My Thoughts by Robert Gray

 Trump and Musk are promoting a worthy goal to save federal money using one laudable means of downsizing and reorganizing government. But many of the processes they are using are absolute bullshit intended for a show of quick results.   First understand that there is a difference between employees and personnel positions.  Employees are the people who are hired to work in positions. Positions exist on paper to identify the personnel needs of an organization. Qualifications, job description and salary are key defining position elements. Position salaries are used to develop budgets but whether that budget is actually expended depends on if the position is actually filled. If you budget X dollars because you expect a position to be filled, but you do not fill that position, you have saved X dollars. But what is the value of such savings if you needed the position filled?  I can budget X dollars for groceries and if I don't buy groceries I saved X dollars.  Is...

There sure is s ome crazy shit going on with the immigrant issue. You can hate on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) all you want even if you feel you have to get in the last word about the overall issue of immigration control. I don't give a rat's ass because that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a Border Czar (Tom Homan) who was once ICE Acting Director, a Border Patrol agent and police officer with both an A.S. and B.S. in Criminal Justice who is publicly showing the world on TV just how ignorant he is about constitutional rights. AOC has been telling people that when ICE shows up, they have the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, the right to require a warrant for searches - you know, the same rights that anyone who watches any TV law enforcement show would know. Lawyers will tell the general public to use these rights during any encounter with law enforcement. Telling people about these rights is a basic 1st Amendment right. And this...

I just finished reading Shadi Hamid's February 17, 2025 op/ed piece in the Washington Post, "Why I still criticize Democrats more than Trump" .  In this piece, Shadi writes that he is  more critical of Democrats because he expects them to live up to their ideals.  He asks the question, " As much as moral condemnation might make us feel good, what does it accomplish".  He advocates against the easy and simple criticism of Trump and prods us to ask why Trump is so popular. Because I do like to read and comment on such op/eds, I saw where WaPo started off its comment section with this question -  " What are your thoughts on the idea that Democrats should be held to a higher standard because they claim to uphold certain values?" I immediately thought that the person (or AI) who wrote that question was implying that others should hold Democrats to a higher standard when I believe it should be Democrats evaluating how they hold to their own standards.  But I...

  There has been a lot of recent attention given to President Trump's Executive Orders released (and continue to be released) during these first few weeks of his second term. Each one has its own individual issues and concerns but one overriding question for many is the constitutionality of Trump's actions. Many people are saying we are in the midst of a constitutional crisis. Given past and present comments by Trump, VP Vance, allies, aides and supporters, it is clear that the current Executive Branch administration believes it is the federal courts causing a crisis by interfering with Executive Branch "legitimate" authority.  But is this exercise of authority actually "legitimate"?  If not, what's next?  To answer such questions, we first have to look at the source - the Constitution of the United States,  written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and put into effect in 1789. The US Constitution Article III, Section 1 states that, " The judicial power o...