Current events discussion

[stocker08 10+ year member]

Musk never got the contract, nor did anyone ever say he did. The article, you provided, proves that what I am saying is true. And, if he was offered the contract, it would have been offered to him by Biden, along with the rest of that $38 billion contracts.

As for the FAA debacle. I also feel it would be a conflict of interest. I would like to see the actual reasons/excuses why the Verizon contract was put on hold. Just as if it was a democrat thing, I would like to see all the facts before I start making accusations.

Well, I did a lot of research on it, and it appears the FAA was already going put the contract on hold during the Biden admin. This is because the system, Verizon is using, was not very reliable in the FAA's more remote areas, and it was going to take years to hopefully get the system operating properly. The FAA was the who approached Starlink. Not the other way around. And after that last crash near the Reagan airport, the FAA decided they didn't have years to spare, and they wanted a fix much sooner. Starlink can have the entire system up and running in less than 2 years.

FAA deal with Elon Musk's Starlink raises conflict of interest concerns

The FAA said it is testing a Starlink terminal at its Atlantic City facility and two at "non-safety critical sites" in Alaska.

www.newsweek.com

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/25/business/musk-faa-starlink-contract/index.html

False. The Biden administration never offered a $400 million dumptruck contract. That contract was revised from a much smaller figure a few weeks ago: https://www.npr.org/2025/02/24/nx-s1-5305269/tesla-state-department-elon-musk-trump

Second, you clearly did not do much research. Verizon's existing contract is to UPGRADE the current system. They have nothing to do with the issues currently happening, whereas Trump and Musk's decisions to fire a bunch of FAA air controllers definitely plays a hand in the issues. As for Starlink having the entire system up and running much sooner....yeah.....it's not surprising that Musk would claim that as he's trying to pry the contract away from Verizon. It's a silly claim with nothing to back it up.

 

[Old_Slapper]

It's not just a "post that guy made". It comes directly from the Atlanta GDPNow model....which is typically very accurate. Nothing "shock value" about it. Trump's policies are causing issues. Him and his goons went from talking about how they were going to fix the problems and bring prices down (prior to the election) to now talking about how people are just going to have to deal with the pain. lol.

Not my fault that Trump is taking four straight years of economic growth and messing it up right off the bat.



Did you write this out in crayon before posting? Not only are we talking about the implications of Trump's proposed tax CUT......but even if there were a proposed tax INCREASE......the loose threads being tied together here are laughable at best. Business (negative)101.

Why are you so triggered. My posts, to you, have been quite mature without any attacks. Your reply posts have been quite the opposite.

If you wish to have an immature conversation, I can totally oblige.

So, let's talk about common sense 101. Which obviously you have not taken. I mentioned what would happen if you raise corporate taxes. Now imagine what would happen if you did the opposite. If you had the company, I bet you would take your extra earnings spread it amongst your employees. Maybe I SHOULD get some crayons and draw it out for you so you can understand it better. However, I see you have your dark blue TDS glasses on, so you can't see what facts or reasons are.

 

[stocker08 10+ year member]

1. Yes, he is the President.
2. What proof do you have that the country is imploding? Crime is way down, city streets are less chaotic, and the wars are in a cease fire point. Sounds like all is getting better. The only imploding I see are the democrats whenever Trump does something good.
3. You see Trump as a person who can only do bad. Therefore, you will only say bad things about him. Trump being Trump can go two different ways.

Dismantling important government functions by a ketamine addict with little idea what he's doing....just for starters. Hacking away at programs and other grants without any concern for the lasting implications or who may be hurt by those decisions. Large increase in unemployment and brain drain not only in government agencies, but across the country. Prices continuing to spiral upwards. Tariffs being applied and disbanded on a daily basis, creating unnecessary uncertainties for companies that source materials or sell outside of the country. Pilfering things likes medicaid, social security admin, and the VA so that Trump can pass large tax cuts to people who need it the least. Cozying up to dictators and turning aggressive towards allies.

Yeah.....it's been an unmitigated disaster only a month and a half in.

 

[Jimi77 Premium Member]

I mean if you can find it you can read the autopsy.

George Floyd full autopsy released,” reads one tweet. “Says ‘no life threatening injuries identified’ and reveals high levels of multiple additional toxic drugs on top of the Fentanyl that was initially reported.”

We have the video, it's pretty obvious that they didn't inflict life threatening injuries on him.

 

[Old_Slapper]

False. The Biden administration never offered a $400 million dumptruck contract. That contract was revised from a much smaller figure a few weeks ago: https://www.npr.org/2025/02/24/nx-s1-5305269/tesla-state-department-elon-musk-trump

That's what I said.

Second, you clearly did not do much research. Verizon's existing contract is to UPGRADE the current system. They have nothing to do with the issues currently happening, whereas Trump and Musk's decisions to fire a bunch of FAA air controllers definitely plays a hand in the issues. As for Starlink having the entire system up and running much sooner....yeah.....it's not surprising that Musk would claim that as he's trying to pry the contract away from Verizon. It's a silly claim with nothing to back it up.

Again, that's what I said. Verizon was being paid to update it, but it would take many years. As for firing people is what put spark in the decision was never a solid reason for the decision. I was not able to find anything that stated the firings happened before or after. Either way, FAA was already working with Musk before he Trump took office. Musk already has the satellites in place. Now it's about getting the equipment installed. Verizon doesn't have the satellites, and their equipment has shown to be unreliable.

 

[stocker08 10+ year member]

Why are you so triggered. My posts, to you, have been quite mature without any attacks. Your reply posts have been quite the opposite.

If you wish to have an immature conversation, I can totally oblige.

So, let's talk about common sense 101. Which obviously you have not taken. I mentioned what would happen if you raise corporate taxes. Now imagine what would happen if you did the opposite. If you had the company, I bet you would take your extra earnings spread it amongst your employees. Maybe I SHOULD get some crayons and draw it out for you so you can understand it better. However, I see you have your dark blue TDS glasses on, so you can't see what facts or reasons are.

I apologize.

It's frustrating to see so many people defend Trump's actions. He's not doing anything for the long term benefit of the country. He's striping away the copper piping of the country for the benefit of the few.

Maybe YOU would take those extra tax dollars and pay your workers more. But the fact is that most corporations care about little more than the bottom line. They beholden to the shareholders which means that rather than take those tax benefits and reinvest into employees, they give massive bonuses to executives, creating larger cash reserves, and implement record stock buybacks.

 

[stocker08 10+ year member]

Again, that's what I said. Verizon was being paid to update it, but it would take many years. As for firing people is what put spark in the decision was never a solid reason for the decision. I was not able to find anything that stated the firings happened before or after. Either way, FAA was already working with Musk before he Trump took office. Musk already has the satellites in place. Now it's about getting the equipment installed. Verizon doesn't have the satellites, and their equipment has shown to be unreliable.

Complete nonsense. Verizon has the infrastructure to upgrade the FAA systems. It's why they were granted the contract in the first place. Everything sounds like you just read the "facts" directly off Musk's twitter page. Starlink's infrastructure is far less developed for something like this. I have no idea where you're getting this "they don't have the satellites" and "their equipment has shown to be unreliable" narrative from?

 

[Old_Slapper]

Dismantling important government functions by a ketamine addict with little idea what he's doing....just for starters. Hacking away at programs and other grants without any concern for the lasting implications or who may be hurt by those decisions. Large increase in unemployment and brain drain not only in government agencies, but across the country. Prices continuing to spiral upwards. Tariffs being applied and disbanded on a daily basis, creating unnecessary uncertainties for companies that source materials or sell outside of the country. Pilfering things likes medicaid, social security admin, and the VA so that Trump can pass large tax cuts to people who need it the least. Cozying up to dictators and turning aggressive towards allies.

Yeah.....it's been an unmitigated disaster only a month and a half in.

He's doing all of that but yet, the world is looking better. There must be more to what's actually going on that your news media is not telling you. I would invite you to look deeper into these agencies and what is Trump really cut out. For example, Trump did not cut Social Security. He cut out organizations that were dipping into the social security funds. The media is telling everyone that he cut people off. NOPE. He cut organizations out.

 

[Old_Slapper]

Complete nonsense. Verizon has the infrastructure to upgrade the FAA systems. It's why they were granted the contract in the first place. Everything sounds like you just read the "facts" directly off Musk's twitter page. Starlink's infrastructure is far less developed for something like this. I have no idea where you're getting this "they don't have the satellites" and "their equipment has shown to be unreliable" narrative from?

Sorry again. I took those facts directly out of those two articles is sent as well as others. Those two articles, by the way, those two articles are from left leaning news outlets.

 

[Old_Slapper]

I apologize.

It's frustrating to see so many people defend Trump's actions. He's not doing anything for the long term benefit of the country. He's striping away the copper piping of the country for the benefit of the few.

Maybe YOU would take those extra tax dollars and pay your workers more. But the fact is that most corporations care about little more than the bottom line. They beholden to the shareholders which means that rather than take those tax benefits and reinvest into employees, they give massive bonuses to executives, creating larger cash reserves, and implement record stock buybacks.

Yes sir. I get your frustration. But as others in here will tell you, I will, and have, said many negative things about Trump. I have also said many nice things about democrat leaders.

I have worked in very high positions with many companies. I see the filth in corporations, but there is really nothing we can do. If we take their money, they will get it back by taking our money. If we give them money, then they are more likely to give some back. It sucks, but that's how they are.

 

[RobGMN Premium Member]

They actually must have hired someone as dumb as Trump himself to post this.

 

[stocker08 10+ year member]

He's doing all of that but yet, the world is looking better. There must be more to what's actually going on that your news media is not telling you. I would invite you to look deeper into these agencies and what is Trump really cut out. For example, Trump did not cut Social Security. He cut out organizations that were dipping into the social security funds. The media is telling everyone that he cut people off. NOPE. He cut organizations out.

I don't see how the world is looking better. Turning our backs upon our allies and becoming overly aggressive towards them and the other democratic nations in order to befriend a murderous dictator is not a good development for anyone.

And while it's true that Trump has not cut social security.....yet.....he's hacking away at an already overloaded agency. Employment at the SSA has decreased over the past decade while people receiving benefits has continued to increase. Communication and claims turnaround are already longer than they should be. Cutting a large number of employees is NOT going to fix that issue.

And there's nothing to back up the claim that he's cutting away fraud.

Yes sir. I get your frustration. But as others in here will tell you, I will, and have, said many negative things about Trump. I have also said many nice things about democrat leaders.

I have worked in very high positions with many companies. I see the filth in corporations, but there is really nothing we can do. If we take their money, they will get it back by taking our money. If we give them money, then they are more likely to give some back. It sucks, but that's how they are.

If we give them money, they are more likely to give some back? That's not a good argument for cutting corporate tax rates.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

A) He's the president
B) He's imploding the country
C) The thread title is "Trump being Trump"

What did you expect?

It's March 6th for ***** sake. 3 Months and you clowns think he is imploding the country. You people make me laugh. I don't know if I want to kick dust on you people when I walk by or pick you up by your toes and flick you in the noses.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

I guess I can't say too much. Day 1 of the Biden fiasco and he did more damage to America than we did with Fat Man and Little boy on Japan back in dubiyuh dubiyuh 2.

 

[Jimi77 Premium Member]

We're talking about (and you're defending) Trump scamming the country through his repeated tax cuts to corporate interests and the highest earners.

Newsflash....YOU brought up NAFTA. That has nothing to do with corporate tax rates.....so I have no idea why you'd bring that up and then get defensive about tariffs being mentioned. Those are two related items. Tariffs are a COST. COSTS get passed onto the consumers in terms of product pricing. Taxes are paid on INCOME. Eliminating tariffs are not a tax cut....no matter how many times you say so. Furthermore....the 90s were a prosperous period due to the tech boom. Trying to claim that it has something to do with "supply side economics" is misguided at best. If that were the case.....why didn't Reagan's corporate tax cuts have much of an impact other than causing the deficit to explode?

Ok, fine. Sometimes companies may do some things that benefit the working class when they get tax cuts. Rare. As we saw with the first round of Trump corporate tax cuts.....massive bonuses to CEOs, RECORD stock buybacks, and big increases to corporate capital accounts. If the goal is to increase economic output, then corporate tax cuts are a completely incompetent way to achieve that goal, as I've mentioned multiple times already. It's just a lie that keeps getting trotted out despite all evidence pointing to the contrary.

Yes, the wealthy are already in power. Hello, Trump and Musk are billionaires who are currently gutting the country for their own benefit. lol. Muck is literally giving himself billions of dollars in new government contract on top of the ones he already has. Talk about corporate welfare. No better example than Tesla.

And lol at saying that tax cuts to the lower classes will increase demand. Glad you're finally catching up. That's what makes them more effective at growing the economy. Increased demand leads to more investment and hiring to meet said demand. Companies don't do those things for the hell of it.

I'm not defending Trump. I'm "defending" supply side economic policies. Trump is enacting tariffs, which is the exact opposite of supply-side. As I said you have to let go of your obsession with Trump.

Tariffs are a tax. You welcome to call it a cost if you want, but everybody else calls it a tax. Google says it's a tax. I didn't check Wikipedia, but I'd bet it says tariffs are taxes too. Economists refer to tariffs as taxes. When the gov't collects money on a transaction, that's a tax. I'm not sure why you think tariffs aren't taxes.

So it's bad for the economy if Trump enacts tariffs and prices go up, but it's good if Trump increases corporate tax rates and prices go up? What if instead of a tariff, we went European with a VAT?

You totally miss characterized what happened under Reagan. In addition to tax cuts there were massive spending increases.

You also miss characterized the Clinton economy. The Clinton economy boomed because of the tech boom, NAFTA, GATT, the end of cold war and sustained low energy prices.

Musk is giving himself billions of dollars? I think you should expose this theft. CNN would be happy to report on that.