So DOGE thinks it has an image problem.
The folks who make up the Department of Government Efficiency – maybe that should be the Department of Government Eradication – are no doubt right.
What they want to do is get some positive PR.
What they need to do is realize their methods are antithetical to good government, like providing the services expected by Americans, such as veterans, seniors, the disabled, and every day Americans.
Here’s a hint: Government is not a business. It’s not there to create a profit. It’s there to provide services.
Yet Co-President Elon Musk and his minions go in and slash and burn, with no understanding of how an agency, any agency, works, with no regard to privacy rights of Americans, disregarding the laws protecting that privacy, and the rights of civil servants who have been fired for no apparent reason than that they are there. All this in addition to the myriad of services every day Americans, such as farmers and grocery shoppers, people who take drugs for medical reasons and the basic research that leads to new cures, have been slashed.
All this is done in the name of eliminating waste and fraud.
We are still waiting for what fraud they have uncovered. All that has been said is that the fraud is there. OK, where? I’m all for eliminating fraud but I would love to know what the fraud is. That question is met with silence.
I am also a big fan of eliminating waste. (Note to Musk: Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme. It is a public program that is well known by every American. But I guess the richest man in the world doesn’t like paying taxes for a program he will never need.)
While eliminating waste is a great goal, it has to be done in a thoughtful manner to avoid destroying programs that are needed by millions. The problem with eliminating waste is how you define it. Is federal spending on roads and bridges a waste? Depends on whom you ask. Should the federal government be underwriting basic scientific research? Depends on whom you ask. Should the government be inspecting the food supply? Depends on whom you ask. Should Federal Aviation Administration officials spend $20,000 to attend an international meeting on air safety? Depends on whom you ask. Is the United States providing food and medical aid to other countries to create good will a waste? Depends on whom you ask.
I could go on, but I think you get the idea.
We have a Congress we elect to make these spending decisions. If we don’t like what our congress person or senator does, we can vote them out of office. That’s called term limits.
I don’t recall Musk being elected to anything. And being the richest man in the world does not make him qualified to decide what is waste. Especially since he is feeding at the public trough to the tune of billions of dollars a year.
And eliminating a whole department working on upgrading and improving Americans’ online access to their government and replacing all those folks with his own is just plain idiotic.
Apparently no one bothered to find out what they were doing and how successful they were. They were just fired.
Go to the start. Do not pass go. But definitely collect all those taxpayer dollars you can.
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