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Release the Hound
Oh, make it so. There may not be enough popcorn in America to pop, then sit back and enjoy watching the whittling away of government regulations and the dismantling and death of whole federal agencies. Finally, a Republican presidential candidate determined to cut down the size of the federal government – something that Reagan failed to do, something that the Bushes had no desire to do. This would be considered absolute heresy and would never even be whispered by a Democrat as something to even consider since Democrats continue to get elected by promising more spending and free stuff for citizens and non-citizens alike.
Perhaps Trump has been watching President Milei dismantling the wasteful bureaucracy in Argentina. Perhaps he feels that the entrenched bureaucrats who had it out for him during his presidency need to learn a lesson.
The genius stroke, of course, is placing successful entrepreneurs like Musk as the ones to spearhead the effort — not career bureaucrats or politicians. Elon appears to be chomping at the bit. Let him loose.
Anticipate that in the next few days, the Harris-Walz campaign, the legacy media, and other left-leaning voices will howl and shriek at the thought that this could actually happen. Would you be surprised if the FTC or the DOJ suddenly came up with something to attack Musk or one of his companies soon, based on this news?
(screengrab from Instapundit)
Published in General
Within a week it will have always been Harris’ plan and she has not changed her mind.
Only if she wants to lose Virginia and Maryland.
Cuz she has the sharpest political minds in the world steering her course. Eighteen minutes? With chaperone?
I would like him to do it, but it’s not only waste and needless regulation that need to go. It’s even more important that offices that have abused their power get trimmed and perhaps reassigned. Donald Trump, of all people, should understand and have a long enough attention span to remember.
Any agencies that had a hand in censoring “misinformation” on social media need to go, for example. .
I admit that I may have gotten a tad giddy at the prospect of Musk and other like minded entrepreneurs hacking away at the federal bureaucracy to say that entire agencies might be eliminated. Still, given that Elon is not shy about speaking his mind, like Trump, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if at some point during this effort – if Trump is fortunate enough to be elected – he briefs Trump and advocates for killing an entire agency or two…or three…or…
I want whole departments gone, starting with Education.
That would probably show that he isn’t serious about getting anything done. I can’t imagine Musk not taking such a job seriously, though. Of course, it depends on the details of what he’d actually recommend.
That would be a good candidate. However, once all the constituencies have their say, I doubt that even anyone on Ricochet would agree with actually eliminating the Department of Education. Within the DoE are things for every constituency, and there is nobody on Ricochet who will be willing for them all to go.
We should be realistic about how much we expect from merely electing a President who promises to eliminate departments, agencies, programs, spending, borrowing, taxes, or laws giving the Executive the power and duty to regulate our behavior.
The President has no authority to do any of these things. Only Congress does.
In fact, the President takes an oath to see that the agencies or departments faithfully execute all these burdensome, wasteful, fiscally irresponsible, oppressive laws.
I don’t want to minimize the importance of electing a conservative President. The President does have a powerful bully pulpit to pressure Congress, and Congress has granted him the power to submit a proposed budget for their consideration. He also has veto power, though Congress has to a degree neutralized it. He has some other power at the margins.
But it is critical that we attack the heart of the enemy with our votes: Congress.
[EDIT:
:substitute/or borrowing,/ taxes, borrowing,/
]
Curious that you should mention that!
Red Thread Games, a Norwegian company, collected 14 million kroner ($1.4 million) from the Norwegian government and €150,000 from the EU. They also have apparently tapped Uncle Sugar via the State Department for $275,000 (link). The goal was to produce a “counter-disinformation game.” The game was to be designed to be modular to allow for additional topics to be added at a later date.
The game itself appears to be bombing harder than a Lionsgate Studios Film Festival. There are currently 14 people playing on Steam right now. Peak usage was 83 players 13 days ago.
There seems to be something about “combatting disinformation” that our government just can’t keep their mitts off of.
The G has enough on its plate already without trying to figure out what information I shouldn’t be allowed to evaluate for myself.
Yes, indeed a Republican-controlled Congress is absolutely necessary. But a willing Congress can grant POTUS certain powers in this regard. From Wikipedia:
And anyway, isn’t the President in charge of the Executive Branch agencies?
And for Congress to do it, there needs to be public support. We can get public support to correct egregious wrongs in the administrative state, if we work really, really hard at it. And to actually correct those wrongs, I don’t see how it can be done without cuts here and there.
Someone like Elon Musk might be able to work on that, but without the power to subpoena and get classified information, etc., he isn’t going to be able to do it on his own. It’s going to take public attention and not letting ourselves get too distracted by all the latest outrages.
On second thought, that sounds like too much work. Let’s just call for elimination of departments so everyone can just go on with business as usual without getting anything done.
The Department of Education should be the first of many to be eliminated.
As I understand it, the President isn’t required to spend the money that Congress appropriates; he can also redirect a good deal of it.
That’s probably true for any agency, that there are programs within it that are appropriate in the sense that they serve the country more than any one constituency. But they don’t have to be hosted by the agencies we’d like to cut. E educational programs could be run by Interior, or Agriculture.
If you meant that we all can be bought off by this or that goodie from the DoE, I can’t. I’m for killing it and everything in it.
I am!
Challenge accepted.
End it. Bury it. Pour salt on it.
Nixon found out otherwise.
Yes. A president who rescinds a bunch of regulations that will be put back in place after the next election is just a temporary bit of relief. Congress needs to repeal some of these laws that give various agencies the authority to make up so many rules in the first place. That’s a lot harder to do than an Executive order, but has a long-lasting impact. Not that I am putting down Trump’s efforts at deregulation, three cheers for that! But Congress needs to do its job.
Picture every animal you have ever seen on nature documentaries that burrows itself to escape predators and that will be the federal bureaucracy if the GOP sweeps. GOP Congress has never shown the gumption to kill or completely restructure agencies and there may not be enough GOP sympathizers within the agencies to out the perpetrators of weaponized abuse.
The federal attorneys who deserve disbarment will likely land in blue-chip politically connected firms instead. Corporations will still retain these firms because they have friends, future hires, and politically appointed former partners running regulatory agencies and can thus offer protection. Unless the is serious swamp-draining, this will still be a lucrative partisan rats’ nest.
Be careful what you wish for. I don’t trust Musk as far as I can spit. Yes, he’s talented, maybe even a genius and the richest man in the world. He also is very heavily on the front and back ends of AI, and for that reason alone, I don’t believe he should have a role in any government. The social media moguls should stay in the private sector.
I do agree that a major housecleaning needs to happen in DC and there are plenty of qualified people to do it.
No need to trust him. All he would be able to do is make recommendations. Congress would have to sift through them and act on them. The main problem is that he probably wouldn’t have the authority to do a thorough investigation, but insofar as that is a problem it indicates things that probably need to be fixed.
They screaming bloody murder if it’s proposed to cut the rate of increase from the previous year. Not even a true cut as the budget would still increase.
Yes, and remember that screaming. Don’t underestimate the effect that even small cuts in appropriately targeted sources of abuse in the administrative state will produce. Be strong.
Yes, and remember that screaming. Don’t underestimate the effect that even small cuts in appropriately targeted sources of abuse in the administrative state will produce.
Late Edit:
Be strong. Offer the administrative state the chance to clean up its act ior there will be more of the same. Treat its proposals with great suspicion and skepticism to make sure they are permanent, structural reforms.
I would. Without hesitation.
Budget lines and programs can be transferred to more responsible supervision.
I think Musk is much more valuable on the outside than he would be inside the government.