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Yeah, that GS-13 salary is really insane compared to the $40B the US just bought in Argentinian Pesos. Why’d we do that again?

I'm here for all the firings. The government is bloated and ineffectual anyway. May as well stop paying for it. It's ugly, but finally someone is holding the line vs the insane out-of-control dem spending that has been unaccountable (literally) for years.

This may be the first time that Florida State loses on a Saturday and Sunday in one game. ClearedHot was 1.5 years ago - It’s culture. These dudes quit. And that is the coach’s responsibility. I hope Norvell is gone come morning… But I guess that’s now on the East coast.

Our founders knew and acknowledged “human nature” while our current society tries to ignore and/or dismiss it. James Madison “The truth is all men having power, should be mistrusted” “If men were angels, no government would be necessary” and John Adams “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the governance of any other.” “There is nothing I dread so much as the division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other”

If she's kept from the House when the government reopens, I'm with you 100%. Until then it's just mock outrage. The Constitution did not contemplate a government shutdown.

It’s not though. This isn’t about “media talking points.” Adelita Grijalva’s election was certified by Arizona’s secretary of state, the House majority simply refused to schedule her swearing-in. That’s on the official record. The last time Congress blocked a certified member from taking the oath was over a century ago, and it was condemned by both parties as a constitutional failure. Calling that “both sides” is just factually wrong. Only one side controls the calendar. As a point of order, earlier in this Congress, new members from special elections (e.g., two Florida Republicans and a Virginia Democrat) were sworn in within 24 hours of their election, while the House was not in full session. Just wanna confirm that your alls response as to why this time is justified is the Gov shutdown? Can we just get that one on record? You say “no one cares about Epstein.” That’s convenient and pathetically incorrect. The issue isn’t the man, it’s whether Congress will release federal files that may implicate powerful people from both parties. That’s transparency, not gossip. Brushing it off only shows how partisanship outweighs curiosity about corruption. And sure, both parties have their narcissists, but equating systemic obstruction with ordinary dysfunction is a false balance. Trust in Congress has dropped from nearly 70 percent in the 1970s to about 20 percent today. That decline tracks perfectly with the rise of tribal loyalty over constitutional duty. We all swore an oath once. It wasn’t to a party, and it wasn’t to a personality cult. Watching people on this forum who once understood that retreat behind cynicism and call it realism, it’s hard to decide whether that’s sadder or more dangerous.

Can you explain? Are we talking defense CEOs refusing to do what the government asks of them during an existential crisis, or they won't be capable of doing what's asked because they lack the manufacturing capability/personnel etc., or something else?

That's not really the issue though. I agree with you that they will do us they're told (and right now they are just being told to make money). The issue is that what they produce is fundamentally unhelpful in a great war. China will be in a better position to manufacture the precision components required to mass-produce F-35s. That's a result of companies like Apple funding both the industrial capabilities and the intellectual capabilities required. They can convert their existing infrastructure towards wartime production. We can too, just not for the types of weaponry that we currently procure. One of the more fascinating things lucky pointed out was how China mandated all of the civilian Maritime assets be designed to military spec. So a ferry that is used to shuttle cars and semi trucks from Port to Port still has the ability to handle tanks. That type of foresight simply does not exist in America.

This is the Crux of it. You either have to believe all of them are stupid, which is true for the majority but not the entirety of our executive and general officer class, or they just don't care. The ugly reality is that the F22 is a completely useless airframe in a great conflict, purely by merit of its scarcity. And the F32 is most likely not far behind based on how difficult it would be to ramp up production. And just like all the bankers during the great financial crisis, these "leaders" will skitter away into the shadows like the cockroaches they are, never to be held accountable, while dudes like Luckey end up being the secret ingredient to winning the next war.

Zero chance. If you get enough time in/around industry, you’ll understand.

Eh, I have full confidence that these companies will be threatened into submission, or nationalized if democrats are in power.

Not a lot. The simple problem is we’ve let “perfect” become the enemy of good (and industry is greedy as fuck and doesn’t give a shit about the country). The days of pumping out war materiel like WW2 will never return.

I stand corrected...we didn't survive.

That last one was pretty incredible

Those picks will get you… 😂

Go Canes

That shutdown lasted 21 days. It’s currently the second longest shutdown behind the 2018-2019 shutdown during Trump’s first term. The current shutdown is currently at 17 days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdowns_in_the_United_States

Shut down but kind of sorted like

Don't listen much to Rogan anymore but this one is pretty good. I had been reading about the Eagle Eye system prior to his appearance. It's pretty cool but lots of questions obviously. He's definitely on the right track of MORE for LESS (money and time)

Palmer Luckey on Rogan is pretty good. Hearing a defense contractor talk about designing weaponry that can be manufactured in an auto factory is refreshing. At the end of the next war I don't think the current defense giants will be on top anymore. How many F-22/35s are we going to crank out in the next global conflict?

All the more reason to not need the ATF to “work” these forms.

ATF Overlords aren't working my forms....

Yes, Congress has always appropriated money to make up for the pay lost during a shutdown, at least since the 1980s. Also, the number of people and programs that are still receiving money despite the shutdown has increased dramatically over my experience. What's different this time is Trump & Co firing 4,000 more GS. A district judge has halted that, but I expect that to be overturned eventually. I'm finding out about lots of obsure agencies and offices that do weird stuff that, to me, isn't a government function.

Anyone feel free to chime in and correct my understanding of the history and facts: My first shutdown that I experienced while receiving a DoW paycheck was during the Clinton administration. Our paychecks were delayed a few days, but the paychecks arrived in full. Every shutdown since, same song. In fact, while I was always required to show up to work, even if my paycheck was delayed, other federal agencies were handled differently. Some agencies, or certain workgroups within those agencies, were told to stay home. And yet, time and again, once a CR was passed by Congress, those workgroups received their full paychecks. Seems like the government, and media mouthpieces, will use words like "furlough"...but that word has a different connotation than if I, in my current role, were to be confronted with the same term. Yes, the fact that Congress can't do its fucking job is righteous bullshit. But this admin isn't really breaking any new ground here. Broken trust, indeed.

My favorite part of a government shutdown are the news mashups showing every politician from both sides taking the exact opposite position during the previous shutdown when it was the other team leading it.