Cobb got nailed by the EPA

[sk47]

Overly simplistic question, and yes I'm 100% pro DOGE. However, I'm keeping my eyes wide open and the moment DOGE turns to untruths, even if only exaggerations, I'm not having it. I've had my fill of all BS from anyone in power.

I always think of the Lord Acton quote when I see a small group accumulating power:

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority

Hello; Of course, that last sentence of mine is overly simplistic taken on it's own and without my previous comments. DOGE is not something to "believe in" so to speak. If DOGE falls into lies and deceit it will not be worth supporting. Bear in mind I expect DOGE to make mistakes. I make honest mistakes as do most of us. Mistakes will not hurt so much as a cover up.
So much rests upon the integrity of the president and some on Musk's.

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[MAGS1]

Hello; Have to admit some of your comments ring true. Then some go awry. We do as a society need to take care of the place in which we live. Congress does have the power of the purse. There are ideologies in charge of powerful agencies such as the EPA, so a suitable middle ground does not exist.

DOGE may or may not survive in terms of being a lasting influence. There are powerful entities hard at work trying to stop DOGE. I do think you are mistaken about the power of DOGE. My take is DOGE is working directly under the direction of the President. The EPA and other similar agencies have over time assumed authorities well beyond what initial mandates they may have been granted.

A point being the executive branch does have the mandate to enforce laws enacted by the congress. Such is one of the delineated functions if I recall correctly. Congress passes the laws. The courts determine if the laws as written are constitutional. The executive enforces the laws. A much too simplistic way to put it I will admit. There are nuances.

Here is a point I hope to get across. I watched THE FIVE yesterday. Of the five talking heads on the show, one is always of a liberal bent. The topic was DOGE. The liberal talking head contended it is alright to clean up waste, fraud and abuse but it should only go forward. DOGE should not look back at what has already happened. He stated something like that. I heard something else.

What I heard was allow the waste, fraud & abuse that is currently happening and recently happened to finish happening & without prosecution. Only start acting on such things sometime in the future. An analogy or two. Say someone is molesting a child or a woman. allow them to finish and only go after them if they do it again in the future. May not be what the talking head intended but such was my take.

That waste, fraud and abuse has been going on has not been a secret. I and most others get wind of such from time to time. Might make the news from time to time. Then lots of verbal angst for a few days. "We will study this" and "report back to you" is the more common outcome and little to nothing gets changed. The culprits are rarely, if ever, brought to any form of justice. Some continue in their positions even after their wrong actions are well known. Covid 19 opened many eyes that are not yet lulled back closed. DOGE under the current President are actually acting in real time. Love that.

I do not know how the DOGE experiment will play out. The forces aligned against it and the President are powerful and deeply seated. (deep state) May turn out to be short lived. A thing is a very large amount of hidden abuses & fraud will become known. Much is already become known. We ordinary folks have our eyes opened and are paying attention.

Pick a side. I want DOGE to continue. I want to both know what has happened and also, I want those who are guilty to face consequences. Do you stand against DOGE?

I don’t have a problem with the concept of DOGE. I have a problem with a mega billionaire who has numerous conflicts of interest heading up the department and basically self-policing against those conflicts of interest (he won’t police himself). I also have an issue with the executive branch, and by extension DOGE, unilaterally cutting off fundings that have already been approved by Congress. That is beyond their purview and it’s very explicit in the constitution who has the power of the purse (Congress). This is why the courts stepped in and said no. Because it’s unconstitutional whether anyone likes it or not.

I also have a big issue with the DOGE team getting access to sensitive Treasury Department data (SSN’s, bank accounts, etc) but have not been properly vetted and given the appropriate security clearance to do so (all treasury department employees that have access to this data have the proper clearances btw). Are you ok with a bunch of tech bros having access to your SSN and bank account information? Because they had access to it until the courts cut them off. And don’t get me started on the server they tried to install, again without the proper security protocols. People were mad at Hillary for something almost identical as SoS, where’s the outrage now?

Also, I have yet to see any hard evidence of wasted, fraud, etc. as they claim there is. If Musk claims to be so transparent, show us so we know. It is our tax dollars after all. We all know stuff slips through, it’s bound to happen when you’re dealing with that much money. I want to know exactly how much and where it’s actually going vs where it’s supposed to go.

And for the record, I’m not a red guy or a blue guy. I’m a constitution guy first and foremost. I don’t care what party you’re in, if you’re trying to skirt the constitution I’m calling you out. And DOGE and the president tried to do exactly that by trying to stop payments that were approved in bills enacted by Congress. Got a problem with the fundings? Go back to Congress and get it changed the right way. That’s all I ask

 

[MAGS1]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, stop placing your trust in billionaires. They don’t care about you or me. They care about what will be best for them to make them even more money and give them more power and influence.

 

[ZLwhat]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, stop placing your trust in billionaires. They don’t care about you or me. They care about what will be best for them to make them even more money and give them more power and influence.

You just described all of government....curious question, you from Cali?

 

[K4fxd]

unilaterally cutting off fundings that have already been approved by Congress.

So are you saying congress approved trans sex surgery funding for foreign country's, and all the other things that Elon has exposed?

DOGE has no power, all they are doing is auditing the financials of these agencies.

As far as constitutionality only the SCOTUS can determine that.

 

[ZLwhat]

unilaterally cutting off fundings that have already been approved by Congress.

You mean the allotted tax payers money for New York to house illegal immigrants!? If you don't think that should be cut off, than there are other countries the rest of us would love for you to move too.

 

[MAGS1]

So are you saying congress approved trans sex surgery funding for foreign country's, and all the other things that Elon has exposed?

DOGE has no power, all they are doing is auditing the financials of these agencies.

As far as constitutionality only the SCOTUS can determine that.

Show proof that’s where money is going is all I’m asking. Don’t believe everything you hear from either side. Proof is in the pudding. Foreign aid is something I believe in, it helps keep influence from bad actors such as Iran, China, Russia, etc. out (or at least muted). To say we’re shutting it down is a huge mistake.

As to cutting off payments, it effectively came from DOGE but was executed by the executive branch. Several courts have already said it’s unconstitutional for the executive to take such actions. As have several Republicans and Democrats in both chambers (obviously more on the D side because they just don’t like DJT but it’s not a partisan issue). Again, if that’s truly where some of the money is going, Congress needs to know so they can shut it off or redirect to where it should go. That’s their role.

 

[sk47]

Are you ok with a bunch of tech bros having access to your SSN and bank account information? Because they had access to it until the courts cut them off. And don’t get me started on the server they tried to install, again without the proper security protocols.

I have yet to see any hard evidence of wasted, fraud, etc. as they claim there is. If Musk claims to be so transparent, show us so we know. It is our tax dollars after all.

Hello; Interesting. For what it matters a private company has already lost my SS # to the dark web. I am using an identity theft program and have frozen all my credit. But no I am not happy about my personal information being used. I hope there will be some form of law which will make it a crime to use my personal information. Try as I will, it is become hard to avoid giving such information out. I have had to walk away from car deals because they insisted, I give my SS#.

But the sort of things you are throwing out will amount to roadblocks for the DOGE efforts. I get and understand the bit about trying to stop payments enacted by congress. This is where the courts can come in to settle that particular issue. I suspect you may be correct but do see a silver lining. Let the detractors take it to court. We then will see what all these payments are about. lots of sunlight onto what so often are backroom deals.

Hard evidence? One thing among many we have seen for decades is just after one of these omnibus spending bills gets passed. You know the sort coming up next March. The sort of 2000 to 3000+ page spending bill trotted out with the house or senate given three days to vote on it. So, I get the technical point that the spending is "legal" because it was tucked away and hidden in one of these bills. I used to become enraged after one of these bills was passed. Last few decades it is become "business as usual" and I am frustrated. There is a glimmer of hope business as usual will be changed.

 

[MAGS1]

You mean the allotted tax payers money for New York to house illegal immigrants!? If you don't think that should be cut off, than there are other countries the rest of us would love for you to move too.

Show me proof that New York is using federal tax dollars. If they’re using state tax dollars, that’s a state issue. And do you know for a fact they’re all here illegally? I don’t think any of us really know to be honest. There are ways to enforce our immigration laws and be humane about it. Rounding people up and treating them like animals is not one of them and I do not agree with that tactic at all.

 

[K4fxd]

Show proof that’s where money is going is all I’m asking.

They showed the proof, if you don't believe it, nothing I say will convince you. Watch the press conferences, the secretary is giving copies of receipts to the media.

 

[MAGS1]

Hello; Interesting. For what it matters a private company has already lost my SS # to the dark web. I am using an identity theft program and have frozen all my credit. But no I am not happy about my personal information being used. I hope there will be some form of law which will make it a crime to use my personal information. Try as I will, it is become hard to avoid giving such information out. I have had to walk away from car deals because they insisted, I give my SS#.

But the sort of things you are throwing out will amount to roadblocks for the DOGE efforts. I get and understand the bit about trying to stop payments enacted by congress. This is where the courts can come in to settle that particular issue. I suspect you may be correct but do see a silver lining. Let the detractors take it to court. We then will see what all these payments are about. lots of sunlight onto what so often are backroom deals.

Hard evidence? One thing among many we have seen for decades is just after one of these omnibus spending bills gets passed. You know the sort coming up next March. The sort of 2000 to 3000+ page spending bill trotted out with the house or senate given three days to vote on it. So, I get the technical point that the spending is "legal" because it was tucked away and hidden in one of these bills. I used to become enraged after one of these bills was passed. Last few decades it is become "business as usual" and I am frustrated. There is a glimmer of hope business as usual will be changed.

The sheer size of a bill is not proof enough for me. Tell me exactly where it’s going and how much. They supposedly have access to that, so show us taxpayers.

We all know there’s a bunch of fat in those spending bills. It’s been that way for decades. Pet projects here and there for certain congressmen/women for their districts to get their vote. I don’t agree with it, but that’s how a lot of those deals get done. You can save a boatload of money just by cutting that nonsense out

 

[Bob Lob Law]

I truly don't understand anyone who doesn't want the waste stopped! Especially when it's solely because orange man bad.

 

[K4fxd]

You can save a boatload of money just by cutting that nonsense out

This is what Elon and DOGE are trying to do.

 

[MAGS1]

They showed the proof, if you don't believe it, nothing I say will convince you. Watch the press conferences, the secretary is giving copies of receipts to the media.

I don’t watch the press conferences, but I do read numerous articles from various sources in a daily basis and I have yet to see anything printed. If that’s the case, then the media needs to publish them for everyone to see.

Having said that, what it’s supposed to be used for and how it’s actually used can be two very different things. Is what they’re showing the approved use or actual use?

 

[ZLwhat]

Show me proof that New York is using federal tax dollars. If they’re using state tax dollars, that’s a state issue. And do you know for a fact they’re all here illegally? I don’t think any of us really know to be honest. There are ways to enforce our immigration laws and be humane about it. Rounding people up and treating them like animals is not one of them and I do not agree with that tactic at all.

You are from California...I knew it.....I'm perfectly fine with "rounding up" ILLEGAL immigrants that have entered our country ILLEGALLY.

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