5 minutes ago, theblether said:

 

He didn't say per year, so now you are caught in a lie again. 

 

$500 billion per year over four years of the Presidency is doable, 

 

Once again I say, there is no lie that Democrats are not prepared to spread. 

 

You are easily the most gullible brigade of clowns I have encountered in my adult life. 

He did not say over four years either, so it may well be you caught in a lie again. 😆

 

Let's assume you are right. It's around 7.5% of the federal budget. It's not small considering that it has been consistenly increasing over time, whatever the political colour of the governmemt. Where will cuts be made if not on welfare programs? Will GOP congressmen vote cuts affecting the people who voted for them?

Oh, and wait till the courts fill up with cases against unauthorised government agencies - that, along with the Chevron decision will cause carnage.  

 

Democrat supporters are having their heads filled with utter drivel ( as usual ) - never listen to these Russia Hoax clowns, they have no credibility. 

1 minute ago, candide said:

He did not say over four years either, so it may well be you caught in a lie again. 😆

 

Let's assume you are right. It's around 7.5% of the federal budget. It's not small considering that it has been consistenly increasing over time, whatever the political colour of the governmemt. Where will cuts be made if not on welfare programs? Will GOP congressmen vote cuts affecting the people who voted for them?

 

He didn't say $2 trillion a year. You made that up in your head. 

 

And I just posted about open sourcing. The assumption that the Federal; government is going to attack people's income entitlement is just another disgusting Democrat lie. 

 

They are not after people's pensions. That would be political suicide. 

 

They are going after rip-off contracts and unnecessary management structures etc

On 12/5/2024 at 9:10 AM, cdemundo said:

The terminology is the Social Security Trust Fund.

That money is held in trust for the workers that paid into the trust fund.

 

 

There is no money sitting in a bank account. The trust fund comprises special Treasury bills, which are liabilities to the treasury.   They are funded via taxation or debt.

 

Yes, social security adds to the deficit. 

On 12/7/2024 at 7:00 AM, GypsyT said:

Do you know why they vote for Republicans? Don't they know Dems gave them all?

Are they stupid? Brain washed?

I don't understand this at all....

What did the Dems give them?   NAFTA and free trade?   Obama's war on coal?    Which destoryed their livelyhood.  

On 12/7/2024 at 7:21 AM, candide said:

A prediction is not a lie, it's a prediction.😊

The fact that there is a significant number of GOP voters currently benefitting from federal welfare programs is also not a lie.

Do you have any data to prove this theory? 

2 minutes ago, TedG said:

 

There is no money sitting in a bank account. The trust fund comprises special Treasury bills, which are liabilities to the treasury.   They are funded via taxation or debt.

 

Yes, social security adds to the deficit. 

 

Yes, it's an unfunded debt obligation. The unfunded debt obligation is well in excess of $100 trillion. 

On 12/7/2024 at 8:13 AM, candide said:

It's a question of pride. In the American society, it's hard to be a loser. The American culture is praising winners and is rather despising losers. Trump tells them it's not their fault, it's because of the deep state, the Washington elite, and other similar B.S. 😃

Are you saying the policies from Washington do not impact the little people? 

Just now, TedG said:

Do you have any data to prove this theory? 

 

It's an idiotic argument and I think he's now realised the stupidity. 

 

Anyone positing that Trump is going to steal people's pensions and medical care is wired to the moon. 

 

 

13 minutes ago, theblether said:

 

He didn't say $2 trillion a year. You made that up in your head. 

 

And I just posted about open sourcing. The assumption that the Federal; government is going to attack people's income entitlement is just another disgusting Democrat lie. 

 

They are not after people's pensions. That would be political suicide. 

 

They are going after rip-off contracts and unnecessary management structures etc

He did not say over four years either, so it's up to interpretation. It's  bit strange for a businessman who is used to make business plans to give an amount without specifying that kind of details. But maybe you're right and he was just being provocative.

 

How can open sourcing generate $500 billion cuts when the federal government contract budget is only around $765 billion (2023), of which $470 billion for the army (buying F-35 by open source, lol!).

 

https://www.highergov.com/reports/765b-federal-gov-contract-awards-2023/

 

Do you have a reasoned estimate to show or are you just making it up?

Just now, candide said:

He did not say over four years either, so it's up to interpretation. It's  bit strange for a businessman who is used to make business plans to give an amount without specifying that kind of details. But maybe you're right and he was just being provocative.

 

How can open sourcing generate $500 billion cuts when the federal government contract budget is only around $765 billion (2023), of which $470 billion for the army (buying F-35 by open source, lol!).

 

https://www.highergov.com/reports/765b-federal-gov-contract-awards-2023/

 

Do you have a reasoned estimate to show or are you just making it up?

 

I already explained. The real target here is to bring the federal deficit down so that the cost of borrowing can be reduced. I'm not goin over that again. 

 

You clearly don't understand the concept of open source ( lol ). 

 

Would you be amazed to hear that the entirety of X ( Twitter ) is open source? The company that was supposed to go bankrupt after laying off 80% of it's employees and is now the number one news aggregator with record user metrics in the world? 

 

Can you explain the benefits of open source? Do you even know what it is? 

51 minutes ago, TedG said:

Do you have any data to prove this theory? 

I have already posted links about the federal budget composition. I don't see how the promised budget cuts can be achieved without cutting benefits to U.S. citizen. And that includes GOP voters, in particular in rural counties which have been affected by decreasing economic activities and job losses.

 

Of course, if we had any information on where these promised cuts would precisely occur, it would be a less theoretical discussion. There isn't any. I jeven ust found out by discussing with theblether that no one even knows whether it's $ 2 billion/year or  $2 billion / 4 years!

1 hour ago, TedG said:

 

There is no money sitting in a bank account. The trust fund comprises special Treasury bills, which are liabilities to the treasury.   They are funded via taxation or debt.

 

Yes, social security adds to the deficit. 

Thanks for playing.

12 minutes ago, cdemundo said:

Thanks for playing.

I'm not playing.  I'm correct.   

9 minutes ago, cdemundo said:

Thanks for playing.

 

You have no concept of unfunded debt obligations. 

 

Riddle me this - what happens when the tax take cannot cover the social security obligation? 

 

Does the Tooth Fairy appear and sprinkle gold dust onto pensioners? 

 

Or does the US government go to the financial markets to borrow? 

17 minutes ago, candide said:

I have already posted links about the federal budget composition. I don't see how the promised budget cuts can be achieved without cutting benefits to U.S. citizen. And that includes GOP voters, in particular in rural counties which have been affected by decreasing economic activities and job losses.

 

Of course, if we had any information on where these promised cuts would precisely occur, it would be a less theoretical discussion. There isn't any. I jeven ust found out by discussing with theblether that no one even knows whether it's $ 2 billion/year or  $2 billion / 4 years!

 

I know the federal budget.   

 

Do you have any data to prove this will impact GOP voters? 

2 minutes ago, theblether said:

 

You have no concept of unfunded debt obligations. 

 

Riddle me this - what happens when the tax take cannot cover the social security obligation? 

 

Does the Tooth Fairy appear and sprinkle gold dust onto pensioners? 

 

Or does the US government go to the financial markets to borrow? 

They lack the understanding that the SS surplus went into the general fund and the trust fund go IOUs.  

 

Just now, TedG said:

They lack the understanding that the SS surplus went into the general fund and the trust fund go IOUs.  

 

Correct. 

1 hour ago, TedG said:

On 12/7/2024 at 7:00 PM, GypsyT said:

Do you know why they vote for Republicans? Don't they know Dems gave them all?

Are they stupid? Brain washed?

I don't understand this at all....

What did the Dems give them?   NAFTA and free trade?   Obama's war on coal?    Which destoryed their livelyhood.  

 

"Benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP – commonly known as food stamps."

 

"More than 40% of SNAP-receiving households were in the South, the highest percentage of any region."

25 minutes ago, theblether said:

 

I already explained. The real target here is to bring the federal deficit down so that the cost of borrowing can be reduced. I'm not goin over that again. 

 

You clearly don't understand the concept of open source ( lol ). 

 

Would you be amazed to hear that the entirety of X ( Twitter ) is open source? The company that was supposed to go bankrupt after laying off 80% of it's employees and is now the number one news aggregator with record user metrics in the world? 

 

Can you explain the benefits of open source? Do you even know what it is? 

Blah blah.😆

 

You have not explained how one can reasonably cut $500 billion from a total procurement budget of $765 billion (of which $470 billion for the army) by just publishing contracts online (most of them being already accessible thanks to the FOIA). It doesn't make sense at all!

On 12/7/2024 at 8:55 PM, Yellowtail said:

It's only the left that despised the losers, everyone else has empathy for them. 

 

 

so so so hilariously wrong.... I'm sure glad I don't have to face something that talks nonsense like you in the mirror.... do you have any mirrors in your house?  best avoid them.

3 minutes ago, candide said:

Blah blah.😆

 

You have not explained how one can reasonably cut $500 billion from a total procurement budget of $765 billion (of which $470 billion for the army) by just publishing contracts online (most of them being already accessible thanks to the FOIA). It doesn't make sense at all!

It's obvious that "making sense" isn't their prime directive.  Sloganism all the way!

2 minutes ago, candide said:

Blah blah.😆

 

You have not explained how one can reasonably cut $500 billion from a total procurement budget of $765 billion (of which $470 billion for the army) by just publishing contracts online (most of them being already accessible thanks to the FOIA). It doesn't make sense at all!

 

Have you seen the size of the Federal budget? 

 

I only gave open source as an example, I further explained the end game with the national debt ( borrowing costs ). 

 

Now you explain open source. You can use small words if you like, I don't want you stretching your intellect. 

By the way, I don't really care if Musk achieves his $2 trillion target. As far as I'm concerned $200 billion would be a magic result. 

 

I'm more interested in the deregulation. If the US economy booms then we all win unless you're a gibbering deranged Democrat that can't stand the idea of American success under Trump. And there's plenty of them. 

13 minutes ago, TedG said:

 

I know the federal budget.   

 

Do you have any data to prove this will impact GOP voters? 

Both Dem voters and GOP voters will be impacted if welfare programs are cut.

On 12/4/2024 at 3:16 PM, Eric Loh said:

A decision straight ot of the pages of Project 2025 and President elect Trump has been echoing the need to rein in "wasteful federal spending"in his campaign. From low-income monthly food benefits to Medicare; there will be significant spending cuts and major changes. Trump has boxed himself into a corner as he promised big tax cuts and reduce the deficits. Now that he tapped in Elon and Vivek, who are tasked with government wide cost cutting mission, the cuts in social spending is inevitable. The reduced federal contributions would affect millions of working class Americans who depend on these services. In Trump's mind, reduced federal spending will lower inflation.That's too simplistic just like how he define tariff. 

News flash: Elon and vivek are not part of any  government agency and have no authority to cut anything. In many agencies they won't even have authority to review data without some changes to laws. Congress controls much of what can and can not happen along with labor laws so they may go looking and may offer opinions but thats as far as they can go.

7 minutes ago, theblether said:

 

Have you seen the size of the Federal budget? 

 

I only gave open source as an example, I further explained the end game with the national debt ( borrowing costs ). 

 

Now you explain open source. You can use small words if you like, I don't want you stretching your intellect. 

So now you are admitting that open source will not achieve the stated goal. We can agree on that.

 

The main issue is not the end game, it 's how to achieve it. Otherwise it's only a wish. And no one has precisely explained what will be cut.

2 hours ago, TedG said:

 

There is no money sitting in a bank account. The trust fund comprises special Treasury bills, which are liabilities to the treasury.   They are funded via taxation or debt.

 

Yes, social security adds to the deficit. 

Of course the SS trust fund is not in a bank account.  The trust fund lends the money to the US treasury and is given T-bills in return.  The interest rate the government pays is very close to what it pays on the T-bills sold at auction.

 

When the Treasury pays out the SS benefits the amount paid is deducted from the amount owed to the SS trust fund.  Every $ the Treasury pays out as benefits is taken from the SS trust fund, not the US government's general revenue.

 

The only funds taken from the Federal governments general revenue and given to SS is the interest on the special T-bills held by the SS trust fund.  But those interest payments ALSO have no impact on the Federal deficit because the Treasury would have had to borrow the funds elsewhere if not from the SS fund.

 

Therefor there is ZERO impact on the Federal deficit from SS benefit payouts.  That's the law as of right now.  It may change in the future when the inflows to the SS trust fund don't cover the benefits owed as calculated by the current SS benefit algorithm.

 

1 hour ago, theblether said:

Would you be amazed to hear that the entirety of X ( Twitter ) is open source?

Technically you're correct.  

 

But...

 

Elon Musk's open source code is 'completely dishonest'

Twitter published parts of its algorithm, but some developers said the code paints an incomplete picture because it lacks vital data to understand it

By Kylie Robison

 

The algorithm, which is basically the formula that decides which tweets users see on their timeline, is a valuable asset; many internet companies treat algorithms as something akin to state secrets. Musk framed his decision to make Twitter’s algorithm open-source as an effort to improve it, by enlisting the help of volunteers, and as an act of radical transparency: If you suspected Twitter was “shadow banning” certain people, the conspiracy would finally be exposed.

 

As a stampede of developers, reporters, and curiosity seekers rushed to code-sharing GitHub site to have a look at the algorithm, trying to ascertain the actual significance or usefulness of Musk’s move only became hazier.

 

Many people quickly fixated on controversial sounding bits of the algorithm, such as “author_is_republican.” But as several observers noted, the uploaded code doesn’t indicate how the company is using any of it, and leaves out vital bits of information that would paint the whole picture. Even people with bona fide technical chops said the lack of necessary context made it impossible to make much sense of the published algorithm, let alone try to make any actual contributions to the open-source code.

 

“They released a lot, which is neat, but also like, wtf is the point of this? Nobody’s going to make heads or tails of this, let alone the Q-brained [QAnon] guys he’s trying to impress,” one senior software engineer who wished to remain anonymous said in a direct message to Fortune.

1 hour ago, theblether said:

Riddle me this - what happens when the tax take cannot cover the social security obligation? 

The SSA has often indicated what happens under current law when the trust fund is exhausted.  The total of benefits paid at that time will match the inflows of FICA taxes collected.  They're predicting that benefits will be reduced to 75-80% of benefits as calculated by the current benefit algorithm.  There is no existing provision for using the Federal government's general revenues to make up the shortfall.