Democrats for waste and fraud
As far back as I can remember, people considered the federal government wasteful and inefficient when it wasn’t being actively intrusive and confiscatory, as well as subject to fraud and corruption. It was the sort of thing just about everyone knew, but most people shrugged it off for the most part because it was deemed an inevitable and inherent part of government.
Over the years it appeared to get worse. Democrats seemed to want more and more people dependent on the federal government, and although Republicans paid lip service to wanting to cut back, it rarely if ever happened. One reason was lack of will and energy to change things. Another was that many politicians benefited personally from the situation. Another was that, as the federal government grew larger, the task of “fixing” it – whatever that would look like – seemed insurmountable.
When Trump ran on a platform of “draining the swamp” in his first term, not all that much draining took place. He was just getting his feet wet in the swampy mud and laboriously learning how to walk there without getting sucked down by quicksand. Under constant attack, it took a great deal of his rather considerable energy merely to keep going.
I’m not sure what you expected in his second term, but I expected just a bit more swamp-draining and some mild reforms. But so far, we’re getting a lot more, and at a lightning clip. I think most people are gobsmacked at the pace and scope of what’s been happening. The left and most Democrats are horrified. The right is blinking in disbelief and wonder, and for the most part (with some caveats) stunned delight.
It also strikes me that years ago, before the widespread use of computers to keep records – governmental and otherwise – sweeping reform would have been even more difficult because getting the information would have been more labor-intensive. Now, though – well, you know what’s been going on with DOGE. Or with things like Tulsi Gabbard’s firing of the 100 intelligence workers who were discussing, on company time, the finer points of their sexual kinks. That certainly wouldn’t have been possible without a computer trail. Despite that evidence, those workers felt insulated from any consequences for their actions, and until now it made perfect sense to think so.
Maybe this won’t continue. Maybe the courts will stop it; there certainly will be plenty of courtroom challenges. But it’s an extraordinary effort which has uncovered not just the expected waste and fraud – probably greater in scope than most people would have thought, but nevertheless along the expected lines – but also the fact that, through USAID in particular, the taxpayers were footing the bill for a host of leftist projects and even appearing to fund some terrorists (see this).
The upshot is that the Democrats have to take the position of defending – or denying – fraud and waste in government. I don’t think most people are sympathetic to that argument. So Democrats are also emphasizing the plight of the laid-off. But when government workers fight ordinary standards of accountability and act as though their jobs are entitlements, they don’t engender much goodwill, either.
Go To It DOGE! HARDER, HARDER, HARDER!
Long known the government had to be paying out fraud money hand over fist.
Where it went had no idea, until this last month. Just hoping they are ready stopping all they can, ( judges seem to want to continue it)
A lot of masks are coming off, and more will. It’s very clear now that what was missing all along was someone who actually meant to clean it up.
All the formerly normal democrats I know are basically reacting to *anthing* Trump/Musk does with a complete rejection. They deny USAID was a slush fund, 10s of billions save? So what? Trump did it so they have to be against it.
Democrats for waste and fraud.
Fair or not, that will stick. I feel so bad for them.
Niketas:
I actually think Trump wanted to clean it up during his first term. He was distracted by other things. Plus, he simply didn’t know how to do it. Now he has a better team in place with a lot more knowledge and skills.
What I’m waiting for:
1. A real investigation into how all these “public servants” got rich on their salaries. Even people who have built successful businesses from the ground up rarely accumulate the kind of money that Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Dchumer, Mitch McConnell, et al have. There has to be insider trading and money laundering going on.
2. Where is the Epstein client list? Has somebody already threatened Bondi with bodily injury or worse if she releases it?
Keep digging DOGE and don’t let up, not for a moment. This is an iceberg of corruption. Bring the most guilty up on RICO charges. Foremost of them; George Soros
Doesn’t matter if the charges can be proven. Remember the process is the punishment. They set the rules, now make them live and die by them.
RICO: the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which is a federal law that targets organized crime.
The democrat party has arguably become a criminal enterprise. RICO charges:
“Predicate offenses
These are criminal acts that are used to carry out a more serious crime. For example, extortion or wire fraud may be predicate acts to a major theft.
Pattern of racketeering
To violate RICO, a person must engage in a pattern of racketeering activity that is connected to an enterprise.
Enterprise
This can be a business or organization that is involved in illegal activity.
RICO penalties
Prison
A conviction under RICO can result in up to 20 years in prison, or even life in prison depending on the underlying crime.
Fines
A person convicted under RICO can face a fine of up to $250,000 or double the amount of proceeds earned from illegal activity.
Asset forfeiture
The government can seize the defendant’s assets before trial, and the defendant’s entire interest in the enterprise after a conviction.”
Asset Seizure!
DOGE could be done by hand, but it would take a lot longer. I’ve got to believe that AI is the secret weapon of the Musketeers.
Watching the cabinet meeting today with Trump answering questions I was struck by the fact that these are people who are actually looking for ideas to help the country. Some ideas might not work but this is such a contrast to Biden/Obama who I believe were deliberately taking steps to take America down and put it in its place.
I read an unintentionally hilarious profile of a poor USAID worker who had lost her job and the article pointed out that things have gotten so bad for her that she had to cancel her Disney plus subscription. The Horror!
I’m a retired Federal government worker and I’m still Facebook friends with some of my former colleagues who are quite upset. These are people who have been working from home for the past 5 years and many of them are eligible to retire with a nice pension. I know that the work they are doing is mostly useless but they have convinced themselves that they are absolutely essential. They seem to have no comprehension of how they are perceived by the majority of the country.
DOGE et al.: “breaking a century of pathetic acquiescence toward the deep, middle, and shallow states
A powerful, untitled brief essay by Jeffrey Tucker:
https://x.com/jeffreyatucker/status/1893787435659674034
Trump did not even know what the swamp WAS during his first term, much less how to clean it up and/or drain it. He managed some good things–the Keystone Pipeline, the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Boondoggle, and a few others; but then there were, among other things, his instruction for the FBI to cease its investigation into Hillary Clinton, and his moves to put Brix and Fauci in charge of the Covid mess–evidently being, himself, more interested in reserving credit for himself for the stupid Operation Warp Speed vaccine.
He is far better this time, having learned some expansive and difficult lessons. I hope he grapples successfully with getting the Republican legislators to realize both what is against them and how to exercise properly the power they have in dealing with it.
Paul Nachman: Thank you for that link to the Jeffrey Tucker essay. It is outstanding. He makes excellent, solid points very well.
You know what this feels like? The Berlin Wall coming down and so many countries shaking off Communism one after another. The conventional wisdom up until then was we were stuck with it forever.
And that’s what this last six weeks has felt like: all this stuff the conventional wisdom said couldn’t be done, being done.
@huxley:I’ve got to believe that AI is the secret weapon of the Musketeers.
Could be, but the big public stuff has been things you can do with SQL pulls. Like the active SSNs for 120-year-olds and the missing fields in Treasury payments.
Niketas Choniates:
“And that’s what this last six weeks has felt like: all this stuff the conventional wisdom said couldn’t be done, being done.”
That’s my feeling as well. I look at our staggering debt and other assorted problems and at times it feels hopeless. But now we have energetic people with ideas that they are actually willing to implement. It’s hard not to be excited about the possibilities.