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George Takei :verified: 🏳️‍🌈🖖🏽

In a stunning move, Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has frozen much of federal financial assistance, effective today at 5 PM. The consequences could be catastrophic—jeopardizing vulnerable communities and disrupting the economy. The Big Picture breaks down the decision and what’s at stake once it goes into effect. thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p

The Big Picture · What Are Implications Of Trump's OMB Impoundment?By The Big Picture
Jan 28, 2025, 21:30 · · · Web · 47 · 57

@georgetakei@universeodon.com

Catastrophic consequences are the goal: it's how you turn a putative free market democracy into a feudal state.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com It amazes me that it it taking so many people so long to comprehend that crashing the US Government was the GOP's explicit plan for 2025 ALL ALONG. They even put it in a detailed policy plan document FFS.

When someone
tells you out loud that they are utterly terrible and have a plan to just smash everything, BELIEVE THEM.

@cosmiclibrarian@universeodon.com The corollary, of course, is that we can assume a majority of the voting electorate in 2024 wanted to burn the country to the ground.

@zakalwe

I believe many did. The others will soon find out how plain stupid they are, but will probably not admit that they voted for him.

@georgetakei It’s almost as though he has no idea what he’s doing. Or that he doesn’t care who gets hurt. Maybe both?

@georgetakei Not at 5pm today. Access to federal funding via federal portals was cut off as early as 8am EST.

@georgetakei numerous healthcare organizations rely on Medicaid to stay in business providing care

@georgetakei I think this also affect grants for colleges.

@georgetakei Affect grants for colleges? If so, not good for those who need it to keep going to school to get a degree.

@HolgerFiallo @georgetakei They only want wealthy people.

@ksaj Heard that the portal to pay medicaid is close from hospitals. Those surgeries that were schedule could be at risk. Next SSI, SSDI and medicare. This is sick even for those who voted for him, they got it.

@HolgerFiallo If they don't vote accordingly in the mid-terms, they will never ever learn.

@ksaj
You mean "if there are mid-terms", right?
@HolgerFiallo

@bufalo1973 @HolgerFiallo Yea, I ve been suggesting to people I expect that he'll try to find a way to make midterms illegal or unethical or something to make them unavailable. lol

He didn't really want to be prez the first time around. Now he won't let the hell go.

@georgetakei This is like a government shutdown without the shutdown.

@MisuseCase @georgetakei Exactly what the Orange fucktard and K Hole Nazi wanted! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

@otownKim @georgetakei Yep. Government shutdowns generate bad press for the ruling party, but if you don’t *call* it a shutdown….

@MisuseCase @georgetakei theguardian.com/us-news/2025/j

At least the Citizens are targeting the Right Party.....I have a feeling Veterans are not happy!!

CW: Serious ANGER

@georgetakei Do they WANT a peasant revolt? Cuz this is how they get one... sooner rather than later.

@georgetakei Trump needs the money for this public sector bloodbath:

@randahl @georgetakei our government tried something similar with our tax service, that had been a disaster for years. Many senior/competent people that could easily get other jobs took the money and quit, making it an even bigger disaster.

The cynic in me says that this was the intention. A dysfunctional tax service makes it trivially easy to “avoid” taxes.

Dog only knows what the Project 2025 group intends to achieve with this.

@xerge for a moment I thought you were Danish. In Denmark the right-wing parties fired many tax service employees too, and this lead to a plethora of problems.

@randahl Here in NL they enticed the civil servants with a very generous severance package in stead of firing them. The problem arose when many more than expected were interested, combined with that the wrong people, the competent and productive ones, were overwhelmingly the ones signing up.

By the time they realized their “clever” cost cutting measure was a disaster, it was mostly too late. Or, business as usual for our neoliberal overlords.

@georgetakei I thought they would at least wait for Vought to be confirmed before they spun up the "impoundment" that this clown is so in love with. But they couldn't wait to try making Trump an all-powerful executive with Congress subservient to him. The path we're on keeps getting darker.

@georgetakei

This is how things are at UChicago, as per an internal memo. Seems not good!

(Image originally posted on bluesky by Neil Shubin)