Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
It would be a difficult task, because the question of what is necessary and what is frivolous does not have objective answer. Different people have different priorities, which is why Congress appropriates money for things that seem frivolous to some people.
What is frivolous is the idea that what DOGE is doing is constitutional. The Executive Branch is trying to grab the power to block spending approved by the Legislative Branch, a core enumerated power in the Constitution.
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DOGE strikes me as problematic and probably unlawful for a number of reasons. But I'm just assuming it continues for purposes of the conversation. If it does, it ought to act more judiciously and surgically. Yes, I fully realize that statement is naive as all fuck, as its probable real mandate is Bannon's "destruction of the administrative state."
As to your first point, there are objectively important things and frivolous things. Vaccine research (safe vaccine research) is an example of the urgently needed and important. Research into gender dysphoria is an example of a niche issue that is simply not important.
The anthropological seems to be the hotbed of a lot of frivolous funding. That department, along with history and political science, seem to be the fount of niche issues and dubious research. I'd also cut off funding for econ departments - another soft science. These areas aren't saving anyone from a deadly virus or bacteria or planning to avert consequences of climate change. They don't need or arguably deserve funding.
