Today in hypocrisy...

[nsplayr]

2 hours ago, Clark Griswold said:

This

MAGA has to tame the unelected bureaucrats and their groupies

https://redstate.com/bonchie/2025/02/12/scott-jennings-baits-cnn-analyst-into-make-a-damning-admission-n2185490

If you sincerely believe this point of view, do you support Elon and his DOGE interns?

In my view, an intellectually honestly and consistent way to argue is say look, the President is the unitary executive and his senate-confirmed agency heads are executing his policy goals. They should have a freer hand to make some of these staffing decisions. Maybe you implement Schedule F, maybe you do other things, etc. like were tried in the first Trump admin to loosen some of the potentially overbearing federal worker protections.

You could also get Congress (which happens to now be controlled by the President’s party) to pass appropriations more to the President’s liking. They could abolish Congressionally-created agencies or departments, reduce funding or end-strength levels, etc. They have seemed amenable to that.

What I think is happening now is unconstitutional impoundment of funds Congress has appropriated, and also just having “your team’s” unelected bureaucrat (Elon Musk) coming in to be a hatchet man to make otherwise illegal decisions. I’m not sure the best way to emphasize how much you hate unelected bureaucrats having too much power is to use one to unilaterally do a bunch of stuff, but just stuff you like better. It’s like Elon at Twitter - he’s not a “free speech absolutist” as he claims, he just wanted content moderation more to his liking. Now it’s just different things that are throttled and censored or “shadow banned.”

Just because you like the outcome shouldn’t make the process legal or correct - that’s the argument the right often makes, particularly members of Congress, when laws are passed but then the administration of the opposite party implements them in potentially unintended ways. Not that there’s not hypocrisy on the left, there is.

Open to your thoughts.

Edited February 12 by nsplayr

[Clark Griswold]

If you sincerely believe this point of view, do you support Elon and his DOGE interns?
In my view, an intellectually honestly and consistent way to argue is say look, the President is the unitary executive and his senate-confirmed agency heads are executing his policy goals. They should have a freer hand to make some of these staffing decisions. Maybe you implement Schedule F, maybe you do other things, etc. like were tried in the first Trump admin to loosen some of the potentially overbearing federal worker protections.
You could also get Congress (which happens to now be controlled by the President’s party) to pass appropriations more to the President’s liking. They could abolish Congressionally-created agencies or departments, reduce funding or end-strength levels, etc. They have seemed amenable to that.
What I think is happening now is unconstitutional impoundment of funds Congress has appropriated, and also just having “your team’s” unelected bureaucrat (Elon Musk) coming in to be a hatchet man to make otherwise illegal decisions. I’m not sure the best way to emphasize how much you hate unelected bureaucrats having too much power is to use one to unilaterally do a bunch of stuff, but just stuff you like better. It’s like Elon at Twitter - he’s not a “free speech absolutist” as he claims, he just wanted content moderation more to his liking. Now it’s just different things that are throttled and censored or “shadow banned.”
Just because you like the outcome shouldn’t make the process legal or correct - that’s the argument the right often makes, particularly members of Congress, when laws are passed but then the administration of the opposite party implements them in potentially unintended ways. Not that there’s not hypocrisy on the left, there is.
Open to your thoughts.

Honestly I think you and I are going to have to discuss this at the laymen’s level and we’d have to get into Art 1 and 2 of the constitution but fundamentally there is no Article 4, the bureaucracy is part of the part of the Executive Branch and when it ultimately comes down to it, if the Executive chooses to not execute those funds or to shape the departments, bureaus and agencies in a way NOT explicitly prohibited in statute then the Executive has primacy to act vs objections of the minority opposition party in Congress
If we interpret the Constitution as some are saying, the Executive is just a programmed robot of Congress that has no will but to execute as the bill when passed is written with no deviation
Now the Executive can’t go rogue, appropriate money, create programs beyond a certain scope, but I don’t think we’re there yet
You’ve got a point, they may need to recalibrate but ultimately I’m for these reform efforts as the Republic is sclerotic and failing
We overspend, we pass spending bills no human being reads in entirety, we don’t track where hundreds of billions of dollars are spent and it can not go on
Trump is probably a bit over his skis but I think it’s necessary


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