The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

It's kind of funny how this has slowly blown up on Trump but conservatives are actually calling him out for trying to raise the national debt. This is what conservatism looks like so I'm glad to see us returning. Elon calling him out is one thing but no one had Trump loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) joining others with her caucus to side with Musk. As a Republican I have to say it's refreshing to see.

they still voted to raise the national debt, now they're complaining about the vote they already took ?

Well ... kind of. The House voted for it but a few Republicans did not who Trump openly attacked. Since the bill has been sent to the Senate it has continually lost support by Senators and now some House Reps are saying they regret voting for it. Once it does pass the Senate I'm expecting it will look a lot different and be sent back to the House to be confirmed.

It appears their go-to defense is "I didn't read it."

Please cite any elected Republican criticizing Trump by name (and not "this bill").

Ball’s in your court so to speak. If the republicans manage to make a bill that somehow doesn’t raise the debt then it will require deep cuts if not cancellations to the entirety of the social safety net and the fallout from that will be a disaster.

The only way to actually balance the budget is to cut into very popular government social  programs.

Republicans have been running on this for decades so let them own the consequences.

The most reasonably place to cut large amounts of our spending is with military.

I don't hate the concept of DOGE, but it's really a job that has to be perpetual, with a scalpel.  But military spending is out of control and unnecessary and outdated.

Isn't that always the go to for politicians? It isn't the first time, nor the last, that we will hear that from both sides of the isle.

You got me Mr. Lawyer. I'm sure you're so proud. How dare I think his policy that he is pushing is a reflection of him?

I disagree. As DOGE has revealed we do a lot of unnecessary spending and each bill continues to do so. We have  lot of pork projects funded by Bills that could be removed. If we fall behind the Chinese (or others) in military strength our grandkids will be speaking Chinese. These other countries want to destroy us ... even the peace loving hippy types that think Gays for Palestine is a good thing. They absolutely hate us.

They can't criticize Trump by name because the entire Republican Party is a cult.

I agree, but there’s no chance now of any military cuts with this president and congress.

I also agree that there should be a legitimate government spending agency but that isn’t DOGE, DOGE is a mercenary hacker group headed by a carnival barking showman who masquerades as a businessman and scientist.

It hasn't.  DOGE has been a huge failure and when all is said and done will probably have cost us money.  It saved some amount of billions, but it made cuts in some areas that were earners AND it cut things that provide soft support around the world and make our dollar more powerful.  It was poorly thought out and run and that's why Elon is unpopular and out on his ass.  If slashing spending was so easy and harmless, everyone would do it.  That's why people talk a big game and then get in office and it's the same shit.  Also, we cut a lot of things that are insurance for the future.  Sure, you can cut a bunch of money for disease research, but then you're going to eventually get overcome with disease that's gonna cost the country way more.


This is bullshit cold-war-era thinking.  Do you think we're going to lose our country to China if we reduce our military by 30%?  You need a certain amount of bombs and guns to prevent hostile takeover, sure.  But your money is better spent on intelligence than machinery and troops.

Also, peace is maintained through mutual economic prosperity: trade, for one.  But if we fail, China fails.  We need each other.  That's what keeps countries from fighting.

No doubt.  I don't expect anything to change, but I'm saying like...ideal world.

We basically spend all of our money on Social Security / Medicare & Medicaid / Military.

All the other shit is a rounding error.  So "transgenic mice research" or "drag story time" will piss people off and make headlines, but it's no savings.

Social Security matters and is important and I think we need to keep it, but I wouldn't mind if we changed the way it was funded...but some kind of forced savings for every person.
Medicare & Medicaid -- I think I'd just prefer we socialize medicine, but there are tradeoffs.  We spend a lot of money on top level care for people who are old and sick.  That's not something other countries do.  They don't just extend life of old people.  But they have better coverage for people in their prime.   We spend too much on medical care and so much of it is administrative.
And then Military.  Just cut it by a lot and shift focus away from machinery and soldiers to intelligence and ops.

We already had someone to audit for waste, fraud, and abuse: the Office of the Inspector General.

OIG was one of the first targets of DOGE cuts.  Because when you're an unofficial, unaccountable "advisory committee" with no statutory power, the last thing you want is an official, legally authorized watchdog department snooping around.

This is dumb. There have always been Republicans who criticize Trump. We are talking about the brainwashed loyalists here. Why do you think the bill has not passed? Everyone isn't sold out to whatever he says and now some of his loyalists are pushing back.

It's 9.4 billion that has been requested to be removed by Congress and DODGE is just getting started.

We will never agree on the military. It's odd to me that although history constantly repeats itself, many comfortable people are living like we are too big to fail. Entitled countries have always come down. China is trying to buy us out as it is. If it weren't for us having superior military they would treat us just like they treat Taiwan. Worst case is we have to error on the side of caution because there is no coming back from the alternative.

I don't disagree with this, but the threat of China is economic, not military.  China doesn't want that smoke, even at 30% reduction...even at 70% reduction.  We're not fighting ground wars anymore.  It's intelligence and targeted strikes, threat of nukes -- but it's economic. 

If you're concerned about China taking over America, bring down your debt to them.  And the way to do that most effectively is taxing the population and lowering military spending....and probably socializing medicine.

9.4 b-b-b-billion, you say?!
That is nothing.  It's a rounding error in the federal budget, as Dave said.

Pretty sad that Musk fans have had to go from "$2 trillion in cuts" (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2-trillion-2026-elon-musks-141719633.html) to you now bragging about cutting a measly $9.4 billion out of a $6.75 trillion budget.  We destroyed all of these government agencies and fired thousands of people for a savings of less than 1/5th of 1 percent?

And no, DOGE isn't "just getting started"; they're DONE.  DOGE was only an advisory committee and, since it was not established by any bill passed by Congress, had a hard limit of 130 days for any person involved.  That's why Elon Musk got the boot from DC (and took Stephen Miller's wife with him back to Texas (https://www.thedailybeast.com/musk-takes-stephen-millers-wifeas-trump-aide-rage-tweets),  probably to join his compound where he stores his brood mares and his children (https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/elon-musk-keeps-offering-friends-and-acquaintances-his-sperm-report)).

We don't need to raise taxes. That's the lazy way out and it only creates other problems. Companies do not pay taxes, tariffs, or anything else added to the cost of production. The cost gets pushed off to the middle class who is purchasing it. That's why we are where we are now.

We need to control spending and cut out pet projects that do not benefit us taxpayers. DeSantis has done it every year in Florida and have about 1/2 the debt he inherited. 

CF, just for perspective, all that Elon cut -- all that harm to save 9 billion -- that's 1% of the military budget.  We could've cut the military by 1% and been in the exact same spot.