111–120 of 877 posts
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> And Trump 3 will follow unless the Dems move back to the sane center. Great way to lose again. The "sane center" is 3rd-way '90s dems, and their shit only worked because Republicans agreed with them on unpopular neoliberal economic policy, so there was no way for voters to avoid it.
Last week, staff were briefed on a new process for vetting grant proposals that are found to be out of step with a presidential directive on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI),... In the new structure, even if a revised proposal gets the green light from a division director, a new body whose membership has not been determined will take a fresh look to ensure it conforms to the agency’s new standard for making awa…
These are the same people that zeroed out research funding on transgenic mice because they thought it was the same as transgendered.
Still a ridiculous reason to defund medical research.
The NSF budget is ~$10billion. That's about half of NASA's, 1.2% of the DoD's, 0.5% of the discretionary budget ($1.7 trillion). Why is this the focus of the admin? Science is one of the few things the US is doing well.
Less public funding -> less competition for private sector R&D, e.g. big pharma
The NSF budget is ~$10billion. That's about half of NASA's, 1.2% of the DoD's, 0.5% of the discretionary budget ($1.7 trillion). Why is this the focus of the admin? Science is one of the few things the US is doing well.
The focus is robbing the treasury to give tax breaks to the rich.
People on the left are going to be caught totally flat-footed if they don't pull their head out of their bubble. Trump is a populist president. He was elected by working class individuals and so far he has shown every intent of following through for them. People on the left don't recognize it because they don't recognize the tools that right wing people use to stimulate the working class.
Right now, if Trump has his way, people under $150k will pay no income tax, no tax on tips, increased tax on millionaire earners, and tariffs to shield American blue collar jobs.
Trump is dangerous because he is an idiot and recklessly pulling levers. He is clearly bent on the idea of abolishing democracy so he can be the king of America savior of the factory worker.
He is clearly not working for billionaires when he tanked the stock market and spiked bond rates playing his tariff game. Stop using that dog whistle because it makes it clear you are ungrounded from what is happening, unless all you care about is praise from other detached people.
[1]https://www.ft.com/content/93a064db-624d-413f-a751-0b957f8e3...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
America is almost like two separate countries with full animosity and opposite ideologies. But they can never have the luxury of having their own ruler.
I think that we decided over 100 years ago that an amicable divorce was out of the question. So what now?
"What now" is we keep getting closer to autocracy until we're unambiguously fully there, or a less-than-amicable divorce. That's about it. The former is by far the more likely of the two.
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Maybe pedantic, but the US as a whole didn't vote for it in the 2016 election. Clinton won the popular vote in 2016, but Trump had more electoral votes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_United_States_presidentia...
The OP is correct, Americans collectively own this just as other countries' nationals have owned responsibility for the bad governments they've put into power. If the general response is one of absolving themselves of responsibility there won't be the necessary level of reflection and reform to prevent it from happening again.
As it is the damage done to US power and credibility will take decades to fix, and it's only 100 days in.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is not what you wrote: "How do you figure? If they simply changed the grant writing process back to what it was before Biden, that argument would make sense."
If their concern was actually DEI (instead of destroying the federal governments power) they would change the grant process going forward and maybe cut funding selectively. That they aren’t doing that, but cutting funding wholesale, is a clear indication of their real intent. Blaming Biden for their destructive ideology is a bad argument. They're breaking it, they get to own the outcome. FWIW, I agree with you other…
And, again, it is not one I am making.
I blame Biden and Harris for being so awful that the American people decided Trump was a better choice and elected him.
That is on them.
And for forcing irrelevant DEI language into grants.
That is on them.
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I think the madness is on the geniuses that voted for Trump and continue to cheer on the insanity every day, and the "moderates" who somehow thought he was the "economy" pick. Less so on Trump himself because he's pretty much just being himself. The Democrats chose Harris as their candidate because they thought she had the best chance of winning. They might have been right.
Just no.
"In the new structure, even if a revised proposal gets the green light from a division director, a new body whose membership has not been determined will take a fresh look to ensure it conforms to the agency’s new standard for making awards." I wonder if doge is using ML systems to do this kind of review in a far more centralized way across all of government. With the kind of data they have -- obtained by extra-legal…
Yes to ML, but still done as a blunt force instrument.
Last week, staff were briefed on a new process for vetting grant proposals that are found to be out of step with a presidential directive on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI),... In the new structure, even if a revised proposal gets the green light from a division director, a new body whose membership has not been determined will take a fresh look to ensure it conforms to the agency’s new standard for making awa…
They're even sending letters to foreign governments "ordering" them to cut all DEI programs. OTHER GOVERNMENTS. Insanity.