Trump baaaad…..billions in the final 90 days to NGOs is o.k.

The important thing is righties here saying anything bad about Cheeto Jesus.

ZRX1200 wrote:

So you feel Trump hosed this up and Elon, who wants bigger cuts, is in the right?

8trackdisco wrote:

Eliminating steeling and waste is not "cuts".

Gene363 wrote:

Okay, Gene. I can give you that.

If they were going to get rid of 2 trillion in Waste, Fraud, Abuse and add Stealing, shouldn't they find more than the 9.6 billion?

It should be easier (having a fourth category) to hit their goal.

8trackdisco wrote:

Zero base budgeting, justify every dollar spent. Congress would have to get off their asses, away from the news cameras and, do their JOB.

Gene363 wrote:

Everyone wants cuts, until they themselves find themselves on the chopping block.

Plus, people need to get elected.

Directionally, would be in favor of across the board cuts in most everything?

20% reductions in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Military Pentions?

I don’t know how I would go about it. Maybe a 50% tax on political commercials and a 75% tax on the bribes congress people rake in.

8trackdisco wrote:

Please, stop repeating the narrative of criminals getting taxpayer dollars.

Gene363 wrote:

Gene,
I'm with you on removing Waste, Fraud and Abuse. Maybe we are saying the same thing?

Am sure there are criminals taking advantage of the government.

However, if there is that much of it (and your last post is about 93 billion in Fraud/Abuse) why is the bill set up to only knock out 9.4 billion in this bill? DOGE was going to cut 2 trillion.

Where is the 2 trillion coming from? DOGE had 190 billion listed on their website a few weeks back.

If those are real numbers (I don't know that they are or they aren't) shouldn't the bill have 190 million in reductions?

The actions don't match the words. Do you agree with that?

8trackdisco wrote:

So you feel Trump hosed this up and Elon, who wants bigger cuts, is in the right?

8trackdisco wrote:

Congress wrote the bill, not Trump. Elon is right to want bigger cuts. The USA is still in the doom loop.

HockeyDad wrote:

I have first hand knowledge of three contracts recently cut by doge at the state department... all three were originally awarded under the "Small Buisness" and Women owned Buisness" iniciatives and had less than 500 employees ...

the duties of these contracts are all currently being awarded to a single company SAIC. so much for supporting the little guy... SAIC is now working to hire the same employees but not all of them.

so far it looks like about half of the employees will be unemployeed as of June 6. the offers made to the ones being hired are for less money, less benifits, and all while at least some of hte offices in state department affected have recently been given larger work loads... so do more, with less people, for less pay...

i got "lucky" and am one of the people people offered a spot with SAIC. my office of 10 peple that was recently assigned 3 new very large projects is losing 4 people... most of my coworkers already work 50-60 hours a week to complete our already assigned workload... now the 6 of us not only have to pick up the work load of these other 4 employees... but also add 3 additional very large tasks. but, its ok... its only national security at risk if we fail...

drglnc wrote:

Gene,
I'm with you on removing Waste, Fraud and Abuse. Maybe we are saying the same thing?

Am sure there are criminals taking advantage of the government.

However, if there is that much of it (and your last post is about 93 billion in Fraud/Abuse) why is the bill set up to only knock out 9.4 billion in this bill? DOGE was going to cut 2 trillion.

Where is the 2 trillion coming from? DOGE had 190 billion listed on their website a few weeks back.

If those are real numbers (I don't know that they are or they aren't) shouldn't the bill have 190 million in reductions?

The actions don't match the words. Do you agree with that?

8trackdisco wrote:

Russ, this is from a Letter to the Editor in a recent Boston Globe. I have not dug deep into the claims but most are kinda easy to find follow-up.
Also makes one wonder how one could expect a (the?) major recipient of military contracts could be expected to go in there with a chainsaw...I certainly wouldn't chit where I eat either.


"The reason Elon Musk didn’t come near his federal spending reduction goals is that he studiously avoided looking where the money is: in bloated, wasteful, mismanaged military spending (“Why Musk flopped,” Ideas, May 18).

Last November, the Pentagon failed its seventh audit in a row. The year prior, it admitted that it couldn’t account for more than half of its $4 trillion in assets. In 2018, we found out that from 1998 to 2015, there were $21 trillion of unaccounted-for financial adjustments on the Pentagon’s books. This is where one would look if one were serious about finding waste, fraud, and abuse.

However, Elon Musk is a big military contractor, and the real purpose of the Department of Government Efficiency can now be seen in the Trump administration’s proposed first-ever $1 trillion defense budget. That and the GOP tax cut bill are what cuts to services and deterioration of our infrastructure are paying for."

frankj1 wrote:

Russ, this is from a Letter to the Editor in a recent Boston Globe. I have not dug deep into the claims but most are kinda easy to find follow-up.
Also makes one wonder how one could expect a (the?) major recipient of military contracts could be expected to go in there with a chainsaw...I certainly wouldn't chit where I eat either.


"The reason Elon Musk didn’t come near his federal spending reduction goals is that he studiously avoided looking where the money is: in bloated, wasteful, mismanaged military spending (“Why Musk flopped,” Ideas, May 18).

Last November, the Pentagon failed its seventh audit in a row. The year prior, it admitted that it couldn’t account for more than half of its $4 trillion in assets. In 2018, we found out that from 1998 to 2015, there were $21 trillion of unaccounted-for financial adjustments on the Pentagon’s books. This is where one would look if one were serious about finding waste, fraud, and abuse.

However, Elon Musk is a big military contractor, and the real purpose of the Department of Government Efficiency can now be seen in the Trump administration’s proposed first-ever $1 trillion defense budget. That and the GOP tax cut bill are what cuts to services and deterioration of our infrastructure are paying for."

frankj1 wrote:

Sounds like those MBE/WBE contracts were bloated and expensive. Definitely fits “waste” and “abuse”. MBE/WBEs are great. 51% woman owned and then they get fat government contracts. I’ve encountered more than a few of these schemes.

SAIC is a good company. Take the gig. Doing more work with the same people or the same work with less people is very standard in the private sector. Productivity is important outside of the government sector.

HockeyDad wrote: