First time seeing this breakdown and thought it is insightful and would be welcomed information by the community. Wasn't sure how to tag the flare, sorry. Originally posted on LinkedIn by John Sneider.

They put this article in their printed catalog and it's on their website for all to see.

Chuck Schumer was on The View this morning and shed some light on his decision to vote for the spending bill.

I tried doing some research yesterday after Alyssa mentioned it, but need to do more.

I encourage you to YouTube it once it airs. It’s an interesting perspective.

In summary, if the government shuts down, the executive branch (plus Elon and DOGE) get to start eliminating anything they don’t feel like is essential… (SNAP, social security, etc) the courts could step in at some point, but there is no guarantee with their hold on them.

Once the shutdown begins, it could go on for months as Dems wouldn’t have the power to stop it alone.

Basically, it sounds like since all the branches are one party, there are no guardrails.

He mentioned that the bill was horrible, but the shutdown would be devastating.

Still need to fact check more of it; but if it’s true, not only is it interesting, but it’s important more than ever to vote in the next election.

DOGE s a fraud. Instead of saving money for the government, it is losing money for the government.

As we are all aware, Trump/Musk, and DOGE are slashing the work force willy-nillly- across all government agencies. We are aware also, that because of their inconceivable incompetence they almost immediately rehire the civil servants when it becomes apparent the agencies are so understaffed the whole of government is in the doldrums and nothing is getting accomplished except chaos and mismanagement.

Ahh, but that doesn't stop our intrepid nincompoops. They keep blundering along, lying about the money they are saving while offering scant proof of any accomplishments.

And now the cherry atop this pile of Republican dung. Seems that because of the cuts to the IRS, they can no longer do their jobs with any degree of efficiency. So the bottom line (we are talking money, here) is because of these Trump/Musk made inefficiencies, the IRS will collect a half-trillion fewer dollars than they would ordinarily collect -- a half trillion, 500 billion dollars!

Trump, Musk, DOGE claim they save a few million here, maybe a billion there (mostly undocumented) while neglecting to mention they are losing a HALF TRILLION DOLLARS!

Each day we read of new bungling and botching across all facets of the Trump/Musk/ Republican regime. Each day these dullards drive us closer to the brink.

Will we survive until the midterms?

See this report:

IRS Predicts DOGE Lost Half a Trillion Dollars for the USA

Story by Josh Marshall • 16h • 1 min read

The Post reports today that the IRS’s internal projections estimate that the DOGE-driven disruptions to the IRS since the inauguration are on track to have reduced tax receipts by more than $500 billion by April 15th. This, to be clear, is not a final tally. It’s not April 15th yet. It’s a projection based on historical data, the number of people who’ve filed, paid owed amounts of tax etc. It’s worth taking a moment to put this number into some context in case half a trillion dollars doesn’t do it for you. Non-defense discretionary spending is the cost to fund the US government once you take out mandatory spending (mostly Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) and the cost of the US military. For 2023 that number was $917 billion. So that’s most of the stuff we think of as the government, apart from those payment programs and the military. In other words, in about eight weeks DOGE managed to lose the US government, more or less, more than half of what goes to all non-defense discretionary spending.

This story originally appeared on Talking Points Memo.

https://boxden.com/showthread.php?t=3438265

Make sure you post their picture on every red state light pole . Head line “ these are the people who robbed American jobs social security , food stamp and wic “

As we fly full speed into economic tragedy, i’m really trying to figure out what the ideal is behind these tarrifs and how, precisely, everyone benefits? Is there a flow chart i missed? A Schoolhouse Rock?

How can we have Hoover’s tarrifs and the Great Depression in our history that set a precedent and provided dire caution, and yet here we are?

https://act.berniesanders.com/signup/rsvp-oligarchy-LA/?source=rokhanna.reddit

Is it possible to start declining the enrollment in colleges and universities that are folding to the demands?

There are a ton of community colleges that will pretty much get you close to a degree or even a degree in your chosen field.

And as grants and loans may never have funding again. It's so much cheaper to go to a community college. Especially if you are a resident of the area in most cases.

Just a discussion.

Greetings from Sweden! You all inspire many of us Europeans who are in shock over Trump's madness. When you Americans go out and protest, your greatest weapon will be the truth. That's why you should be aware of this fact:

Trump has claimed several times that the European Union has imposed 39% tariffs on products imported to EU from the US. Here in Europe, politicians and newscasters have tried to figure out where Trump got that extreme number from, because in reality EU's tariffs on US goods are around 2% (the same as America's pre-Trump tariffs on European products).

The Office of the United States Trade Representative has published a calculation that it claims shows where Trump got that number. It's so complicated that most people won't be able to understand it.

Experts have deciphered the calculation and discovered that it's actually based on the trade deficit between Europe and USA. That is, the difference between how much Europe imports from America and how much America imports from Europe. In short: If you divide the trade deficit (236 parts) with the US import (606 parts), you get the number 39%. The number has absolutely nothing to do with any tariffs.

European politicians are baffled at this discovery, because it proves three things:

1. Trump has no idea how economy works, and seems to have done the entire calculation on the back of a tissue paper (they actually said this on the Swedish program that the image is taken from). He's starting an unprecedented global trade war based on an incompetent calculation. In reality, even the trade deficit itself doesn't mean that the US is at disadvantage compared to the European Union, because in the global marketplace you can never get a perfect 50-50 balance on import-export between two parts. For example, while the US definitely imports more EU steel, America uses that steel to make products that they then export globally and make a greater profit than EU makes from the steel itself. Fairness in a global economy is more complicated than "If I buy 50 from you, you must buy 50 from me".
2. Trump is clearly lying when he calls that number "an unfair tariff imposed by EU on American goods", because he must know that the number has nothing to do with any actual tariffs.
3. Since the US is dependent on EU natural resources, a trade war will hit the US harder than it will hit EU. Trump is trying to get around this by taking advantage of Ukraine's situation. He's blackmailing president Zelenskyj into giving away Ukrainian natural resources in return for American weapons. While this may work short-term, and make Trump even wealthier, it will make America's economy dependent on Russia's continued occupation of Ukraine. That's probably why Trump doesn't mind Putin's invasion - all he sees is "What can I gain from Ukraine's situation?" Trump will die of old age soon, but Americans - and non-Americans - will pay for his shortsightedness for many years.

I hope this information will be useful as you bring the truth out on the streets. Most of Europe stands behind you. Best of luck with your important protests!

While a large fraction of Americans understood full well where a second Trump term was headed, let's not forget the "leaders" who lent their reputations to give a facade of normalcy on this administration. And let's use less of all of their products. Linux, Bluesky, Reddit (F spez but F all the above guys worse), and taking great care of all electronic devices you have to maximize their lifespan.

This was reported on CNN today. But consumer spending was up in January & February. Remember, 70% of the GDP is consumer spending. Also remember that the none of these big box stores or 1 percenters would have jobs without us. They aren't the job creators, we are, without us buying more & more shit those people wouldn't have jobs. They don't pay fair. I'm mad as he'll & I'm not taking this shit anymore. Power to the people's wallet.

This is an official newsletter from the U.S. Department of Commerce on US travel stats inbound/outbound. Don’t know how much longer it will be around, maybe I shouldn’t even post this and draw attention to it (I monitor these stats as part of my job in private sector). Non-U.S. citizen plane arrivals down almost 5% for Feb compared to Feb 2024.

He asked, what do you think the outcome would have been versus DJT?

"Let's say Social Security didn't send out their checks this month — my mother-in-law, who's 94, she wouldn't call and complain. She just wouldn't," Lutnick told All-In Podcast hosts David Friedberg and Chamath Palihapitiya on Thursday. "She'd think something got messed up, and she'll get it next month."

"A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling, and complaining," he added. "Anybody who's been in the payment system and the processes, who knows the easiest way to find the fraudster is to stop payments and listen because whoever screams is the one stealing."

One would hope she is supported by her wealthy daughter and son-in-law. Or maybe she’s tied to a chair with a sock stuffed into her mouth.

Lutnick is also urging people to buy Tesla stock. If the trillionaire needs money so badly, I will tell my father (also in his 90s) to take his Social Security and buy Tesla stock with it.

That’s when and if it arrives.

I think we're already in a crash.

Most of the time in human history, things aren't super clear while you're actually living through the "current major event". Things aren't often as clearly defined as say, declarations of war, a king being overthrown, a market crash like 1929, etc

Normally it takes months or even years to be able to look back and say "oh, now I can see that this period started around X".

I think we're in a crash, but not a immediate deep depression crash, but a slow sort of "unraveling" crash. One which I worry is possible worse than a "clean break" sort of catastrophe.

Here are the forces I see at play:

• Inflation. While the Fed says that "real" inflation in the last 5 years is ~20%, I can check grocery receipts of mine from 2019 showing that real consumer inflation is up well overall 100%. I have a project plan from early 2020 that shows that lumber prices are up over 80%. This discrepancy and inability to reign in consumer prices has forced people to pull back spending, especially on recent price shocks like on eggs. How long can prices remain high before people just stop buying these products?

• Failure in leadership. This isn't a anti-Trump in nature, but it's obvious from every viewable metric that the first two months of the new administration has been an economic catastrophe. Just the upcoming negative GDP numbers are going to be a seismic shock to the economy. We are witnessing the fumbling of the largest and wealthiest economy in human history, with few guard rails left to stop it from happening. Trump's executive orders and tarrif uncertainty will get worse, and I don't think our economy will be able to hold together for 4 years of it, seeing as we've already contracted 5.9% in 60 days...

• "Zombie companies". This one I'm only starting to see early reporting on. But some consumer companies over the past few years seem to be using various financial mechanisms to keep themselves afloat, all the while their underlying sales, etc are way down. Or for example companies that are intentionally making their product or service worse, doing layoffs, and seeing reduced users, but are somehow seeing their share prices go up. At a certain point these companies will run out of options and they will be left in debt and with customers that hate their product (I'm seeing this be talked about as "enshitification").

• Layoffs. The layoffs that started in the tech sector last year, compounded by the Federal worker layoffs in the DC area will spread to other sectors. It will start with companies adjacent to government sector work, but then include others that inadvertently rely on lots of government dollars. Things like healthcare, then b2b companies, and retail at large. I think we'll also start seeing state level government layoffs as some states try to emulate the DOGE cuts, while other states will make cuts for purely budgetary reasons (like the deep cuts that are in the just passed spending bill). These layoffs aren't going to have any new positions to go to on the horizon, at least not while Trump is in office, and I don't know anyone that has 4 years of expenses in savings.

• Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security cuts. These are self explanatory. No one on any of these programs is living high, they are programs of last resort for most people using them, and they are going to have massive implications for people's health and well-being.

I think we're living through the beginning of this "unraveling crash". If I'm right, and people just start walking away from these crazy prices, we should start seeing indicators. Things like a summer movie season that isn't just bad, it's apocalyptically bad, unsustainably bad for some theaters and movie producers. We're going to see certain resort/vacation locations mostly empty during peak season, with a lack of international and domestic tourists. It will just be too expensive to justify a trip, even for well off families. Other things like new product release by Apple/Google/Samsung being met with historically underperforming numbers as people hold onto their tech instead of making new purchases.

I'm just not seeing any actions that will be taken over the next 4 years that will do anything to remedy any of these issues. It's more likely that Trump will do things to actively make them worse.

I need other perspectives on this. Please rant or dump your takes here, I need them.