Mike Hettinger
@hettinger-tech.bsky.social
Tech lobbyist; former congressional CoS/committee staff director. Golf and government technology mostly.
Everything is reported as a one-off i.e. “win the day”. There is no analytical perspective and this is a problem.
August 22, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Everything is reported as a one-off i.e. “win the day”. There is no analytical perspective and this is a problem.
This NHTSA list that lays out the global nature of the auto supply chain is fascinating. No car has more than 80% parts from Canada /US and it doesn’t even break out US v. Canada. www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa....
www.nhtsa.gov
April 1, 2025 at 2:11 PM
This NHTSA list that lays out the global nature of the auto supply chain is fascinating. No car has more than 80% parts from Canada /US and it doesn’t even break out US v. Canada. www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa....
Biggest crier of wolf ever.
March 31, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Biggest crier of wolf ever.
Nasdaq down nearly 2% at the open and for what? It’s not a reset, it’s a crash because the people steering the ship don’t know wtf they’re doing.
March 31, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Nasdaq down nearly 2% at the open and for what? It’s not a reset, it’s a crash because the people steering the ship don’t know wtf they’re doing.
Helluva comeback by Florida.
March 30, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Helluva comeback by Florida.
I have a car on order from a German manufacturer. It’s built and waiting to be shipped. I told the dealer when I placed it that if there were tariffs and those were passed on to me, I would walk. This is going to be interesting.
March 26, 2025 at 10:14 PM
I have a car on order from a German manufacturer. It’s built and waiting to be shipped. I told the dealer when I placed it that if there were tariffs and those were passed on to me, I would walk. This is going to be interesting.
Like most shared services, what’s proposed here at GSA will work for some smaller agencies but likely fail for larger ones. Large agencies have already maximized their economies of scale.
www.nextgov.com/acquisition/...
www.nextgov.com/acquisition/...
GSA to ‘quadruple' in size to centralize procurement across the government
The head of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service told employees at a Thursday meeting that the agency will “do about $400 billion” in procurement management under this effort.
www.nextgov.com
March 20, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Like most shared services, what’s proposed here at GSA will work for some smaller agencies but likely fail for larger ones. Large agencies have already maximized their economies of scale.
www.nextgov.com/acquisition/...
www.nextgov.com/acquisition/...
Man it feels like Friday.
March 20, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Man it feels like Friday.
The Players is setting up for we all know what. Drama at 17.
March 16, 2025 at 5:11 PM
The Players is setting up for we all know what. Drama at 17.
👇
JPM’s CEMBALEST: “McKinley tariffs were very popular at the time they were enacted .. but they caused an almost immediate inflation spike.
“.. a few months later, the GOP lost 100 seats in the 1890 midterm elections .. the third largest in the history of the House going back to the Civil War.” 🇺🇸
“.. a few months later, the GOP lost 100 seats in the 1890 midterm elections .. the third largest in the history of the House going back to the Civil War.” 🇺🇸
March 13, 2025 at 1:22 AM
👇
We’ve officially jump the shark toward the most unnecessary economic downturn in world history.
March 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
We’ve officially jump the shark toward the most unnecessary economic downturn in world history.
This is all so weak.
"References to a World War II Medal of Honor recipient... and the first women to pass Marine infantry training are among the tens of thousands of photos and online posts marked for deletion as the Defense Department works to purge DEI content."
apnews.com/article/dei-...
apnews.com/article/dei-...
War heroes and military firsts are among 26,000 images flagged for removal in Pentagon's DEI purge
References to a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, the Enola Gay aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan and women and minorites are among the tens of thousands of photos and online posts ma...
apnews.com
March 7, 2025 at 2:13 AM
This is all so weak.
Congrats. We are back to job cut numbers from the beginning of a fucking global pandemic.
March 6, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Congrats. We are back to job cut numbers from the beginning of a fucking global pandemic.
The federal govt has been a destination employer for smart, civic minded professionals for over a century. I fear it never will be so again.
February 27, 2025 at 10:52 PM
The federal govt has been a destination employer for smart, civic minded professionals for over a century. I fear it never will be so again.
They’re fucking around enough with social security that something is going to go very wrong and when that happens ….
Top Social Security deputies leave amid rumored staff cuts www.govexec.com/transition/2... via @GovExec
Top Social Security deputies leave amid rumored staff cuts
At least five of the eight regional heads have decided to leave as the mid-level worker-turned-acting commissioner is said to mull workforce reduction.
www.govexec.com
February 27, 2025 at 2:23 AM
They’re fucking around enough with social security that something is going to go very wrong and when that happens ….
The idea that we don’t already do this stuff explains so much. Oh and have fun Mr. or Mrs. Agency head reviewing 4 million daily payments. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Cost Efficiency Initiative
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.
www.whitehouse.gov
February 26, 2025 at 11:21 PM
The idea that we don’t already do this stuff explains so much. Oh and have fun Mr. or Mrs. Agency head reviewing 4 million daily payments. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
There was an open bid for this with multiple qualified teams awaiting award (SpaceX not among them) and poof, this happens. Among the most egregious procurement violations I’ve seen in my 30 years doing this.
Note here that Musk is now literally assigning himself new contracts based on the use of his DOGE wrecking crew and the associated micro-bros. this isn't a "conflict of interest". it's just handing yourself federal money www.cnn.com/2025/02/25/b...
Musk’s Starlink gets FAA contract, raising new conflict of interest concerns | CNN Business
The Federal Aviation Administration has agreed to use SpaceX’s Starlink internet system to upgrade the information technology networks it uses to manage US airspace, raising new concerns about conflic...
www.cnn.com
February 26, 2025 at 12:50 AM
There was an open bid for this with multiple qualified teams awaiting award (SpaceX not among them) and poof, this happens. Among the most egregious procurement violations I’ve seen in my 30 years doing this.
This shit needs to end.
February 18, 2025 at 2:55 AM
This shit needs to end.
I am so frustrated by the Treasury payments bullshit tonight. Smart people spewing absolute false information and everyone lapping it up. We didn’t lose $4B in Treasury payments. The TAS is an agency tag to make sure it’s tied to the right appropriation. It doesn’t track the payment out. JFC.
February 18, 2025 at 2:48 AM
I am so frustrated by the Treasury payments bullshit tonight. Smart people spewing absolute false information and everyone lapping it up. We didn’t lose $4B in Treasury payments. The TAS is an agency tag to make sure it’s tied to the right appropriation. It doesn’t track the payment out. JFC.
This was bound to happen.
So you can just say you work at DOGE and pillage anything from our documents you want. The law truly doesn't exist anymore! Cool!
3 men claiming to be from DOGE show up at San Francisco City Hall, demand records
San Francisco city officials are investigating after three men who claimed to be from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) showed up at City Hall on Friday demanding records from offices bef...
www.cbsnews.com
February 15, 2025 at 2:34 AM
This was bound to happen.
Veterans fired, along with nuclear experts, cyber professionals and god knows who else because none of this is being done with any idea how the govt works. Shameful doesn’t even begin to capture it.
February 15, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Veterans fired, along with nuclear experts, cyber professionals and god knows who else because none of this is being done with any idea how the govt works. Shameful doesn’t even begin to capture it.
The federal govt gets deals from industry others don’t get (in a good way) partly because of size but more so because it’s viewed as a reliable partner. If that’s no longer the case, and it’s trending that way, contractor services will end up costing more in the long run.
February 14, 2025 at 5:23 PM
The federal govt gets deals from industry others don’t get (in a good way) partly because of size but more so because it’s viewed as a reliable partner. If that’s no longer the case, and it’s trending that way, contractor services will end up costing more in the long run.
“The government is corrupt” is the new “the election was rigged” - both patently false but an accepted position to take in certain circles.
February 14, 2025 at 1:34 PM
“The government is corrupt” is the new “the election was rigged” - both patently false but an accepted position to take in certain circles.
We are heading toward a self-imposed, unnecessary recession w/ high skilled feds out of work and inflation rising. In the words of Colonel Nathan R. Jessep , “all you did was weaken a country today”.
B of A: “.. US inflation trending toward 4% next 6 months .. means Trump must go ‘small’ not ‘big’ on tariffs & immigration in coming months to avoid fanning 2nd wave ..”
#CPI 🇺🇸
#CPI 🇺🇸
February 14, 2025 at 12:06 PM
We are heading toward a self-imposed, unnecessary recession w/ high skilled feds out of work and inflation rising. In the words of Colonel Nathan R. Jessep , “all you did was weaken a country today”.
If we go forward on the current path, our economy will crash like it’s 1929 and red states will be the ones most devastated. The US govt is 23% of gdp. If you destroy the govt, what you’re really doing is destroying gdp. Put it is those terms and see what happens.
February 12, 2025 at 2:24 PM
If we go forward on the current path, our economy will crash like it’s 1929 and red states will be the ones most devastated. The US govt is 23% of gdp. If you destroy the govt, what you’re really doing is destroying gdp. Put it is those terms and see what happens.