The Trump Presidency - Chapter 2

[GrantDawg]

Musk met with the Un Ambassdor of Iran today. That seems totally normal, right?

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[miked]

As a researcher who relies on federal funding to advance science and therapies, RFK leading for more than 6 months would probably ensure that we fall decades behind China and other countries in science.

[JonInMiddleGA]

As mixed as I am on some Trump nominees, I'm very happy to see former Congressman Doug Collins (GA) picked to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

A guy who is probably a little too kind/gentle/goodhearted to be in politics, I can't imagine anyone who will put more of their heart into that job nor put more effort into it.

[JPhillips]

Thune now saying recess appointments are a possibility. They are all going to serve King Trump in whatever ways please him.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Atocep

RFK Jr selected to lead HHS.

lmao

[Lathum]

Make measles great again.

[RainMaker]

I mean I'm sure it'll be a disaster but the current head of HHS has no medical experience either and was allowing kids to be used as slave labor. So the floor was pretty low already.

[Atocep]

Trump selects his personal attorney, Todd Blanche, to be deputy AG.

[Ksyrup]

Just in case Gaetz gets any ideas... or into another minor's pants.

[RainMaker]

Does anyone remember Nestor or was he memory holed into the ether?

[flere-imsaho]

I'm trying to come up with analog left-wing nominees to mirror Trump's in a mirror universe where, I dunno, Susan Sarandon won the Presidency.

Defense: Jane Fonda
State: Ilhan Omar
HHS: Mark Cuban (actually, no, this would be a good appointment), Travis Kelce
AG: AOC
U.N.: Ayanna Pressley
NSA: Jamie Raskin
DHS: J.B. Pritzker
National Intelligence: Adam Kinzinger
Ambassador to Israel: Pramila Jayapal
DOGE: Oprah & The Zuck

[Brian Swartz]

Those are too respectable.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I'm trying to come up with analog left-wing nominees to mirror Trump's in a mirror universe where, I dunno, Susan Sarandon won the Presidency.

Defense: Jane Fonda
State: Ilhan Omar
HHS: Mark Cuban (actually, no, this would be a good appointment), Travis Kelce
AG: AOC
U.N.: Ayanna Pressley
NSA: Jamie Raskin
DHS: J.B. Pritzker
National Intelligence: Adam Kinzinger
Ambassador to Israel: Pramila Jayapal
DOGE: Oprah & The Zuck

Not valid without Soros on there.

[RainMaker]

Sorry but you're going to need to find a pedophile to fill that AG role to balance it. Is Jared Fogle a Democrat? What about Sandusky?

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Not valid without Soros on there.

He would be more appropriate equivalent for Ambassador to Israel.

[RainMaker]

Kind of curious how much rope they give RFK Jr. He's been loudly against factory farming practices and meat production. I can't imagine the people who voted Trump would be all that pleased seeing burgers and steaks double on price but who knows.

[Mota]

I'm anxious to find out what spots that Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon will be given in Trump's party.

[JPhillips]

President-elect Trump on Elon Musk: "He likes this place. I can’t get him out of here!...I'm asking him 'what do you do best?' and we were not able to figure it out."

Trump isn't going to put up with Elon thinking he's really the President.

[Atocep]

It would be amazing if people started referring to Elon as the real president just see Trump explode.

[RainMaker]

I don't know why Elon is doing this but interesting.

New York Times’ @farnazfassihi reports that @elonmusk has met with Iran’s UN ambassador to discuss de-escalating tensions between the US and Iran. There are several reasons why this is a positive and welcomed step.

As I wrote in @amconmag in August, Trump ultimately wanted to… pic.twitter.com/5bInvmcjb0

— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) November 15, 2024

[bronconick]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I'm trying to come up with analog left-wing nominees to mirror Trump's in a mirror universe where, I dunno, Susan Sarandon won the Presidency.

Defense: Jane Fonda
State: Ilhan Omar
HHS: Mark Cuban (actually, no, this would be a good appointment), Travis Kelce
AG: AOC
U.N.: Ayanna Pressley
NSA: Jamie Raskin
DHS: J.B. Pritzker
National Intelligence: Adam Kinzinger
Ambassador to Israel: Pramila Jayapal
DOGE: Oprah & The Zuck

Menendez for Sec State, Blagojevich for AG

[Edward64]

Somewhat disconcerting ... Elonia

[JPhillips]

I have high school friends on Facebook thanking Trump for already bringing down gas prices.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by Mota

I'm anxious to find out what spots that Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon will be given in Trump's party.

They will head the department that handles all sexual harassment claims.

[Ghost Econ]

Originally Posted by Arles

They will head the department that handles all sexual harassment claims.

So Title Nein.

[Lathum]

My cousin who formerly was dean of students at a D1 school pointed out to me yesterday if the Dept. of Ed is abolished so is Title IX enforcement.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Lathum

My cousin who formerly was dean of students at a D1 school pointed out to me yesterday if the Dept. of Ed is abolished so is Title IX enforcement.

It's unlikely he has the votes to abolish it. What he can do is cut funding and cripple it.

We'd very likely see schools cut special needs programs if Title 1 money was cut as part of that. The next program a lot of schools would have to put on the chopping block would be sports if there's any decrease in funding.

[Arles]

I think he wants to do the opposite. Completely remove the department of education and keep a few of the programs where money goes directly to schools (ie, Title 1 and IDEA) and just have them under different existing agencies.

I'm still not sure on how this would work, but I would be really surprised if he cut the 10-15% of total funding public schools directly get from the Feds (states still pay over 80%) as part of this. There is a ton of waste and bureaucracy in the Dept of Education. Having a sane person look at it probably isn't a bad idea. But this could be a mess if he doesn't do it right.

In theory, just providing the existing funding directly to schools would save some money. Still, he would need 60 votes from the Senate to do it and that seems unlikely. My guess is he cuts some of the staff in the department and this becomes another (in a long list) of campaign promises he doesn't keep.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

So Title Nein.

This deserves praise.

[JPhillips]

All the Dept. of Education stuff is right out of Project 2025. You can read all of the plans there.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Arles

I think he wants to do the opposite. Completely remove the department of education and keep a few of the programs where money goes directly to schools (ie, Title 1 and IDEA) and just have them under different existing agencies.

I'm still not sure on how this would work, but I would be really surprised if he cut the 10-15% of total funding public schools directly get from the Feds (states still pay over 80%) as part of this. There is a ton of waste and bureaucracy in the Dept of Education. Having a sane person look at it probably isn't a bad idea. But this could be a mess if he doesn't do it right.

In theory, just providing the existing funding directly to schools would save some money. Still, he would need 60 votes from the Senate to do it and that seems unlikely. My guess is he cuts some of the staff in the department and this becomes another (in a long list) of campaign promises he doesn't keep.

I mean, sure. Do you really think he's going to have a sane person look at it? Do you really think that those backing him aren't completely antagonistic against education as a whole? They don't care if schools have money (unless they are privatized ones that their friends own, which they can funnel money to).

Also, he is just going to laugh at the Senate. They'll just do things whether they are voted on or not. It's not exactly act first, ask permission later -- it's act first, only stop if the courts tell you to. (And even then...not sure what stops them?)

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

All the Dept. of Education stuff is right out of Project 2025. You can read all of the plans there.

Exactly. And if you read through it, the end goal is to have tax money go to vouchers and vouchers go to charter schools / religious schools, etc....

The complete capitalist makeover of education, free choice write large. Except that free choice extends to the schools who, because they aren't public schools (even if they accept vouchers) can pick their students.

Meaning good education for those who have the means to jump through all the testing hurdles for little Jack and Jane as well as the correct demographics, and shit public education for everyone else outside of a few blue conclaves that will still vote to support their own local private schools.

I don't disagree that there's probably a lot of waste in the Department of Education but a) it's likely dwarfed by the waste in the Department of Defense and b) let's not conflate that with what Project 2025 is actually looking to achieve here.

[JPhillips]

Vouchers totally fuck rural education, that's why Eastern KY went so hard against the vote for vouchers there. In places where there isn't profit for private schools it just means less state money for public education.

[flere-imsaho]

Rural people should be in the mines and on the farms, JPhillips.

[JPhillips]

Speaker Johnson looks like he's going to keep the ethics committee from releasing the underage sex report on Gaetz.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Arles

Having a sane person look at it probably isn't a bad idea. But this could be a mess if he doesn't do it right.

Betsy DeVos was one of the few members of Cabinet who stayed for the whole four years. Vouchers, charter schools, and the privatization of K-12 education is a crusade (and money-maker) for her. She and her network are still very closely involved with Trump & Co. Again, you don't have to go too far to understand exactly what they are planning.

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Also, he is just going to laugh at the Senate. They'll just do things whether they are voted on or not. It's not exactly act first, ask permission later -- it's act first, only stop if the courts tell you to. (And even then...not sure what stops them?)

"Mitch McConnell has made his decision, now let him enforce it."

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Speaker Johnson looks like he's going to keep the ethics committee from releasing the underage sex report on Gaetz.

Smart. If I was Johnson I'd want the ringleader of all the anti-Speaker sentiment from the past 4 years out of Congress.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Atocep

It's unlikely he has the votes to abolish it. What he can do is cut funding and cripple it.

We'd very likely see schools cut special needs programs if Title 1 money was cut as part of that. The next program a lot of schools would have to put on the chopping block would be sports if there's any decrease in funding.

I cant speak for other states but i think its highly unlikely special ed gets cut in california. Lawsuits stemming from special ed related issues are huge huge money sinks and cutting back would likely result in increased costs stemming from increased lawsuits. Arts and extra curriculars seem more likely to go if there has to be cuts. Oh and less intensive general ed mental health, parenting outreach, social work, etc all seem more likely to be cut as those are less likely to result in lawsuits. Of course more of that would bd funneled to special ed making it even tougher to attract and keep staff.

[Danny]

So generally preventative supports while money goes to areas of immediate need to prevent lawsuits

[dubb93]

If school IEPs go away the backlash is going to be tremendous.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Smart. If I was Johnson I'd want the ringleader of all the anti-Speaker sentiment from the past 4 years out of Congress.

He's already out (it's the reason the report isn't getting out, he resigned).. he probably doesn't want to annoy His Trumpiness by having one of his nominees shot down in flames

[Atocep]

The 75% reduction in federal employees that Vivek keeps throwing out isn't feasible either. Most reductions in federal workforce would likely get shifted to contractors, who actually cost the government more. But that's more government money to be funneled to Vivek and Elon's buddies. It'd likely end up similar to the Clinton cuts from the 90s that resulted in active duty servicemembers filling in jobs that are cut where they're available as well. That stretches units thin and hurts readiness.

[flere-imsaho]

Government is more efficient when its work is shifted to the private sector. The fact that this practice also tends to enrich politically-connected business leaders in the private sector is purely a coincidence.

[RainMaker]

If you're looking to cut the budget and not cutting the defense budget, you are not serious about cutting the budget.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

If you're looking to cut the budget and not cutting the defense budget, you are not serious about cutting the budget.

Narrator: They are in fact not serious about cutting the budget.

[flere-imsaho]

Well, they're very serious about cutting revenue.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by dubb93

If school IEPs go away the backlash is going to be tremendous.

That wont happen as you may as well close all public schools at that point.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Danny

That wont happen as you may as well close all public schools at that point.

That's a GOP fantasy.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Atocep

That's a GOP fantasy.

For the rich and elite sure but making all the voters being stuck at home with their kids again is a sure fire way to not win more elections.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Danny

For the rich and elite sure but making all the voters being stuck at home with their kids again is a sure fire way to not win more elections.

No more elections is the second GOP fantasy. You are catching on.