[otterley]

I too support cutting government waste, provided it's done right. The problem is that currently it's being done with all the grace of a hippo in ice skates. A good manager does things methodically, not spastically. If he were advising well, we wouldn't have to keep calling important people back to work.

You also don't have to believe Musk is an actual Nazi to believe he should be careful in how he presents himself. We don't make these sorts of gestures precisely because people might think you are one. If you don't believe me, make a trip to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem and try it yourself, and see whether you make it out without injuries. (And please have someone film you.)

And the guy has more than enough money to hire a speaking coach. He probably ought to.

[ein0p]

We are broke. We're out of good options.

[otterley]

Your opinion is inconsistent with the vast majority of economists and financial analysts.

The government has the taxing power to remedy any shortfalls. If the country were truly in bad shape financially, we would have to pay much higher interest rates and our bond rating would below the highest grade there is.

I don’t know who you’re listening to, but whomever they are, they’re not very well informed, or at the very least, they’re at odds with the smart money.

[ein0p]

The "opinion of economists" is why we'll be paying $1T+ in interest on our debt this year, and why we print $2T a year and haven't balanced the budget in well over two decades. I have kids. I'm not going to saddle them with crippling debt to provide circumcision in Zimbabwe or to replace the Taliban with better armed Taliban.

[otterley]

As I said before, there’s nothing wrong with looking at our finances and making cuts to things we think are wasteful. But there’s a right way to do things, and that’s according to law, and with careful exercise.

I just hope you’re not teaching your children that behavior like Musk’s and Trump’s is to be emulated. I fear that more than debt.

[chneu]

How much Rush do you listen to?

The guy who welded my exhaust and tasted my transmission fluid to tell me how "synthetic tastes terrible" says the things you do.

All that dude listens to is fear mongering conservative media that constantly misrepresents reality to make people feel scared. Everytime I walk into that shop I hear scared white dudes talking about things that aren't actually happening to justify their weird stances on issues they know nothing about.

[ein0p]

How much MSNBC do you listen to? https://www.usdebtclock.org

[chneu]

I dont listen/watch msnbc. Most people would describe me as center-right in US politics.

I live in the rural/urban divide and grew up extremely conservative on a ranch. I know a ton of people like you, including a lot of my family. Your stances are based on willful ignorance and a very basic misunderstanding of the topics being discussed. Folks who talk like you are basically one "enlightenment" away from sovereign citizen status.