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As opposed to sentiment the article was likely written with - I warmly welcome the initiative. The organization that digests humongous amount of taxpayers mone

As opposed to sentiment the article was likely written with - I warmly welcome the initiative. The organization that digests humongous amount of taxpayers money, consistently fails audits for years in row, participates and encourages global wars - should be dismantled or severely reformed at bare minimum. Whether Trump administration be able to achieve that remains to be seen, but hopefully it's a start.

mcphage 2y ago
> Whether Trump administration be able to achieve that remains to be seen Does it? Do we truly need to be born anew every day, unable to look into the past to see how Trump has run his businesses, or how he conducted his first term, or how he has promised to run his second?
- mullingitover 2y ago
  So far, culture war aside, everything's proceeding according to plan if the plan was written by a hostile foreign power.
  - mcphage 2y ago
    “Hostile domestic power” seems like an odd concept, but that’s what we’re dealing with here. Maybe boosted by hostile foreign powers as well, but even without that support, this administration would be doing its best to take this country down from the inside.
- refurb 2y ago
  Trump has run several successful businesses, and with a 50+ year career several failures as well, which I’d imagine a entrepreneurial board like HN wouldn’t hold against him.
  - sympil 2y ago
    He’s been found by a jury to be a sexual abuser. He can’t run a charity in New York. Stiffs employees and hires illegal workers. He lies constantly and makes shit up. Like using a sharpie to change a NOAA map because he is incapable of admitting he’s wrong. Anyone doing business with him deserves what happens to them. Like all the lawyers, advisors, and sycophants that ended up in prison during his first term in office.
    - refurb 2y ago
      This doesn’t address my point or the topic at hand at all. He has had severe successful business enterprises.
      - sympil 2y ago
        You don’t think character counts in terms of whether or not he’d fit in Ycombinator? That says much about either Ycombinator or you. Stiffing employees and not being able to run a charity very much counts in this discussion. As does the tendency of his business partners and confidants to end up in prison. You’d go into business with a rapist who lies constantly?
        refurb 2y ago
        The question wasn’t whether he’d “fit in” with YCombinator. But it makes sense that you’re answering every question with another and the one that accused him of being a grapist. You're grasping at straws to avoid admitting he's a successful businessman. ABC News has agreed to pay $15m (£12m) to US President-elect Donald Trump to settle a defamation lawsuit after its star anchor falsely said he had been found "liable for rape". https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrw57q4y9do https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrw57q4y9do
        sympil 2y ago
        Here’s the post you originally responded to: Does it? Do we truly need to be born anew every day, unable to look into the past to see how Trump has run his businesses, or how he conducted his first term, or how he has promised to run his second? His character is relevant to the discussion. He cheats. He lies. He steals. He rapes. He shirks responsibility. But he has made a lot of money. Like the $30 billion in bribes he took 2 weeks ago. He is a great buinessman but that is not relevant to the discussion. Reread what the origanal poster wrote to see this. It was about his character and how we can judge the future by his past deeds. My responses included rhetorical questions.
  - auntienomen 2y ago
    He's been convicted of accounting fraud and he's nowhere near delivering the kind of returns that YCombinator seeks. Plenty of things to hold against him.
    - refurb 2y ago
      You’re really reaching, LOL. No, he wasn’t convicted of accounting fraud. What else do you believe that’s wrong? Not to mention it’s a misdemeanor unless politics demands a felony. And “delivering the kinds of returns YC does”? Is that the bar now? How’s Obama stack up? LOL
  - cemerick 2y ago
    A bag of leveraged real estate and casino holdings, plus a smattering of dollar store swindles is what denotes entrepreneurialism in the modern HN world? Wild times.
    - refurb 2y ago
      Funny how you call it "leveraged" when it's just fund raising. He's built numerous building from scratch. He gathered investors, built, then operated or sold. Sound familiar?
  - mcphage 2y ago
    HN has a pretty low tolerance for fraud.
ianhawes 2y ago
A severely weakened or dismantled US Military would encourage aggression by China against Taiwan, by North Korea against South Korea, (continued) aggression by Russia against their former Soviet states, and Iran against Israel and Saudi Arabia, leading the planet into a 3rd World War.
- refurb 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - sympil 2y ago
    No rational, reasonable person is always pro war or always anti-war. You ought to understand that nuance is involved. Lots of liberals were opposed to the Iraq war that started in 2003 and now support fighting against Russian aggression in Ukraine. Your view is simplistic.
  - threeseed 2y ago
    There is a difference between being pro-war and anti-invasion. Most people including the left don't want another repeat of Iraq or Afghanistan where the US chose to regime change a country. But are happy with supporting a democratic country to defend itself against unwanted aggression.
    - palmfacehn 2y ago
      I agree there are distinctions worth making. The above poster's comment was concise. I'm not sure they intended to conflate the two ideas. It is easy to observe how under Obama, the allegedly anti-war candidate pivoted to supporting invasions. He forgive his predecessor's use of torture. He said incoming administrations shouldn't prosecute the previous. The only gift he didn't grant was the wish to invade Iran. There is a sense that the defense, foreign policy and intelligence establishment will have their way regardless of electoral outcomes. Trump's first term was unique in that he did not start any new wars. Permanent Washington sought to actively sabotage his administration. Many infer a correlation between the two observations. As for the assertion that, "If we don't spend x amount of dollars or intervene, the world will devolve into WWIII", I'm not sold on this doom. We might equally ask, If the US continues to misallocate resources via uncontrolled spending, will we have a functional economy capable of fielding a meaningful military response?
smcin 2y ago
Realistically, the programs that are likely to be trimmed are hugely expensive things like the F35 program, which the newly-promoted tech class would to a large extent replace with drones (land- or carrier-based) [0]. We might expect to see a civil war within the admin between the factions who favor traditional defense hardware programs vs newer tech (drones, AI, autonomous). There's a lot of $ at stake so there will be heavy lobbying. Also, the traditional revolving door. Also the opportunity for insiders to enrich themselves. Perhaps 2025 will be to defense and AI stocks what 2020/1 was to pharma and vaccine stocks. One political self-preservation mechanism that traditional defense has done that tech hasn't yet much is to spread the federal spending around across states and congressional districts (think B-1 bomber). So, don't expect these battles to be fought on the merits, let alone net benefit to the taxpayer. [0]: "The F-35 Program is Costing More and Doing Less, GAO Says" https://dsm.forecastinternational.com/2024/04/19/the-f-35-program-is-costing-more-and-doing-less-gao-says/ https://dsm.forecastinternational.com/2024/04/19/the-f-35-pr...
- nradov 2y ago
  There are no drones available today or even on the drawing board which can perform even a fraction of the F-35 mission set. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-A_aF7lpm4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-A_aF7lpm4
  - smcin 2y ago
    Irrelevant. Noone said "cancel the F35 program", and noone said it can be totally replaced. The F35 program is running over-budget, so it's entirely reasonable to look at some cost reductions on the $2 trillion. (The current admin said they were looking for trillion-dollar cost savings by this April, and laying off the entire federal workforce wouldn't going to do that.) The choice is not a binary "100% of all the F35s currently budgeted, or no F35 program at all". You can get thousands of suicide drones for the equivalent price of one F-35A ($80m). Both Ukraine and Russia are using these daily. (Obviously they don't have a fraction of the capabilities of an F35.) The Houthis interdicted the Red Sea to commercial shipping in 2024. This is asymmetric: the US Navy couldn't afford to keep shooting down cheap Houthi drones with $2m missiles ("cost exchange ratio"). This is costing billions in economic damage. [0][1] Another obstacle to where the F35 can't be deployed is the US blocks deploying leading-edge technology to some allies, for multiple reasons (espionage, lack of training, geopolitical), so such conflicts will determine which mix of drones or missile systems or F16s (yes, generations older) are more cost-effective. [0]: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/07/houthi-yemen-defense-iran-airstrikes-00173096 https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/07/houthi-yemen-defens... [1]: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/dp-world-says-sea-freight-prices-could-fall-20-if-red-sea-attacks-curbed-2025-01-22/ https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/dp-wor...
saagarjha 2y ago
As someone who thinks we spend too much on the military: coming in and immediately pausing everything is an insane way to go about doing things. Unless your goal is to cause a bunch of worry and confusion until you restore the things you like, there are far better ways to cut spending.
- jesterson 2y ago
  I tend to agree with you, but had I been in Trump position I would do same - just freeze the bloody everything for 90 days and figure out in those 90 days whats actually important and whats not. If I understand correctly, noone freezes things indefinitely
IAmGraydon 2y ago
Your post history makes it clear that you are sympathetic with Russia and China. I'm curious since you have such an interest in American politics - what country are you from? Edit - stylometric analysis confirmed what I suspected: your first language is Russian. Makes sense that you would be here making inflammatory posts about the US.
- jesterson 2y ago
  I should be flattered you wasted some time looking into my history, but let me disappoint you here - I am sympathetic to truth alone. Russian, China or the US do not matter much to me. Visiting/living in those countries is absolutely horrible experience, which I am lucky to have very little of (with exception of some regions in China perhaps). My interest in US politics is based on pure curiosity. And on top of that, it's very unfortunate that US spreads it's "interests" everywhere in the world, starting wars, overthrowing governments and sorts. So no matter where one lives or planning to, it's going to be interesting and relatable. If we take this particular case, my welcome to the measure is partially based on hope it will help to deescalate and eventually stop the Ukraine war - useless meat grinder and money laundering machine for corrupted politicians. And if it makes my posts "inflammatory" - I will humbly welcome that as well.

mcphage 2y ago

> Whether Trump administration be able to achieve that remains to be seen Does it? Do we truly need to be born anew every day, unable to look into the past to see how Trump has run his businesses, or how he conducted his first term, or how he has promised to run his second?

mullingitover 2y ago
So far, culture war aside, everything's proceeding according to plan if the plan was written by a hostile foreign power.
- mcphage 2y ago
  “Hostile domestic power” seems like an odd concept, but that’s what we’re dealing with here. Maybe boosted by hostile foreign powers as well, but even without that support, this administration would be doing its best to take this country down from the inside.
refurb 2y ago
Trump has run several successful businesses, and with a 50+ year career several failures as well, which I’d imagine a entrepreneurial board like HN wouldn’t hold against him.
- sympil 2y ago
  He’s been found by a jury to be a sexual abuser. He can’t run a charity in New York. Stiffs employees and hires illegal workers. He lies constantly and makes shit up. Like using a sharpie to change a NOAA map because he is incapable of admitting he’s wrong. Anyone doing business with him deserves what happens to them. Like all the lawyers, advisors, and sycophants that ended up in prison during his first term in office.
  - refurb 2y ago
    This doesn’t address my point or the topic at hand at all. He has had severe successful business enterprises.
    - sympil 2y ago
      You don’t think character counts in terms of whether or not he’d fit in Ycombinator? That says much about either Ycombinator or you. Stiffing employees and not being able to run a charity very much counts in this discussion. As does the tendency of his business partners and confidants to end up in prison. You’d go into business with a rapist who lies constantly?
      - refurb 2y ago
        The question wasn’t whether he’d “fit in” with YCombinator. But it makes sense that you’re answering every question with another and the one that accused him of being a grapist. You're grasping at straws to avoid admitting he's a successful businessman. ABC News has agreed to pay $15m (£12m) to US President-elect Donald Trump to settle a defamation lawsuit after its star anchor falsely said he had been found "liable for rape". https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrw57q4y9do https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrw57q4y9do
        sympil 2y ago
        Here’s the post you originally responded to: Does it? Do we truly need to be born anew every day, unable to look into the past to see how Trump has run his businesses, or how he conducted his first term, or how he has promised to run his second? His character is relevant to the discussion. He cheats. He lies. He steals. He rapes. He shirks responsibility. But he has made a lot of money. Like the $30 billion in bribes he took 2 weeks ago. He is a great buinessman but that is not relevant to the discussion. Reread what the origanal poster wrote to see this. It was about his character and how we can judge the future by his past deeds. My responses included rhetorical questions.
- auntienomen 2y ago
  He's been convicted of accounting fraud and he's nowhere near delivering the kind of returns that YCombinator seeks. Plenty of things to hold against him.
  - refurb 2y ago
    You’re really reaching, LOL. No, he wasn’t convicted of accounting fraud. What else do you believe that’s wrong? Not to mention it’s a misdemeanor unless politics demands a felony. And “delivering the kinds of returns YC does”? Is that the bar now? How’s Obama stack up? LOL
- cemerick 2y ago
  A bag of leveraged real estate and casino holdings, plus a smattering of dollar store swindles is what denotes entrepreneurialism in the modern HN world? Wild times.
  - refurb 2y ago
    Funny how you call it "leveraged" when it's just fund raising. He's built numerous building from scratch. He gathered investors, built, then operated or sold. Sound familiar?
- mcphage 2y ago
  HN has a pretty low tolerance for fraud.

ianhawes 2y ago

A severely weakened or dismantled US Military would encourage aggression by China against Taiwan, by North Korea against South Korea, (continued) aggression by Russia against their former Soviet states, and Iran against Israel and Saudi Arabia, leading the planet into a 3rd World War.

refurb 2y ago
[flagged]
- sympil 2y ago
  No rational, reasonable person is always pro war or always anti-war. You ought to understand that nuance is involved. Lots of liberals were opposed to the Iraq war that started in 2003 and now support fighting against Russian aggression in Ukraine. Your view is simplistic.
- threeseed 2y ago
  There is a difference between being pro-war and anti-invasion. Most people including the left don't want another repeat of Iraq or Afghanistan where the US chose to regime change a country. But are happy with supporting a democratic country to defend itself against unwanted aggression.
  - palmfacehn 2y ago
    I agree there are distinctions worth making. The above poster's comment was concise. I'm not sure they intended to conflate the two ideas. It is easy to observe how under Obama, the allegedly anti-war candidate pivoted to supporting invasions. He forgive his predecessor's use of torture. He said incoming administrations shouldn't prosecute the previous. The only gift he didn't grant was the wish to invade Iran. There is a sense that the defense, foreign policy and intelligence establishment will have their way regardless of electoral outcomes. Trump's first term was unique in that he did not start any new wars. Permanent Washington sought to actively sabotage his administration. Many infer a correlation between the two observations. As for the assertion that, "If we don't spend x amount of dollars or intervene, the world will devolve into WWIII", I'm not sold on this doom. We might equally ask, If the US continues to misallocate resources via uncontrolled spending, will we have a functional economy capable of fielding a meaningful military response?

smcin 2y ago

Realistically, the programs that are likely to be trimmed are hugely expensive things like the F35 program, which the newly-promoted tech class would to a large extent replace with drones (land- or carrier-based) [0]. We might expect to see a civil war within the admin between the factions who favor traditional defense hardware programs vs newer tech (drones, AI, autonomous). There's a lot of $ at stake so there will be heavy lobbying. Also, the traditional revolving door. Also the opportunity for insiders to enrich themselves. Perhaps 2025 will be to defense and AI stocks what 2020/1 was to pharma and vaccine stocks. One political self-preservation mechanism that traditional defense has done that tech hasn't yet much is to spread the federal spending around across states and congressional districts (think B-1 bomber). So, don't expect these battles to be fought on the merits, let alone net benefit to the taxpayer. [0]: "The F-35 Program is Costing More and Doing Less, GAO Says" https://dsm.forecastinternational.com/2024/04/19/the-f-35-program-is-costing-more-and-doing-less-gao-says/ https://dsm.forecastinternational.com/2024/04/19/the-f-35-pr...

nradov 2y ago
There are no drones available today or even on the drawing board which can perform even a fraction of the F-35 mission set. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-A_aF7lpm4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-A_aF7lpm4
- smcin 2y ago
  Irrelevant. Noone said "cancel the F35 program", and noone said it can be totally replaced. The F35 program is running over-budget, so it's entirely reasonable to look at some cost reductions on the $2 trillion. (The current admin said they were looking for trillion-dollar cost savings by this April, and laying off the entire federal workforce wouldn't going to do that.) The choice is not a binary "100% of all the F35s currently budgeted, or no F35 program at all". You can get thousands of suicide drones for the equivalent price of one F-35A ($80m). Both Ukraine and Russia are using these daily. (Obviously they don't have a fraction of the capabilities of an F35.) The Houthis interdicted the Red Sea to commercial shipping in 2024. This is asymmetric: the US Navy couldn't afford to keep shooting down cheap Houthi drones with $2m missiles ("cost exchange ratio"). This is costing billions in economic damage. [0][1] Another obstacle to where the F35 can't be deployed is the US blocks deploying leading-edge technology to some allies, for multiple reasons (espionage, lack of training, geopolitical), so such conflicts will determine which mix of drones or missile systems or F16s (yes, generations older) are more cost-effective. [0]: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/07/houthi-yemen-defense-iran-airstrikes-00173096 https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/07/houthi-yemen-defens... [1]: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/dp-world-says-sea-freight-prices-could-fall-20-if-red-sea-attacks-curbed-2025-01-22/ https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/dp-wor...

saagarjha 2y ago

As someone who thinks we spend too much on the military: coming in and immediately pausing everything is an insane way to go about doing things. Unless your goal is to cause a bunch of worry and confusion until you restore the things you like, there are far better ways to cut spending.

jesterson 2y ago
I tend to agree with you, but had I been in Trump position I would do same - just freeze the bloody everything for 90 days and figure out in those 90 days whats actually important and whats not. If I understand correctly, noone freezes things indefinitely

IAmGraydon 2y ago

Your post history makes it clear that you are sympathetic with Russia and China. I'm curious since you have such an interest in American politics - what country are you from? Edit - stylometric analysis confirmed what I suspected: your first language is Russian. Makes sense that you would be here making inflammatory posts about the US.

jesterson 2y ago
I should be flattered you wasted some time looking into my history, but let me disappoint you here - I am sympathetic to truth alone. Russian, China or the US do not matter much to me. Visiting/living in those countries is absolutely horrible experience, which I am lucky to have very little of (with exception of some regions in China perhaps). My interest in US politics is based on pure curiosity. And on top of that, it's very unfortunate that US spreads it's "interests" everywhere in the world, starting wars, overthrowing governments and sorts. So no matter where one lives or planning to, it's going to be interesting and relatable. If we take this particular case, my welcome to the measure is partially based on hope it will help to deescalate and eventually stop the Ukraine war - useless meat grinder and money laundering machine for corrupted politicians. And if it makes my posts "inflammatory" - I will humbly welcome that as well.