trumps policies or his statements.<<
Mike, my point was that everything Trump has done since January 20th defies common sense.*
I thought that you were inferring that your good common sense applied to someone who has yet to show any common sense? My apologies. - AW
Fair enough, apology accepted and kudos for clearing up a misunderstanding.
*Add ‘sending early retirement notices to air traffic controllers the day after the worst fatal crash in decades’ to the list of no common sense.
Agree. This is yet another instance of Trump making an unforced error, each one of which distracts from accomplishing the things that got him elected.
No. of Recommendations: 8
Agree. This is yet another instance of Trump making an unforced error, each one of which distracts from accomplishing the things that got him elected.
That’s the charitable reading.
But with unforced error after unforced error….. the “errors” begin to look purposeful- evidence of an agenda that has nothing to do with the promises and issues that got him elected.
Teenage boy to girlfriend: “I promise I’ll pull out!”
No. of Recommendations: 4
A thread on common sense. Okay.
You know who display common sense, way back in
2014 when the FAA started introducing DEI to hire controllers?None other than Patty Murray, senator from Washington. I've met Patty. This is probably the most intelligent thing she's ever said in Congress:
https://x.com/BonillaJL/status/1885222838912561585...The media immediately went to the “without evidence” card after
@realDonaldTrump
referenced hiring changes at the FAA. Well, here’s Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) in a 2014 hearing, relaying those same concerns to DoT Secretary Foxx, well before DEI was part of the lexicon."I really want to talk about the CTI schools and the fact that just a few months ago the FAA made some very dramatic changes to the way they’re hiring our air traffic controllers. And among those changes, the FAA now no longer relies on a pool of graduates from its Collegiate Training Initiatives, our CTI schools.
The FAA has added a new test to screen candidates they call the 'biographical questionnaire.' What I’m hearing from our CTI schools in my state, Washington state, that they’re very worried about their graduates, and I’m hearing from the graduates as well.
One CTI graduate from Washington State graduated with high honors, passed an FAA test for initial qualification, has almost five years of service in the Air Force, and a commercial pilot certificate with an instrumental rating. That young man took this biographical questionnaire and failed it for reasons that are very unclear, and he’s not the only one in this situation. So I want you to explain to us how the FAA has improved this process if this kind of applicant that I just described and many others are failing this initial screening."The FAA abandoned the "Biographical questionnaire" (which allowed them to reject candidates they didn't think were diverse enough) in 2018 when Congress made them get rid of it. They still haven't been able to "widen the aperture" - read: Hire more people who look like what we think ATC's should look like - as evidenced by them falling short on their quotas for years.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Let's review the past record for "common sense":
The Earth is flat. - False.
The Sun revolves around the Earth. - False.
Man will never be able to get to the moon. - False.
The Earth is 6000 years old. - False.
Maggots spontaneously arise from rotting meat.
Blood letting can cure all diseases. - False.
Homeopathy clearly works. - False.
Vaccines can cause autism. - False.
A carnivore diet is good for your health. - False
COVID will just disappear. It's like a miracle. - False.
Trump did nothing wrong. - False.
I rest my case.
You can get your fill of common sense from your local barbershop, but I don't want my barber to be my president or my doctor or my surgeon.
No. of Recommendations: 5
BHM:
No, I am not a spokesman for Trump or Doge but common sense tells me the focus must be on contractors, suppliers, grant recipients, rental space, vehicle lessors, that sort of thing.
I tend to skip a lot, so I didn't see this quote from him. But I'm assuming it is accurate. So I respond to BHM:
Math beats "common sense". As many (including me) have explained, those are just rounding errors. It sounds like he's talking money/budget. If he's talking about grants and contractors, he's -at best- nibbling at the edges. You really have three choices, BHM:
1) continue spending and tax cutting as usual
2) drastically cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security (all the other stuff almost doesn't matter...for example, you can eliminate our entire military and still not balance the budget)
3) raise taxes
So, #1 doesn't address any problems. I think you and I agree that is not the best approach. Then, #2, I think you'll agree again that this is a horrible option that will increase the financial insecurity of most Americans. So we're left with #3. Which you don't seem to agree with, but you haven't given another viable option that I missed. Not just you...the entire right-wing, and frankly, some of the left wing. Taxes are a third rail, but when you think about it, the third rail is what provides the power for the train to move.
No. of Recommendations: 1
3) raise taxes
Could have been addressed in a Harris administration. Not with Trump.
But, it's OK, we'll all be rich with DOGE coin, or some scammy crtypto.
No. of Recommendations: 2
No, Trump, you are a narcissistic fool suffering from the Dunning-Kruger effect.
Strange world we live in where Canada is an enemy, eh?
