Mona Charen

You know, you can vote for me and you won't have to worry about that. I'm not interested in the budget deficit or cutting spending. And sure enough, you know, during the first Trump term, he didn't cut anything and he ballooned the deficit. But now he's brought in these, you know, Project 2025 crew and Russ Bott and all of this, and they are fanatics who want to drastically cut government.

And so there is, I think, going to be a little bit of a, you know, a little bit of a contradiction going on here. You know, the communists used to say we have to maximize the contradictions of capitalism. Well, we're going to see them maximizing the contradictions within Trumpism because part of Trumpism is you'll never have to feel any pain. I will never cut anything you like.

And so there is, I think, going to be a little bit of a, you know, a little bit of a contradiction going on here. You know, the communists used to say we have to maximize the contradictions of capitalism. Well, we're going to see them maximizing the contradictions within Trumpism because part of Trumpism is you'll never have to feel any pain. I will never cut anything you like.

And so there is, I think, going to be a little bit of a, you know, a little bit of a contradiction going on here. You know, the communists used to say we have to maximize the contradictions of capitalism. Well, we're going to see them maximizing the contradictions within Trumpism because part of Trumpism is you'll never have to feel any pain. I will never cut anything you like.

That is coming hard up against this new sweeping, you know, let's go in there and just set the whole thing on fire.

That is coming hard up against this new sweeping, you know, let's go in there and just set the whole thing on fire.

That is coming hard up against this new sweeping, you know, let's go in there and just set the whole thing on fire.

Yeah, 100%. And I would just add that, you know, it is sort of a staple of right wing commentary, you know, to dunk on, you know, bureaucrats. And I mean, even this goes back decades.

Yeah, 100%. And I would just add that, you know, it is sort of a staple of right wing commentary, you know, to dunk on, you know, bureaucrats. And I mean, even this goes back decades.

Yeah, 100%. And I would just add that, you know, it is sort of a staple of right wing commentary, you know, to dunk on, you know, bureaucrats. And I mean, even this goes back decades.

I mean, Reagan used to make jokes about federal bureaucrats, and some of them were pretty funny, you know, like they were saying, there's so many bureaucrats, like a guy is crying at his desk at the Department of Agriculture, and somebody says, what's the matter? And he says, my farmer died. So that was 40 years ago or more.

I mean, Reagan used to make jokes about federal bureaucrats, and some of them were pretty funny, you know, like they were saying, there's so many bureaucrats, like a guy is crying at his desk at the Department of Agriculture, and somebody says, what's the matter? And he says, my farmer died. So that was 40 years ago or more.

I mean, Reagan used to make jokes about federal bureaucrats, and some of them were pretty funny, you know, like they were saying, there's so many bureaucrats, like a guy is crying at his desk at the Department of Agriculture, and somebody says, what's the matter? And he says, my farmer died. So that was 40 years ago or more.

But the fact is, the truth, the dirty little secret of how we do things in our federal government is we actually don't have more bureaucrats now than we had like 40 years ago. We don't have a huge amount of bureaucrats. We do it through private contractors. And maybe some of them are not efficient. I'm sure they're not.

But the fact is, the truth, the dirty little secret of how we do things in our federal government is we actually don't have more bureaucrats now than we had like 40 years ago. We don't have a huge amount of bureaucrats. We do it through private contractors. And maybe some of them are not efficient. I'm sure they're not.

But the fact is, the truth, the dirty little secret of how we do things in our federal government is we actually don't have more bureaucrats now than we had like 40 years ago. We don't have a huge amount of bureaucrats. We do it through private contractors. And maybe some of them are not efficient. I'm sure they're not.

Government is never as efficient as a private business by its very nature, and it never will be, no matter how many Elon Musks you try to bring in, because the incentives are different. But the fact is, you can't just say, I'm going to fire 20% of the federal workforce, and then it'll all be leaner and meaner. No, it's just not going to work.

Government is never as efficient as a private business by its very nature, and it never will be, no matter how many Elon Musks you try to bring in, because the incentives are different. But the fact is, you can't just say, I'm going to fire 20% of the federal workforce, and then it'll all be leaner and meaner. No, it's just not going to work.

Government is never as efficient as a private business by its very nature, and it never will be, no matter how many Elon Musks you try to bring in, because the incentives are different. But the fact is, you can't just say, I'm going to fire 20% of the federal workforce, and then it'll all be leaner and meaner. No, it's just not going to work.

100%. Not that part in particular because, I don't know, it's very much of a sledgehammer and you would need to know in particular cases whether these particular workers need to be in the office. I don't know. But I'll tell you, I do not like DEI stuff. I think it is destructive. I think it's a really, really bad idea to encourage people to think in racial terms.