Category: Politics

Trying not to start the public floggings

Small Beginnings

Bureaucracy, Trumpism

I submit these two little snippets for your  enjoyment  contemplation:

First:  the I.R.S.:

The Trump administration has executed one of the most significant workforce reductions in U.S. history, targeting over 200,000 probationary employees across multiple government agencies.

It was first reported that Trump’s administration plans to axe around 9,000 jobs at the IRS, primarily targeting employees still in their probationary period.  However, as many as 15,000 IRS workers have been identified for possible termination as early as next week.

The targeted employees, many of whom were added during the Biden administration’s expansion of the IRS, reportedly hold non-essential roles unrelated to processing tax filings.

One can only hope that this will end with the department’s complete abolition.   I’m not kidding, either.

Second, the CDC:

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is poised to lose roughly one-tenth of its workforce due to a Trump policy axing probationary employees as part of a larger effort of the Trump administration to cut the size and scope of government.

This reality comes as the Trump administration orders federal agencies to cut off probationary employees. That includes roughly 1,300 staffers at the CDC alone. Those employees, according to the Associated Press, are expected to receive roughly four weeks of paid administrative leave.

Let’s hope that the reduced CDC staffing means that those quacks will be going after actual diseases like smallpox and malaria, instead of inventing “epidemics” like accidental gun deaths and suchlike.  (I’m hopeful, but not optimistic that this will happen;  if it doesn’t, shut them down too and leave it to the states to deal with.)

Like I said, this is a good start, going after the low-hanging fruit (“probationary”, “non-essential”, FFS), but let’s not stop there.

One To Go

Politics

So RFK Jr. got his nomination approved (that MFCS McConnell being the only flyshit in the Republican sugar, again).

I have to say that of all POTUS’s Cabinet nominations, this one makes me feel a little queasy because a) RFK used to be a Democrat, b) he’s a Kennedy Of That Ilk, and c) while he’s on board with the WuFlu vax thing, on some of his other positions (e.g. the environment) I’m not, shall we say, a supporter.

By all means go after the pharma corporations because they’re MFCS themselves.  But stay out of Americans’ diets and food choices, because we’re Americans and we like our choices.

As long as this Kennedy stays on the reservation, well and good.  But if not…

Just Kash Patel is yet to be confirmed.

More Savings

Government Thugs, Marxists

Ah, it’s okay if they do it:

Representative Val Hoyle (D-OR) said on Monday on CNN’s “News Central” that Democratic lawmakers will not vote to fund the government if Republicans are advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Wait, does that mean that the entire Feddle Gummint will shut down and won’t be paid?  Including Congress?

Oh, please let it be so.

And by the way, you little pinko pustule:  maybe the voters in your Commie district didn’t vote for Trump’s agenda, but the rest of us sure as hell did.

Now get out of the way so the adults can do what we sent them to D.C. to do.

Over The Line

Government Thugs, Politics

 I see that Tulsi Gabbard made it over the NO vote of soon-to-be-gone Mitch McConnell and was conformed as Director of National Intelligence (DNI).  Excellent.

Now I’m wondering:  who, exactly, approved the action which placed her on a “security risk” (SSSS*) list last year after she switched parties and became a Trump supporter?

If it was her predecessor, then he’s gone, no big deal.  Then we have to ask:  who  motivated the action, if it wasn’t him?

Either way, I hope that Gabbard goes after the asshole — because if a former member of Congress can get blacklisted that way by the government, who is safe?

(Oh, and one last thought:  I just hope that in her new positions she leaves behind all her earlier anti-2A bullshit.)

*SSSS:  the code letters printed on your boarding pass that cause an “enhanced security check” when you check in.  (FYI:  it once happened to me too, for reasons never specified.)

Rolling Back The Greenies #17

Eco-Crap, Trumpism

…and about fucking time, too.  More goodness from POTUS:

I am hereby instructing Secretary Lee Zeldin to immediately go back to my Environmental Orders, which were terminated by Crooked Joe Biden, on Water Standards and Flow pertaining to SINKS, SHOWERS, TOILETS, WASHING MACHINES, DISHWASHERS, etc., and to likewise go back to the common sense standards on LIGHT BULBS, that were put in place by the Trump Administration, but terminated by Crooked Joe. I look forward to signing these Orders.

Or, to be more formal about it:

President Donald Trump is waging war against former President Joe Biden’s green energy regulations on Americans’ household appliances.

Is there any way to make this stuff permanent?  Oh wait, that would require Congressional assistance.

Nemmind.

Just a reminder of what he’s talking about:

Biden imposed climate standards for some appliances, including gas stoves, washing machines, and dishwashers during his only term as president.

In July of 2023, the Biden administration cracked down on water heaters by slapping them with greater efficiency standards.

The following month, Biden imposed a ban on incandescent light bulbs, limiting what kinds of lighting would be available for consumers.

In 2023, Biden proposed a rule targeting ceiling fans.

…and the list goes on and on, all about Big Gummint sticking its nose into our private lives, and screwing it all up.

Lifeline

Trumpism

You all remember that POTUS Trump signed an Executive Order which offered asylum to those South African farmers under threat of property confiscation (and worse) at the hands of the terrorist organization ANC.  Here’s a reminder, and then an interesting response from a representative of said farmers:

In your order, you made special provisions for Afrikaners to be given opportunities in the United States. We sincerely appreciate this, as many farmers in South Africa face dire circumstances—threats of land expropriation, increasing rural crime, and discriminatory access to financing and other critical resources. For some, the opportunity you have extended may be their only viable path forward.

That said, as a fundamental patriot yourself, you will understand our commitment to stay and fight for our home. Africa is in our blood, and despite the challenges, the vast majority of us have chosen to struggle within the ambit of our constitution.

We are also grateful for the programs that have allowed over 100,000 young South Africans to work on American farms, gaining valuable skills, exposure to advanced agricultural technologies, and a financial foundation to launch their own careers in the agricultural value chains back home.

Please do not close that door. These opportunities inspire and equip our young people and are not available for them in South Africa. It give them a launching pad for their livelihoods when they return from the USA. We are not asking for any young South Africans to be excluded – for us it is enough to be included on merit.

And then he goes on to describe the problem, in detail.  It’s worth a read, I promise you.

I invite you to imagine how this letter would have been received by a Democrat administration of the Obama/Biden sort.