Trump cabinet picks - off to a good start

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
As much as I like Pete, I'm not seeing it. Tulsi or Morgan Ortegas maybe.

Pete is more accomplished than I realized. More so than Tulsi Gabbard. I just did a read up on him because I was thinking the same thing you are, and now I can see it. The only problem is if he goes on Fox they'll have to remember to address him as Mr. Secretary instead of Pete. :jet:
 

Bann

Doris Day meets Lady Gaga
PREMO Member
I think Pete is a great choice for Sec.of.Def.! Probably a good thing that he took 4 years off to meditate on stuff and learn from the mistakes of term #1 to get term #2 almost perfect.
I did say that 4 years ago - maybe he could re-group and come back even better since he knows who all evil swamp dwellers are now.
 
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vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
I think Pete is a great choice for Sec.of.Def.! Probably a good thing that Trump took 4 years off to meditate on stuff and learn from the mistakes of term #1 to get term #2 almost perfect.

I was thinking that today - that his 4 year hiatus was for the best because now he knows what's what.
 

TPD

the poor dad
Adam Kinzinger just now on CNN bashing Pete. The next panelist on CNN now bashing Kristi Noem. CNN is spun up over these last 2 picks. No surprise here.

oh yeah - apparently the department of govt efficiently is so named because the acronym is DOGE for dogecoin according to CNN.
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
The GAO is government employees. The Efficiency office will be advisors outside of government. The govvies are probably busy covering tracks and updating their resumes.
Yeah I never got the impression that GAO was supposed to be *efficient*. Just makes sure it’s all written down according to protocol.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Adam Kinzinger just now on CNN bashing Pete. The next panelist on CNN now bashing Kristi Noem. CNN is spun up over these last 2 picks. No surprise here.

Kristi Noem will have a big job.

I'm concerned that Trump is poaching all these people - now who's going to be my Senator? Who's going to be Gov of SD? Who's going to be the hot guy on Fox News?
 

glhs837

Power with Control
I’m confused. If we are now going to have a Government Efficiency Office, what the heck is the Government Accountability Office (GAO) going to be doing?

So think of it this way.

GAO = Are you spending the tax dollars in a lawful and legal way? Where di the COVID relief money go, was it spent for COVID related things? Should the DOD have spent 80K on a bag of bushings? Write report on why we spent 80k on bushings

GEO = Should you even be spending any money on that at all? When we set up things like COVID relief, lets set up processes to reduce fraud. Why did the bag of bushings cost 80k, and is there a way to reduce that cost. Quite often these seemingly crazy prices have logical reasons. Unique low demand parts which due to criticality require stringent production processes with costly oversight. MIL-SPECs add a lot of additional overhead.

Musks got a dictum - "Possibly the most common error of a smart engineer is to optimize a thing that should not exist."

So think of the GEO as looking for places where we are spending on things that can be made smarter and more efficient.
 

NextJen

Raisin cane
I think under this Trump term there needs to be a push for Congressional term limits. How do we make that happen? While Trump has the bully pulpit, he needs to plant that seed and push for it. Bring public awareness. Do something!
 

my-thyme

..if momma ain't happy...
Patron
I think under this Trump term there needs to be a push for Congressional term limits. How do we make that happen? While Trump has the bully pulpit, he needs to plant that seed and push for it. Bring public awareness. Do something!
I like 12 yrs. Allows someone time to get something done, but not get too comfy. And gives some overlay of new and experienced.

And maybe makes it difficult for lobbyists to corrupt new politicians.
 

TPD

the poor dad
Why did the bag of bushings cost 80k, and is there a way to reduce that cost.
A number of years ago, a govt employee (family member) called me with a list of items that they wanted a quote on - needed it on official business letterhead in a certain format. These were items we didn’t normally carry but could get. I spent more than an hour putting this quote together In the format needed, thinking oh yeah govt business! I don’t remember the final outcome of the deal, but regardless it wasn’t worth my extra time. Based on past experience with govt dealings, it takes more than 30days to get my money and a lot of paper pushing I don’t have time for. Skip forward to last week - someone I know who now works for the govt calls me and says their department would like to do business with my store, but now I need a “CAGE code” to do business with the govt. Of course that means I need to go thru a ridiculous application process. An email was sent to me about the application process. I haven’t applied. THIS IS WHY THOSE BUSHINGS COST $80K! Just come in with the govt credit card and buy the $hit you need like some of the contractors do!! How hard is that?

Ok - back to Trump‘s regularly scheduled cabinet appointments.
 

Hijinx

Well-Known Member
A number of years ago, a govt employee (family member) called me with a list of items that they wanted a quote on - needed it on official business letterhead in a certain format. These were items we didn’t normally carry but could get. I spent more than an hour putting this quote together In the format needed, thinking oh yeah govt business! I don’t remember the final outcome of the deal, but regardless it wasn’t worth my extra time. Based on past experience with govt dealings, it takes more than 30days to get my money and a lot of paper pushing I don’t have time for. Skip forward to last week - someone I know who now works for the govt calls me and says their department would like to do business with my store, but now I need a “CAGE code” to do business with the govt. Of course that means I need to go thru a ridiculous application process. An email was sent to me about the application process. I haven’t applied. THIS IS WHY THOSE BUSHINGS COST $80K! Just come in with the govt credit card and buy the $hit you need like some of the contractors do!! How hard is that?

Ok - back to Trump‘s regularly scheduled cabinet appointments.
And most Government agencies do have credit cards.
 

glhs837

Power with Control
A number of years ago, a govt employee (family member) called me with a list of items that they wanted a quote on - needed it on official business letterhead in a certain format. These were items we didn’t normally carry but could get. I spent more than an hour putting this quote together In the format needed, thinking oh yeah govt business! I don’t remember the final outcome of the deal, but regardless it wasn’t worth my extra time. Based on past experience with govt dealings, it takes more than 30days to get my money and a lot of paper pushing I don’t have time for. Skip forward to last week - someone I know who now works for the govt calls me and says their department would like to do business with my store, but now I need a “CAGE code” to do business with the govt. Of course that means I need to go thru a ridiculous application process. An email was sent to me about the application process. I haven’t applied. THIS IS WHY THOSE BUSHINGS COST $80K! Just come in with the govt credit card and buy the $hit you need like some of the contractors do!! How hard is that?

Ok - back to Trump‘s regularly scheduled cabinet appointments.

So a CAGE code means you are someone we know and can trust. Like Real ID, you've been vetted to not sell crap we cant use. So, we have things called CSI, or Critical Safety Items. It means anything that as a single point failure could have catastrophic results. I have three bolts and one pivot pin holding my weapons pylons onto the wing. When I hang 2,500lbs of missile onto that pylon from two lugs and it needs to take up to a 16g crash load without coming off, what those parts are made of and how rigorously tested they were matters.

I had the RAAF come to me asking to help clear a Marine Location Marker for use. Same exact item the US uses by the thousands every year. Launched hundreds of them myself. But here's the rub. Same line, same product. One has a US MK MOD designation. The other is the commercial variant. Same exact materials and production process. What changes is the testing rigor. US spec requires lot acceptance of a certain number out of each lot has to be submitted for testing. Say 500 out of 10,000 have to be sent to a US tester who will function some and also perform other testing, environmental, destructive, NDI, all sorts. Called Lot Acceptance Testing, or LAT.

Those pushing's might require a serious amount of testing, or even a paper trail for the materials back to the source to ensure they are made from the right stuff. My point is that sometimes it corruption, other times is stuff the auditors don't understand.
 
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