Headline Updates

DOGE Report Card, PaniCans, Data Centers Power Appetite, Deep Sea Cold War

• Ranting Politics • Season 1 • Episode 148

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  • "PaniCans"

 • DOGE's performance review shows Americans deeply split – some praise the $130 billion in claimed savings while others criticize the "sledgehammer approach"
• Markets experience third straight day of decline following Trump's tariff announcement, with the president telling investors not to be "panicans"
• America's electric utilities face unprecedented demands from tech giants building AI data centers, with requests exceeding current generation capacity
• Russian spy sensors discovered tracking Britain's nuclear submarines in UK waters as part of a coordinated "grey zone warfare" campaign directed by Putin
• Super yachts owned by Russian oligarchs reportedly being deployed as floating spy platforms for underwater surveillance operations 

 America's political landscape is shifting before our eyes while markets reel from bold economic policies. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk's government-slashing experiment, has citizens deeply divided – with some praising its claimed $130 billion in savings while others condemn what they call a "sledgehammer approach" to complex problems. Fox News surveys reveal a fascinating contradiction: most Americans believe government spending is wasteful, yet a majority oppose cutting government jobs.

Meanwhile, President Trump has coined a new term for nervous investors as markets experience their worst two-day slide since 2020 – don't be "panicans." As the Dow, S&P 500, and NASDAQ tumble for a third straight day following his sweeping tariff announcements, Trump remains defiant, insisting short-term pain will yield long-term American prosperity. Though he hints at flexibility with allies like Japan, China appears firmly in his crosshairs despite their 34% retaliatory tariffs.

Beyond economic battles, we're witnessing unprecedented infrastructure challenges as tech giants demand more electricity than entire utilities can currently produce. AI data centers are creating a planning nightmare for power companies caught between risking blackouts or potentially overbuilding on ratepayers' dime. Most alarming of all – Russian spy sensors have been discovered tracking Britain's nuclear submarines in UK waters as part of a Putin-directed "grey zone warfare" campaign, with super yachts owned by oligarchs reportedly serving as floating spy platforms. This Cold War throwback reveals the evolving nature of modern security threats beneath seemingly calm surfaces. 

Source Credits:

 

https://www.foxnews.com/media/americans-grade-doge-elon-musks-efforts-within-first-100-days-trump-administration https://nypost.com/2025/04/07/us-news/trump-tells-americans-dont-be-a-panican-post-tariffs-as-markets-plunge-for-third-straight-day/ https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-utilities-grapple-with-big-techs-massive-power-demands-data-centers-2025-04-07/ https://nypost.com/2025/04/05/world-news/russian-spy-sensors-found-tracking-britains-nuclear-submarines-in-uk-waters-report/ 

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Speaker 1:

Hello America. Joc, here with your ranting politics headline updates, where we are diving into today's most explosive political stories that you need to know about Coming up. Americans are giving Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency some wildly mixed reviews in its first 100 days. Some think it's revolutionary, while others are calling it a sledgehammer approach to delicate problems. Then, as markets continue their nosedive for a third straight day, trump is telling Americans not to be what he's calling panic hands about his tariff policies. We'll break down what this means for your wallet. Plus. There's a power struggle brewing across America as big tech's insatiable appetite for electricity to feed AI data centers has utility companies sweating bullets. And if that wasn't enough tension, we've got a Cold War throwback, with Russian spy sensors discovered tracking Britain's nuclear submarines right in UK waters. Yes, you heard that correctly. Putin's playing underwater chess while the West is just figuring out the board. Stick around for all this and more in your daily dose of unfiltered news and common sense commentary. This is Ranting Politics Headline Updates. Talk about your government efficiency report card.

Speaker 1:

Americans across the country are giving some seriously mixed grades to Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk. According to Fox News Digital, which conducted interviews in Knoxville, dc, detroit and Houston. Citizens are deeply divided on whether this government-slashing experiment deserves an A or an F. Some folks, like Candace in Detroit, are absolutely thrilled with the initiative, calling it fantastic and pointing out that government waste has been going on for decades. She even mentioned that Obama tried tackling this back in 2011, but claimed no one ever did anything about it. Matt from Tennessee seems to agree giving Doge a solid B grade, but hold your horses, not everyone's drinking the efficiency Kool-Aid. Micah in DC slapped Doge with a big fat F, saying they've wholesale damaged our nation's system of government. Art from the Capitol didn't mince words either, calling their performance very, very poor and criticizing their sledgehammer approach. Richard in Houston went even further, describing Doge as the worst thing to ever happen to our country.

Speaker 1:

Talk about not holding back. According to Doge's own claims, they've saved Americans $130 billion so far. That's about $807 per taxpayer. They've been busy canceling diversity initiatives, consulting contracts, leases for underused federal buildings and what they call duplicate agencies and programs. Here's where it gets interesting, though. A recent Fox News survey shows Americans are caught in a contradictory mindset. A recent Fox News survey shows Americans are caught in a contradictory mindset. While most think the national debt is a crisis and that government spending is wasteful and inefficient. A slim majority actually opposes cutting government jobs. About 56% disapprove of how the Trump administration is identifying and reducing wasteful spending and a whopping 65% worry there's not enough planning going into these cuts. Even Republicans aren't totally united behind the effort 39% share the same concerns as most Democrats and independents about how the reductions are being implemented. As for Musk himself, only 40% approve of his dogework, while 58% disapprove. Just this Monday, the Labor Department announced they're returning $1.4 billion in unused COVID funding back to taxpayers, while trying to recover another $2.9 billion. Is this proof that Doge is working or just low-hanging fruit? That grade, my friends, probably depends on which side of the political aisle you're sitting on.

Speaker 1:

Buckle up America, because President Trump is telling folks to hold steady as his tariff tsunami rocks the markets for a third straight day. The commander-in-chief took to Truth Social Monday morning with some colorful advice for jittery investors Don't be weak, don't be stupid, don't be a panican. Yes, you heard that right. Trump just invented a new political party for the faint-hearted. According to the president, panicans are a new party based on weak and stupid people. Instead, he's urging Americans to be strong, courageous and patient and promises greatness will be the result.

Speaker 1:

Well, the markets weren't exactly convinced by the presidential pep talk. Within just 30 minutes of Wall Street's opening bell, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 both plunged more than 2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.65%. This comes after a brutal end to last week, when the S&P 500 nosedived 10.5% over Thursday and Friday, its worst two-day performance since the COVID crash of March 2020. The NASDAQ took an even harder hit, falling 11.4%, while the Dow dipped 8.1%. Behind all this market mayhem is Trump's sweeping tariff package, which includes a 10% minimum base tariff on most imports and significantly higher levies on certain countries.

Speaker 1:

The president doubled down on his trade policy Monday, while hinting there might be some wiggle room, at least for certain allies. Trump revealed he spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba that morning, who's sending a top team to negotiate the hefty 24% tariff slapped on Japanese goods. They have treated the US very poorly on trade. Trump declared they don't take our cars, but we take millions of theirs, likewise agriculture and many other things. Don't expect any olive branches extended to Beijing, though. China, which has already retaliated with 34% tariffs on American goods, won't get a deal until the US solves its trade deficit with them. According to Trump, as he bluntly put it, it all has to change, but especially with China.

Speaker 1:

When asked Sunday evening how far the markets would need to fall before he'd consider backing down, trump didn't mince words. I think your question is so stupid. I don't want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something. Meanwhile, trump's economic team seems to be sending mixed signals about the tariff's duration. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is painting a rosy picture of trillions of dollars of factories being built in America due to the policy shift, while Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett emphasized that over 50 countries have reached out to negotiate lifting the tariffs. The big question remains is this short-term pain for long-term gain, or is America strapped in for a prolonged economic rollercoaster ride? Either way, according to the New York Post, the president's message is clear Don't panic or risk being labeled a panic hand. Stay with us as we take a quick break to hear from our lead sponsor, whose support helps make this show possible.

Speaker 2:

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Speaker 1:

Hold on to your power strips, folks, because America's electric grid is facing an unprecedented challenge from the tech giant's insatiable hunger for electricity. According to a Reuters report, utilities across the country are being bombarded with massive power requests from big tech companies looking to build data centers for their AI operations. And the numbers are absolutely staggering. A survey of 13 major US electric utilities found nearly half have received inquiries for volumes of power that would exceed their entire peak demand or existing generation capacity. That's right. These tech companies are asking for more electricity than these utilities currently provide to all their existing customers combined. Take SEMPRA's Texas subsidiary, encore Electric, which serves the Dallas area. They've received requests to connect an additional 119 gigawatts of power, nearly four times what their system currently handles at peak usage. Over in Pennsylvania, ppl has fielded requests for more than 50 gigawatts, including at least nine gigawatts in advanced development stages. That's higher than their current generation capacity of 7.2 gigawatts. This puts utilities in a classic damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. If they underestimate the coming demand, we could see an unstable electrical grid. This puts utilities in a classic damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation. If they underestimate the coming demand, we could see an unstable electrical grid with increased blackout risks If they overbuild, guess who picks up the tab? That's right, you and me, the rate-paying public.

Speaker 1:

What's making this planning nightmare even worse is the tech industry's shotgun approach to site selection. Companies are approaching multiple power providers across different states, seeking competing bids for the same project. This effectively inflates power demand forecasts, making it nearly impossible for utilities to predict what's actually coming. As John Gordon from the clean energy trade group Advanced Energy United put it, what we're seeing is this huge proposed influx of these abstract projects that. James Richmond, ceo of energy management company E2 Companies, explained the tech strategy plainly the data center process is to have a competitive bid from three companies in many markets that one-third automatically is going to win and two-thirds is going to drop out. The situation has gotten so confusing that Pennsylvania is considering creating a clearinghouse for data center power requests just to get a handle on what's real and what's speculative. Jacob Finkel, deputy Secretary of Policy for Governor Josh Shapiro, admitted it's something that we're looking at pretty intensely.

Speaker 1:

Adding to the uncertainty are skyrocketing construction costs and potential technology shifts. Building a megawatt of data center capacity cost nearly $12 million in 2024, and that price tag has only increased since then. Trump's tariffs on materials like steel, are expected to drive those costs even higher. There's also a wild card in the deck emerging AI models like DeepSeek that promise to require significantly less computing power, which could mean much less electricity needed in the future. Td Cowan analysts recently reported that Microsoft, one of the world's biggest AI spenders, with $80 billion planned this year, has already pulled back from projects representing two gigawatts of electricity in just the last six months. As utilities announce billions in additional capital spending to meet this potential demand. The big question remains electricity in just the last six months, as utilities announce billions in additional capital spending to meet this potential demand, the big question remains are we witnessing the birth of a new energy-hungry digital era, or are we setting ourselves up for a costly overbuild? The answer, like your smartphone battery life, remains frustratingly uncertain.

Speaker 1:

In what sounds like a Cold War sequel with modern surveillance tech, russian spy sensors have been discovered tracking the United Kingdom's nuclear submarine fleet right in British waters. According to an alarming report from the Sunday Times, this discovery has been kept under wraps, despite military officials considering it a serious national security threat. The Royal Navy has found these spy devices lurking in waterways surrounding the UK, raising fears that the Kremlin's covert operation aims to monitor and potentially sabotage critical British infrastructure, including the country's four Vanguard submarines that carry nuclear missiles. One senior military source didn't mince words, stating there should be no doubt there is a war raging in the Atlantic. This is a game of cat and mouse that has continued since the ending of the Cold War and is now heating up again. We are seeing phenomenal amounts of Russian activity. Intelligence suggests this isn't just random spying, but part of a coordinated gray zone warfare campaign personally directed by Vladimir Putin. Beyond the submarine tracking sensors, officials have discovered additional covert equipment planted on the seabed, spy gear washing up on British shores and unmanned Russian vehicles suspiciously positioned near deep-sea communications cables. Even more concerning 11 underwater cables in the Baltic Sea have been damaged over the past 15 months. A senior source revealed that Britain relies on 60 internet cables connecting it to the outside world, some of which aren't even publicly known. In a particularly brazen move, british intelligence indicates that super yachts owned by Russian oligarchs have been deployed as floating spy platforms to conduct underwater surveillance operations.

Speaker 1:

Captain Simon Presti explained the military's response. Our role is to both defeat any threats to the UK as well as take it out of the grey zone. We do the latter by understanding who is involved and providing that evidence to avoid misunderstandings and make those who threaten the UK accountable for their actions. While Russian vessels operating in UK waters isn't exactly breaking news, the government is now scrambling to secure funding from technology and energy companies to help protect underwater infrastructure. In the immediate term, the military is launching a project codenamed Cabot, to bolster resources through partnerships with private industries dependent on underwater infrastructure. Some Navy sources are advocating for more extreme measures, suggesting the UK should deploy sea mines, a defensive strategy not used since the Cold War ended. The Ministry of Defense responded with a statement emphasizing their commitment to security. We are committed to enhancing the security of critical offshore infrastructure. Alongside our NATO and Joint Expeditionary Force allies, we are strengthening our response to ensure that Russian ships and aircraft cannot operate in secrecy near the UK or near NATO territory. For now, britain's continuous at sea nuclear deterrent continues to patrol the world's oceans as it has done for the past 56 years, though perhaps no longer quite as undetected as they'd like to believe.

Speaker 1:

And that wraps up today's ranting politics headline updates. What a news day we've had from Americans giving Elon Musk's government efficiency department every grade from A to F to Trump, telling panicked investors not to be panikins while markets tumble. For a third straight day, we've seen utilities struggling to handle big tech's insatiable hunger for power as AI data centers multiply, and discovered that Putin's Russia is playing underwater spy games with Britain's nuclear submarine fleet. This is exactly why we created this podcast to cut through the noise and give you the stories that matter most, without any partisan spin. Remember, at Ranting Politics we don't align with Democrats or Republicans. We align with you, the American citizen, who deserves straightforward information.

Speaker 1:

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Speaker 1:

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Speaker 3:

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