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Deferred resignation email to federal employees

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Re: Deferred resignation email to federal employees

#61

Post by CalRobert »

hedora wrote: post #58
fooblaster wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you miss the part where the mob that stormed the capital was fully pardoned despite the incredible violence? This is dictator shit. He's telling his supporters violence is okay against his political enemies and he will cover for you.

There’s also the part where Secret Service agents are going to schools, lying about who they are, and trying to arrest children for making statements critical of Trump: > "We had an incident happen in Chicago on Friday where there were some federal agents that showed up at a school asking to come in to interview an 11-year-old who had posted an anti-Trump video on TikTok. > "They presented their credentials, they sai…

I am reminded of my colleague who grew up in the USSR, and said agents would come to their class and show kids pictures of western cartoon characters (Mickey, etc.) to see who had disloyal parents.

Re: Deferred resignation email to federal employees

#62

Post by roland35 »

hedora wrote: post #44
spencerflem wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuinely, who are you expecting to stand up against it? The Democrats in Congress? Massive public demonstration? It feels all but inevitable to me

The Calexit people are gathering signatures right now: https://www.sos.ca.gov/administration/news-releases-and-advi...

I would not be surprised if this is some Russian psy op honestly. Please stay!

Re: Deferred resignation email to federal employees

#63

Post by gmd63 »

thepasswordis wrote: post #60
andy_ppp wrote: post #23

Anyone else think it’s likely America ends up without being a meaningful democracy by the end of this? I am skeptical the stated goal is efficiency it’s loyalty to MAGA. Imagine how extreme they will get if you can never vote them out.

[flagged]

No. The people, over the course of long periods of time, voted for agencies to exist, through laws, that are controlled legally, according to laws that have evolved over time.

What is happening now is those agencies are being illegally co-opted by loyalists and sycophants who have shirked their constitutional duties as congressmen. They are ignoring the laws that describe how these agencies should be run, and it doesn't matter because it's a metastatic blob of folks who have forsaken their oath at the behest of a felon who avoided trial for sedition.

Re: Deferred resignation email to federal employees

#64

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

The thing that's interesting to me is how the Trump Republicans used tactics so effectively to accuse the Dems, "deep state", etc. of all this nefarious conduct, and then explicitly embraced that conduct as openly and vigorously as possible. E.g accuse career civil servants of being secretly partisan, and then explicitly kick out anyone who isn't loyal to Trump and demand Trump loyalty, countering ~150 years of American policy. Accuse Democrats of stealing an election, and then attempt to violently overturn the results of an election after essentially every claim of election malfeasance was laughed out of court.

Even how they painted Biden's pardons was pretty brilliant IMO. Trump had already pretty much telegraphed that he would pardon anyone who kissed up to him, and had been explicit about how he would use federal power to seek revenge. So while I was very much against Biden's pardon of his family, I'm sure Biden was probably like "F this shizz, it's not like holding the moral high ground is doing anyone any favors." But now, of course, anyone with Trump's blessing will get a pardon regardless of what they do, and they can point to Biden's pardons as "Dems did it first".

I think we are truly and surely fucked in the mid-long term - what we're going through looks pretty much exactly what all previous empires looked like when they fell into decline. It's just kind of stunning to watch with so much transparency.

Re: Deferred resignation email to federal employees

#65

Post by hedora »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #22
hedora wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s nothing in there about being qualified for the job, so this is definitely not a meritocracy play. The bit right after the piece you quoted is interesting: > Employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination. I hope they start at the top!

There’s nothing in there about being qualified for the job, Yes there is: Performance culture: The federal workforce should be comprised of the best America has to offer. We will insist on excellence at every level — our performance standards will be updated to reward and promote those that exceed expectations and address in a fair and open way those who do not meet the high standards which the taxpayers of this coun…

But then in section 4, they replace the existing job performance standards with:

> 4. Enhanced standards of conduct: The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work. Employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward. Employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination.

Note that it does not say anything about performing job duties aligned with your department’s mission, or even things mandated by law. Also, it’s clear “other misconduct” is meant as a threat to anyone disloyal to Trump.

Today, Trump fired a bunch of government aid workers for distributing aid that they were legally obligated to distribute.

Re: Deferred resignation email to federal employees

#66

Post by AlexandrB »

andy_ppp wrote: post #23

Anyone else think it’s likely America ends up without being a meaningful democracy by the end of this? I am skeptical the stated goal is efficiency it’s loyalty to MAGA. Imagine how extreme they will get if you can never vote them out.

Clearly the Democrats think American democracy is secure because they insist on running terrible candidates and pursuing unpopular policies. It's funny how the politicians yelling about how Trump 2 is an existential risk seem to be more concerned about their careers than this "threat to democracy". I'm frankly tired of taking this stuff seriously.

Re: Deferred resignation email to federal employees

#67

Post by hedora »

Hatchback7599 wrote: post #16
calrain wrote: post #4

Future America will understand that you don't treat government like a company. The money government spends on salaries is money directly injected back into the economy, it could be seen as a form of social welfare.

You know what else injects money back into the economy? Letting tax payers keep more of their tax dollars.

My retirement account already has a big hole in it from Trump’s first round of tax hikes and tariffs.

I seriously doubt it’ll be any different this time around.

Re: Deferred resignation email to federal employees

#68

Post by nxobject »

bigstrat2003 wrote: post #39
calrain wrote: post #4

Future America will understand that you don't treat government like a company. The money government spends on salaries is money directly injected back into the economy, it could be seen as a form of social welfare.

Much like Hatchback said, I don't see why it is a good thing to inject money into the economy versus not taking it in the first place. I'm not saying that these efforts are going to work to make the bureaucracy more efficient (I simply don't have the expertise to judge that), but I think any attempted solution is better than deliberately allowing inefficiency to fester as a form of social welfare. The federal bureauc…

That presumes that the intent of this effort – regardless of how it's spun – is to make government more efficient. It's hard to take spin like this at face value: voluntary departures may equally make programs less efficient since understaffed or more reliant on contractors, for example.

Re: Deferred resignation email to federal employees

#69

Post by dillondoyle »

spencerflem wrote: post #40
laidoffamazon wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the chance is about 10%. That's too high of a chance, IMHO.

Genuinely, who are you expecting to stand up against it? The Democrats in Congress? Massive public demonstration? It feels all but inevitable to me

I doubt public demonstrations would do it. They'd have to start losing MAGA cult people for them to change course themselves.

But if we can hold out for 2 years (big if) there's a very strong chance we'll retake the house.

And if things continue down this path (i think it will get worse) we could maybe take back the senate. but the map is very hard.

That would give power to fight back.

If we get a once in a generation swing of seats we could think about getting rid of the filibuster / few remaining norms. Then we could rebalance judicial. But that's a big risk if not sure the power will endure beyond a handful of cycles.

Re: Deferred resignation email to federal employees

#70

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

verelo wrote: post #45
andy_ppp wrote: post #23

Anyone else think it’s likely America ends up without being a meaningful democracy by the end of this? I am skeptical the stated goal is efficiency it’s loyalty to MAGA. Imagine how extreme they will get if you can never vote them out.

Ends up…i think it’s just happened. Been on this path for a while but the simple fact its treaties mean nothing totally trashes any reputation that was left, and it’s clear it’s run by the ultra wealthy. The people are just bystanders.

> and it’s clear it’s run by the ultra wealthy. The people are just bystanders.

The first part is true, the second is not. Yes, it's run by the ultra wealthy. But the people wanted this. The election wasn't in debate, and this wasn't a case of a popular vote/electoral college split. Also, for all of Trump's faults, hidden agendas really aren't one of them. People know exactly who he is, he said pretty much exactly what he would do, and a majority voted for this.

I think that's why so many "on the left" are resigned. Y'all voted for this shit, so knock yourself out. We may be looking at some massive cases of "But I never thought the leopard would eat MY face!" in the future, but at this point IDGAF, people voted for this.

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