Showing posts with label donald trump. Show all posts
Showing posts with label donald trump. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 07, 2025

7: Donald Trump

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Saturday, December 28, 2024

28: Donald Trump

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Thursday, December 19, 2024

A 2T Cut



Reducing the U.S. federal budget by $2 trillion is a significant task that would require carefully considered policy decisions and trade-offs. Here’s an outline of possible strategies across various sectors:

1. Discretionary Spending Cuts

  • Defense Spending: The U.S. defense budget is substantial, making it a prime area for targeted reductions. Potential savings could come from:
    • Reducing overseas military operations.
    • Closing underutilized military bases.
    • Cutting investments in redundant or outdated weapon systems.
    • Streamlining procurement processes.
  • Other Discretionary Programs: Identify and trim underperforming or duplicative federal programs in areas such as education, housing, and public works.

2. Mandatory Spending Adjustments

  • Healthcare Programs:
    • Reform Medicare and Medicaid to reduce costs, such as negotiating drug prices or promoting value-based care models.
    • Introduce means-testing for higher-income recipients of Medicare benefits.
  • Social Security:
    • Adjust the formula for benefits to account for longer life expectancy (e.g., gradually raising the retirement age).
    • Implement progressive benefit reductions for higher-income retirees.

3. Reforming Tax Expenditures

  • Tax expenditures are effectively government spending through the tax code (e.g., deductions, credits, and exemptions). Reforms could include:
    • Capping the mortgage interest deduction.
    • Limiting or phasing out tax breaks for specific industries (e.g., oil and gas subsidies).
    • Scaling back retirement savings incentives for high-income individuals.

4. Revenue Increases

  • Corporate Tax Reforms: Close loopholes and enforce a minimum effective tax rate for corporations.
  • Individual Tax Adjustments:
    • Raise income taxes on the wealthiest earners.
    • Implement a financial transaction tax on trades of stocks, bonds, and derivatives.
  • Carbon Tax or Pollution Taxes: Generate revenue while promoting environmental goals.

5. Improving Efficiency and Reducing Waste

  • Increase investment in anti-fraud initiatives for government programs.
  • Improve oversight and reduce improper payments in Medicare, Medicaid, and other entitlement programs.
  • Optimize government operations by leveraging technology to reduce overhead costs.

6. Growth-Oriented Policies

  • Encourage economic growth through infrastructure investments and education reform to increase productivity and tax revenues over time.
  • Pair budget cuts with initiatives to improve workforce participation and reduce dependency on government programs.

Considerations and Risks:

  • Economic Impact: Sudden, deep cuts could harm economic growth, especially in sectors reliant on federal spending.
  • Public Resistance: Many cuts may face opposition from voters and interest groups.
  • Fairness: Ensuring the burden of cuts and reforms is distributed equitably across income levels and regions is crucial.



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Monday, December 09, 2024

9: Donald Trump

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Sunday, December 08, 2024

8: Donald Trump

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Monday, December 02, 2024

2: Donald Trump

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Sunday, November 24, 2024

24: DOGE

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Thursday, November 21, 2024

21: Donald Trump

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21: DOGE



Musk, Ramaswamy lay out plans for ‘mass’ federal layoffs, rule rollbacks under Trump Tech entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy said Wednesday that their brand-new government efficiency panel will identify “thousands” of regulations for President-elect Trump to eliminate, which they argue will justify “mass head-count reductions” across government. ...... “The two of us will advise DOGE at every step to pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings,” they wrote. “We will focus particularly on driving change through executive action based on existing legislation rather than by passing new laws.” .......... Slashing regulations should allow for “at least” proportional cuts to the government workforce .......... “A drastic reduction in federal regulations provides sound industrial logic for mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy” .......... “Not only are fewer employees required to enforce fewer regulations, but the agency would produce fewer regulations once its scope of authority is properly limited” ............ Musk and Ramaswamy pointed to several recent Supreme Court decisions that have taken aim at the power of the administrative state, arguing that a “plethora of current federal regulations” exceed agency authority and could be on the chopping block. ............

“A drastic reduction in federal regulations provides sound industrial logic for mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy”

........... “Not only are fewer employees required to enforce fewer regulations, but the agency would produce fewer regulations once its scope of authority is properly limited” ........... Musk and Ramaswamy preemptively addressed arguments about civil service protections that could potentially block Trump from firing federal workers. ......... “The purpose of these protections is to protect employees from political retaliation,” they wrote. “But the statute allows for ‘reductions in force’ that don’t target specific employees. The statute further empowers the president to ‘prescribe rules governing the competitive service.’ That power is broad.” ........ “With this authority, Mr. Trump can implement any number of ‘rules governing the competitive service’ that would curtail administrative overgrowth, from large-scale firings to relocation of federal agencies out of the Washington area” ........... Government workers are already mobilizing in the face of potential mass cuts, reportedly hiring lawyers and preparing public campaigns while also hoping Congress will step in ........... Musk has spent much of his time at the Palm Beach, Fla., resort over the past two weeks, reportedly weighing in on Trump’s Cabinet picks and attending meetings, including those with world leaders. ........ He also hosted Trump in Texas to observe the launch of a SpaceX rocket Tuesday afternoon.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy: The DOGE Plan to Reform Government Following the Supreme Court’s guidance, we’ll reverse a decadeslong executive power grab. ....... Most legal edicts aren’t laws enacted by Congress but “rules and regulations” promulgated by unelected bureaucrats—tens of thousands of them each year. Most government enforcement decisions and discretionary expenditures aren’t made by the democratically elected president or even his political appointees but by millions of unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections. ........... On Nov. 5, voters decisively elected Donald Trump with a mandate for sweeping change, and they deserve to get it. .......... The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic .......... We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees. Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs. .......... We are assisting the Trump transition team to identify and hire a lean team of small-government crusaders, including some of the sharpest technical and legal minds in America. This team will work in the new administration closely with the White House Office of Management and Budget. The two of us will advise DOGE at every step to pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings. We will focus particularly on driving change through executive action based on existing legislation rather than by passing new laws. Our North Star for reform will be the U.S. Constitution, with a focus on two critical Supreme Court rulings issued during President Biden’s tenure.

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Tuesday, November 19, 2024

19: Donald Trump

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Sunday, November 17, 2024

17: Donald Trump

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Saturday, November 16, 2024

16: Donald Trump

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Thursday, November 14, 2024

14: Donald Trump

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Wednesday, November 13, 2024

‘$2 trillion’ Worth Of Waste

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