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Be Still My Beating Heart…
The White House has released a plan that details some pretty sweeping changes to the Executive Branch of our government. I have not yet had a chance to read the entire document from the OMB, but included are the following major changes:
- Combine the Departments of Education and Labor streamlining the bureaucracy and eliminating many redundancies.
- Consolidate the many different Food Safety agencies into one department into the USDA eliminating the FDA and HHS oversight of these areas — again eliminating many redundancies and reducing the bureaucracy.
- Divest and privatize the energy transmission GSAs in the Department of Energy such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Western Area Power Administration eliminating federal involvement in owning and operating energy transmission assets.
- Privatize the Postal Service.
- Ending the conservatorship of Fannie and Freddie and reducing their overall impact on the mortgage and housing market
There are more. Mostly small-ball stuff compared to these five rather major changes (unless I’m misreading; again I haven’t read through the entire document) but I have to say: Wow! Be still my beating heart. This is the kind of conservative reform we should all get behind, and kudos to POTUS and the rest of his staff for proposing these kinds of reforms.
Then again this sort of thing has been tried before, by better men, and failed. Still, nothing ventured nothing gained. We should all support President Trump and his administration in their mission to streamline and eliminate parts of the federal bureaucracy.
Published in Domestic Policy
In terms of personal character, I’ll give you the Clintons, who were born to run kleptocratic banana republics, but both Carter and Obama were better human beings.
Also very well put.
Carter’s an SOB (His SS detail hates his guts), and Obama’s a commie – there’s no such thing as a commie who’s also a good human being.
As President, Carter may have been, but I think being a one-termer kinda broke him. He’s not aged well, especially where Jews are concerned.
The less said about Obama’s character, the better.
A question for the wise Ricochet hive mind. Isn’t delivering the mail in the Constitution? Would that make privatizing the Postal Service a bit tricky?
The people that elected them don’t really want it repealed.
As far as I know (I’m open to correction) the Constitution authorizes a postal service, but doesn’t require it.
Both Australia & Singapore “corporatised” their respective postal services. Whilst both are still government owned, they operate as businesses that stand alone & receive no government funding for operations.
Having lived in both Singapore & OZ several things struck me as significant in the corporatised models.
In Singapore there is an astonishing array of government & commercial services available – bill payments; passport renewals, pay traffic fines and on and on and on. A true service hub.
In OZ it would appear that the local PO’s are franchised out and are essentially “Mum & Pop” operations. Like Singapore they offer a wide array of government & commercial services as well as relevant merchandise. Interestingly, these franchises appear to be dominated by first generation immigrants who see this as their first step on the road to success ladder – think 7-Eleven without the Frosrie Shakes. But each location is run locally as “their business”. If you don’t like one PO location, there is probably another competing location within a mile or two.
In both countries the service levels are excellent & (gasp) the service is delivered with civility and motivation. And yes – they sell stamps.
Nor does it specify the manner in which it shall be organized.
After telling a very bad joke, an acquaintance attempted to ameliorate his indiscretion by saying, “I don’t make them up, I just pass them along.” In your case @spin, I’m afraid you can’t use that excuse. But that’s OK…keep trying. (insert smiley face)
Mike Mulvaney discussing government reorganization at Cabinet meeting:
Sanctimony and Arrogance, in that order. But, I don’t believe they slept around on their wives. They were still the worst presidents in the modern era.
I’m still astounded that Franklin Raines is not in jail.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Raines
At least it is a power given to Congress. Unlike say, oh, everything else they regulate.
Replace “Combine” with “Eliminate” . . .
no.
As I have observed events unfold over the course of President Trump’s campaign and presidential term, here’s what strikes me regarding the issue of his so-called ‘worth’ as a human-being.
Most all of his acts(not speech) as POTUS have been positive and effective(waiting for results on trade/tariffs). The behaviors, actual acts, I find objectionable from his life before this I have not observed during his Presidency. I don’t have any knowledge of his personal religious commitments but he never fails now to invoke a plea for God’s favor on our nation. Some things he says frequently strike me as mean and unnecessary while others really make the Left unhinged and that is a good thing.
A man I didn’t particularly favor at one time has gained my unqualified favor as POTUS. Talk about authenticity!
Of the four, pick two you’d let alone in a room with your daughter or granddaughter.
Article 1, Section 8, Clause 7 empowers Congress to “Establish Post Offices and post Roads.”
Wow, I know the guy three seats to the right of the president. I looked for him because the speaker mentions him at the beginning. Definitely a guy you want in that room.
And it doesn’t say no one else can.
No, it doesn’t, although if you look at Article I, Section 8, most of the other “enumerated powers” are in the nature of things only government can really do.
Re: combining the Department of Labor with the Department of Education.
For decades, the Department of Labor has been in the pocket of the big unions. I don’t know about the Department of Education, but I suspect the teachers’ unions wield great influence there as well. I wonder if this proposed new department can escape those evil influences.
No. Rearranging the deck chairs will not prevent regulatory capture. The people who have the most to gain or lose by what a regulator does will always seek to populate it with people who share their views.
Thank you, sir.
I suspect a case could be made that delivering the mail is no longer a public good.
As explained in this book.
How well armed is she?
But you’ve got a point. Given the choice I’d put her in a room with Bush Jr. and Sr. Because even W wanted to make a move, would he do it in the same room as his father?
It isn’t in some places. I’m not sure there aren’t places that aren’t serviced by the private services though.
Really? Why is that even a thing? This business of the president being some kind of role model baffles me. I’ve never voted for president because I wanted my kids to be safe in the same room with him, or even look up to him as some kind of moral role model. There are certain things I want a president to do and Trump is doing them: devolve power, protect our national interests, and generally make the government as inconsequential in our lives as possible (lower taxes and reduce regulations). Driving the Left insane is a bonus.
Amen :)