Brantt wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

Brantt wrote:-In terms of Trump, I think you are stereotyping him a bit. He is obviously uber rich, but in general he despises the elite. The best description I've ever seen of him is he is Rodney Dangerfield's character from Caddyshack. He has so much money that he cannot be ignored, but he absolutely love to mess with and poke the elite who despise him in general (I would compare Jeb to Judge Smails). If nothing else, he is a deal maker and master negotiator. His book The Art of the Deal is a fantastic read and a must read for anyone in a leadership position. I think he's a highly intelligent guy who would run the country like it's a business.....a mindframe that is badly, badly needed IMO. I also think he's a very moderate candidate overall. He's far right on immigration and homeland security, but most of his economic policies are moderate to liberal. He's going right to try to win this nomination, but if he gets it, he'll immediately start coming back to the middle and be probably even more fiscally liberal than I would prefer. Obviously he is a master salesman who has manipulated the media brilliantly. I have no idea how he would do as President, but given what we've seen in the last 15 years, I'm ready to take the plunge.

This is almost always one of the most insipid things that I hear from "fiscal conservatives." Government is NOT a business and should not be run like one, unless you're talking about a 501(c)(3), which Trump has never run in his life. Government is not for-profit, and should never be run as such. Government should rarely be at the forefront of business innovation due to the increased risks and higher costs typically associated with treading fresh ground. I wholeheartedly agree that Government should be efficient and should always strive to be more efficient (in fact, my new job next month is in the department tasked with exactly that in a major state agency). That is why there is not a single government entity anywhere in this country that does not have people with business degrees and business experience trying to cut costs and promote efficiency. It is quite difficult to balance the stability needed within government agencies with the need for new efficiencies and careful innovation.

It is incredibly damaging over the long-term to squeeze every single extra cent out of government budgets. Flint, Michigan, is the most obvious example of that, but nearly every government has an example of a bad situation arising out of government acting like a business. Here in Virginia, we dumped over two billion into Northrop Grumman to improve our state agencies' IT infrastructure through a highly-touted "Public Private Partnership." It did... poorly, at least until our state IT agency got a new chief and took a more active role to right the ship.

Government services are an investment in your populace. Maybe some should be eliminated while others should be expanded, but Trump is not the guy who can or should be making those decisions. Your post is a great conservative talking point, but it reveals a complete ignorance with the inner workings of government agencies.

Nope. See, the thing is, I don't necessarily disagree with most of what you said. The problem you run into is you can't gloss over "it should be run efficient" though and then point to the people running it and how it's being run. It destroys your entire post. Complete lack of efficiency is not a small or minor detail, it's a gaping crater that's going to affect our lives down the road and the lives of our children and grandchildren. Our government and those running it is the walking definition of inefficiencies and incompetent decision making.

You say Trump is not the guy who can bring efficiency to running the government, but you have zero clue if that statement is true or false. It's your opinion, and I respect your right to have that opinion, but it's based on absolutely nothing.

TenuredVulture wrote:I've worked in the public and the private sector, and I've never worked at any business that was as lean and efficient as the public university I work at now.

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

TenuredVulture wrote:I've worked in the public and the private sector, and I've never worked at any business that was as lean and efficient as the public university I work at now.

Having shoestring budgets tends to make you resourceful. I will add that it typically doesn't lead to having the best or most motivated employees, so you often start creating inefficiencies by reducing budgets to "eliminate wasteful spending."

But hey, I'm literally going to be doing this stuff for a living in two weeks and have been working in the public sector for a decade. What do I know?

pacino wrote:the new local mayor got elected on two things:

1. people liked him because he fixed traffic tickets and other stuff as a local elected judge

2. he said he was going to 'find out who the thieves are' in government


it's all it takes, do stuff for people and say stuff people like without getting into specifics. government is terrible and horrible and useless unless i'm the one that's in charge, then it'll be whipped into shape.

pacino wrote:the new local mayor got elected on two things:

1. people liked him because he fixed traffic tickets and other stuff as a local elected judge

2. he said he was going to 'find out who the thieves are' in government


it's all it takes, do stuff for people and say stuff people like without getting into specifics. government is terrible and horrible and useless unless i'm the one that's in charge, then it'll be whipped into shape.

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

pacino wrote:the new local mayor got elected on two things:

1. people liked him because he fixed traffic tickets and other stuff as a local elected judge

2. he said he was going to 'find out who the thieves are' in government


it's all it takes, do stuff for people and say stuff people like without getting into specifics. government is terrible and horrible and useless unless i'm the one that's in charge, then it'll be whipped into shape.

Yup. It's been the standard conservative playbook as long as democracy has been a thing. Reagan made it cool for the current wave though.

ReadingPhilly wrote:

pacino wrote:the new local mayor got elected on two things:

1. people liked him because he fixed traffic tickets and other stuff as a local elected judge

2. he said he was going to 'find out who the thieves are' in government


it's all it takes, do stuff for people and say stuff people like without getting into specifics. government is terrible and horrible and useless unless i'm the one that's in charge, then it'll be whipped into shape.

reading has so much potential but i don't think it moves forward at all under his watch. can't wait for the railroad museum.

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

Brantt wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

Brantt wrote:-In terms of Trump, I think you are stereotyping him a bit. He is obviously uber rich, but in general he despises the elite. The best description I've ever seen of him is he is Rodney Dangerfield's character from Caddyshack. He has so much money that he cannot be ignored, but he absolutely love to mess with and poke the elite who despise him in general (I would compare Jeb to Judge Smails). If nothing else, he is a deal maker and master negotiator. His book The Art of the Deal is a fantastic read and a must read for anyone in a leadership position. I think he's a highly intelligent guy who would run the country like it's a business.....a mindframe that is badly, badly needed IMO. I also think he's a very moderate candidate overall. He's far right on immigration and homeland security, but most of his economic policies are moderate to liberal. He's going right to try to win this nomination, but if he gets it, he'll immediately start coming back to the middle and be probably even more fiscally liberal than I would prefer. Obviously he is a master salesman who has manipulated the media brilliantly. I have no idea how he would do as President, but given what we've seen in the last 15 years, I'm ready to take the plunge.

This is almost always one of the most insipid things that I hear from "fiscal conservatives." Government is NOT a business and should not be run like one, unless you're talking about a 501(c)(3), which Trump has never run in his life. Government is not for-profit, and should never be run as such. Government should rarely be at the forefront of business innovation due to the increased risks and higher costs typically associated with treading fresh ground. I wholeheartedly agree that Government should be efficient and should always strive to be more efficient (in fact, my new job next month is in the department tasked with exactly that in a major state agency). That is why there is not a single government entity anywhere in this country that does not have people with business degrees and business experience trying to cut costs and promote efficiency. It is quite difficult to balance the stability needed within government agencies with the need for new efficiencies and careful innovation.

It is incredibly damaging over the long-term to squeeze every single extra cent out of government budgets. Flint, Michigan, is the most obvious example of that, but nearly every government has an example of a bad situation arising out of government acting like a business. Here in Virginia, we dumped over two billion into Northrop Grumman to improve our state agencies' IT infrastructure through a highly-touted "Public Private Partnership." It did... poorly, at least until our state IT agency got a new chief and took a more active role to right the ship.

Government services are an investment in your populace. Maybe some should be eliminated while others should be expanded, but Trump is not the guy who can or should be making those decisions. Your post is a great conservative talking point, but it reveals a complete ignorance with the inner workings of government agencies.

Nope. See, the thing is, I don't necessarily disagree with most of what you said. The problem you run into is you can't gloss over "it should be run efficient" though and then point to the people running it and how it's being run. It destroys your entire post. Complete lack of efficiency is not a small or minor detail, it's a gaping crater that's going to affect our lives down the road and the lives of our children and grandchildren. Our government and those running it is the walking definition of inefficiencies and incompetent decision making.

You say Trump is not the guy who can bring efficiency to running the government, but you have zero clue if that statement is true or false. It's your opinion, and I respect your right to have that opinion, but it's based on absolutely nothing.

If you believe these things, then you're simply wrong. Hence my final line. You might as well just stick a joke into your post about waiting in line at the DMV.

Government is far from perfect, but a guy like Trump (Trump Casinos? Come. On) will never be the one to take it in the right direction.

pacino wrote:the new local mayor got elected on two things:

1. people liked him because he fixed traffic tickets and other stuff as a local elected judge

2. he said he was going to 'find out who the thieves are' in government


it's all it takes, do stuff for people and say stuff people like without getting into specifics. government is terrible and horrible and useless unless i'm the one that's in charge, then it'll be whipped into shape.

Brantt wrote:You're wrong!

No you're wrong!

No you're wrong!

No, you are wrong!

CalvinBall wrote:Iowa is 11 days away. Fascinating.

Still love that a few small states help shape the narrative of who will be the nominees.

Brantt wrote:You say Trump is not the guy who can bring efficiency to running the government, but you have zero clue if that statement is true or false. It's your opinion, and I respect your right to have that opinion, but it's based on absolutely nothing.