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Yep. And for proof of this, look no further than the politicians who are bragging about getting funding for their constituents, funding they voted against because deficit.

I doubt Trump is quaking in his boots at all. He is a narcissistic sociopath, and he actually believes he has done nothing wrong, and he also believes he can do no wrong and he also believes that he should not be held accountable for anything he does or has done. Fear is not something he can comprehend. he is perfect and he believes that. The reality will be far different that his perception of it, and all that means as he loses case after case is that he will become more unhinged.... BECAUSE he is a narcissistic sociopath.

we spend more that we take in, which is why we have a deficit. Name any program that the majority of Americans want to slash or eliminate and then show us how much money we would actually save by doing that, and I bet it doesn't even make a ding in the deficit. The answer is basically 'no programs should be cut' for most people if you really got into the nitty gritty of it. We have the programs that we want, we just refuse to tax at the level needed to pay for them because "taxes bad, programs good". And if you discuss Americans being unwilling to pay for the things that they demand, the argument invariably shifts to "Well, the government just wastes everything we give them", which accomplishes nothing to solve the problem. but yeah, taxes are very low in the USA, but I think Americans complain more about 'high taxes' than other countries. I think other countries pay higher taxes, but actually get something for their money, especially education, which gives them the ability to understand what they are getting for their money. In the USA there is a concerted effort (falsely believed) that by cutting government, somehow the country will be better off. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Agreed. Taxes should not be raised to fund useless programs. Great example. Now that it's improving, it makes fiscal sense to fund it. The question is - how do you do that with as little damage to the economy as possible? I would suggest that a very progressive tax (i.e. taxing rich people a lot more than middle income, and middle income more than low income) is the most effective, least damaging way to do that.

The biggest problem with metrics is the time they take, which is considered "wasted" by nearly everyone except for the people who read them (and often don't do much about them, because they're a few levels removed from actual clients/customers/patients). Might big words from a former L6S Black Belt... The problem isn't just the lack of metrics, it's all too often the design of those metrics for the convenience of the people that the bean counters are most scared of (i.e. who own paycheck authority). So those are the people who get the most convenience, and you end up with the customers having to press endless buttons to assure the upper-ups that they are satisfied with the service that they have received. And you end up with the priorities of the upper-ups (often not just customer service) being the priority. In addition, because metrics reduce the granularity with which service is measured (you have to categorize things), you end up with issues that aren't always easily classified -- because there are millions of users of most government services, and each of them is different. The answer isn't simply to give up; it's to try to identify the biggest problem (which might mean, yes, metrics to identify it -- but then you QUIT THOSE METRICS, because their purpose is over). Metrics are kind of like old software -- someone either still uses them and is important enough to inconvenience everyone else, or no one understands what those particular ones do any more, and so they leave them in to avoid starting a problem. Wendy P.

Hi 17, Re: I thought Al was running the team the whole time, even when Craig was there. I first met Craig in about 1970; he had about 25-35 jumps. He began his jumping at the old Issaquah, WA dz. Craig was a true organizer/team leader. He tried & tried to build a competitive team here in the PacNW. The weather would just not allow it. So, he relocated to SoCal. It only took him a few yrs to 'move' Al K out as the team leader. C'est la vie, Jerry Baumchen

Apparently Trump's legal expenses came to over $5.5 Million in February. Suckers contributing to his PAC paid most of it. Even so, it shows very clearly that there is a different law for the rich. I doubt anyone here could afford the delaying tactics that Trump's army of lawyers employ.

Note, however, that this article is in the opinion section. I'll look later for some straight news ones. I don't really expect them to say much different, just less opining. Wendy P.

From the article (closing paragraph):

Well, this didn't go so well for Trump. The entire thing is worth reading so I won't paraphrase it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/21/trump-new-york-trial-evidence-motions-business-merchan/

No, the rich are good people to tax because you can without harming them. If you increase taxes on someone who makes $40K a year - someone is going to go hungry. That is real harm. If you increase taxes on someone who makes $40M a year, and reduce taxes on someone who makes $40K a year - no one is harmed, and a lot more people eat. The rich guy might only be able to buy one new yacht that year. That isn't harm.

I have one question. When Donald Trump told America that he had 400 million dollars in cash, how long did it take Allen Weisselberg to stop laughing?

Stick around! I enjoy your thoughts!!!

New Episode out now! DB Cooper's Bomb with Sergeant Major Mike Vining, US Army Retired. https://thecoopervortex.podbean.com/e/db-coopers-bomb-sargent-major-mike-vining-us-army-retired/ Enjoy!