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US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

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Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#551

Post by intermerda »

ty6853 wrote: post #346
James_K wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're telling me that government spending was continually going up, and while this happened our quality of life massively and suddenly improved? I feel like reversing this process is very bad.

Unless nirvana is at 100% it has to stop somewhere. What im saying is it didn't continually go up during periods of like growth, and it's not clear such high federal spending is necessary or helpful in improving the human condition.

There may be a serious discussion to be had about government spending. But it seems that you believe Musk and the rest of the GOP are interested in it. If they were, the House GOP wouldn’t have released a budget that asks for 4 trillion debt limit increase while proposing 4.5 trillion tax cuts. Or SpaceX wouldn't be awarded another $40m contract. While it’s a drop in the bucket, serious people would at least raise questions about the massive conflict of interest.

Musk and his ilk are interested in looting the treasury. It has nothing to do with government efficiency.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#552

Post by insane_dreamer »

someothherguyy wrote: post #201

If anything this whole DOGE scenario has illuminated is how confused and overconfident many in this country are. We are stumbling fools without systems and rules (organizations, institutions, laws, regulations, ...) to rely on. I wonder how much behavior like this stems from weak regulation in the US to begin with. It seems like it would reinforce the rise of agents that assume they can ask for forgiveness after acti…

> stems from weak regulation in the US to begin with

I don't know about that, but certainly it has exposed a significant weakness in the US democratic structure: it is based on the supposition that everyone will follow the rules (i.e., accepting the results of an election, following the laws passed by congress, etc.) A president who defies both conventions and laws is hard to stop. The only mechanism is impeachment, and that as we have seen is _extremely difficult_ to do -- in many cases that has been used frivolously by both parties, but even in the case where it should have been a slam dunk -- Trump's attempted coup -- the most GOP senators were too afraid of their own re-election chances because of Trump's ability to "rile up the masses" (look at Liz Cheney). A climate of fear is an essential part of authoritarianism because it paralyzes those who might be able to take action to ensure that the democratic principles are upheld.

When you have an angry mob attack the capitol building and threaten to kill politicians, and they are pardoned by the person who incited them, that generates a lot of fear.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#553

Post by insane_dreamer »

tremendoussss wrote: post #381
mschuster91 wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We are stumbling fools without systems and rules (organizations, institutions, laws, regulations, ...) to rely on. The wide masses yes - the 1% who is looking to profit immensely from the upcoming chaos not. DOGE is not about trimming government costs, it is about allowing the large companies to rip off the masses without repercussions (e.g. the planned demise of CFPB or OSHA/DoL) and it is about preparing the tran…

I think if you looked at the history of the global economy and geopolitics since 1970 or 1900 pre Federal Reserve, I think you could make an argument that the dystopia that you're worried about already exists.

Yes but there are still degrees of existence.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#554

Post by tialaramex »

atq2119 wrote: post #424
kelnos wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Half the people in the country either a) want to watch everything burn, because the system has served them poorly for too long, or b) are stupid enough to believe that Trump actually wants to help them. Or both. Many (most?) Americans don't seem to have ever learned how to think critically or question what authority figures tell them to believe. On top of that, COVID was rough for lots and lots of people. Even though…

> Half the people in the country either a) want to watch everything burn, because the system has served them poorly for too long I believe this as well, but it still baffles me. Don't people have a sense that things can always get worse?

Nope. "Nothing could be worse than this" is really common even though it's a complete failure of imagination.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#555

Post by s1artibartfast »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #518
mschuster91 wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd have expected a debate about healthcare cost and actual reforms resulting out of it because the momentum clearly was there, but hey, here we are... For a while, until he was caught, there was a debate beginning to form what drives someone to execute a healthcare executive on the street - but the day he got caught, the debate got suppressed and no one is talking about it anymore.

> I'd have expected a debate about healthcare cost and actual reforms It was all show no thought. The big questions remain unanswered. Where are costs inflated between pharmaceuticals, providers, hospital administrators, insurance administrators and patients seeking unnecessary care? How do we reform insurance when most people hate our healthcare system while simultaneously liking their own coverage? Luigi didn't add…

>The big questions remain unanswered. Where are costs inflated between pharmaceuticals, providers, hospital administrators, insurance administrators and patients seeking unnecessary care?

Pharma costs are inflated by R&D costs and promotion. Insurance overhead is actually relatively lean, but base cost is primarily driven by cost of goods, and to a lesser extent admin. Provider costs are inflated by high legal and regulatory liability, shortage of qualified staff to offset liability, and high admin.

At a the highest level, cost is driven by an inability to discover and set prices at market clearing rates.

Manufacturer dont sell fixed price product into a market, but negotiate complex bulk deals with PBMs, pushing some prices up and others down. Similarly, hospitals/providers dont set prices at clearing rates, but negotiate 1:1 pricing, with some products above and below cost.

Last, and I suspect most significantly, health plans cant meaningfully vary in provided care, only cost sharing. That is to say, a bronze plan must include the same medications and procedures at a gold plan, differing only in copay. This breaks the price feedback on COGs. (e.g. a generic only insurance plan is illegal, so name brands face reduced competition).

If I were Medical Czar, I would look at banning preferential pricing/institutional rebates for goods and services.

I would allow more heterogeneity in policies (e.g. generics only, no implants, limited oncology, ect). This would crush innovation, but also greatly reduce pricing as it moves from cutting edge, to 10 year old technology.

Provider shortage is a tougher nut to crack, but I think it would require radically altering the residency program as it exists today and loosening requirements for other healthcare professionals.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#556

Post by insane_dreamer »

Jensson wrote: post #408
SauciestGNU wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Conspiracy theories? Can you elaborate?

There are a lot of conspiracy theories around Trump and Musk etc. Just remember that not all conspiracy theories are wrong, but there being so many popular ones from the left now is not a good sign regardless if they are right or wrong.

No need for conspiracy theories with those two! They make it easy, their tweets and actions speak for themselves.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#557

Post by llamaimperative »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #509
someothherguyy wrote: post #201

If anything this whole DOGE scenario has illuminated is how confused and overconfident many in this country are. We are stumbling fools without systems and rules (organizations, institutions, laws, regulations, ...) to rely on. I wonder how much behavior like this stems from weak regulation in the US to begin with. It seems like it would reinforce the rise of agents that assume they can ask for forgiveness after acti…

> many in this country are It's exposing the intellectual bankruptcy of the Silicon Valley elite. Between the stupidity and kowtowing it has revealed a startling amount of groupthink and cowardice, even among people I once held as independent thinkers.

I highly recommend everyone read the Curtis Yarvin NYTimes interview [linked below] to see the full extent of the intellectual bankruptcy. This guy is apparently seen as some meaningful thinker by the Silicon Valley elite (Vance and Andreesen have quoted him), but in literally his 3rd sentence just straight up lies.

Yarvin's claim: "[In] F.D.R.’s first inaugural address,... he essentially says, Hey, Congress, give me absolute power, or I’ll take it anyway"

From FDR's speech: "I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis--broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency..."

Operative phrase: "I shall ask the Congress"

These people are, at best, dishonest and cowardly. Even more disappointing, it's increasingly clear the only indicator of actual intelligence is net worth. This is rather lossy signal, unfortunately.

Interview: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/18/magazine/curtis-yarvin-in...

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#558

Post by insane_dreamer »

ty6853 wrote: post #259
someothherguyy wrote: post #201

If anything this whole DOGE scenario has illuminated is how confused and overconfident many in this country are. We are stumbling fools without systems and rules (organizations, institutions, laws, regulations, ...) to rely on. I wonder how much behavior like this stems from weak regulation in the US to begin with. It seems like it would reinforce the rise of agents that assume they can ask for forgiveness after acti…

Feds consumed It's hard to take these apocalyptic premonitions about federal government reduction seriously.

Maybe best not to invoke the period with the worst economic inequality in US history as some sort of example?

You're also forgetting the tremendous amount of social unrest during that time because of that inequality (and as a result, the workers rights we enjoy today which largely arose from that period, and the Great Depression, though there have been great efforts to erode them).

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#559

Post by insane_dreamer »

Hasu wrote: post #446
ty6853 wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Feds consumed It's hard to take these apocalyptic premonitions about federal government reduction seriously.

But that growth period also came after the largest Marxist redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor that's ever happened in America.

Only in the South, and shortlived. The elite quickly regained control of both the land and means of production.

It also had nothing to do with Marxism. There was no redistribution of land as in social revolutions in other countries (France, Russia, China).

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#560

Post by insane_dreamer »

drawkward wrote: post #385
lokimedes wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have go go back to the collapse of the British empire to witness anything this grand. And that was driven by external factors.

This is Russia driven. Its right out of Aleksandr Dugin's playbook for Russian political dominance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics

It's not Russia driven.

It's driven by Trump and Musk egos. It's Nero watching Rome burn, to bring about his new greatness.

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