OlDawg

Nothing wrong with immigration. But—as was famously said—you can’t have open borders and a welfare state. Milton Friedman Cato Institute is libertarian. Their slogan is basically ‘build a wall around the welfare state, not around the nation.’ I think most people with a lick of common sense understand the two can’t co-exist without restrictions. So—as a liberal—you either have to give up your big government spending, or open immigration. You choose. @UT alum

…and the ‘real whammy’. You should be at least a little perturbed by now. [Hidden Content]

Another link for you. [Hidden Content]

The breakdown is roughly $500 Million just as a ‘freebie’ grant with no strings attached to a project, then somewhere between $6-7 Billion in research grants with an ‘overhead slush fund’ markup of .64 per dollar. So, around $3-4 Billion is not research. Less than 1/3 of the $$$ actually goes to research. (Which is still taxpayer money.) Personally, if the government requests university help for research, I think it should be bid out just like in the private sector. Let the Universities compete. Right now, it’s not a true bidding process. We should also be more selective about which projects are funded. Every project funded should have an ROI explanation in ‘hard numbers.’ Don’t agree with the government being able to say who is hired/fired/teaches at any secondary education institution—unless said institution is working on a government funded project. If they are, anyone associated with the project should have to go through a very intensive security check (including social media, character references, criminal history, employment & credentials) before they are allowed anywhere near said project. This includes even teaching/assisting in that Dept. At the least, this helps protect IP theft. I find it interesting that primary schools require employees to pass background checks (rudimentary ones at least) in most states, but secondary institutions don’t require similar. I also believe the government should be able to fund—or not—whoever they desire & the funding should be ‘at-will.’ To me, these are just common sense business/project practices. Nothing magical. On a side note, the President of Harvard is Jewish & has admitted Harvard has an antisemitism problem.

[Hidden Content] When I drove by last week, there looked to be another large video screen on the outside of the south side of the stadium. Not sure if it's for advertisements, scheduled event info, or what. But, it looked like another video screen to me. I took some pics of the complex. But, I cant seem to get them to upload. Too big & I can't compress enough. Maybe, they'll do another drone flyover soon. Still planning on going to the Spring game. So, maybe I can do better then.

Kewl! Rarely do I find another libertarian on political forums!

[Hidden Content] ‘For every dollar Ivy League universities receive for research, they charge the government an additional 64 cents, on average, for overhead. This funding is clearly a subsidy, because it is almost entirely fungible and unaccountable.’

I call BS! Harvard isn’t a private school if they receive $9 Billion of taxpayer money or more per year. If you accept public money, you’re not private. Getting tired of hearing them cry they’re private. Feds dole out about $40 Billion per year in grants to colleges/universities. As I mentioned in another thread, take some of this & invest in the skilled trades/crafts. Somehow, I don’t see air traffic controller trainees, nurses, welders, heavy machinery operators, solar/wind/industrial mechanics, CODERS (as was famously mentioned) or those type very needed skills protesting much except having to take a liberal arts class for technical training.

Pretty sure y’all are: D1 - BH, BS D2 - PNG, Ned 20-5A still has a district game to play (except for LP) to decide seeds. LP will be #1 D1 no matter what as they swept the series vs. Santa Fe.)

La Porte & Friendswood finished tied for 2nd. Friendswood won the series against La Porte, so they get #1 D1 seed.

I’m assuming as District Champs and being D1 that La Porte will match up with Sterling in Bi-District? BH & BS are the D1 seeds? Haven’t seen anything yet.

LP has a pretty good team. But, y’all are on a different level.

Agree with much. But, he’s already had the due process afforded to an illegal migrant, and he admitted he should be deported. This was established in 2019. A deportation order was given. This was BEFORE the order that he couldn’t be sent back to El Salvador. If he’d been returned to his country right away, there wouldn’t be an issue. Also, he was sent to El Salvador under Title 8–not as a terrorist or gang member. Normal procedure since the 1940’s. Why the Administration keeps saying otherwise and confusing the issue is probably more of a smear campaign than anything. My gut guess is, he never thought he’d actually be caught (since he’d been here 8 years before his first encounter with Immigration), and never thought he’d actually be deported (after the order to do so 6 years earlier). This seems to be a total government cluster****. Typical. I still think SCOTUS will have to be very careful with any ruling as they have no real authority over the Immigration process. (They definitely have no say over foreign policy.) It’s explicitly granted to the Legislative Branch with execution orders granted to POTUS. It has its own judges, etc. Appeals were already turned down through the Immigration judges, BIA, and the AG. Only then did it go to a Federal District Court. SCOTUS getting involved will open the door to every immigration case wanting to go through the federal court system. This is an unworkable situation, and doesn’t follow immigration law as it currently stands. While illegal immigrants have habeus corpus, they’re limited as are anyone’s who is not in the U.S. legally. Ironic that it was the first Trump Administration that didn’t deport him the first time. Also ironic that those screaming ‘against the Constitution!’ now, had nothing to say when the Constitution and Federal Law was ignored to let them in.

I was struck by the fact he was afraid to go back to his home country because a ‘rival gang’ would harm him/family. If he’s not in a gang, what rival? Apparently, his family is still there and okay… That’s just me though, and it doesn’t negate his limited habeus corpus as a person here without true legal status. Of course, Immigration judges are part of the Executive Branch (for those that don’t know). Not the Judicial Branch. So, there’s a conflict with a District judge being involved in the first place in my mind. I thought the article was good because it just layed out the confusing facts. Never heard of the author before. But, read up on him. Young guy. Thought he did a pretty good job.

Informative read and why I say Trump Administration hasn’t violated SCOTUS—yet. [Hidden Content]

1) He hasn’t ignored SCOTUS—yet. Swing and a miss. 2) Talking? You’ve got to be kidding me, right? Swing and a miss. 3) Federal money comes with strings. SCOTUS has ruled on this numerous times. Swing and a miss. That’s 3. Next batter. In contrast, the previous Administration (whoever the heck was running it) ignored SCOTUS numerous times on student loan forgiveness, ignored federal law & the Constitution by allowing/encouraging illegal immigration, and applied undue pressure to social media & press outlets using the force of the federal government. Just sayin’.

As a libertarian, I’m no big Trump fan. But, he was better than the alternatives. I didn’t vote in the last cycle (first time ever) because I said I was tired of voting against someone instead of voting ‘for’ someone. Either way, I’m a limited government guy. That means I’m not R or D. I’ll take the benefits available that I’ve paid into if they’re still there. But, if they’re not there, I’ll deal with that also. I have yet to see Trump do anything to ‘destroy the Constitution.’ I actually saw more of that in the last farcical administration where the people were lied to about a candidate & will never know who was actually running the government. Other than, it wasn’t the duly elected POTUS. THAT is the biggest scandal/corruption of all time.

??? This has no bearing on the 10th. The Constitution wouldn’t have been ratified without the 10th. (According to records & historians.) 90% of the Federal Government is against the entire concept of federalism and shouldn’t exist at the federal level. The Commerce Clause has been greatly abused in the past by Statists. The current court is more originalists. That’s why so many progressives are so upset.

That’s an easy one. The CDC shouldn’t exist.

Out of curiosity, when’s the last time you read the 10th Amendment?

In one sense, I’d say you were correct. No real direct tie between healthcare costs & government. But, with Medicare being a very large chunk of the federal budget & our deficit costs, the abuse of Medicare by the Medicare Advantage providers to the tune of 100’s of billions a year & growing is a problem that DOGE can help address and shine a light on the corruption and inbreeding. When the agency that’s supposed to audit these providers & keep them ‘in line’ is filled with ex employees of the groups they’re supposed to be monitoring, it’s the fox & hen house routine. The last article I linked points out that traditional Medicare is actually cheaper for the government/taxpayers by far with similar or better outcomes. But, MA plans have become another 3rd wheel because of different issues—lobbying as you state—being one. You should read the linked article. Just don’t let it make you so mad you need a hospital visit.

Wait til you read this one. Waste, fraud & abuse to the max. Not just the $84 billion. Apparently, our government has known about this stuff for 4 Administrations & done nothing but pocket the insurance lobbies’ money. [Hidden Content] Meanwhile, my better 1/2, with Parkinson’s Plus which keeps her from walking, writing, talking clearly, bathing, going to the bathroom, eating, or clothing herself has to hire a disability attorney to try to fight to get disability where she can have insurance. At 61 years young, we have to be on outrageously expensive ACA for her to have any coverage at all since we’re in the ‘donut hole’ unless we pay an attorney and cross our fingers and wait. And—in Texas—unless your 65, the state doesn’t require supplemental insurance to cover preexisting conditions. It’s a big mess and a crock. Sorry. I guess I should be happy/thankful we can get anyone to cover her at all. Off my soapbox now.

Off topic for stock market discussion. But, since I’ve happened to find an area where at least two posters with diametrically opposed views agree, I’ll go ahead & drop this right here. Can we agree this may be a good area for the technical wizards with DOGE to investigate and advise? It doesn’t mean cutting benefits—as some are claiming. [Hidden Content] @UT alum @LumRaiderFan

No problem. I should clarify I wouldn’t attack a CEO either. That’s not allowable to me at all. But, if DOGE wants to do a deep dive into Medicare spending, this (Medicare Advantage) is an area that could expose a LOT of fraud.

Actually, it was United Health Care. Heavily weighted on the Dow & posted lower earnings & bad forecast for remainder of the year. I actually don’t mind them losing money a bit. They are one of the major players in the rip-off of Medicare. All the Medicare Advantage sellers up charge the government (our tax $$$) for their policies, deny a lot of coverage, cover it up with health club membership bullcrap & such, then drop folks when they actually get really sick or elderly & dump them back on Medicare. Then, it’s almost impossible for people to get supplemental coverage & they’re left with OOP costs many can’t afford, and Medicare winds up paying for the really expensive medical treatment that might have been prevented if the Advantage plan had allowed treatment earlier. (Always makes me furious just thinking about it.) Beware Medicare Advantage plans. They ARE too good to be true.