Elon Musk...human? - Political

[Spekulatius]

57 minutes ago, DooDiligence said:

 

I watched a bit of CNA recently and saw a documentary that covered anti-corruption efforts in Singapore over the decades. Pretty draconian at times. Let's do it and let's start with everybody in DC left and right, now.

 

https://www.cpib.gov.sg/about-corruption/legislation-and-enforcement/prevention-of-corruption-act/

 

 

It’s going dramatically the other way:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/pausing-foreign-corrupt-practices-act-enforcement-to-further-american-economic-and-national-security/

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-maintains-pause-trump-bid-immediately-fire-watchdog-agen-rcna192643
 

[Hektor]

10 minutes ago, Saluki said:

Yes, for instance if your client runs out of money during a criminal trial, your ethical duty is to still represent him and pay for things like expert witnesses, if needed. It would be an interesting conversation if an MBA was involved. 

 

And the ban on fee sharing is pretty common in other industries, to prevent shady practices. For example FINRA Rule 2040 or NFA Rule 1101 prohibit fee sharing with unregistered people.

Thank you.

[james22]

7 hours ago, Saluki said:

I don't have a person in mind, but I have a system in mind.

 

+1

 

I'm reminded of Michael Lewis' description of Germany's civil servants:

 

He is a type familiar in Germany but absolutely freakish in Greece—or for that matter the United States: a keenly intelligent, highly ambitious civil servant who has no other desire but to serve his country. His sparkling curriculum vitae is missing a line that would be found on the résumés of men in his position most anywhere else in the world—the line where he leaves government service for Goldman Sachs to cash out. When I asked another prominent German civil servant why he hadn’t taken time out of public service to make his fortune working for some bank, the way every American civil servant who is anywhere near finance seems to want to do, his expression changed to alarm. “But I could never do this,” he said. “It would be illoyal!”

 

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/09/europe-201109#gotopage1

 

Those better men didn't protect them from the GFC.

 

Instead:

 

 

I do not believe that the solution to our problem is simply to elect the right people. The important thing is to establish a political climate of opinion which will make it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing. Unless it is politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing, the right people will not do the right thing either, or it they try, they will shortly be out of office.

 

― Milton Friedman

 

Change the assumption that nothing can be done about government waste and fraud and politicians will do something about it.

[Stuart D]

I’m just happy the conversation is around whether they’ve cut $60m, $6b or $60b. I much prefer this conversation vs the usual: “we spent more money on this project than any government has ever spent before.”

[cubsfan]

6 minutes ago, Stuart D said:

I’m just happy the conversation is around whether they’ve cut $60m, $6b or $60b. I much prefer this conversation vs the usual: “we spent more money on this project than any government has ever spent before.”

 

Yup, all the man is trying to do is answer one question:

"What the hell happened to the money?"

[lnofeisone]

11 hours ago, Stuart D said:

I’m just happy the conversation is around whether they’ve cut $60m, $6b or $60b. I much prefer this conversation vs the usual: “we spent more money on this project than any government has ever spent before.”

Lets reframe this a little. The rhetoric you get is how they want to save 60m, 6b, 60b. So far they've wasted way more than 6m (i think it is closer to 60m) sending the dumb give me 5 points email. The actual savings have yet to be demonstrated. Oh and the courts ruling that the govt now might need to bring all the people they fired and most likely with back pay. All while the government is losing qualified people, some of whom will find employment in the private industry, domestic or foreign. Some leadership. 

Edited 16 minutes ago by lnofeisone
grammar

[thepupil]

I’ve avoided commenting but I’ll just say that I think what’s happening and the pace at which it is happening appears counterproductive and chaotic and without regards to any kind of logic.

 

i harbored no antipathy to the civil service and most government workers I know (in my DC burb bubble) are highly educated hard working people who work for the feds because they want to a) serve the country b) not work nights/weekends so they can raise families and c) because they often have family money and can afford to make the low salaries of federal workers. Obviously that’s a type specific to my neighborhood.

 

my other exposure to this is my wife is in the medical field and trained at federal government hospital where they are perpetually understaffed in her field. She works in private practice. 2 of her former colleagues are looking to join her which will gut the VA hospital’s ability to perform care…why work for the feds under this admin? 

that’s just anecdata. For actual data regarding the cost of the civil service,where the growth and bloat is I would point to this paper from Brookings

The federal government employees has been flat for decades while the economy and population grew significantly. Most of the growth in spending is with contractors, 60% of which are defense related.

 

gutting the national park service or (pick your agency) to save dollars seems wholly ineffective. 
 

Back to anecdata and biased opinions.
as a trump hating conservatively inclined person, I think this will swing the country HARD to the left.
 

 

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/is-government-too-big-reflections-on-the-size-and-composition-of-todays-federal-government/

Edited 30 minutes ago by thepupil