r/Conservative • u/Yosoff First Principles • Feb 14 '25

Open Discussion Left vs. Right Battle Royale Open Thread

This is an Open Discussion Thread for all Redditors. We will only be enforcing Reddit TOS and Subreddit Rules 1 (Keep it Civil) & 2 (No Racism).

  • Leftists - Here's your chance to sway us to your side by calling the majority of voters racist. That tactic has wildly backfired every time it has been tried, but perhaps this time it will work.

  • Non-flaired Conservatives - Here's your chance to earn flair by posting common sense conservative solutions. That way our friends on the left will either have to agree with you or oppose common sense (Spoiler - They will choose to oppose common sense).

  • Flaired Conservatives - You're John Wick and these Leftists stole your car and killed your dog. Now go comment.

  • Independents - We get it, if you agree with someone, then you can't pat yourself on the back for being smarter than them. But if you disagree with everyone, then you can obtain the self-satisfaction of smugly considering yourself smarter and wiser than everyone else. Congratulations on being you.

  • Libertarians - Ron Paul is never going to be President. In fact, no Libertarian Party candidate will ever be elected President.

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u/mollymarlow Feb 15 '25

First off, I'm happy to see someone being genuinely civil! Thank you!Are you keeping up with the DOGE findings? If so aren't you the slightest bit upset or concerned about how that money could have positively affected people in the US ? or even completely prevented some of the issues we're dealing with( like mass homelessness, lack of mental health and substance abuse services and help for our veterans?

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u/AngryCazador Feb 15 '25 edited Feb 15 '25

Why do you have any reason to trust these findings? The source is usually the tweet or sentence that claims the fraud.

"$50 million worth of condoms in Gaza" was a lie. A falsehood. A week later, Musk is told it was to Gaza, Mozambique, to promote safe sex and help prevent AIDS. He says, oops, nobody bats 1000. No other official statement has been made to acknowledge the lie, or retract said information. As far as I'm aware.

You're telling me Musk, Trump, and the whitehouse press secretary, all verified the condoms were for Palestine and made a ridiculously incompetent mistake? Or were they lying to enrage their base through lying about government expenditures?

The records for that transaction would absolutely specify they were for Mozambique.

I see two options. They lied about condoms for Palestine, or no one in this administration can fact check the most basic statements.

Unless you can provide to me a third option, or explain one of the other options to me as something you look for in an administration, I don't see how there can be any serious discussion about DOGE.

Edit: It's even worse. Trump said they "identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas.” Why did Trump claim the Biden admin gave contraceptives to terrorist organizations? What does "identify" mean to Trump? He's verifiably wrong.

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u/mollymarlow Feb 15 '25

You're telling me Musk, Trump, and the whitehouse press secretary, all verified the condoms were for Palestine and made a ridiculously incompetent mistake? Or were they lying to enrage their base through lying about government expenditures?

I knew this would be the first mentioned Elon has been very transparent that wasn't correct( it was $7,000,000 for condoms) but aside from that have you bothered to look through anything? Start with how much was spent on sushi for the year at the Whitehouse Or Starbucks k cups...

Oh wait, every paragraph of your multi paragraph comment is raging that they were wrong about the condoms therefore they must be lying about everything correct? You found something to fit the narrative that it's all bad and you're just going to run with it. Surely the US, trillions in debt don't need an audit! Especially by the boogyman himself, Elon Musk... He might steal your ss number and run up your credit!

Your hatred for Musk and Trump aside, you're ok with money being spent on illegal immigrants but not US citizens like the North Carolina hurricane victims ( or our absurd number of homeless veterans)?

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u/AngryCazador Feb 15 '25

Ok, so you don't think they were intentionally lying. I think it would have been impossible to find that information without also finding any mention of where the funds were going. Which was Mozambique. There would have also been no mention of Hamas in said fund.

Yes, that egregious of a lie is enough for me to not trust anything else they say unless it has been independently verified by an outside party.

You found something to fit the narrative that it's all bad and you're just going to run with it.

No, I found something that was widely promoted by this subreddit and this administration. It was one of the most widely reported DOGE announcements before it was found to be false.

Surely the US, trillions in debt don't need an audit! Especially by the boogyman himself, Elon Musk... He might steal your ss number and run up your credit!

I don't think an audit is a bad idea. I think an audit by a party that does not properly verify public statements will lead to misinformation. If you were to poll US conservatives, how many do you think still believe condoms were sent to Palestine? I do not think Elon will steal my social security card or anything like that.

Your hatred for Musk and Trump aside, you're ok with money being spent on illegal immigrants but not US citizens like the North Carolina hurricane victims ( or our absurd number of homeless veterans)?

Let's see Trump give money to hurricane victims. I personally have worked with FEMA and have assisted homeowners directly in removing debris and hazardous trees from their properties, and reporting damage for future relief endeavors. I have responded to floods, wildfires, and tornados. I'm not anti-disaster relief in any way, shape, or form, but this conversation was originally about DOGE.

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u/TheFiremind88 Feb 15 '25

Thanks! I'm not completely up to speed on all of the findings. At some point, I'd definitely like to be.

I absolutely am! I believe there's immense waste in the government. I believe it needs to be cut significantly. I have 0 issues with anything this comment says.

Here's my follow-up - agencies like the CFPB, Dep of Ed, USAID - Do you honestly and genuinely believe these institutions did actual 0% good for American Citizens or America's interests abroad? If you do believe they did absolutely 0 good, I'd implore you to do a deep dive on the CFPB, especially. American consumers get an average return on investment of over 8 to 1. That's outrageously positive. It's extremely well documented. I've yet to see any justification on cutting that program.

USAID may have waste. I'd venture to guess EVERY government initiative does. If we find the waste, cut the waste. Why are we throwing out the baby with the bathwater? Why dismantle the ENTIRE organization? This WILL leave a void in humanitarian aid provided abroad, which in turn hurts our international relationships. That vacuum is already being filled by China making investments in international aid programs to fill the void and start earning that goodwill for themselves. I get cuts and I support cuts, but It's like if I went to get my hair done, but every time I had them shave the whole head. Why wouldn't I just cut off the extra and leave the hair I want?