First of all, Terry, I hope your recovery is continuing apace. I'm sure you'll be doing some PT--good luck and be a compliant patient!
Of course I'm going to throw a tiny bit of cold water on your anti-DOGE parade. Honest to god, nothing is more hysterical than watching a passel of Democrats shouting--or worse--singing--in frustrated anger, railing against Trump and Musk. OMG. I haven't enjoyed political theater so much in my entire life--and I'm older than you.
Trump is only doing what he said he would do: taking a look at fraud and waste in the government, and boy, have they hit pay dirt. He campaigned on this. Did Democrats not believe him? I think they're howling because what Musk's minions are uncovering is a lot of questionable expenses that threaten Democrat interests. I'm sure you've seen the lists--I won't repeat the nonsense here. How do you feel about some of the stuff that was hidden? How can anyone defend these expenditures? I say, do more.
Which brings me to the Department of Education. I started my career as an educator before the Department of Education existed. Jimmy Carter started that particular money suck, no doubt as a big thank you to Teachers' Union supporters. And what did it get us? A never-ending alphabet soup of programs like Common Core, Race to the Top, and on and on and on. Ask your wife how many programs we had to endure, working in public education. And for what? American students are worse off now than they were even 5 years ago. It's pathetic and inexplicable.
Have you seen your Connecticut Senator, Chris Murphy, on TV, leading the cheer that this is a constitutional crisis and the end of democracy? Hardly. Liberal judges are intervening, and I would argue, blocking the Executive branch's Constitutional mandate to monitor expenses. Checks and balances. I'm not worried about our democracy. It's alive and well.
Thanks Sharon for the good wishes on my recovery. I have good days and not-so-good days but in general I'm headed in the right direction, and I'd characterize myself as a "compliant patient." I have my first round of Texas-style PT on Friday. Meanwhile, I am continuing to do the exercises they taught me at Duke Regional.
As for DOGE, I am trying to imagine the reaction of Republicans if a Harris administration had hired George Soros (or someone from his companies) to go around looking for savings in the federal budget, and Soros started illegally slashing or closing down departments near and dear to Republicans. Somehow I think GOPers in Congress would be setting off alarms about overreach, and justifiably so.
I do agree that the phrase "constitutional crisis" is often overused. But if the federal courts order the executive branch to stop doing something, Congress is impotent and the executive refuses to cease, what would you like to call it?
I agree that there is likely waste and abuse in many federal departments, including Education. But the solution isn't to hire an uber-rich guy to look for trouble. I always pictured you as someone who values what we call "good government" values. In other words, avoid and/or prohibit conflicts of interest of the sort that Musk has and have strong oversight. I suppose it's human nature (myself included) to be less interested in that subject when the target of the criticism seems to be on your side.
As for Murphy, don't get me started. I know him personally and have interviewed him a number of times. He was born to be a politician, which means he's also quite cynical about what works and what doesn't. He remains popular in CT and will likely remain in office indefinitely, unless boredom causes him to run for president or accept a cabinet position in a Democratic administration. He could be beaten with the right candidate, but the CT GOP can't come up with anyone with the credentials to give Murphy a run for his money. It's a one-party state and will stay that way for the foreseeable future.
I'm so glad you're doing well. If you were in Connecticut, you'd be shoveling snow and trying to avoid slipping on ice. Enjoy the Texas weather--and Emmett.
Interesting personal observations on Chris Murphy, the boy-who-cried-wolf, and apparently, the quintessential politician.
The WSJ eddy board also adds: "The real crisis would come if Mr. Trump defies a Supreme Court ruling. If that happens, and it could, the left may wish it hadn’t squandered its credibility by crying wolf so often about crises that didn’t exist. Readers can relax in the meantime."
So yes, there is no constitutional crisis yet, but as I noted in the column, if Trump defies the courts, then we do indeed have one because enforcement would be highly problematic.
First of all, Terry, I hope your recovery is continuing apace. I'm sure you'll be doing some PT--good luck and be a compliant patient!
Of course I'm going to throw a tiny bit of cold water on your anti-DOGE parade. Honest to god, nothing is more hysterical than watching a passel of Democrats shouting--or worse--singing--in frustrated anger, railing against Trump and Musk. OMG. I haven't enjoyed political theater so much in my entire life--and I'm older than you.
Trump is only doing what he said he would do: taking a look at fraud and waste in the government, and boy, have they hit pay dirt. He campaigned on this. Did Democrats not believe him? I think they're howling because what Musk's minions are uncovering is a lot of questionable expenses that threaten Democrat interests. I'm sure you've seen the lists--I won't repeat the nonsense here. How do you feel about some of the stuff that was hidden? How can anyone defend these expenditures? I say, do more.
Which brings me to the Department of Education. I started my career as an educator before the Department of Education existed. Jimmy Carter started that particular money suck, no doubt as a big thank you to Teachers' Union supporters. And what did it get us? A never-ending alphabet soup of programs like Common Core, Race to the Top, and on and on and on. Ask your wife how many programs we had to endure, working in public education. And for what? American students are worse off now than they were even 5 years ago. It's pathetic and inexplicable.
Have you seen your Connecticut Senator, Chris Murphy, on TV, leading the cheer that this is a constitutional crisis and the end of democracy? Hardly. Liberal judges are intervening, and I would argue, blocking the Executive branch's Constitutional mandate to monitor expenses. Checks and balances. I'm not worried about our democracy. It's alive and well.
Thanks Sharon for the good wishes on my recovery. I have good days and not-so-good days but in general I'm headed in the right direction, and I'd characterize myself as a "compliant patient." I have my first round of Texas-style PT on Friday. Meanwhile, I am continuing to do the exercises they taught me at Duke Regional.
As for DOGE, I am trying to imagine the reaction of Republicans if a Harris administration had hired George Soros (or someone from his companies) to go around looking for savings in the federal budget, and Soros started illegally slashing or closing down departments near and dear to Republicans. Somehow I think GOPers in Congress would be setting off alarms about overreach, and justifiably so.
I do agree that the phrase "constitutional crisis" is often overused. But if the federal courts order the executive branch to stop doing something, Congress is impotent and the executive refuses to cease, what would you like to call it?
I agree that there is likely waste and abuse in many federal departments, including Education. But the solution isn't to hire an uber-rich guy to look for trouble. I always pictured you as someone who values what we call "good government" values. In other words, avoid and/or prohibit conflicts of interest of the sort that Musk has and have strong oversight. I suppose it's human nature (myself included) to be less interested in that subject when the target of the criticism seems to be on your side.
As for Murphy, don't get me started. I know him personally and have interviewed him a number of times. He was born to be a politician, which means he's also quite cynical about what works and what doesn't. He remains popular in CT and will likely remain in office indefinitely, unless boredom causes him to run for president or accept a cabinet position in a Democratic administration. He could be beaten with the right candidate, but the CT GOP can't come up with anyone with the credentials to give Murphy a run for his money. It's a one-party state and will stay that way for the foreseeable future.
Thanks again for subscribing and reading!
Spot on analysis from the WSJ today: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/is-there-a-constitutional-crisis-donald-trump-executive-actions-elon-musk-judges-courts-a5b774ba?mod=WSJ_ENG_NAS_EML_DAILYDISCOVER_AUTO_NAH
I'm so glad you're doing well. If you were in Connecticut, you'd be shoveling snow and trying to avoid slipping on ice. Enjoy the Texas weather--and Emmett.
Interesting personal observations on Chris Murphy, the boy-who-cried-wolf, and apparently, the quintessential politician.
The WSJ eddy board also adds: "The real crisis would come if Mr. Trump defies a Supreme Court ruling. If that happens, and it could, the left may wish it hadn’t squandered its credibility by crying wolf so often about crises that didn’t exist. Readers can relax in the meantime."
So yes, there is no constitutional crisis yet, but as I noted in the column, if Trump defies the courts, then we do indeed have one because enforcement would be highly problematic.