Trump's Policies Part 5

[mdb-tpet]

DOGE is just a slight of hand. Trump is on track to spend more this year than Biden did last year even with all the DOGE "savings."

Then you have stuff like the $400m airplane "gift" that will take over a billion to retrofit.

And stuff like this is surely needed right?

Now ICE Barbie Wants Her Own Brand New $50M Private Jet

The Coast Guard put in a last-minute addition to its budget for the Homeland Security secretary.

www.thedailybeast.com

And we spent $21mil to deport 69 people

Pentagon spent $21 million on flights to Guantanamo Bay amid deportation effort

The Defense Department has spent more than $21 million on flights to Guantanamo Bay, according to data sent to Congress by the Defense Department.

www.cbsnews.com

So I'll dare to do a tiny bit of math:

$2.1 million / 69 people = $30,434 per person. I'd wager we could have saved a ton of time, our Constitution, and effectively self deported most of these folks just by giving them $30,000 cash to leave.

Note also that the cost of this action isn't nearly complete, as we'll be fighting in the courts for years over what was clearly ignoring an active court order. So, In the end, this will probably be 10 times more expensive per person.

 

[mdb-tpet]

The House Bill being pushed through isn't just about tax cuts. This thing pretty much breaks the federal government and is the next step to Authoritarianism. Don't say you weren't warned.



The "Alt National Park Service" account provided this list (this was before the changes, goodness knows now):

• Closure of the U.S. Department of Education
• 25% expansion of logging in national forests, bypassing environmental reviews and fast-tracking timber production
• Rollbacks on clean energy incentives, cutting tax credits for EVs and renewables, gutting key climate provisions
• More public lands opened up for drilling, mining, and logging, with royalty breaks for fossil fuel companies
• Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, ending U.S. participation in global climate efforts
• Executive Order 14215, forcing independent federal agencies to follow White House legal interpretations and centralizing authority under the presidency
• Pension changes for federal workers hired before 2014, cutting take-home pay by raising required contributions, reducing future payouts, and eliminating early retirement supplements
• REINS Act-style regulation repeal, where major federal rules expire unless Congress re-approves them every 5 years allowing Trump to quietly erase protections without rewriting laws
• Expanded executive control over agency budgets, allowing the White House to move federal funds internally without explicit congressional approval
• Restoration of impoundment powers, giving Trump the ability to block or delay spending already passed by Congress reviving powers stripped after Watergate
• Creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), placing White House–aligned teams inside every federal agency with access to internal systems and influence over hiring and daily operations
• Sharp cuts in regulatory enforcement, with agencies like the EPA, CFPB, and Labor and Transportation Departments halting enforcement of key safety, environmental, and anti-discrimination rules
• Trump’s personal control over economic policy, strengthening his power to direct tariffs, pressure private companies, and dictate pricing with little resistance treating the U.S. economy like his own business

This bill isn’t just “big.” It’s a roadmap for dismantling oversight, hollowing out federal protections, and handing Trump sweeping, unchecked control. Read the fine print.

By Alt National Park Service

Yea authoritarianism!

 

[Huckleberry]

Anyone who crosses Trump is at risk of being investigated. The man is a danger to everything about America that Republicans/conservatives used to hold dear.

 

[Bazza]

Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” shares a DM clip of his talk with Shermichael Singleton and Emily Austin about Donald Trump’s jaw dropping olive branch to Iran during his speech in Saudi Arabia; Donald Trump getting prolonged applause in Saudi Arabia for his unexpected plan to drop sanctions on Syria.

 

[2003TIDE]

Yea authoritarianism!

Authoritarianism - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and the rule of law.

You want to point out which of that is not happening right now? They are 100% consolidating power into the Executive Branch. Why do you think they would want to do that?

 

[2003TIDE]

Man baby doing man baby things

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/19/trump-kamala-harris-celebrity-endorsements-investigation

 

[CrimsonNagus]

These are the truly scary ones. GOP congress freely giving up power to Dictator Trump.

• Executive Order 14215, forcing independent federal agencies to follow White House legal interpretations and centralizing authority under the presidency
• REINS Act-style regulation repeal, where major federal rules expire unless Congress re-approves them every 5 years allowing Trump to quietly erase protections without rewriting laws
• Expanded executive control over agency budgets, allowing the White House to move federal funds internally without explicit congressional approval
• Restoration of impoundment powers, giving Trump the ability to block or delay spending already passed by Congress reviving powers stripped after Watergate
• Trump’s personal control over economic policy, strengthening his power to direct tariffs, pressure private companies, and dictate pricing with little resistance treating the U.S. economy like his own business

The sad thing is that all of this was laid out for all to see before the election in Project 2025. You know, that thing that many "conservatives" still deny to this day. The MAGA denials mirror the same denials that happened in 1930s Germany until it was too late.

 

[Huckleberry]

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/5308025-venezuelan-migrants-el-salvador-prison-legal-migration-cato-institute-southern-border/

At least 50 migrants sent to El Salvador prison entered US legally, Cato Institute finds

At least 50 Venezuelan men who were sent to a notorious Salvadoran prison by the Trump administration had immigrated to the U.S. legally, a review by the Libertarian Cato Institute found.

The Monday report reviewed data for just a fraction of the men sent to the prison for whom immigration records are available.

...

The report takes issue with Trump administration claims that it deported immigrants who had illegally entered in the country, when in fact, 21 were allowed into the country after presenting at a port of entry, and 24 were paroled into the country. Four came as refugees, and one initially came on a tourist visa.

 

[CrimsonNagus]

Trump and MAGA don't care one bit. They don't care about people's rights or due process or the law when it comes to brown people. The law only applies to true-blooded 'mercians (and, of course, they are trying to redefine that as well).

If you don't look like MAGA, they don't want you here.


You know, MAGA is not too many steps away from being as bad as some Middle Eastern countries.

 

[AWRTR]

Trump and MAGA don't care one bit. They don't care about people's rights or due process or the law when it comes to brown people. The law only applies to true-blooded 'mercians (and, of course, they are trying to redefine that as well).

If you don't look like MAGA, they don't want you here.


You know, MAGA is not too many steps away from being as bad as some Middle Eastern countries.

Feel free to to head to Syria, Saudi Arabia, or Iran and then check back in after you are as critical of their governments as you are of this one.

 

[dtgreg]

Feel free to to head to Syria, Saudi Arabia, or Iran and then check back in after you are as critical of their governments as you are of this one.

I believe we are saying MAGA is using those countries as a template. That we're not there yet is like pulling the pin on a grenade and denying that you're in any danger because it hasn't immediately exploded.

 

[AWRTR]

I believe we are saying MAGA is using those countries as a template.

I believe I'm saying the comparison is ridiculous and go check it out for yourself and let us know how it goes.

 

[dtgreg]

I believe I'm saying the comparison is ridiculous and go check it out for yourself and let us know how it goes.

We shall see. I hope you're right. But hope is not a strategy.

 

[jthomas666]

Sweet Jesus.

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/05/19/congress/thomas-manger-blasts-jan-6-settlement-00357161

Outgoing Capitol Police chief blasts reported settlement in Jan. 6 shooting

 

[Bazza]

President Trump is on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to meet with House Republicans as he continues to push Congress to pass his "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which narrowly passed a House committee vote on Sunday.

According to a White House official, Trump made direct and clear requests of the GOP conference.

He told lawmakers not to touch Medicaid, except for eliminating what he claims is "waste, fraud and abuse" within the program.

 

[Bamaro]

President Trump is on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to meet with House Republicans as he continues to push Congress to pass his "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which narrowly passed a House committee vote on Sunday.

According to a White House official, Trump made direct and clear requests of the GOP conference.

He told lawmakers not to touch Medicaid, except for eliminating what he claims is "waste, fraud and abuse" within the program.

How can anyone honestly vote for a bill that will increase the deficit and thereby increase the debt AGAIN!
This crazyness has been going on nearly continuously for about 45 years!

 

[Huckleberry]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1924833637427532151

SEN HASSAN: What is habeas corpus?

NOEM: Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country



We have the most ignorant people running our National Security Apparatus.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

How can anyone honestly vote for a bill that will increase the deficit and thereby increase the debt AGAIN!
This crazyness has been going on nearly continuously for about 45 years!

No, this craziness has been going on since every President after Calvin Coolidge. We can argue over what was good or bad, but no, deficits did not sprout of nowhere in 1980.

 

[Bazza]

How can anyone honestly vote for a bill that will increase the deficit and thereby increase the debt AGAIN!
This crazyness has been going on nearly continuously for about 45 years!

OK - but this was the point of that video and the reason I posted it:

"He told lawmakers not to touch Medicaid, except for eliminating what he claims is "waste, fraud and abuse" within the program."

 

[Huckleberry]

OK - but this was the point of that video and the reason I posted it:

"He told lawmakers not to touch Medicaid, except for eliminating what he claims is "waste, fraud and abuse" within the program."

Considering what this administration has eliminated under the guise of "waste, fraud, and abuse," Trump's statement has little real meaning and is cold comfort to recipients of Medicaid. I hope I'm wrong and that there are major adjustments to the proposed cuts in the "big, beautiful bill." If that happens, I'll be back here to give Trump the credit.