Running Government Like A Business, Con't

Let's face it, diplomacy is a cost sink, not a revenue-maker, so it's time for new State Department boss Rex Tillerson to take his ExxonMobil CEO knowledge and start getting rid of that boring diplomatic corps that doesn't really serve a purpose other than to keep 'Murica out of exciting new profit opportunities like wars, conflicts, and arms sales.

The State Department plans to cut 2,300 U.S. diplomats and civil servants -- about 9 percent of the Americans in its workforce worldwide -- as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson presses ahead with his task of slashing the agency’s budget, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The majority of the job cuts, about 1,700, will come through attrition, while the remaining 600 will be done via buyouts, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the decision hasn’t been publicly announced. William Inglee, a former Lockheed Martin Corp. official and policy adviser in Congress, was hired to help oversee the budget cuts and briefed senior managers on the plan Wednesday, the people said. 

The personnel cuts, which may be phased in over two years, represent the most concrete step taken by Tillerson as he seeks to reverse the expansion the department saw under former President Barack Obama’s administration and meet President Donald Trump’s demand -- outlined in an executive order signed last month -- to cut spending across federal agencies. A draft budget outline released in March for the year that begins Oct. 1 seeks a 28.5 percent reduction in State Department spending from fiscal 2016. 

The proposed cuts reflect a belief shared by many conservatives that the State Department and other government agencies have grown too large and drifted away from their core missions. Tillerson was taken aback when he arrived on the job to see how much money the State Department was spending on housing and schooling for the families of diplomats living overseas, according to one person familiar with his thinking.
Current and former diplomats fear that the cuts will bite into the work of the State Department and undermine the voice of the U.S. overseas.

Housing and schooling for diplomats and their families?  Who do these people think they are, rich energy company CEOs or something?  You can keep your kids and your spouse home here in the Greatest Country On Earth, while you're on Uncle Sam's payroll, buddy, and don't you ever forget it.

After all the job of the State Department is to make money for US corporations, not this "voice of the US overseas" crap.  We're going to put Trump Towers, Starbucks, KFCs and oil rigs from Albania to Zanzibar, and you're going to create money for US companies and especially Trump companies. You're not here to "talk" to other nations and cultures, you're here to let them know who's now the new landlord in charge, god dammit.

Time to get of the dead weight of these "talkers" and keep more "doers".  This is America, and so is anywhere where we have an embassy, and by God you will act like it.

Trump Cards, Con't

In an interview with Reuters, Donald Trump upended a number of diplomatic apple carts and warned of a possible military conflict on the Korean Peninsula if President Kim Jong Un didn't end his nuclear weapons program.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday a major conflict with North Korea is possible in the standoff over its nuclear and missile programs, but he would prefer a diplomatic outcome to the dispute.

"There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely," Trump told Reuters in an Oval Office interview ahead of his 100th day in office on Saturday.

Nonetheless, Trump said he wanted to peacefully resolve a crisis that has bedeviled multiple U.S. presidents, a path that he and his administration are emphasizing by preparing a variety of new economic sanctions while not taking the military option off the table.

"We'd love to solve things diplomatically but it's very difficult," he said.

In other highlights of the 42-minute interview, Trump was cool to speaking again with Taiwan's president after an earlier telephone call with her angered China.

He also said he wants South Korea to pay the cost of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile defense system, which he estimated at $1 billion, and intends to renegotiate or terminate a U.S. free trade pact with South Korea because of a deep trade deficit with Seoul.

Asked when he would announce his intention to renegotiate the pact, Trump said: “Very soon. I’m announcing it now.”

Trump also said he was considering adding stops to Israel and Saudi Arabia to a Europe trip next month, emphasizing that he wanted to see an Israeli-Palestinian peace. He complained that Saudi Arabia was not paying its fair share for U.S. defense.

Asked about the fight against Islamic State, Trump said the militant group had to be defeated.

"I have to say, there is an end. And it has to be humiliation," he said, when asked about what the endgame was for defeating Islamist violent extremism.

At this point our country is controlled by a man who will do whatever you tell him to do if you can convince him enough people will think he's awesome when he orders it done.  That's it.  It applies to both foreign and domestic policy.  Everything else is all for show.

StupidiNews!

• House Republicans have once again pulled a scheduled vote on Trumpcare for lack of support, denying Donald Trump a legislative victory for his 100th day in office on Saturday.
• The Senate has confirmed FIU law school dean Alexander Acosta as Secretary of Labor in a 60-38 vote.
• Germany is squashing calls to reject Turkey's bid for EU membership over Turkish President Erdogan's recent power grab, talks will continue this weekend with EU foreign ministers.
• British counter-terror police shot one suspect and arrested four in raids in and around London to disrupt what law enforcement officials are calling "planned terrorist acts".
• United Airlines has quickly reached an out-of-court settlement with a Kentucky doctor who was beaten by police and forcibly removed from an airliner earlier this month.