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Comment by abenga | Hacker News Reader

> The biggest concern is, I guess, that we've banned trans men from womens sports and removed the X option from gender forms?

Really? The biggest concern? Not wantonly cutting long-running programs (even international commitments) with no regard to consequences, just to see what happens?

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Well, that's the thing; I don't know what peoples' concerns are. I hear a lot of complaints about vague generalities (like what you just said) and ominous future-fear about a dictatorship, but I struggle to connect any of those concerns back to specific orders. Much of them just sound like an expression of a generalized anxiety disorder tbh.

I think the spending cuts are generally justified under something akin to "we don't have the money to spend on a lot of this stuff", because we don't. I haven't heard any argument on how deficit spending is sustainable, and obviously Americans are tired of mortgaging their childrens' future for short-term gains.

I suspect we'll rebuild a ton of the programs, and I hope we do; but we need to reach a place of fiscal sustainability first.

If they cared about fiscal responsibility they wouldn't have passed the 2017 tax cuts, or be trying to renew them now. IMHO taxes were fine in the 2010-2017 era and if we'd just kept that, we'd be close to a balanced budget. Instead, they cut taxes (the popular part) without cutting spending (the unpopular part) and let the debt run wild under the assumption "well the economy will grow so much it will pay for itself". Well, they were half right - it caused so much inflation that the debt is effectively 30% less because dollars are worth 30% less. They want to pile on new spending (deportation) while keeping the tax cuts that they still can't find enough spending cuts to justify. The fiscal arguments are basically a joke at this point.

You must be against the proposed tax cuts as we do not have money for those either, right?

Ultimately I am supportive of a surplus budget. For the next fiscal year, it comes down to how much spending the government is able to cut. I will say, the whole idea of DOGE giving $5,000 to every American feels quite unrealistic and unnecessary; that money is far better suited being dedicated toward stabilizing the fiscal situation of the federal government.

You mention the stimulus checks but dodged speaking on the tax cuts proposed by the house. Tax cuts will cost far more than the stimulus checks.

> cutting long-running programs (even international commitments)

Can you name examples that you believe should not be cut?

To begin with, don't just blindly fire people who are maintaining nuclear weapons? The EPA? CDC? Park rangers?

I am not arguing against cutting your government spending,but you shouldn't just cut shit willy nilly without regard for how important work is.

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