thependulumswings

There’s not much difference between the word “dodge” and the acronym “DOGE.”  Capital letters aside, drop the letter “d” and voila.

But the USA that we lived in yesterday when four presidents consecutively dodged facing the burgeoning deficit and government waste is very different than the present.

George W started the reckless spending by exceeding the taxes collected by 4 trillion.  Barack followed, and in two terms rang up an 8 trillion dollar tab.  Trump 45, saddled with COVID bailouts ran through 7 trillion more than collected.  And Joseph Biden was sound asleep at the wheel as another 5 trillion piled on top.

Donald Trump 47 got elected and put Elon Musk in charge of finding and eradicating excess, fraud, duplication, and other unnecessary government waste.  DOGE, the unofficial non-paying Department of Government Efficiency, was born.

Warren Buffet once said, “You can tell who is skinny dipping when the tide goes out.”  Apparently, a lot of politicians and government agencies prefer au naturel.

The screaming is so loud that it hurts.  And that’s a good thing.

Imagine if the government treated the money like it was our own.  It is.  They just needed a stark reminder.

Musk has the blueprint in his hands.  He bought Twitter, then walked around the downtown San Francisco headquarters and found out what people there did for the organization.  He quickly realized a lot of them had no idea and provided no value.  Pink slips.

Why should the government be run any differently?

Last week his team uncovered 151 projects that received special funding whose expiration dates had come and gone as long as a decade ago and were still being funded.  Remember that trial subscription to Peacock?  You need to cancel it.

The whaling reached a crescendo yesterday when Musk suggested that USAID be abolished or greatly reorganized, and Trump nodded in the affirmative.  Be honest, 48 hours ago you had no idea that there was such a creature lurking in DC named USAID.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is the principal U.S. agency assisting countries recovering from disaster, escaping poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms.  It sounds nice, and it uses 40 billion of your tax dollars to assist.

The developments come after USAID’s director of security and his deputy were put on administrative leave after reportedly denying Musk’s cost-cutting task force access to its secure systems Saturday.  Translated, “We don’t want to show you who we’re funding and what their ’cause” is.

When Schumer, Warren(Pocahontas), Sanders, and AOC are upset, you know you’re onto something.  They’ve called Elon some unsavory things recently.  Wait till next week when the Department of Education goes up in smoke like the signals emanating from Warren’s teepee.

The questions are simple.  Do you want a bigger government or a smaller one?  Do you want to reduce debt or add to it?  Do you want to balance the budget or exceed it? The correct answers from here are smaller, reduce, and balance.

Do you want the service on the debt to surpass the entire Department of Defense budget?  It is this year for the first time.

It was a heck of a party.  But it’s past midnight on the debt clock.  Maybe the Cristal Champagne for $400 a bottle wasn’t a great idea after all.

Now the bill is due, and the hangover has already started.

Musk isn’t handing out any aspirin.