It is truly all the novels of my childhood. Farenheight 451 and 1984. So crushing for all these dedicated scientists and workers, their programs in this country and around the world. And especially the people on the ground who will and are already suffering as the wealthiest person in the world gleefully attacks the poorest and most vulnerable in the world. Sadly, and though I believe we need to keep up with the law suits...Trump/Musk controls the Justice dept all the way up to the Supreme Court, and the enforcement and investigators i.e., FBI, police, etc. We are too slow and need to be thinking way into the future ...These legal suits should have been ready to go sans specifics of allegations' names as soon as he got elected at the very least.
They better do it fast as these are not the sorts of changes that recover fast as programs, and 200,000 federal employees now unemployed and their families are seriously impacted. And this is only the beginning. We still don’t know all the details of what’s been lost. Wait till they start getting Congress to pass ridiculous legislation with a majority.
I read that a probationary employee of USDA was begging for their job back, said they're "one of the good ones" - Find Out indeed. Also read that many Rs will cut programs but quietly provision that their own state is exempt. The cruelty is the point.
Yup. I also worry that "the good ones" are simply "the ones whose work is immediately obviously beneficial"...whereas so many people do important work whose benefits are clear but not immediate. We need them too.
Yesterday a DOJ attorney stated/attested that Musk is not in charge of Doge to a federal judge in a case where 14 state attorney generals are seeking a TRO to keep him and his minions out of our data: she denied the TRO--because it's all so opaque but indicated that Musk may (??) be violating the constitution.
Indeed not, however the harming of knowledge workers in Research Triangle might be considered an intended effect by the current administration, the longer-term operational consequences be damned.
Dr. Faust, please try to be more objective and less political. Your hyperbolic political analysis is not very good and frankly is annoying and off-putting, because I look forward to your newsletter as a clear source of medical and health information.
You write, "a far better strategy would be to actually study the federal government and its functions before attempting to annihilate it." This is obviously an untrue and biased statement, because the objective is to drastically reduce the government, which is bankrupting the country, not annihilate it. Furthermore what is your evidence that longer study of government functions before making cuts would be a more effective strategy to achieve the actual stated goal? The most likely outcome of that would be protracted delays, lengthy reports, and the wasteful areas entrenching themselves even further while they strategize how to protect their own self-interest. The current model, which is widely used in some of the largest commercial enterprises, is to work quickly and break things, finding out along the way what was truly needed and what wasn't. You may not like that model, but that is not a health or medical question that you have expertise in or on which your opinion the public should put much stock into even if you do have some on a small scale.
I am monitoring my decision on what tone to take, and at the moment I'm where I'm at. This is the beauty of democratized publishing models like Substack. I answer to nobody other than my general sense of reader feedback, of which your opinion is valid but in the minority.
In terms of the other things you've stated, I'm sorry but your analysis is simply incorrect at its core and I'm not going to violate my commitment to myself to not engage in activities that violate Brandolini's law. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandolini%27s_law
You couldn't be more off target. Dr. Faust is much closer. You are the one actually bringing in "politics". The "run it like a business" oversimplification and approach in service organizations/depts like healthcare and education have proven to be destructive for decades. The only ones benefiting from that approach are CEO's and private equity firms as the services for Americans diminish in quality, access, and affordability. And that goes for both private and gov medical services. It is causing the loss of autonomy and effectiveness for/from dedicated doctors, nurses, and teachers. And what's "trickling down" to Americans is neither $$$ or adequate services. I'm not sure what mysterious "current model" you are specifically referring to but you are revealing your own biases in that statement as well as "drastically reduce the government, which is bankrupting the country". Interesting comment as both Trump and Musk have even in the past made lots of personal profit off of gov contracts and using influence from their power positions in gov (and not legally-conflict of interest). Trump called it what it was, and stated that he planned on "branding" the Whitehouse. Add to that they don't pay their proportionate fair share of taxes. (We can guess fairly accurately what they're doing with access to personal info of tax-paying Americans, and Trump/Musk's own history of evasion of audits etc.). The accepted plan you are actually referring to started by Reagan and worsened by those like Trump/ Musk would better be described as "rape and pillage". Whereby they come in, strip the biz down to nothing for anything they can derive from it like vultures, take control, or more likely destroy and dump. Wreaks havoc on industry, individual workers, and on the economy. They don't want to see labor gainfully and employed and healthy. They want serfs. And I sure as hell don't want that profit-for-the-few mentality running things like my healthcare. I want scientists and medical practitioners doing that with a budget financial oversight officer that also has a medical degree and practitioner experience. And speaking of science...If the folks like you and Trump/Musk used transparency of data and analysis the way Dr. Faust does we might be in good shape. They haven't given us their plan after gutting everything and no specific data because their agenda is to empower and enrich themselves. Thanks for making my point so well.
Not a bot. I "found him" but very conservative, narrow-minded, bias more interested in "throwing bombs" without merit than true logic with solutions being the the objective. He certainly sounded like a "bot" using circular logic, and sadly, there isn't much difference.
Thanks as always for the very clear break down of information. Please keep the snark! You’re saying what everyone else is thinking!
:)
Thank you for the update! Appreciate the snark, although if we sped up the Mars timeline and put Musk on a shuttle tomorrow ;)
That's one idea!
And Trump too, please.
not sure he's in good enough shape but who knows
We HOPE not
It is truly all the novels of my childhood. Farenheight 451 and 1984. So crushing for all these dedicated scientists and workers, their programs in this country and around the world. And especially the people on the ground who will and are already suffering as the wealthiest person in the world gleefully attacks the poorest and most vulnerable in the world. Sadly, and though I believe we need to keep up with the law suits...Trump/Musk controls the Justice dept all the way up to the Supreme Court, and the enforcement and investigators i.e., FBI, police, etc. We are too slow and need to be thinking way into the future ...These legal suits should have been ready to go sans specifics of allegations' names as soon as he got elected at the very least.
I may be naive but I think the Supreme Court is actually going to be on the side of saving our system
They better do it fast as these are not the sorts of changes that recover fast as programs, and 200,000 federal employees now unemployed and their families are seriously impacted. And this is only the beginning. We still don’t know all the details of what’s been lost. Wait till they start getting Congress to pass ridiculous legislation with a majority.
Thank you, Jeremy. We need expert people like you to call this administration out on the harm they are doing, not just here but globally.
I'll keep doing it for as long as people find it useful. Thank you
There are a lot of science rallies across the country today. Protesting cuts to positions and research 🔬
I honestly can't stand attending rallies but one of these days I might have to
I read that a probationary employee of USDA was begging for their job back, said they're "one of the good ones" - Find Out indeed. Also read that many Rs will cut programs but quietly provision that their own state is exempt. The cruelty is the point.
Yup. I also worry that "the good ones" are simply "the ones whose work is immediately obviously beneficial"...whereas so many people do important work whose benefits are clear but not immediate. We need them too.
Yesterday a DOJ attorney stated/attested that Musk is not in charge of Doge to a federal judge in a case where 14 state attorney generals are seeking a TRO to keep him and his minions out of our data: she denied the TRO--because it's all so opaque but indicated that Musk may (??) be violating the constitution.
yeah that was weird. I'll have to ask the legal experts what they think about that one
Research Triangle folks probably voted disproportionately for the Democrats in the last election.
Good point. But I still think these blue enclaves in red states drive important parts of the economies, so they can't be ignored entirely, right?
Indeed not, however the harming of knowledge workers in Research Triangle might be considered an intended effect by the current administration, the longer-term operational consequences be damned.
Dr. Faust, please try to be more objective and less political. Your hyperbolic political analysis is not very good and frankly is annoying and off-putting, because I look forward to your newsletter as a clear source of medical and health information.
You write, "a far better strategy would be to actually study the federal government and its functions before attempting to annihilate it." This is obviously an untrue and biased statement, because the objective is to drastically reduce the government, which is bankrupting the country, not annihilate it. Furthermore what is your evidence that longer study of government functions before making cuts would be a more effective strategy to achieve the actual stated goal? The most likely outcome of that would be protracted delays, lengthy reports, and the wasteful areas entrenching themselves even further while they strategize how to protect their own self-interest. The current model, which is widely used in some of the largest commercial enterprises, is to work quickly and break things, finding out along the way what was truly needed and what wasn't. You may not like that model, but that is not a health or medical question that you have expertise in or on which your opinion the public should put much stock into even if you do have some on a small scale.
I am monitoring my decision on what tone to take, and at the moment I'm where I'm at. This is the beauty of democratized publishing models like Substack. I answer to nobody other than my general sense of reader feedback, of which your opinion is valid but in the minority.
In terms of the other things you've stated, I'm sorry but your analysis is simply incorrect at its core and I'm not going to violate my commitment to myself to not engage in activities that violate Brandolini's law. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandolini%27s_law
You couldn't be more off target. Dr. Faust is much closer. You are the one actually bringing in "politics". The "run it like a business" oversimplification and approach in service organizations/depts like healthcare and education have proven to be destructive for decades. The only ones benefiting from that approach are CEO's and private equity firms as the services for Americans diminish in quality, access, and affordability. And that goes for both private and gov medical services. It is causing the loss of autonomy and effectiveness for/from dedicated doctors, nurses, and teachers. And what's "trickling down" to Americans is neither $$$ or adequate services. I'm not sure what mysterious "current model" you are specifically referring to but you are revealing your own biases in that statement as well as "drastically reduce the government, which is bankrupting the country". Interesting comment as both Trump and Musk have even in the past made lots of personal profit off of gov contracts and using influence from their power positions in gov (and not legally-conflict of interest). Trump called it what it was, and stated that he planned on "branding" the Whitehouse. Add to that they don't pay their proportionate fair share of taxes. (We can guess fairly accurately what they're doing with access to personal info of tax-paying Americans, and Trump/Musk's own history of evasion of audits etc.). The accepted plan you are actually referring to started by Reagan and worsened by those like Trump/ Musk would better be described as "rape and pillage". Whereby they come in, strip the biz down to nothing for anything they can derive from it like vultures, take control, or more likely destroy and dump. Wreaks havoc on industry, individual workers, and on the economy. They don't want to see labor gainfully and employed and healthy. They want serfs. And I sure as hell don't want that profit-for-the-few mentality running things like my healthcare. I want scientists and medical practitioners doing that with a budget financial oversight officer that also has a medical degree and practitioner experience. And speaking of science...If the folks like you and Trump/Musk used transparency of data and analysis the way Dr. Faust does we might be in good shape. They haven't given us their plan after gutting everything and no specific data because their agenda is to empower and enrich themselves. Thanks for making my point so well.
It writes like a bot
Not a bot. I "found him" but very conservative, narrow-minded, bias more interested in "throwing bombs" without merit than true logic with solutions being the the objective. He certainly sounded like a "bot" using circular logic, and sadly, there isn't much difference.
How do I get to Premium ?
I ran across this article and accompanying video that included interesting information about the size of government over time & the impact of government contracts on our budget as well as the profits associated with them to include the notorious Medicare Advantage Program. https://substack.com/@marlonweems/note/c-94739504?r=1f1k4d&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action