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The sudden cut on NIH funding is intended to maximize fear and chaos, and since this is NIH, the impact will be most felt in cutting-edge medical research. And

The sudden cut on NIH funding is intended to maximize fear and chaos, and since this is NIH, the impact will be most felt in cutting-edge medical research. And I think that's precisely the point: Trump is in a rampage to destroy American institutions, his supporters hate higher education, and high-ranking research universities are a prime target. Come on, are we supposed to discuss the finance of university administration as if this is some well-thought-out proposal to make America's universities be better and more efficient? Don't give in to the gaslighting. The barbarians have breached the gate and we're arguing whether torching down the main street would help us with next city council meeting.

kelnos 2y ago
This is the thing that really frustrates me: much of the discussion around the damaging effects of what Trump and Musk are doing seems to assume some sort of good-faith motivations on the part of Trump and Musk. But that's not what they're doing. They're dismantling the executive branch of the federal government because they want less regulation for all their corporate buddies, and they want to privatize lots of government functions to, again, benefit all their corporate buddies. And on top of that, they want to cut taxes (for corporations and the wealthy, mainly) at a level that will reduce tax revenue beyond the spending cuts they want to make. So they won't be balancing the budget, or reducing the deficit. We'll still have a federal government that borrows more and more money every year, but provides less and less to the people of the country. That's it. There's no noble plan here.
- techright75 2y ago
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- pphysch 2y ago
  America has been a plutocracy for decades; Trump 2.0 isn't new in that sense. I think beneath Musk's buffoonery there is a political pivot happening. Part of me wonders if he is a heel to make Trump seem more normal.

kelnos 2y ago

This is the thing that really frustrates me: much of the discussion around the damaging effects of what Trump and Musk are doing seems to assume some sort of good-faith motivations on the part of Trump and Musk. But that's not what they're doing. They're dismantling the executive branch of the federal government because they want less regulation for all their corporate buddies, and they want to privatize lots of government functions to, again, benefit all their corporate buddies. And on top of that, they want to cut taxes (for corporations and the wealthy, mainly) at a level that will reduce tax revenue beyond the spending cuts they want to make. So they won't be balancing the budget, or reducing the deficit. We'll still have a federal government that borrows more and more money every year, but provides less and less to the people of the country. That's it. There's no noble plan here.

techright75 2y ago
[dead]
pphysch 2y ago
America has been a plutocracy for decades; Trump 2.0 isn't new in that sense. I think beneath Musk's buffoonery there is a political pivot happening. Part of me wonders if he is a heel to make Trump seem more normal.