There are 6 comments.

1. Inactive
   Al Kennedy

   The discussion about the “Deep State” and the “Military Industrial Complex” was interesting but President Trump has not done much to implement the points he made in the speech that you played. Here are several things he could do if he was really serious. Eliminate the ability of federal employees to join a union. This was initiated by President Kennedy a long time ago without legislation. Federal employees are already members of the Civil Service. They do not need employment protection over and above Civil Service protection. Secondly, he should begin to move Cabinet departments out of Washington D.C. Move Commerce to Madison. Move Energy to Houston. Move Agriculture to Des Moines. Move EPA to Salt Lake. Move Interior to Cheyenne. Third, he should initiate zero based budgeting for all federal departments. Every single federal expenditure should be re-justified yearly. Fourth, with the exception of the Defense Department require every Cabinet level department to reduce staffing levels by 10% yearly. This would apply to all positions–temporary and permanent. The problem is that there is really no Trump policy agenda to reduce the influence of the “elites” that you and he rail against. You are energized against Trump critics, but ignore the fact that Trump just isn’t a “policy guy” and doesn’t have any in his administration for domestic policy.

   There was something wrong with the podcast sound. Mike came in only on my left pod, and Todd came in only on the right pod.

2. Contributor
   Michael Stopa

   Al Kennedy (View Comment):

   The discussion about the “Deep State” and the “Military Industrial Complex” was interesting but President Trump has not done much to implement the points he made in the speech that you played. Here are several things he could do if he was really serious. Eliminate the ability of federal employees to join a union. This was initiated by President Kennedy a long time ago without legislation. Federal employees are already members of the Civil Service. They do not need employment protection over and above Civil Service protection. Secondly, he should begin to move Cabinet departments out of Washington D.C. Move Commerce to Madison. Move Energy to Houston. Move Agriculture to Des Moines. Move EPA to Salt Lake. Move Interior to Cheyenne. Third, he should initiate zero based budgeting for all federal departments. Every single federal expenditure should be re-justified yearly. Fourth, with the exception of the Defense Department require every Cabinet level department to reduce staffing levels by 10% yearly. This would apply to all positions–temporary and permanent. The problem is that there is really no Trump policy agenda to reduce the influence of the “elites” that you and he rail against. You are energized against Trump critics, but ignore the fact that Trump just isn’t a “policy guy” and doesn’t have any in his administration for domestic policy.

   There was something wrong with the podcast sound. Mike came in only on my left pod, and Todd came in only on the right pod.

   Hi Al, I agree with you and I think I said that Trump has not made any (or at least not many) concrete steps in combating the Leviathan. Zero base budgeting is certainly one good approach – though I think it would have to be hedged a little bit or else it would cost more in the long run – i.e. sometimes the government needs to offer multi-year contracts.

   Is moving the agencies out of D.C. more than a gimmick? What are the concrete benefits that you envision?

3. Inactive
   Al Kennedy

   Michael Stopa (View Comment):
   Is moving the agencies out of D.C. more than a gimmick? What are the concrete benefits that you envision?

   Michael, I don’t wan’t to impact your ability to provide for your family with my proposals. I think moving some of the Cabinet out of Washington has at least two positive effects” it gets the Cabinet closer to those who are concerned with the problems they are charged with solving, and secondly, it moves some of the lawyers and lobbyists into areas of the country where they must justify their proposals for new legislation with the people who live there. It’s a conspicuous effort to “drain the swamp” that Trump supporters would endorse.

4. Inactive
   Al Kennedy

   Michael Stopa (View Comment):
   sometimes the government needs to offer multi-year contracts.

   Zero based budgeting doesn’t prevent this. It simply requires that the multi year contracts have to be justified and subtracted from the projected spending for other projects in the next year. Multi year contracts would simply be considered mandatory and would reduce other projected spending for the coming year.

5. Member
   drlorentz

   The UBI discussion was based upon a couple of misunderstandings:

   1. That everyone (especially all younger people) have a Nietzschean will to power that means they don’t want to just sit around and do nothing. This may be largely true in some cultures but is hardly universal. If you’ve spent much time in the tropics, you know that there’s a very lackadaisical attitude towards everything, especially work. I was born in the land of mañana (though not within the tropics) and can assure you that they really mean mañana, as in never (it’s recursive).
   2. This notion that most truck drivers* can become artists or somehow find a place in “higher” occupations if only they just got the right training is inconsistent with the realities of human abilities. Not everyone can be a brain surgeon or computer programmer, no matter how much training they get. The idea, advanced by Mr. Feinburg, that if only we fixed the schools everything would be OK is wishful thinking. Some tasks and occupations require a higher level of cognitive ability than some folks possess. Psychometrician Linda Gottfredson has a handy little chart that explains this, which I’ve inserted below. It comes from this presentation.

   In The Bell Curve (Herrnstein and Murray, 1994), explained that many people in the past were not able to make full use of their cognitive ability because of how society was organized: there were few positions that required it and great need for labor in areas that didn’t. In short, there was a limited role for thinking. The industrial and post-industrial era have unleashed this heretofore unused power. However, this cannot continue indefinitely, as the chart illustrates. As machines take over some of the tasks on the left side, there will be trouble.

   

   As Murray pointed out in an interview in 2014, it’s not just those jobs that are at risk:

   Now think about all the white collar jobs that consist of applying a moderately complex body of interpretive rules to repetitive situations. Not everybody is smart enough to do those jobs, so they have paid pretty well. But now computers combined with machines can already do many of them—think about lab technicians who used to do your blood work, and the machines that do it now. For that matter, how long is it before you’re better off telling a medical diagnostic software package your symptoms than telling a physician?

   While the Silicon Valley bien pensant may not be right about the solution (i.e., UBI), I think they’re right to identify the problem.

   *Of course there are always exceptions to generalizations such as this, witness our own Dave Carter.

6. Member
   colleenb

   Enjoyed the podcast as usual. (Finally finished listening to it today). If there is any way to even out the volume of your voices that would be great. I realize you’re in different locations, probably using different types of equipment (?) but the this podcast had a noticeble difference in the volume. Thanks.