Why the Constitution is now null and void

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/05/politics/supreme-court-usaid-foreign-aid/index.html

Supreme Court rejects Trump’s request to keep billions in foreign aid frozen​

(CNN) — A divided Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s request to keep billions of dollars in foreign aid approved by Congress frozen.

However, the court did not immediately say when the money must be released, allowing the White House to continue to dispute the issue in lower courts.

The ruling was 5-4.

The news may seem good, but it doesn't specify that Trump should have immediately undone the financial things he did, paying the money. Saying it takes time is no excuse when you are violating the law. When you know the ruling might be against you, you should already be prepared. The fact that they did not force a timeline with immediacy is way too tepid and biased since it took some conservatives to flip on the ruling.

Still, all hope is not dead. Yet.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

You might think Musk is the bad person right now but he might well be the savior of our government not completely failing in the near future.

Musk?
You mean the guy who is trying to sue his ex-customers because they don't want his product enough to buy it anymore?
Tom

And I have a hard time seeing a guy who does the Nazi salute as any kind of savior.

Depends on the intent. If I felt safe in doing so I would give a Nazi salute to the local swasticar.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Derec is the one Infidel with a 100+ IQ who consistently allies himself with MAGA, misogyny, xenophobia, etc.

Many MAGAts have the same curious quality of harboring an IQ that looks above average verbally, but are unable to grasp spatial relationships and factorial interplay.

?? Spatial relationships?

I will say that there's a big problem with trying to apply simple answers to complex situations but what makes you think there's any issue with spatial relationships?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Whether you like Musk or not, you have to at least admit Musk is right about the size of our over grown federal government. Government never gets smaller. When in your lifetime (other than right now) has the federal government ever gotten smaller? When have any departments ever gotten smaller?

The size of government has been approximately flat as a percent of the economy. Thus you are asking us to grant an assumption that we patently disagree with.

When have you ever received any more freedom from the federal government? Over time all we get is more and more government, more federal people and programs to take away our freedom.

I see more freedom to not live in a cesspool of pollution.

But now I expect to see a major loss of freedom.

Everyone is so paranoid about the civil war slavery but have you ever considered that you now are a total and complete slave of federal taxes and property taxes. Try not paying your federal or property taxes and see what happens. And unlike the slave of the old south you can not just run away to the north from today's slavery or from our federal government. According to Musk, government never ever gets smaller unless its entire frame changes after a huge war. I agree with that. But does anyone really want a war with high tech nuclear and bio devices just so the government can reduce to a normal size again?

The problem is you are taking their false claims as gospel truth and thus of course you agree with the conclusions they draw from them. Examine your assumptions! The rat isn't about reducing government to "normal" size, but about gutting it entirely. Oligarchs can do what they want. Grandma gets the ice floe.

Did Musk cause our government to get too big in the first place? Did Musk cause spending and taxation to get out of control? No. It was the 500+ representatives (all 3 branches) we have in Washington that have complete control over our government who have caused this and are not fixing this....and will not fix this without someone like Musk.

Our government is far too big and Musk is fixing it. This is just common sense that the Democrats (and some Rino's) do not currently have. Everything he is doing is advisory and legal.

You have a broken finger?
<Takes sledgehammer, smashes your hand>
Now you don't find the broken finger, clearly you're fixed.

And everything is legal? They specifically don't care about that.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

And it is far far too early for a MAGA traveler to admit any of this is wrong doing since non of us can know the degree of success or failure yet. Sometimes the radiation saves the cancer patients life.

We can see it's an utter failure.

What would you say when 95% of a doctor's patients die on the table? (That's about the % of the supposed DOGE savings that have turned out to be utterly wrong. And that doesn't mean the remainder were a good idea.)

 

[Elixir]

What would you say when 95% of a doctor's patients die on the table? (That's about the % of the supposed DOGE savings that have turned out to be utterly wrong. And that doesn't mean the remainder were a good idea.)

I’d love to see the look on Vonse’s face when HE was deemed fraud and waste, based on performance that was never reviewed.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I want to live in a Republic which unlike a democracy our founders thought we might actually survive.

A pure democracy never works out because the people soon learn to vote whatever they want until the treasury is bankrupt. Most people, when they find themselves in the downward swing of the generational cycle, become complacent and apathetic. Otherwise intelligent, educated people vainly hope for a Freedom Fairy who will appear on the scene and reverse the process (but will continue voting for politicians giving out the free stuff).

Government as a percent of the economy has been basically flat.

 

[Elixir]

Government as a percent of the economy has been basically flat.

Like a MAGAt’s EEG.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

So on known history so far, it is probably a fair bet private industry always uses capital more efficiently than central governments do. That means America should take all measures it can reduce capital from government so that that same capital can be used in private industry to further everyone's lifestyle. Furthermore, all measures should include making the existing government more efficient so that more of its capital can actually find its way to its own citizens. Everyone should be in agreement to this because it will benefit everyone overall.

Private industry is far superior at using capital for things which can effectively be monetized. It's extremely shitty at other stuff.

For all I have heard so far, USAID is about the most inefficient government program there could possibly be. It might be compassionate but it is not at all efficient. Taking tax money to give it away to other countries. That is not efficient.

The problem here is that you don't even understand the product. USAID is about soft power. Just because you can't hang a $ tag on that doesn't make it worthless.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

This is what happens when "Common Sense" comes charging down the aisle

There are a number of resources/logistics efficiency games out there, Factorio and Satisfactory among the chief of them.

Anyone who has played one of these games is going to know that improving the efficiency of operations in a large scale logistics system is going not going to look like Musk expected. There generally is no big juicy piece of waste saying 'this one right here' other than military projects which are retained just to keep the logistics of weapons development from dilapidation.

Whenever someone plays games like this, they learn that it quickly becomes more a matter of solving hard problems like improperly balanced volumes in and out of certain logistics nodes, or a failure to upgrade some aspect of production to meet throughput and forcing warehousing or excess productions.

Real improvements to the efficiency of a logistics setup usually paradoxically mean spending MORE resources on the logistics setup.

Honestly, I think that anyone in charge of logistics of ANY kind should be plopped down in front of an inefficient Factorio setup and asked how to improve its resource usage.

We literally have games surrounding all the vast manners of problems we encounter, and yet we don't even start to expect competence at those games prior to execution of the real thing.

Yeah, Factorio most certainly is an education in logistics. Especially now that they added the quality attribute to most everything. Trying to make a factory where everything balances out is insane, and if you don't balance the qualities perfectly stuff will stack up somewhere and pretty soon you find your whole operation log-jammed because you have too much good stuff. My factory is shut down because I have too many uncommon production modules?!?! (Cascade failures jammed just about everything from that one while I was off ensuring I didn't cause the bugs to rise up. Fortunately, laser turrets only need to be fed power and solar panels don't need to be fed anything--they continue to work when nothing is moving.) (For those who haven't played it--your base creates pollution. The bugs don't like pollution and will attack sources of it. You want anything resembling peace, you ensure there are no bugs in a position to be upset by it. Either outright destruction, enough firepower positioned around the nests to insta-kill anything, or the cheesy answer of blocking all possible spawn points with stuff like pipes or walls.)

I would also make anyone who wants to run for high office demonstrate that they can complete the game.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

How about this....for decades I heard "it's not a revenue problem, it's a spending problem. We ow trillions and the interest on that debt is approaching a trillion. SO....how about we give it two years before we have any additional talk about cutting taxes. Let's SEE the debt drop. Use the savings to pay the debt, not to cover the tax cut. Bring it down first and THEN reward the upper class with a tax cut. THen...in THAT tax cut, require that the debt NOT increase. If it goes up, even a little bit that first year after a cut - revoke it until lawmakers can learn to spend within their means.

I agree with you. This is not yet the time for a tax cut.

Then why did you vote for someone who ran on tax cuts for the rich? And why are you supporting the DOGE checks? They're (if they exist, they won't) are a form of tax cut.

 

[Jarhyn]

This is what happens when "Common Sense" comes charging down the aisle

There are a number of resources/logistics efficiency games out there, Factorio and Satisfactory among the chief of them.

Anyone who has played one of these games is going to know that improving the efficiency of operations in a large scale logistics system is going not going to look like Musk expected. There generally is no big juicy piece of waste saying 'this one right here' other than military projects which are retained just to keep the logistics of weapons development from dilapidation.

Whenever someone plays games like this, they learn that it quickly becomes more a matter of solving hard problems like improperly balanced volumes in and out of certain logistics nodes, or a failure to upgrade some aspect of production to meet throughput and forcing warehousing or excess productions.

Real improvements to the efficiency of a logistics setup usually paradoxically mean spending MORE resources on the logistics setup.

Honestly, I think that anyone in charge of logistics of ANY kind should be plopped down in front of an inefficient Factorio setup and asked how to improve its resource usage.

We literally have games surrounding all the vast manners of problems we encounter, and yet we don't even start to expect competence at those games prior to execution of the real thing.

Yeah, Factorio most certainly is an education in logistics. Especially now that they added the quality attribute to most everything. Trying to make a factory where everything balances out is insane, and if you don't balance the qualities perfectly stuff will stack up somewhere and pretty soon you find your whole operation log-jammed because you have too much good stuff. My factory is shut down because I have too many uncommon production modules?!?! (Cascade failures jammed just about everything from that one while I was off ensuring I didn't cause the bugs to rise up. Fortunately, laser turrets only need to be fed power and solar panels don't need to be fed anything--they continue to work when nothing is moving.) (For those who haven't played it--your base creates pollution. The bugs don't like pollution and will attack sources of it. You want anything resembling peace, you ensure there are no bugs in a position to be upset by it. Either outright destruction, enough firepower positioned around the nests to insta-kill anything, or the cheesy answer of blocking all possible spawn points with stuff like pipes or walls.)

I would also make anyone who wants to run for high office demonstrate that they can complete the game.

I do sincerely think that there should be at least two games anyone in charge of administration and logistics must play, and play well: Factorio, and Dwarf Fortress.

If they cannot pop a hell vein and wall off hell with no more than 3 unhappy citizens of all races including goblins and elves, they cannot be president.

Can't launch a rocket? No Congress for you. Also, fire any CEO that can't launch a rocket.

This would weed out 99.9999% of the pool right up front, and 100% of the current batch of political hopefuls.

 

[Elixir]

This is not yet the time for a tax cut.

It is ALWAYS time for a tax cut!
(for billionaires)

 

[Elixir]

For all I have heard so far, USAID is about the most inefficient government program there could possibly be. It might be compassionate but it is not at all efficient. Taking tax money to give it away to other countries. That is not efficient.

The ignorance continues to overwhelm. A primary purpose of USAID was NOT to help struggling foreigners but to ENHANCE American prestige and build friendships by displaying humanitarian and altruistic values. It is was money very well spent for U.S. interests.

Let us all hope and pray that USAID gets talked about enough that even the most hardened partison Democrat hacks will finally come to realize how evil it is. An expensive and illegal CIA black ops program. And get rid of USAID even if Trump and Musk do not succeed in their courageous effort.

And by “courageous” you mean illegal and unconstitutional, right?

The impressive thing is he thinks the effort to disband an organization he admittedly had no opinion on maybe as recently as yesterday, is now solidly and unequivocally of the opinion that organization is evil and must be done away with and Trump/Musk are heroes for trying. All because he saw one YouTube Video.... by a comedian.

Live and learn. This week’s lesson includes profound insights into how trumpsuckers are led around by the nose.

 

[Elixir]

Still, all hope is not dead. Yet.

How about now?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

How do misinformed right wingers like Vonse come to be convinced of lies like the ”evil” nature of USAID?
They trust sources that lie to them. The lies comport with what they wish was true, so they gulp them down without a thought.
Notice how short on specifics Vinse’s vitriol is. He doesn’t even know what he is hating.

It's soft power. Good for the US, thus bad for Putin. Thus it is evil. And if the CIA worked through them sometimes, again, that's bad for Putin, thus it must be evil.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I can assure you that few people have the slightest inkling of how difficult it is to improve the efficiency of a supply chain, or of a logistics operation. Or even to prevent the existing level of efficiency from degrading due to external influences.

But if someone did have those skills I would believe Musk would be having a pretty decent resume at business efficiency management.

In this case though (and as Musk himself tweeted) we aren't talking about a worm in the apple that needs to be removed. We are talking about a bowl of worms that is hopelessly beyond any repair or redemption.

He's the worm in the apple.

And it's not hard to see he's incompetent. The first Super Heavy launch. That much power on bare concrete, it's not going to stand up to it. Pretty basic stuff in dealing with orbital rockets. But he didn't really care what happened to the ground and didn't think about the fact it would do more than just dig a hole.

 

[Elixir]

It's soft power. Good for the US, thus bad for Putin. Thus it is evil. And if the CIA worked through them sometimes, again, that's bad for Putin, thus it must be evil.

^PRECISELY
Everything the Felon does is for the benefit of the guy who saved his life.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Still, all hope is not dead. Yet.

How about now?

Yeah, now.

 

[Swammerdami]

I'm kind of startled by how few Americans seem to actually know what USAID does, what the CIA is responsible for, what the Department of Education does, etc as revealed by these recent conversations. I guess that makes me an "ivory tower academic" but how can people have so little curiosity about how their own government works? We are (or were) a democracy, there aren't many well kept secrets at the federal level. If you're ever in DC you can just walk into most of those buildings and get a little tour... It's just a few hundred thousand employees across a few dozen departments that handle much of the bureaucratic infrastructure of the country, and our taxes pay all their salaries. I get having positive or negative views on this or that department and how it functions but how could someone have no opinion at all? Do y'all live in this country or not?

Give credit where credit is due. RVonse may know little or nothing about Federal agencies like USAID or FedRes, but he certainly DOES have opinions about them!

What makes one want to cry is NOT when an average American exposes his ignorance about the government, but when the ignorance comes from "the top." Consider Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, Presidential candidate and the first Secretary of Energy under Trump-45. The Dept. of Energy was one of three government offices he thought should be quickly destroyed. (Although abolishing these three offices was the main "idea" he presented when campaigning for the Presidency, famously he could remember only 2 of the 3 agency names during a debate!)

After taking the oath of office as the incoming Secretary of Energy, he was startled to learn that his Department was responsible for developing and testing nuclear weapons.

Soon we'll be looking back on the Trump-45 regime with fondness. It was the worst kakistocracy and kleptocracy America had ever seen but did little irreparable damage. IIRC Trump-45 did nothing as catastrophic as the trillion-dollar adventure in Iraq by Bush-Cheney.

But we will look with fondness on Trump-45 when we contemplate Trump-47 where friends of Vladimir Putin have taken control of the White House and are working overtime to literally destroy what was once the greatest country in the world.