In one of Groucho’s movies there is a scene at a restaurant where he picks up the dinner bill, looks at it, and tells his dining partner – a sophisticated lady of means – “this bill is outrageous; I wouldn’t pay it if I were you,” upon which he tosses the bill across the table to the lady.
I have actually done the above several times – just as a goof – and it usually elicits a chuckle or sometimes a dirty look.
Somewhat analogous to this, while at a coffee shop that provides free refills: ask the server what a coffee drink costs , wait for the response, and then ask how much are the refills.
The server will say, “refills are free.”
Then say, “well, in that case, I’ll have a refill.”
Yep, I have also done this as well or suggested that someone else do it. Sometimes the server just laughs or gets slightly annoyed, though those on line that hear this usually chuckle.
I’m sitting on the couch one weekend a few years back, and A Day at the Races is on TV.
My nine year old son walks in right about the time Chico starts selling Groucho a program for the races that day. Great scene, but I assume my son is a little too young for this, and will soon wander off to do something else. He was entranced. By the time Groucho walks away with an entire encyclopedia worth of books, he’s laughing about as hard as one can laugh. It was great.
I have written here before about the decrease in the objectivity and reliability of government generated statistics, which are supposed to give policy makers a read on how their policies are working–or not–and give these policy makers, and the the public at large, an accurate picture of how the economy is doing but, which, in the last several years, perhaps even decades, appear to have been increasingly manipulated for political/ideological reasons.
Just by coincidence–I’m sure–it appears that the folks at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which issues a lot of these key statistics–things like the monthly inflation inflation percentage, employment and unemployment statistics, etc.–have filed preemptive lawsuits, attempting to prevent DOGE from getting in there, and looking at their books.*
These supposedly neutral statisticians are the people who, during the Biden Administration, you might remember, suddenly revised their number for jobs created between April 2023 and March 2024–touted by the Biden Administration as evidence of the success of “Bidenomics,” and widely reported–downward by 818,000 workers, reportedly the greatest single downward revision in the last 15 years.
“Some actual persons will have to be held accountable for all the mischief carried out in rogue agencies over many years. It has to start somewhere. I nominate Samantha Power as a first test case. She was in charge of USAID for nearly four years — until Jan 20, 2025 — including the duration of the Ukraine War. She was also personally very busy hands-on in arranging attempted color revolutions in Hungary (failed, against Viktor Orban), Georgia (failed), Mexico (failed), and Brazil (succeeded against Jair Bolsonaro). Ms. Power provided money from USAID-connected NGOs to foster instability in many more countries, including our country. It must have come as quite a shock to her that Kamala Harris did not win the 2024 election. USAID will not be paying for Ms.Power’s legal representation.”
USAID won’t, but another swamp agency or NGO might. Vigilance.
Briefly:
On the J6 cases and our precious Rule of Lawr, I’m with recently retired litigation attorney Kurt Schlichter in this column from early December:
On parallels between the situation in this country and the lead-up to the Spanish Civil War, a retrospective tip of the hat to long-banned commenter Zaphod, who pointed out the similarities, repeatedly, in the dark days of 2020-2021.
Not too keen on Trump’s no tax on overtime. A lot of overtime is voluntary and worked by seniority privilege for the express purpose of increasing retirement pay.
John Tyler – in a similar vein, I was at a grocery store and the cashier asked for id. As I was pulling out the driver’s license, my Medicare card also came out. I showed it to her and asked if this was enough. The young clerk was puzzled, but the man behind me burst out laughing.
Snow – if my memory is correct, the job statistics were usually reported on the low side for the first Trump administration and then quietly corrected upward a few months later. Of course, it went the other way during the Biden years.
On other matters – It is obvious that many people in the government have never experienced an audit or even an internal review even though internal financial auditors are usually tougher than external auditors.
As an external auditor, we went in during the year to look at the process and internal accounting controls so that when we came in at year end, we could rely on the systems for the financials. But, an auditor would never make the journal entry to correct an error. We might propose a correcting entry, discuss it with management and then follow through to make sure that the correction was made.
The DOGE guys are using AI to look for trends, using read-only access. I doubt that they or Musk have officially made any changes. They are just disclosing the issues. The decision makers (Trump and Co) are the ones authorizing the changes.
If DOGE is looking at the computer code, I hope they are looking for bots, malware, fraud, etc that has been embedded in the code. Imagine if there is a line or two that takes rounding on a check and sends that .00154 cents to an account that gets cleared out to an offsite location. Multiply that .00154 by millions of transactions and it is a significant number.
And, there are DOGE caucuses in Congress who are also looking at the newly revealed information to make changes in the law.
I’m not sure anyone is going to find anything done at USAID that is actually illegal. They just didn’t have any accountability and directed the money in ways other than intended but not in ways actually forbidden, is my estimate. And so the only proper response is firing, really, and making them do work that actually should be their priority and firing them if they refuse.
They had no business whatsoever funding domestic NGOs engaging in domestic politics. Had they stuck to the foreign starving children they try to pretend is all they do, none of this would be happening.
Nikolas: Yes, as they say, sunlight is the best disinfectant.
This is in response to Mike Plaiss’s comment above. In a similar situation years ago, my son (around 7 or so) and I were both home ill. We were holed up in my king size bed watching TV. We started watching ‘Block-Heads’ with Laurel and Hardy. I don’t think two people ever laughed harder. My son is now 29, but we still talk about that day, and quote the movie frequently. There is something universal about the humor of the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, and others. Anyone with a taste for such things, if you have never seen ‘Block-Heads’, I highly recommend it.
Not sure what to think of this in terms of regional effects, but the Jerusalem Post is reporting that the Syrian Army and Hezbollah have had a border fight, with the Syrian Army crossing into Lebanon.
How much does it cost to make a penny? Google search:
The cost to produce a penny in the United States was 3.07 cents as of 2023, which is more than three times its face value … U.S. Mint lost $179 million in 2023 due to penny production
That’s one of Musk’s targets. Whatever happened to ‘A penny saved is a penny earned‘ concept?!
Have seen lots of figures in the $100’s of millions wasted. Using just an average of $175-million times about 5,714.285 equals about a Trillion Gringo Dollars. $100’s of millions can add up quickly
Musk is the right man for this job – and ‘Feel‘ he can save us over $2-trillion this year—even with the lawsuits getting in the way. More in future years when the lawsuits settle down.
The Swamp is gonna look to expose who-what-how is involved in stealing their money – examples would be Mr. “Big Balls” and Marko Elez, so care is needed in the amount of bragging ‘n finger pointing from President Trump…and also Musk if he is doing such.
Less talk ‘n more action – less than 4-years left…
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https://www.commoncts.blogspot.com
In one of Groucho’s movies there is a scene at a restaurant where he picks up the dinner bill, looks at it, and tells his dining partner – a sophisticated lady of means – “this bill is outrageous; I wouldn’t pay it if I were you,” upon which he tosses the bill across the table to the lady.
I have actually done the above several times – just as a goof – and it usually elicits a chuckle or sometimes a dirty look.
Somewhat analogous to this, while at a coffee shop that provides free refills: ask the server what a coffee drink costs , wait for the response, and then ask how much are the refills.
The server will say, “refills are free.”
Then say, “well, in that case, I’ll have a refill.”
Yep, I have also done this as well or suggested that someone else do it. Sometimes the server just laughs or gets slightly annoyed, though those on line that hear this usually chuckle.
I’m sitting on the couch one weekend a few years back, and A Day at the Races is on TV.
My nine year old son walks in right about the time Chico starts selling Groucho a program for the races that day. Great scene, but I assume my son is a little too young for this, and will soon wander off to do something else. He was entranced. By the time Groucho walks away with an entire encyclopedia worth of books, he’s laughing about as hard as one can laugh. It was great.
I have written here before about the decrease in the objectivity and reliability of government generated statistics, which are supposed to give policy makers a read on how their policies are working–or not–and give these policy makers, and the the public at large, an accurate picture of how the economy is doing but, which, in the last several years, perhaps even decades, appear to have been increasingly manipulated for political/ideological reasons.
Just by coincidence–I’m sure–it appears that the folks at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which issues a lot of these key statistics–things like the monthly inflation inflation percentage, employment and unemployment statistics, etc.–have filed preemptive lawsuits, attempting to prevent DOGE from getting in there, and looking at their books.*
These supposedly neutral statisticians are the people who, during the Biden Administration, you might remember, suddenly revised their number for jobs created between April 2023 and March 2024–touted by the Biden Administration as evidence of the success of “Bidenomics,” and widely reported–downward by 818,000 workers, reportedly the greatest single downward revision in the last 15 years.
* See https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2025/02/06/doge-is-coming-for-the-bureau-of-labor-statistics-knees-are-already-knockin-n3799568
The latest from James Howard Kunstler:
https://www.kunstler.com/p/how-it-worked
The scam, that is.
Excerpt:
“Some actual persons will have to be held accountable for all the mischief carried out in rogue agencies over many years. It has to start somewhere. I nominate Samantha Power as a first test case. She was in charge of USAID for nearly four years — until Jan 20, 2025 — including the duration of the Ukraine War. She was also personally very busy hands-on in arranging attempted color revolutions in Hungary (failed, against Viktor Orban), Georgia (failed), Mexico (failed), and Brazil (succeeded against Jair Bolsonaro). Ms. Power provided money from USAID-connected NGOs to foster instability in many more countries, including our country. It must have come as quite a shock to her that Kamala Harris did not win the 2024 election. USAID will not be paying for Ms.Power’s legal representation.”
USAID won’t, but another swamp agency or NGO might. Vigilance.
Briefly:
On the J6 cases and our precious Rule of Lawr, I’m with recently retired litigation attorney Kurt Schlichter in this column from early December:
https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2024/12/05/trump-needs-to-pardon-all-the-j6-political-prisoners-on-day-one-n2648598
I didn’t think Trump would do it. Glad he did.
On parallels between the situation in this country and the lead-up to the Spanish Civil War, a retrospective tip of the hat to long-banned commenter Zaphod, who pointed out the similarities, repeatedly, in the dark days of 2020-2021.
Not too keen on Trump’s no tax on overtime. A lot of overtime is voluntary and worked by seniority privilege for the express purpose of increasing retirement pay.
John Tyler – in a similar vein, I was at a grocery store and the cashier asked for id. As I was pulling out the driver’s license, my Medicare card also came out. I showed it to her and asked if this was enough. The young clerk was puzzled, but the man behind me burst out laughing.
Snow – if my memory is correct, the job statistics were usually reported on the low side for the first Trump administration and then quietly corrected upward a few months later. Of course, it went the other way during the Biden years.
On other matters – It is obvious that many people in the government have never experienced an audit or even an internal review even though internal financial auditors are usually tougher than external auditors.
As an external auditor, we went in during the year to look at the process and internal accounting controls so that when we came in at year end, we could rely on the systems for the financials. But, an auditor would never make the journal entry to correct an error. We might propose a correcting entry, discuss it with management and then follow through to make sure that the correction was made.
The DOGE guys are using AI to look for trends, using read-only access. I doubt that they or Musk have officially made any changes. They are just disclosing the issues. The decision makers (Trump and Co) are the ones authorizing the changes.
If DOGE is looking at the computer code, I hope they are looking for bots, malware, fraud, etc that has been embedded in the code. Imagine if there is a line or two that takes rounding on a check and sends that .00154 cents to an account that gets cleared out to an offsite location. Multiply that .00154 by millions of transactions and it is a significant number.
And, there are DOGE caucuses in Congress who are also looking at the newly revealed information to make changes in the law.
I’m not sure anyone is going to find anything done at USAID that is actually illegal. They just didn’t have any accountability and directed the money in ways other than intended but not in ways actually forbidden, is my estimate. And so the only proper response is firing, really, and making them do work that actually should be their priority and firing them if they refuse.
They had no business whatsoever funding domestic NGOs engaging in domestic politics. Had they stuck to the foreign starving children they try to pretend is all they do, none of this would be happening.
Nikolas: Yes, as they say, sunlight is the best disinfectant.
This is in response to Mike Plaiss’s comment above. In a similar situation years ago, my son (around 7 or so) and I were both home ill. We were holed up in my king size bed watching TV. We started watching ‘Block-Heads’ with Laurel and Hardy. I don’t think two people ever laughed harder. My son is now 29, but we still talk about that day, and quote the movie frequently. There is something universal about the humor of the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, and others. Anyone with a taste for such things, if you have never seen ‘Block-Heads’, I highly recommend it.
Not sure what to think of this in terms of regional effects, but the Jerusalem Post is reporting that the Syrian Army and Hezbollah have had a border fight, with the Syrian Army crossing into Lebanon.
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-841055
How much does it cost to make a penny? Google search:
That’s one of Musk’s targets. Whatever happened to ‘A penny saved is a penny earned‘ concept?!
Have seen lots of figures in the $100’s of millions wasted. Using just an average of $175-million times about 5,714.285 equals about a Trillion Gringo Dollars. $100’s of millions can add up quickly
Musk is the right man for this job – and ‘Feel‘ he can save us over $2-trillion this year—even with the lawsuits getting in the way. More in future years when the lawsuits settle down.
The Swamp is gonna look to expose who-what-how is involved in stealing their money – examples would be Mr. “Big Balls” and Marko Elez, so care is needed in the amount of bragging ‘n finger pointing from President Trump…and also Musk if he is doing such.
Less talk ‘n more action – less than 4-years left…