Department of Education gone?

[bluebooger]

I agree that a president can't eliminate a branch of government through executive order or by declaring an emergency. However, ...

can't he just nominate a secretary of education with the understanding that that person once confirmed will start firing everyone

does the sec of ed have the authority to start firing people ?

#2, you're fired             
#3, you're promoted to #2's position          
#4, you're promoted to #3's position
and so on ...
and loop ...            
#2, you're fired ...

how many people would you have to fire to essentially get rid of the dept of ed without actually getting rid of the dept of ed

[Ares]

Tariffs are essentially a tax, but they can be highly effective in promoting "America First" policies. For example, the tariffs implemented during the Trump administration have been retained by President Biden, and most Americans barely notice their impact. Can you name a product you've purchased from Amazon where you could clearly identify a tariff? Likely not, yet these measures influence trade and manufacturing in significant ways.

One clear success story of tariffs is the automotive industry. Without the 25% tariff on truck imports, U.S. car manufacturing might have been entirely destroyed. This policy has played a crucial role in keeping American manufacturing alive, despite global competition.

Yes tariffs are technically a tax but like I said it depends on how they are implemented. If they are country specific that will simply cause those goods to be manufactured in another country and the "tax" goes away as soon as that is done.

I do not believe protecting the bad labor and tax policies that made American automotive production uncompetitive was a good thing. Instead they should have removed all regulations, laws protecting labor unions and lowered taxes until American automakers could have been competitive on their own. Democratic laws, policies, regulations and taxes destroy everything they touch.

[LevelUP]

Tariffs are essentially a tax, but they can be highly effective in promoting "America First" policies. For example, the tariffs implemented during the Trump administration have been retained by President Biden, and most Americans barely notice their impact. Can you name a product you've purchased from Amazon where you could clearly identify a tariff? Likely not, yet these measures influence trade and manufacturing in significant ways.

One clear success story of tariffs is the automotive industry. Without the 25% tariff on truck imports, U.S. car manufacturing might have been entirely destroyed. This policy has played a crucial role in keeping American manufacturing alive, despite global competition.

Yes tariffs are technically a tax but like I said it depends on how they are implemented. If they are country specific that will simply cause those goods to be manufactured in another country and the "tax" goes away as soon as that is done.

I do not believe protecting the bad labor and tax policies that made American automotive production uncompetitive was a good thing. Instead they should have removed all regulations, laws protecting labor unions and lowered taxes until American automakers could have been competitive on their own. Democratic laws, policies, regulations and taxes destroy everything they touch.

I think pretty much all foreign car manufacturers that manufacture cars in the U.S. don't have unions which gives them a competitive advantage.

Foreign Car Manufacturers with U.S. Plants

1. Toyota
   • Locations: Kentucky, Indiana, Texas, Alabama, West Virginia, and Mississippi
     
   • Union Status: Non-union plants.
     
2. Honda
   • Locations: Ohio, Alabama, and Indiana
     
   • Union Status: Non-union plants.
     
3. Nissan
   • Locations: Tennessee and Mississippi
     
   • Union Status: Non-union plants, though there have been efforts by the UAW (United Auto Workers) to organize.
     
4. Hyundai
   • Locations: Alabama
     
   • Union Status: Non-union plants.
     
5. Kia
   • Locations: Georgia
     
   • Union Status: Non-union plants.
     
6. BMW
   • Locations: South Carolina
     
   • Union Status: Non-union plants.
     
7. Mercedes-Benz (Daimler)
   • Locations: Alabama
     
   • Union Status: Non-union plants.
     
8. Volkswagen
   • Locations: Tennessee
     
   • Union Status: Mixed. Workers at the Chattanooga plant voted against unionizing in 2019, but there is a small subset of unionized employees in areas like maintenance.
     
9. Mazda (in partnership with Toyota)
   • Locations: Alabama (Toyota-Mazda joint venture)
     
   • Union Status: Non-union plant.
     
10. Subaru
    • Locations: Indiana
      
    • Union Status: Non-union plants.
      

Telsa, Rivian, and Lucid Motors are some of the few U.S. manufacturers that don't have unions.

It would be nice for at least the new U.S. car plants from U.S. manufacturers to be free from unions but we have to work with what we got.

[NotJoeBiden]

Twitter still has 611 million users and the platform is working better than ever. Just like spam emails, dealing with bots is simple on X, just follow reputable accounts.

It is closer to 500 million active users, but its value has dropped over 80%.

Tariffs can be used for negotiating leverage and only become a sales tax if they are across the board on everything. If they are country specific that will just move production outside the country targeted. So say you put a tariff on a good made in China, the good can then be manufactured elsewhere without the tariff, so say Vietnam.

We live in a global economy where raw materials come from different parts of the world. Even a car made in the US will cost more since raw materials like steel come from China.

I like all the hypocrites coming out of the wood work to complain about tariffs when they never said a word when Obama did it.

He put a 35% tariff on Chinese tires, not all Chinese goods.

At least I can say I was against all tariffs, all the time.

You were just defending their use.

---

Tariffs are essentially a tax, but they can be highly effective in promoting "America First" policies. For example, the tariffs implemented during the Trump administration have been retained by President Biden, and most Americans barely notice their impact. Can you name a product you've purchased from Amazon where you could clearly identify a tariff? Likely not, yet these measures influence trade and manufacturing in significant ways.

One clear success story of tariffs is the automotive industry. Without the 25% tariff on truck imports, U.S. car manufacturing might have been entirely destroyed. This policy has played a crucial role in keeping American manufacturing alive, despite global competition.

This is true. Then problem is US auto manufacturers haven’t been able to make a good care in decades. Now American people have to pay more for trucks as a result.

Switching gears, the value of social media platforms like Twitter (now X) is often hard to measure until capital is raised. However, we do know that Elon Musk’s startup, xAI, is now reportedly valued at over $50 billion—surpassing the amount Musk paid for Twitter. Notably, xAI boasts more computing power than ChatGPT, even though ChatGPT itself is valued at an impressive $150 billion.
https://archive.vn/MQdz9#selection-1685.0-1685.95

Company value is assessed all the time and is not complicates. Twitter is making less money and is worth less since it has been gutted. Experts project that it is worth over 80% less than when he bought it.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s total net worth continues to climb, now exceeding $340 billion, a testament to his diverse ventures and success.
https://archive.vn/2YyW6

Under his direct management he dropped the value of Twitter by over 80%. This fact remains. Additionally, most of his companies survived as a direct result of government subsidies.

On a political note, any significant change, such as introducing a new economic or monetary policy, requires a solid plan and political will. For instance, DOGE was created partly because Congress has struggled to produce viable financial plans. To achieve meaningful change, there must first be a well-constructed proposal, followed by the necessary political pressure to force a vote. This process is far from easy, but it’s essential for progress.

This department has not yet been created, and would require an act of congress to be created. Trump had all the ability to do these things he is touting in his first term but did not. He grew the deficit by the largest single year amount of any president.

[LevelUP]

Under his direct management he dropped the value of Twitter by over 80%. This fact remains. Additionally, most of his companies survived as a direct result of government subsidies.

The most reliable way to determine Twitter's true value is to have it publicly traded again. Evaluating its worth isn't just about analyzing the balance sheet—it's also about assessing the unique value Elon Musk brings to the table. 

This is the same reason Tesla surpassed a $1 trillion valuation. It wasn't purely due to profitability but largely because of the visionary leadership and value Musk contributes to Tesla.

Many of these subsidies were already established before Elon Musk founded these companies. In Tesla's case, the subsidies were already in place.

This department has not yet been created, and would require an act of congress to be created. Trump had all the ability to do these things he is touting in his first term but did not. He grew the deficit by the largest single year amount of any president.

There is no need for an act of congress.

"A few weeks ago, President-elect Donald Trump announced the formation of a new advisory group called the Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE.

Although its name suggests a government entity, DOGE will be an nongovernment commission, operating independently."

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opin...rcna182080

"There’s a long history of presidents tasking commissions with streamlining government, leading to ideas that were both praised and panned.

President Theodore Roosevelt’s Committee on Department Methods was tasked with investigating and reporting on “ways to improve business methods and practices of Executive departments” from 1905 to 1909.

President Ronald Reagan created the Grace Commission, and

President Bill Clinton formed the National Partnership for Reinventing Government. 

All had successes and less than stellar reviews."

[NotJoeBiden]

Under his direct management he dropped the value of Twitter by over 80%. This fact remains. Additionally, most of his companies survived as a direct result of government subsidies.

The most reliable way to determine Twitter's true value is to have it publicly traded again. Evaluating its worth isn't just about analyzing the balance sheet—it's also about assessing the unique value Elon Musk brings to the table. 

This is the same reason Tesla surpassed a $1 trillion valuation. It wasn't purely due to profitability but largely because of the visionary leadership and value Musk contributes to Tesla.

Many of these subsidies were already established before Elon Musk founded these companies. In Tesla's case, the subsidies were already in place.

This department has not yet been created, and would require an act of congress to be created. Trump had all the ability to do these things he is touting in his first term but did not. He grew the deficit by the largest single year amount of any president.

There is no need for an act of congress.

"A few weeks ago, President-elect Donald Trump announced the formation of a new advisory group called the Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE.

Although its name suggests a government entity, DOGE will be an nongovernment commission, operating independently."

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opin...rcna182080

"There’s a long history of presidents tasking commissions with streamlining government, leading to ideas that were both praised and panned.

President Theodore Roosevelt’s Committee on Department Methods was tasked with investigating and reporting on “ways to improve business methods and practices of Executive departments” from 1905 to 1909.

President Ronald Reagan created the Grace Commission, and

President Bill Clinton formed the National Partnership for Reinventing Government. 

All had successes and less than stellar reviews."

Twitter is worth less. The human capital was drastically cut, advertisers left, and increasing competition on the market has made it lose value. Elon Musk’s visionary ideas were to unban and promote white-supremacists/alt-right conspiracies, and he did that. Nothing groundbreaking. There really isn’t controversy that it has lost value as a direct result of Elon’s policies.

An advisory group isn’t the same as a department. They can only offer recommendations. They don’t hold any power like an executive department, since that would require Congress to approve. It is just a redundancy to the Government Accountability Office made to give Elon and Vivek a job for their help electing Trump.

[Ares]

Twitter is worth less. The human capital was drastically cut, advertisers left, and increasing competition on the market has made it lose value. Elon Musk’s visionary ideas were to unban and promote white-supremacists/alt-right conspiracies, and he did that.

Musk wants Twitter/X to be a public town square not a fortune 500 company. Thank god he cut all the dead weight employees.

Why are you slandering Musk with deranged conspiracy theories?

Why are you so obsessed with censoring and banning people who hold a different opinion than your own? That sounds rather authoritarian to me.

[NotJoeBiden]

Musk wants Twitter/X to be a public town square not a fortune 500 company. Thank god he cut all the dead weight employees.

He tanked the value of it. He lost tens of billions of dollars due to bad business practices. He could have made it a public town square without losing money.

Why are you slandering Musk with deranged conspiracy theories?

What deranged conspiracy theory? Also, if I wrote anything defamatory it would be considered libel, not slander.

Why are you so obsessed with censoring and banning people who hold a different opinion than your own? That sounds rather authoritarian to me.

When have I censored or banned anyone here? I have no moderation power.

If you consider pushback against your statement to be censorship, then maybe you would be better suited to make them in a conservative safe space.

[Ares]

The conspiracy that Musk is a secret white supremacist.

I am simply pointing out that you seem to support censorship because otherwise allowing lawful speech means allowing people to speak who you disagree with and may say things you find controversial or inappropriate. Either your goal was to smear Musk with a libelous conspiracy theory or you wish to see people who hold views you find controversial or contrary to your own censored. Such libelous labeling was used extensively on Twitter prior to Musk to censor, ban and shadow ban anyone who did not hold insane far-left political views.

[NotJoeBiden]

The conspiracy that Musk is a secret white supremacist.

I am simply pointing out that you seem to support censorship because otherwise allowing lawful speech means allowing people to speak who you disagree with and may say things you find controversial or inappropriate. Either your goal was to smear Musk with a libelous conspiracy theory or you wish to see people who hold views you find controversial or contrary to your own censored. Such libelous labeling was used extensively on Twitter prior to Musk to censor, ban and shadow ban anyone who did not hold insane far-left political views.

Ooh, it is no secret. He openly retweets white supremacist content.

Again, when I push back against your statements it is not censorship. Think of it as community notes.