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Thread: Trump 2.0: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

  1. #1

    Trump 2.0: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

    Trump's first few hours...





    THE GOOD:



    • merit based governmental hiring
    • ending DEI and gender-confusion nonsense
    • DOGE
    • offshore drilling
    • Alaska drilling
    • pausing foreign aid
    • securing the border*
    • withdrawing from the WHO
    • pardoning/commuting J6 participants
    • withdrawing from the Paris climate nonsense
    • federal hiring freeze
    • ending federal censorship
    • repealing prior Executive Orders
    • pushing costs/inflation down
    • ending the weaponization of the DOJ and Intel communities




    THE BAD:



    • *making the border situation an "emergency"
    • militarizing the border
    • declaring an energy "emergency"
    • enacting tariffs
    • designating the cartels as "terrorists"
    • Ross Ulbricht hasn't been freed yet
    __________________________________________________ ________________
    "A politician will do almost anything to keep their job, even become a patriot" - Hearst



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  3. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Collins View Post
    Trump's first few hours...





    THE GOOD:



    • merit based governmental hiring
    • ending DEI and gender-confusion nonsense
    • DOGE
    • offshore drilling
    • Alaska drilling
    • pausing foreign aid
    • securing the border*
    • withdrawing from the WHO
    • pardoning/commuting J6 participants
    • withdrawing from the Paris climate nonsense
    • federal hiring freeze
    • ending federal censorship
    • repealing prior Executive Orders
    • pushing costs/inflation down
    • ending the weaponization of the DOJ and Intel communities




    THE BAD:



    • *making the border situation an "emergency"
    • militarizing the border
    • declaring an energy "emergency"
    • enacting tariffs
    • designating the cartels as "terrorists"
    • Ross Ulbricht hasn't been freed yet
    Ross will be released tomorrow.
    All modern revolutions have ended in a reinforcement of the power of the State.
    -Albert Camus

  4. #3
    I will say, the EO for "returning to in-person work" is dumb.

    Even before Covid, our state-level government offices had some remote work. It makes sense for I.T. people. The machines typically aren't in the building anyway. This is even more true today in the cloud environment.

    This is Elon Musk's influence.

    Here was the main dilemma that really was the issue for government. "Wait, if all these cubicle monkeys go home, what about all these office space leases?" Remote work, where it can be done, saves money. Grifters who make money of government bureaucrats don't like it.

    But if you read the order, it actually says departments can make exemptions. I assure you they will.

    On the flip side, this may be a strategy to help trim-down the workforce, as many I.T./call center types, will simply move to private or state-level. If this is the strategy, I can see the logic. Another way to force fed level attrition.

    But remote work, in general, is a done deal. No one in the industries that it works for wants to transition back.
    When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble?
    When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? Amos 3:6

  5. #4
    The border situation is an emergency.
    The whole narrative is absurd on its face - at the same time the USA was both founded on White supremacy, slavery, and genocide, yet always meant to be a place that infinity Africans, Indians, and South Americans could come for a "better life"? - Unknown

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Collins View Post
    Trump's first few hours...





    THE GOOD:



    • merit based governmental hiring
    • ending DEI and gender-confusion nonsense
    • DOGE
    • offshore drilling
    • Alaska drilling
    • pausing foreign aid
    • securing the border*
    • withdrawing from the WHO
    • pardoning/commuting J6 participants
    • withdrawing from the Paris climate nonsense
    • federal hiring freeze
    • ending federal censorship
    • repealing prior Executive Orders
    • pushing costs/inflation down
    • ending the weaponization of the DOJ and Intel communities




    THE BAD:



    • *making the border situation an "emergency"
    • militarizing the border
    • declaring an energy "emergency"
    • enacting tariffs
    • designating the cartels as "terrorists"
    • Ross Ulbricht hasn't been freed yet
    THE ALSO GOOD:



    • *making the border situation an "emergency"
    • militarizing the border
    • declaring an energy "emergency"
    • enacting tariffs
    • designating the cartels as "terrorists"
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  7. #6
    Updated White House website list of all executive actions signed today.

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by wizardwatson View Post
    But remote work, in general, is a done deal. No one in the industries that it works for wants to transition back.
    Covid is over. Of course nobody wants to transition back because they can be more lazy and unproductive at home. Anybody who is willing tell the truth, the fact is workers are less productive at home. Do you want your taxes paying for lazy workers?
    I just want objectivity on this forum and will point out flawed sources or points of view at my leisure.

    Quote Originally Posted by spudea on 01/15/24
    Trump will win every single state primary by double digits.
    Quote Originally Posted by spudea on 04/20/16
    There won't be a contested convention
    Quote Originally Posted by spudea on 05/30/17
    The shooting of Gabrielle Gifford was blamed on putting a crosshair on a political map. I wonder what event we'll see justified with pictures like this.

  9. #8
    The also good:

    Libs big MAD

    Haha
    I just want objectivity on this forum and will point out flawed sources or points of view at my leisure.

    Quote Originally Posted by spudea on 01/15/24
    Trump will win every single state primary by double digits.
    Quote Originally Posted by spudea on 04/20/16
    There won't be a contested convention
    Quote Originally Posted by spudea on 05/30/17
    The shooting of Gabrielle Gifford was blamed on putting a crosshair on a political map. I wonder what event we'll see justified with pictures like this.



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by spudea View Post
    Covid is over. Of course nobody wants to transition back because they can be more lazy and unproductive at home. Anybody who is willing tell the truth, the fact is workers are less productive at home. Do you want your taxes paying for lazy workers?
    I'll tell the truth. I didn't want to be sent home. I missed the face-to-face interactions and feedback I'd get from it. I could motivate my employees much easier, too. We were a team who had fun and got a lot of good work done.

    5 years in and I've gotten way too used to it. I do about 5 or 6 hours of real "work" per week. If there's a remote meeting I need to attend, I'll listen to it in the background while I'm monkeying around on RPF. I was once the most productive person at work, but now I do just enough to keep things moving. If I don't have any meetings for a few hours, I'll go ice fishing or take my dog for a walk or work in my shop or whatever else I can get into. I have my phone alerts in case something pops up. So yeah, I can see why lazy people would love this. At least in my work life, I'm now one of them. But there's no way anyone can convince me this is beneficial.

    Good on Trump for switching this back!
    "And now that the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty; for liberty is an acknowledgment of faith in God and His works." - Bastiat

    "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." - Voltaire

  12. #10
    An EO to lower rent and housing prices, WTF.

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by wizardwatson View Post
    I will say, the EO for "returning to in-person work" is dumb.

    Even before Covid, our state-level government offices had some remote work. It makes sense for I.T. people. The machines typically aren't in the building anyway. This is even more true today in the cloud environment.

    This is Elon Musk's influence.

    Here was the main dilemma that really was the issue for government. "Wait, if all these cubicle monkeys go home, what about all these office space leases?" Remote work, where it can be done, saves money. Grifters who make money of government bureaucrats don't like it.

    But if you read the order, it actually says departments can make exemptions. I assure you they will.

    On the flip side, this may be a strategy to help trim-down the workforce, as many I.T./call center types, will simply move to private or state-level. If this is the strategy, I can see the logic. Another way to force fed level attrition.

    But remote work, in general, is a done deal. No one in the industries that it works for wants to transition back.
    I disagree. For all the benefits that come along with working in the public sector, having to work in the office is a small sacrifice.

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by CaptUSA View Post
    I'll tell the truth. I didn't want to be sent home. I missed the face-to-face interactions and feedback I'd get from it. I could motivate my employees much easier, too. We were a team who had fun and got a lot of good work done.

    5 years in and I've gotten way too used to it. I do about 5 or 6 hours of real "work" per week. If there's a remote meeting I need to attend, I'll listen to it in the background while I'm monkeying around on RPF. I was once the most productive person at work, but now I do just enough to keep things moving. If I don't have any meetings for a few hours, I'll go ice fishing or take my dog for a walk or work in my shop or whatever else I can get into. I have my phone alerts in case something pops up. So yeah, I can see why lazy people would love this. At least in my work life, I'm now one of them. But there's no way anyone can convince me this is beneficial.

    Good on Trump for switching this back!
    You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to CaptUSA again.

  15. #13

  16. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by CaptUSA View Post
    I'll tell the truth. I didn't want to be sent home. I missed the face-to-face interactions and feedback I'd get from it. I could motivate my employees much easier, too. We were a team who had fun and got a lot of good work done.

    5 years in and I've gotten way too used to it. I do about 5 or 6 hours of real "work" per week. If there's a remote meeting I need to attend, I'll listen to it in the background while I'm monkeying around on RPF. I was once the most productive person at work, but now I do just enough to keep things moving. If I don't have any meetings for a few hours, I'll go ice fishing or take my dog for a walk or work in my shop or whatever else I can get into. I have my phone alerts in case something pops up. So yeah, I can see why lazy people would love this. At least in my work life, I'm now one of them. But there's no way anyone can convince me this is beneficial.

    Good on Trump for switching this back!
    This to me, is why people want to go back. Managers who manage by anecdote instead of data.

    In information work (coding, data analysis) managing by anecdote doesn't work. You need data. And the employees who avoid work, need a micro-manager.

    Working in cubicle land is hard for coders. Because I can't stop coffee people from walking into my cube ranting about B.S.

    So, I agree there's different work cultures. If you struggle to manage people in-person, you'll certainly struggle when they are not. If you are managing by data (results), and you are in information work, your employees have more time to work, and less disturbances when they are remote.

    Many jobs are just writing. You wouldn't expect an author of a book to go work in a cubicle with a bunch of other writers. It would just be distracting.

    Anyway, it's not a one size fits all approach, and different people manage differently.

    But like I said, the text of the EO says exemptions will be allowed. Guaranteed there will be many.

    TLDR; people who want to socialize and manage by anecdote want to be in-person. People who want to not be bothered and just get their stuff done and be judged on merit, like remote.
    Last edited by wizardwatson; 01-21-2025 at 09:23 AM.
    When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble?
    When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? Amos 3:6

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by wizardwatson View Post
    This to me, is why people want to go back. Managers who manage by anecdote instead of data.

    In information work (coding, data analysis) managing by anecdote doesn't work. You need data. And the employees who avoid work, need a micro-manager.

    Working in cubicle land is hard for coders. Because I can't stop coffee people from walking into my cube ranting about B.S.

    So, I agree there's different work cultures. If you struggle to manage people in-person, you'll certainly struggle when they are not. If you are managing by data (results), and you are in information work, your employees have more time to work, and less disturbances when they are remote.

    Many jobs are just writing. You wouldn't expect an author of a book to go work in a cubicle with a bunch of other writers. It would just be distracting.

    Anyway, it's not a one size fits all approach, and different people manage differently.

    But like I said, the text of the EO says exemptions will be allowed. Guaranteed there will be many.
    Maybe you are the outlier.
    My suspicion is most of the Government employees can work in the office and their efficiency would increase in the office.
    For the exception, maybe there should be an exception.

  18. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by wizardwatson View Post
    TLDR; people who want to socialize and manage by anecdote want to be in-person. People who want to not be bothered and just get their stuff done and be judged on merit, like remote.
    Sorry, that's a bunch of bull$#@!. I agree that it's not a one-size-fits-all approach. I'm not a coder or a data analyst so maybe I'm looking at it from a different angle. But I used to enjoy accomplishing feats that seemed unachievable - and now I "just want to get my stuff done". The enjoyment from my work is not the same. The sense of accomplishment from my team is not the same.

    Maybe remote work is for low-engagement, cubicle-type people?? What does it matter if you're in a cubicle in an office vs. at home? Heck, that kind of work should probably get replaced with AI anyway. But if you're solving complex problems engaging multiple people and teams, there's no substitute for in-person engagement.
    "And now that the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty; for liberty is an acknowledgment of faith in God and His works." - Bastiat

    "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." - Voltaire



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  20. #17
    Black pilled right wingers and lolbertarians hit hardest by Trump's first day.

    Bonus: Vivek is slithering back to Ohio and staying away from DC.

  21. #18
    Supporting Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged View Post
    So far I am giving him an A.
    I concur.
    Citizen of Arizona
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    I am a libertarian. I am advocating everyone enjoy maximum freedom on both personal and economic issues as long as they do not bring violence unto others.

  22. #19
    It was a good first day.

    Every day to pass will be devoted to Izrael and the billionaire class with an occasional crumb thrown to the rabble every now and then.

  23. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by CaptUSA View Post
    Sorry, that's a bunch of bull$#@!. I agree that it's not a one-size-fits-all approach. I'm not a coder or a data analyst so maybe I'm looking at it from a different angle. But I used to enjoy accomplishing feats that seemed unachievable - and now I "just want to get my stuff done". The enjoyment from my work is not the same. The sense of accomplishment from my team is not the same.

    Maybe remote work is for low-engagement, cubicle-type people?? What does it matter if you're in a cubicle in an office vs. at home? Heck, that kind of work should probably get replaced with AI anyway. But if you're solving complex problems engaging multiple people and teams, there's no substitute for in-person engagement.
    Agree to disagree.
    When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble?
    When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? Amos 3:6

  24. #21
    Also....



    ...this is probably a big part of why they want this rule. "I.T. modernization" is essentially an outsourcing directive. In order to build their panopticon, they need the tech stack in the hands of the CIA/et al. So federal workers must all be in-person. But they want to outsource all the I.T. So what happens in reality. Someone who used to work for the Feds now works for a contractor that works for the Feds. The I.T. person makes the same or slightly more money, and the government pays the contractor twice as much.

    What is end result. Same tech, more money, more deep state control of government infrastructure.

    And guess what...

    they still gonna be remote.
    When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble?
    When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? Amos 3:6

  25. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by spudea View Post
    The also good:

    Libs big MAD

    Haha
    It's all about taking action and not being lazy. So you do the work, whether it's fitness or whatever. It's about getting up, motivating yourself and just doing it.
    - Kim Kardashian

    Donald Trump / Crenshaw 2024!!!!

    My pronouns are he/him/his

  26. #23
    https://x.com/foxnewspolitics/status...37657622593943



    __________________________________________________ ________________
    "A politician will do almost anything to keep their job, even become a patriot" - Hearst

  27. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Collins View Post
    https://x.com/foxnewspolitics/status...37657622593943



    I'm sure he'll get to it by the end of his term, not like there's any rush

    He's got more important stuff to do like rename the Gulf of America
    It's all about taking action and not being lazy. So you do the work, whether it's fitness or whatever. It's about getting up, motivating yourself and just doing it.
    - Kim Kardashian

    Donald Trump / Crenshaw 2024!!!!

    My pronouns are he/him/his



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  29. #25
    So far, I'm very happy with Trump's first couple of days. I do have something to add to the bad list, though: his capital punishment reforms.

    https://reason.com/volokh/2025/01/21...death-penalty/

    Sec. 4. Preserving Capital Punishment in the States. (a) The Attorney General shall take all necessary and lawful action to ensure that each state that allows capital punishment has a sufficient supply of drugs needed to carry out lethal injection.
    Let's subsidize government murder!

    Sec. 5. Seeking The Overruling of Supreme Court Precedents That Hinder Capital Punishment. The Attorney General shall take all appropriate action to seek the overruling of Supreme Court precedents that limit the authority of State and Federal governments to impose capital punishment.
    Obviously, as a pro-lifer who despises the death penalty, removing limitations on any government's ability to impose it is, in my opinion, a bad idea. The ability of a government to take life should absolutely be one of the few things that's actually regulated, whether that's by removing the ability to do so or by limiting the ability to do so.

    Otherwise, Trump has been hitting it out of the park. Waiting to see if he pardons Snowden.

  30. #26
    Oh wow so many pieces of paper
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Pinochet is the model
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Liberty preserving authoritarianism.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Enforced internal open borders was one of the worst elements of the Constitution.

  31. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by TheCount View Post
    Oh wow so many pieces of paper
    "A moving paper fantasy"
    All modern revolutions have ended in a reinforcement of the power of the State.
    -Albert Camus

  32. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by wizardwatson View Post
    I will say, the EO for "returning to in-person work" is dumb.

    Even before Covid, our state-level government offices had some remote work. It makes sense for I.T. people. The machines typically aren't in the building anyway. This is even more true today in the cloud environment.

    This is Elon Musk's influence.

    Here was the main dilemma that really was the issue for government. "Wait, if all these cubicle monkeys go home, what about all these office space leases?" Remote work, where it can be done, saves money. Grifters who make money of government bureaucrats don't like it.

    But if you read the order, it actually says departments can make exemptions. I assure you they will.

    On the flip side, this may be a strategy to help trim-down the workforce, as many I.T./call center types, will simply move to private or state-level. If this is the strategy, I can see the logic. Another way to force fed level attrition.

    But remote work, in general, is a done deal. No one in the industries that it works for wants to transition back.
    I was kind of thinking the same thing. I would have added a specification that if there's not enough room at the office for them to physically return to work that their positions would be terminated, lol.

    Welcome back to the office, everyone. We're going to start the workday off with a rousing game of musical chairs.
    Quote Originally Posted by timosman View Post
    This is getting silly.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    It started silly.
    T.S. Eliot's The Hollow Men

    We Are Running Out of Time - Mini Me

    Quote Originally Posted by Philhelm
    I part ways with "libertarianism" when it transitions from ideology grounded in logic into self-defeating autism for the sake of ideological purity.

  33. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    The border situation is an emergency.
    This. It sucks, but there was a video of immigrants breaking down in tears because almost immediately the door got slammed shut in their face.

    Mind you, if we had actually had any semblance of actual border control for the past 4 years, such drastic measures would likely not be necessary. As it stands, it is vitally important that the message is sent that this. stops. now.

    Let word get back to Central & South America that there won't be any more turning-the-blind-eye. Stop telling your friend's 7th and 8th cousins that you know a guy who knows a gal who can get them waved in through a side door. Let the message get all the way back to where the migrant caravans originate so they can stop before they start.
    Quote Originally Posted by timosman View Post
    This is getting silly.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    It started silly.
    T.S. Eliot's The Hollow Men

    We Are Running Out of Time - Mini Me

    Quote Originally Posted by Philhelm
    I part ways with "libertarianism" when it transitions from ideology grounded in logic into self-defeating autism for the sake of ideological purity.

  34. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    The border situation is an emergency.
    I disagree.

    I mean it is obviously a serious problem that needs to be addressed now, but it's not an "emergency"
    __________________________________________________ ________________
    "A politician will do almost anything to keep their job, even become a patriot" - Hearst

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