User-Supported News Commentary Hosted by Craig Crawford
DOGE-ing the Question
Attribution: Musk to quit DOGE by Dave Whamond, Canada, PoliticalCartoons.com
Author: patd
“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
View all posts by patd
(Bloomberg) — Elon Musk acknowledged that his job as head of President Donald Trump’s effort to cut the size of government is “costing me a lot” when it comes to his other big job, as CEO of Tesla Inc.
Political backlash from Musk’s recent political forays in the US and around the world have weighed on Tesla at home and abroad. “It’s costing me a lot to be in this job,” Musk said at a town hall event in Wisconsin, noting some of his political opponents have highlighted the stock’s retreat.
“What they’re trying to do is put massive pressure on me, and Tesla I guess, to you know, I don’t know, stop doing this,” Musk said. “My Tesla stock and the stock of everyone who holds Tesla has gone, went roughly in half. I mean it’s a big deal.”
Tesla shares rose to a record high in the month after Trump was elected, but have dropped 45% since their Dec. 17 peak. While he remains the world’s richest man, Musk’s own personal wealth has declined by more than $100 billion this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
“Long term I think Tesla stock’s going to do fine, so maybe it’s a buying opportunity,” Musk said.
mr cheddarhead poseur himself in WI
published by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel yesterday: Donald Trump advisor, Elon Musk, is attend Wisconsin conservative candidate Brad Schimel rally ahead of the pivotal state Supreme Court race. Attorney General Josh Kaul said he would seek a court order to block the tech billionaire from awarding million-dollar prizes to people at the event, after Musk said he will reward attendees. A Madison-based state appeals court panel on Saturday declined to quickly intervene in the case.
Schimel has said he will not be attending the event.
Musk’s illegal access to programs like Social Security, USAID and more through DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) has led to many protests and calls for his removal. The ‘Tesla Takedown’ is a series of protests taking place across the country at many Tesla dealerships. His company Tesla has taken massive stock hits over the last few weeks.
I’m guessing at the end of the day all this Musk chaos will result in no deficit reduction (once tax cuts for the rich kick in) and not that much workforce reduction once courts roll some of it back.
Once again the obituaries are less than happy.
The media continues with “krasnov agenda”. Completely ignoring the guy is bonkers and it is heritage running 2025 through the cult installed in Cabinet positions.
Funny videos from Sunday evening include muskovite getting heckled to his stupid looking face by the crowd. Perhaps the peasants snuck into the venue by lying who they supported. We do know Soros did not bus any protesters there, no need to.
False spring is here, love it. Too bad regular late winter is returning tonight.
While Musk runs amok, RFKjr is killing people.
CDC Buries Measles Forecast: “ordered staff this week not to release their experts’ assessment that found the risk of catching measles is high in areas near outbreaks where vaccination rates are lagging” https://www.propublica.org/article/measles-vaccine-rfk-cdc-report
Picture of Kristi Noem in grnt of the prisoners reminded…..
enough of this playing at government guy…..I have peasants to smush.
Democracy is bad for peasant smushing.
So (fucking idiot) SecDef invites his wife to sensitive meetings? I suppose there’s a distinction between sensitive and classified, but WTF?
patd, Don’t tease me about skuM leaving. BTW, anyone know the cost of the rich guys/corporate tax break per year in lost IRS revenue?
muskovite is time limited in his position. I suppose krasnov could easily just make up something and keep him around. I think the boards of the companies have told him to show for work or he will be fired is helping the decision.
I would be a touch reluctant to visit the US if I was not a white skinned non Hispanic non middle eastern person without tattoos or Muslim dress or appearance. Never know where you might end up.
Unabashed saber-rattling…Trump says he WILL take Greenland…”we need it.”
Trump is sure he can be a 3-term President, saying he has methods to get this done.
WE have methods to prevent this fiasco. We have many methods to stop him. One is voting, but there are many others. No way will we allow this.
The last MAGAt holdout on the road to town has turned his tRUMPsky flag (the one with Don-Old’s picture on it) UPSIDE-DOWN!
At first I was happy, thinking that his farm subsidies or veteran’s benefits were in jeopardy and he was ticked off. Then, I wondered if he was doing it for the same reason a US flag would be turned over; because the entity is in distress.
Democratic Congressman Greg Casar of Austin spent part of Saturday afternoon in the neighboring district of Republican colleague Chip Roy, chiding him for following the GOP playbook of not hosting in-person town hall meetings with the folks back home.
Although Roy was not among those who showed up, organizers of the town hall meeting that drew about 300 people — that’s 100 more than there were chairs to sit in — placed a life-size cutout of the congressman’s likeness on a chair at a table with a blue and white checkered table cloth. <— Love it!
..,Elon Musk, who makes Austin his home and is heading up what President Donald Trump calls the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was also a favorite target.
In his off-the-cuff remarks, Casar went after them both.
“The best way to push back against abuses by our government, and the people that have purchased politicians, is for people to hold elected officials accountable,” said Casar, a former Austin city council member who is in his second term in Washington. “You’re doing exactly what you should be doing here today.”
In an interview with the Statesman after the town hall, Casar returned to the theme of broadening his party’s appeal by emphasizing its support for the social safety net and protections for working-class voters.
“That’s what longtime populist Texas Democrats in the country used to be all about,” he said. “I think we’ve got to go back to those roots of taking on corporate elites. Nobody would tell you that in this last presidential election, that the core message of Democrats was to break the unholy alliance between corporate greed and corrupt government. That was not the message.”
Tesla stock falls amid investor concerns over Trump tariffs, Elon Musk’s government ties
Tesla shares pared losses later in the trading session, down nearly 3% midday Monday. The drop puts the stock down nearly 37% year to date.
Yeah, Pogeaux, I don’t see folks wanting to come here for FIFA next year. Canada & Mexico should be well-attended, but as they are now kidnapping and disappearing white folks, too, absolutely nobody should attend matches in the US. Heck, US Soccer should boycott. Also, how safe is airspace? Didn’t they fire or defund TSA?
…a nonprofit group representing the travel industry, says the United States air travel system is not ready for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, citing slow visa processing times and outdated security technology, among other reasons.
The 88-page report, written by former government officials and aviation industry experts, breaks down travel statistics and gives recommendations for President Donald Trump’s administration to enact to improve the air travel system ahead of numerous global events coming to America in the coming years, including the World Cup.
Six million people are expected to come to America for the World Cup, according to the report. The report says the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) workload staffing model shows it is already short 5,850 officers to facilitate trade and travel. It recommends Congress providing funding for 2,000 additional CBP officers at airports of entry.
Visitors requiring a visa have experienced wait times that can exceed six months and up to a year, per the report.
Not addressing the visa application and screening process delays could lead to losing millions of visitors and close to $19 billion in spending in the next two years, according to the report.
*The bigger issue is that the US is now a fascist state. Not turning into one; is one. I guess Hitler hosted an Olympics, but I think folks will go to Canada & Mexico, not the US.
They are nothing but gracious to us in Mexico especially when Mr. Ivy speaks Spanish with them.
A French court on Monday convicted her earlier Monday of embezzlement and barred her from seeking public office for five years — a hammer blowto the far-right leader’s presidential hopes and an earthquake for French politics.
Le Pen said she would appeal the verdict. Speaking to French TV channel TF1 in her first reaction to the verdict, Le Pen said that millions of French people “are outraged,” adding that the ruling was a violation of the rule of law.
*Let’s hope the French, and the courts in France, don’t let her slide like Orange Adolf.
Interactive map at bottom. No protests near me. I could put on a political t-shirt and walk around WalMart on April 5th, I guess.
BB, FWIW mine was deposited on the same day of the month as in Feb, which was 35 days after the Jan. check hit the bank. All were the 4th Wed. of the month. Sounds like a pattern. December was an outlier – it was deposited on the 4th Tuesday – someone must have hit the transfer button a day early to get out for the office an extra day for the holiday, or more likely they don’t make deposits on Christmas Day.
China, Japan and South Korea agreed to jointly respond to U.S. tariffs, a social media account affiliated with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Monday.
Japan and South Korea are seeking to import semiconductor raw materials from China, and China is also interested in purchasing chip products from Japan and South Korea, the account, Yuyuan Tantian, said in a post on Weibo.
*Ha! ~America has never been greater~
This 3rd (eternity) term thing is real, too. SFB golfs on our dime almost every, damned weekend. There’s a lot of them together in one place. Just sayin’
Ashley St. Clair offloaded her Tesla amid her contentious custody battle with Elon Musk.
The 26-year-old author sold her $100,000 car over the weekend to “make up” for Musk — who is the CEO of the automotive company — allegedly slashing their son’s child support.
When asked why she chose to sell the swanky vehicle, St. Clair told paparazzi she needed to “make up for the 60 percent cut that Elon made to our son’s child support.”
The influencer said she didn’t know why the richest man in the world would do such a thing. When asked if she believes it was a “vindictive” move, St. Clair replied, “Well, that’s his modus operandi, when women speak out.”
Page Six has reached out to Musk, 53, for comment.
She later alleged that he was an absentee father as they duked it out over paternity. She claims she has not spoken to the tech billionaire since Feb. 13 — one day before she announced the shocking news.
“You can check the stocks, I’m not the only one who is cleaning up after his messes,” she joked.
“Elon Musk has financially retaliated against his own child and reduced his financial support substantially and unilaterally,” her legal team told People at the time.
“He did this after Ashley was forced to bring this matter to court, when he refused to respond to her many private attempts to resolve this matter without publicity.”
They also called out the entrepreneur for filing “an emergency application to gag Ashley and prevent her from communicating about his actions,” which a judge allegedly denied.
“Ashley is vigorously opposing this application in order to preserve her right to speak-out. All while Mr. Musk fashions himself a first amendment warrior and freely communicates via his owned social media platform,” they claimed.
*Only sympathy for the child.
This morning SSA emailed me that an update of some kind occurred to my account. I looked over the letter and then only thing I spotted was my check is on the 3rd day of the month. Not a change that I could find, execpt the check has always been deposited for hold on the last day of the month.
Blue My check always comes on the third unless that falls on a Sat or Sunday. It has to do with the year you started collecting, so yours may have been adjusted to reflect that.
Corey Booker is causing a disruption. I don’t know if it will turn into anything more, but he is protesting the Medicare cuts
Democrat kicks off marathon Senate floor speech to protest Trump administration actions
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker has kicked off what is expected to be a marathon speech on the Senate floor to protest actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration, saying that he will keep going “as long as I am physically able.”
*Good! Folks need to see someone fighting for them.
…on Feb. 11, 1937. After a 44-day occupation of General Motors plants, the company was forced to recognize the United Auto Workers.
My dad had been on a picket line once and the police came in and [a striker] got whacked and it killed him.
My dad told my mother, “You know, some of these guys, their wives are threatening to leave them.” She said, “Jay Green, if you come out of that plant I will divorce you.”
House Republicans And Democrats Find Common Ground In Opposing GOP Member Hanging a ‘Wanted Poster’ For Judges Outside His Office
Top House Democrats and Republicans agreed during a House Rules Committee business meeting on judicial rulings Monday that judges must both be protected and calls for violence against them condemned.
*Wow, there are some sick idjits in Congress. That is the real tRUMP Derangement Syndrome; how embolden folks are to be their absolute worst.
2 days ago in USAtoday
Elon Musk says he’s leaving DOGE after 130 days
https://i.imgflip.com/17qx8n.jpg
Musk Says DOGE Role Is Costing Him as Tesla Shares Slump
mr cheddarhead poseur himself in WI
published by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel yesterday:
Donald Trump advisor, Elon Musk, is attend Wisconsin conservative candidate Brad Schimel rally ahead of the pivotal state Supreme Court race. Attorney General Josh Kaul said he would seek a court order to block the tech billionaire from awarding million-dollar prizes to people at the event, after Musk said he will reward attendees. A Madison-based state appeals court panel on Saturday declined to quickly intervene in the case.
Schimel has said he will not be attending the event.
Musk’s illegal access to programs like Social Security, USAID and more through DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) has led to many protests and calls for his removal. The ‘Tesla Takedown’ is a series of protests taking place across the country at many Tesla dealerships. His company Tesla has taken massive stock hits over the last few weeks.
I’m guessing at the end of the day all this Musk chaos will result in no deficit reduction (once tax cuts for the rich kick in) and not that much workforce reduction once courts roll some of it back.
Once again the obituaries are less than happy.
The media continues with “krasnov agenda”. Completely ignoring the guy is bonkers and it is heritage running 2025 through the cult installed in Cabinet positions.
Funny videos from Sunday evening include muskovite getting heckled to his stupid looking face by the crowd. Perhaps the peasants snuck into the venue by lying who they supported. We do know Soros did not bus any protesters there, no need to.
False spring is here, love it. Too bad regular late winter is returning tonight.
While Musk runs amok, RFKjr is killing people.
CDC Buries Measles Forecast: “ordered staff this week not to release their experts’ assessment that found the risk of catching measles is high in areas near outbreaks where vaccination rates are lagging”
https://www.propublica.org/article/measles-vaccine-rfk-cdc-report
Picture of Kristi Noem in grnt of the prisoners reminded…..
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f5sHOpniXqI&pp=ygUbQ29uY2VudHJhdGlvbiBjYW1wIGVocmhhcmR0
enough of this playing at government guy…..I have peasants to smush.
Democracy is bad for peasant smushing.
So (fucking idiot) SecDef invites his wife to sensitive meetings? I suppose there’s a distinction between sensitive and classified, but WTF?
patd, Don’t tease me about skuM leaving. BTW, anyone know the cost of the rich guys/corporate tax break per year in lost IRS revenue?
muskovite is time limited in his position. I suppose krasnov could easily just make up something and keep him around. I think the boards of the companies have told him to show for work or he will be fired is helping the decision.
today’s meme…
AP-NORC poll
Trump:
Disapprove 56%
Approve 42%
3/20-3/24
Trump
Unfavorable 54%
Favorable 42%
Musk
Unfavorable 55%
Favorable 36%
Trump is turning us into a pariah. Hate is not Respect.
BBC: ‘A hostile state’: The call to boycott US travel https://bbc.com/travel/article/20250328-the-people-boycotting-travel-to-the-us
I would be a touch reluctant to visit the US if I was not a white skinned non Hispanic non middle eastern person without tattoos or Muslim dress or appearance. Never know where you might end up.
Unabashed saber-rattling…Trump says he WILL take Greenland…”we need it.”
Trump is sure he can be a 3-term President, saying he has methods to get this done.
WE have methods to prevent this fiasco. We have many methods to stop him. One is voting, but there are many others. No way will we allow this.
The last MAGAt holdout on the road to town has turned his tRUMPsky flag (the one with Don-Old’s picture on it) UPSIDE-DOWN!
At first I was happy, thinking that his farm subsidies or veteran’s benefits were in jeopardy and he was ticked off. Then, I wondered if he was doing it for the same reason a US flag would be turned over; because the entity is in distress.
I’m going to assume he’s ticked off.
***
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2025/03/30/texas-democrat-greg-casar-town-hall-chip-roy-republican-dripping-springs-district/82720287007/
Democratic Congressman Greg Casar of Austin spent part of Saturday afternoon in the neighboring district of Republican colleague Chip Roy, chiding him for following the GOP playbook of not hosting in-person town hall meetings with the folks back home.
Although Roy was not among those who showed up, organizers of the town hall meeting that drew about 300 people — that’s 100 more than there were chairs to sit in — placed a life-size cutout of the congressman’s likeness on a chair at a table with a blue and white checkered table cloth. <— Love it!
..,Elon Musk, who makes Austin his home and is heading up what President Donald Trump calls the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was also a favorite target.
In his off-the-cuff remarks, Casar went after them both.
“The best way to push back against abuses by our government, and the people that have purchased politicians, is for people to hold elected officials accountable,” said Casar, a former Austin city council member who is in his second term in Washington. “You’re doing exactly what you should be doing here today.”
In an interview with the Statesman after the town hall, Casar returned to the theme of broadening his party’s appeal by emphasizing its support for the social safety net and protections for working-class voters.
“That’s what longtime populist Texas Democrats in the country used to be all about,” he said. “I think we’ve got to go back to those roots of taking on corporate elites. Nobody would tell you that in this last presidential election, that the core message of Democrats was to break the unholy alliance between corporate greed and corrupt government. That was not the message.”
*Bingo!
https://www.aol.com/finance/tesla-stock-falls-amid-investor-153304612.html
Tesla stock falls amid investor concerns over Trump tariffs, Elon Musk’s government ties
Tesla shares pared losses later in the trading session, down nearly 3% midday Monday. The drop puts the stock down nearly 37% year to date.
Yeah, Pogeaux, I don’t see folks wanting to come here for FIFA next year. Canada & Mexico should be well-attended, but as they are now kidnapping and disappearing white folks, too, absolutely nobody should attend matches in the US. Heck, US Soccer should boycott. Also, how safe is airspace? Didn’t they fire or defund TSA?
https://www.wfaa.com/article/sports/soccer/world-cup/2026-fifa-world-cup-us-air-travel/287-b5eec75d-de20-44a5-b330-6d5491e97715
…a nonprofit group representing the travel industry, says the United States air travel system is not ready for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, citing slow visa processing times and outdated security technology, among other reasons.
The 88-page report, written by former government officials and aviation industry experts, breaks down travel statistics and gives recommendations for President Donald Trump’s administration to enact to improve the air travel system ahead of numerous global events coming to America in the coming years, including the World Cup.
*The bigger issue is that the US is now a fascist state. Not turning into one; is one. I guess Hitler hosted an Olympics, but I think folks will go to Canada & Mexico, not the US.
They are nothing but gracious to us in Mexico especially when Mr. Ivy speaks Spanish with them.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BwSNx7oV9d8&pp=ygUPSG9tZSBhbmQgamV0aHJv
It has started. My Social Security check has not been deposited. Giving it one more day before raising hell.
https://apnews.com/article/marine-le-pen-france-far-right-trial-verdict-f3da0614e9a6fc24c87eb33d5b873409
A French court on Monday convicted her earlier Monday of embezzlement and barred her from seeking public office for five years — a hammer blowto the far-right leader’s presidential hopes and an earthquake for French politics.
Le Pen said she would appeal the verdict. Speaking to French TV channel TF1 in her first reaction to the verdict, Le Pen said that millions of French people “are outraged,” adding that the ruling was a violation of the rule of law.
*Let’s hope the French, and the courts in France, don’t let her slide like Orange Adolf.
https://handsoff2025.com/
Interactive map at bottom. No protests near me. I could put on a political t-shirt and walk around WalMart on April 5th, I guess.
BB, FWIW mine was deposited on the same day of the month as in Feb, which was 35 days after the Jan. check hit the bank. All were the 4th Wed. of the month. Sounds like a pattern. December was an outlier – it was deposited on the 4th Tuesday – someone must have hit the transfer button a day early to get out for the office an extra day for the holiday, or more likely they don’t make deposits on Christmas Day.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/china-japan-south-korea-will-jointly-respond-to-us-tariffs-chinese-state-media-says/ar-AA1C0u5a
China, Japan and South Korea agreed to jointly respond to U.S. tariffs, a social media account affiliated with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Monday.
Japan and South Korea are seeking to import semiconductor raw materials from China, and China is also interested in purchasing chip products from Japan and South Korea, the account, Yuyuan Tantian, said in a post on Weibo.
*Ha! ~America has never been greater~
This 3rd (eternity) term thing is real, too. SFB golfs on our dime almost every, damned weekend. There’s a lot of them together in one place. Just sayin’
https://pagesix.com/2025/03/31/celebrity-news/ashley-st-clair-savagely-sells-her-tesla-to-make-up-for-elon-musk-paying-less-in-child-support/
Ashley St. Clair offloaded her Tesla amid her contentious custody battle with Elon Musk.
The 26-year-old author sold her $100,000 car over the weekend to “make up” for Musk — who is the CEO of the automotive company — allegedly slashing their son’s child support.
When asked why she chose to sell the swanky vehicle, St. Clair told paparazzi she needed to “make up for the 60 percent cut that Elon made to our son’s child support.”
The influencer said she didn’t know why the richest man in the world would do such a thing. When asked if she believes it was a “vindictive” move, St. Clair replied, “Well, that’s his modus operandi, when women speak out.”
Page Six has reached out to Musk, 53, for comment.
Last month, St. Clair claimed that the businessman fathered her 6-month-old son.
She later alleged that he was an absentee father as they duked it out over paternity. She claims she has not spoken to the tech billionaire since Feb. 13 — one day before she announced the shocking news.
“You can check the stocks, I’m not the only one who is cleaning up after his messes,” she joked.
The comments came less than two weeks after St. Clair alleged that Musk slashed her child support after she sued him for sole legal custody.
“Elon Musk has financially retaliated against his own child and reduced his financial support substantially and unilaterally,” her legal team told People at the time.
“He did this after Ashley was forced to bring this matter to court, when he refused to respond to her many private attempts to resolve this matter without publicity.”
They also called out the entrepreneur for filing “an emergency application to gag Ashley and prevent her from communicating about his actions,” which a judge allegedly denied.
“Ashley is vigorously opposing this application in order to preserve her right to speak-out. All while Mr. Musk fashions himself a first amendment warrior and freely communicates via his owned social media platform,” they claimed.
*Only sympathy for the child.
This morning SSA emailed me that an update of some kind occurred to my account. I looked over the letter and then only thing I spotted was my check is on the 3rd day of the month. Not a change that I could find, execpt the check has always been deposited for hold on the last day of the month.
Blue My check always comes on the third unless that falls on a Sat or Sunday. It has to do with the year you started collecting, so yours may have been adjusted to reflect that.
Corey Booker is causing a disruption. I don’t know if it will turn into anything more, but he is protesting the Medicare cuts
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/31/politics/booker-senate-floor-speech-trump-protest?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_msn
Democrat kicks off marathon Senate floor speech to protest Trump administration actions
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker has kicked off what is expected to be a marathon speech on the Senate floor to protest actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration, saying that he will keep going “as long as I am physically able.”
*Good! Folks need to see someone fighting for them.
https://www.workers.org/2015/03/18723/
Women and the Flint sit-down strike of 1937
…on Feb. 11, 1937. After a 44-day occupation of General Motors plants, the company was forced to recognize the United Auto Workers.
My dad had been on a picket line once and the police came in and [a striker] got whacked and it killed him.
My dad told my mother, “You know, some of these guys, their wives are threatening to leave them.” She said, “Jay Green, if you come out of that plant I will divorce you.”
***
House Republicans And Democrats Find Common Ground In Opposing GOP Member Hanging a ‘Wanted Poster’ For Judges Outside His Office
Top House Democrats and Republicans agreed during a House Rules Committee business meeting on judicial rulings Monday that judges must both be protected and calls for violence against them condemned.
*Wow, there are some sick idjits in Congress. That is the real tRUMP Derangement Syndrome; how embolden folks are to be their absolute worst.
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