It’s the latest and greatest rampant stupidity. This guy is proud of what he’s done. He’s proud of putting people out of work (in today’s economy). He should be proud of being an inconsiderate jerk. What kind of person enjoys that? And why are all these idiots crawling out of the woodwork? These people just gobsmack us time and time again. It was old the first time it showed, and it’s infuriating now. All we can do is sit and watch. We have no way to toss them out. Lots of quotes coming from, and my compliments to Raw Story:
President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser boasted on Fox Business Thursday that the government had slashed more than 300,000 “high-paying” jobs from the federal payroll during the president’s first year back in office. Asked by anchor Maria Bartiromo about the administration’s efforts to cut government spending, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said it had made “a huge amount of progress.” “I think the biggest thing that we can point to is that we’ve cut government employment by 300,000 workers,” he said. “Those are jobs that are very high-paying that are gone forever.” He claimed the cuts reduced government spending by “an unthinkable amount of money,” perhaps $1 trillion over the next ten years.
I call baloney. One trillion over the next 10 years? With a new budget coming up, which includes a whole lot more money for the military? I’m perfectly happy for the military support, but with all the shenanigans Trump continues to pull, they’ll be fortunate if it saves *anything*. He’s just smug about the jobs that were cut and, by extension, people whose lives were ruined. The “fraud, waste, and abuse” is from Trump. There’s always *some* going to happen. It’s a matter of keeping it under control. Have I mentioned lately how much I ragingly *detest* that phrase?
Dean Baker, a longtime collaborator of Hassett’s despite their opposing political beliefs, wrote on social media that Trump’s economic adviser was dramatically exaggerating the deficit reduction that occurred during the administration’s first year. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the deficit was about $1.8 trillion for fiscal year 2025, just $41 billion less than the previous year and $56 billion lower than the $1.9 trillion deficit CBO projected in its most recent baseline. “In the real world, the deficit fell… less than one-tenth of what Kevin claims,” Baker said.
Less than one-tenth for wrecking people’s lives. That’s an achievement to NOT be proud of. But saying a number like 300,000 is much more immediate and sounds better than one-tenth. Does Hassett have a high-paying job? We would expect a top economic advisor to have a top paycheck. How would he like it if his job were eliminated? It won’t be, and that’s a pipe dream, but still it’s enjoyable to contemplate. It just keeps going. The more I learn about Trump’s ‘cabinet’, the unhappier I am. I have no idea why *cough*.
Jacqueline Simon, policy director at the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest labor union representing federal workers, told Common Dreams that even if slashing jobs did reduce the deficit as Hassett claimed, the harm far outweighs any such benefit—not only for the fired employees, but for the millions of Americans who depend on services they provide.
“When you say 300,000 jobs, it is a nice round number, and you link it to deficit reduction, which he was lying about,” Simon said. “The fact of the matter is, the disappearance of those 300,000 jobs means degraded healthcare for our veterans; slower or nonexistent service at the Social Security Administration for the elderly and disabled who rely on Social Security for their income; and the elimination of huge swaths of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that help ensure we have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink.”
“You have federal prisons absolutely overwhelmed by too many inmates and too few corrections officers, endangering public safety,” she continued. “Consumer product safety has been eviscerated. There are also serious public health concerns involving substance abuse, childhood nutrition, and vaccinations.” “Everybody is hurt by what he’s celebrating,” she added. “I guess it’s just par for the course from this administration, but it’s still a disgusting thing to hear.”
Ursula, Denis, and I depend on some of the programs that were hit by staffing cuts. So do millions more people. Many millions. I’ve been trying to calm down on the language, but this is bullshit. Cruelty is the effing point. Are we going to have anything left by the time Trump goes out the door? It‘s not looking good. Plus, here we are going into summer and fire season and hurricane season with FEMA being hog-tied by Noem. That’s another unforgivable one.
Jarvis and Joseph, I’ve answered your Hakeem Sequel comments. See you soon!
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise that among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest-working. We’re a group of elderly, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
Hassett’s an idiot.
From the block quote: I think the biggest thing that we can point to is that we’ve cut government employment by 300,000 workers,” he said. “Those are jobs that are very high-paying that are gone forever.” He claimed the cuts reduced government spending by “an unthinkable amount of money,” perhaps $1 trillion over the next ten years.
If he thinks those numbers make sense, he needs to be the next to lose HIS “high-paying government job.” For starters, if slashing those workers will save “perhaps $1 trillion over the next ten years,” that means the savings only amounts to about $100 billion EACH year.. $100 billion spread over 300,000 people is only a little over $333 each. That’s right: THREE HUNDRED THIRTY-THREE DOLLARS. The man has been allowed to spew a figure without any challenge from the Fox BUSINESS anchor. Not even a little shock or questioning, “Are you sure about that figure, sir?”
If you cut 300,000 government jobs, the total savings over a ten-year period should be MUCH MUCH greater than just a mere “trillion” (yeah, I’m aware of the odd juxtaposition of “mere” and “trillion”). If those government jobs paid just $50,000 a year (certainly not as “high-paying” as jobs like Congressperson or Cabinet Secretary or Supreme Court Justice) and each employee was making that, in a single year, the government’s payroll for those workers would be $15 BILLION and the payroll spent over 10 years would be $150 TRILLION.
Here’s the math: 300,000 x $50,000 = $15,000,000,000
$15,000,000,000 x 10 = $150,000,000,000
The standard way of remembering how those big numbers work isn’t all that hard.
A thousand thousands equals a million.
A thousand millions equals a billion.
A thousand billions equals a trillion.
Another relatively easy way, especially with such rounded numbers (ending in a bunch of zeroes), you count up ALL the zeroes in the numbers and write them down. Then you multiply whatever other numbers you’ve got and write down that product. With the 300,000 and 50,000, you have a total of nine zeroes which will follow 15 (the product of 3 x 5). Write those digits out as 15000000000 and then space them out with commas (inserting a comma every three spaces working from right to left) so 15,000,000,000 which reads as fifteen billion.
He’s very much and idiot and that’s what I said. I also mentioned he should lose his high paying job.
But seeing the numbers laid out is very, very helpful. His yapping is baloney. He has no idea what he’s talking about. This is not a surprise in Trump’s ‘cabinet’. They’re all idiots. No one has any sense.