Thursday Night Topic

Im surprised that anyone is surprised.

What boggles my mind is how many people are upset that Elon is running the show doing the clean up. Not all the millions and millions he is finding being swindled but just that fact he is doing it. That alone shows the massive corruption, it’s even crazier how much the left trys to pretend it’s not even real.

The richest man in the world, with billions of dollars of government contracts, now has the keys to the treasury in the hands of his 19 year old minions. What could possibly go wrong? I mean, we all voted for him, right?

stjoeguy wrote:

The richest man in the world, with billions of dollars of government contracts, now has the keys to the treasury in the hands of his 19 year old minions. What could possibly go wrong? I mean, we all voted for him, right?

Yeah sure hate the have a government audit within. That is just awful lol. The first couple days of the audit show just why that needed to happen. It’s more concerning the corruption along the left and how the left just pretends it’s not happening.

Left & right both contributed to this. There isn’t any one guy to point the finger at. When they can’t present budgets on time, don’t read the budget before they vote, bury millions inside these bills is it any wonder there is corruption? The Fox has the keys to the henhouse.

stjoeguy wrote:

The richest man in the world, with billions of dollars of government contracts, now has the keys to the treasury in the hands of his 19 year old minions. What could possibly go wrong? I mean, we all voted for him, right?

Just like everyone voted for Kamala in the primary. Rules for thee, but not for me.

I know people that have noted in the past that D.C. is a bloated wasteful mess, but can’t stand what Trump and Musk are doing. My question is how did we think this was going to be fixed? I can’t think of another scenario where any other politician could’ve or would’ve attempted it. Some say it’s congress’s job to fix it. Then why haven’t they? IMO the vast majority are on the take and don’t want it corrected.

No surprises here.

And the whole “he’s unelected!” argument is a bit of a joke. Unelected bureaucrats have been running things all along.

stjoeguy wrote:

The richest man in the world, with billions of dollars of government contracts, now has the keys to the treasury in the hands of his 19 year old minions. What could possibly go wrong? I mean, we all voted for him, right?

But we did vote for this. You just weren’t paying attention. It was announced over the summer that Elon would team with Trump to head DOGE and do this. That is one of the reasons we voted the way we did. Intelligent people see the bloated mess that is the government and have been screaming for years to fix it. It just so happens there was a significant mandate that happened caused by the side that ignored their constituents and focused on DEI and pet projects, not actually helping real Americans.

You should be kicking yourself for pushing back so hard against Trump the first round. He was a soft little puppy dog then, that had no clue just how corrupt the government actually was.

Tell me, did you ever know about USAID before all this happened? Did you know all the money they dole out to non-aid recipients? Did you know Fauci received more money from USAID to fund gain of function in Wuhan that created COVID than he did from his own NIH? Yeah, that needs to stop! And I applaud Elon for stepping into the crosshairs.

The purge for pork is just getting started, and I myself am excited to see just how much waste/pocket lining will be discovered.

Pretty wild how AI connects the dots that have been hidden in plain sight, because it’s too complicated to easily dissect by humans.

As mentioned in the video clip, just wait until they analyze our government medical programs. USAID is just a grain of sand on a beach of government spending, and we’re just one month in.

A federal judge has allowed the foreign aid coming out of USAID to continue, for now. He initially ruled that the agency cannot be unilaterally be closed or purged into the State Dept without congressional approval too. So for now, funds that were already appropriated will continue to flow.

As I stated previously in another thread, there’s a right way to do it and there’s an illegal way to do it. Clearly there was a lot of sketchy money coming out of that agency, and it should be scrutinized.

Auditing agencies is fine to see if there’s money going where it shouldn’t. But when you find it, you report it to an inspector general or the government accountability office (GAO) and it gets addressed. That’s their purpose.

Just wait until they get to the defense budget. Then the waste will REALLY be revealed. That’s where they should have started IMO

If you really want to make a dent on savings, you’re gonna have to look at entitlements like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. That’s where the vast majority of the money goes in the federal budget, along with defense.

gim wrote:

Just wait until they get to the defense budget. Then the waste will REALLY be revealed. That’s where they should have started IMO

My personal opinion is that egg was far to big to crack right away. But no doubt it’s coming.

They went after a “small” program to start refining methods and show near instant results. Some crumbs before the mother load…

It’s absolutely mind blowing how some people think this is a bad thing. EVERY legal American should be cheering from the rooftops.

Long overdue and I couldn’t be happier to see this unfolding. The majority of politicians no longer run for office to make a difference, they run to make a profit. If you want to stand in the way of accountability, you are the problem. Seeing the list of items some of our tax dollars has been funding is absolutely unreal. And this isn’t a partisan issue. USAID, who the majority of us have never heard of, was created in 61 under Kennedy. Rogan had another guest on named Mike Benz who did a real deep dive into this and his quote he kept driving home was “if it’s too dirty for the CIA, give it USAID.” I highly recommend a listen to that episode.

I voted for this! Now let’s do state government too.

Wasn’t the Boston Tea Party because of a 2% tax on tea? I’ve paid half my income in taxes my career. Let’s pay off the deficit and cut some taxes.

For all this that argue this can’t be done or shouldn’t be done, this is the fourth administration that has had a department like this.

Roosevelt, Reagan and even Al Gore created similar departments. Reagan’s Grace Commission is probably the closest to DOGE.

Clinton conducted the largest purge of the federal budget in the modern era during his 8 years in office in the 90’s. But he did it the correct, legal way. Almost none of it ended up in court and when he was done, there was a budget surplus for 3 years afterwards. That’s the route to take. Not this one, just my opinion.

When all these actions end up in court (which they are), it costs us, the taxpayers money. Lawyers and court fees are very expensive.

TH wrote:

I voted for this! Now let’s do state government too.

Wasn’t the Boston Tea Party because of a 2% tax on tea? I’ve paid half my income in taxes my career. Let’s pay off the deficit and cut some taxes.

46.85
I feel your pain.

gim wrote:

Clinton conducted the largest purge of the federal budget in the modern era during his 8 years in office in the 90’s. But he did it the correct, legal way. Almost none of it ended up in court and when he was done, there was a budget surplus for 3 years afterwards. That’s the route to take. Not this one, just my opinion.

When all these actions end up in court (which they are), it costs us, the taxpayers money. Lawyers and court fees are very expensive.

What’s illegal about it? Just because the administration has been sued doesn’t make it illegal.

The bottom line is everything Trump does is going to end up in court. Very similar to the republicans challenging everything Biden did. The courts are the last stand and anything can be challenged there. Look what happened with the Fed worker buyout. That was challenged in court and upheld.

The argument this costs taxpayers money is correct but it goes both ways. The courts have been tools for politicians to fight their battles for years and that’s only gotten worse as our politics have gotten more divisive. Both sides are to blame for that.

i personally havent decided or have a real opinion yet on the chaos in DC. some of it is really good…….some is out landish.

the only thing i know is if you guys think your gonna actually see lower taxes and more $$ coming your way because of this……..i got good farmland in the everglades to sell ya!!!!!!

Joe Jarl wrote:

And the whole “he’s unelected!” argument is a bit of a joke. Unelected bureaucrats have been running things all along.

Lest we forget that we were locked down for 2 years because of an unelected official who now has a pardon for something he hasnt even been charged with going back to 2014.

glenn57 wrote:

i personally havent decided or have a real opinion yet on the chaos in DC. some of it is really good…….some is out landish.

the only thing i know is if you guys think your gonna actually see lower taxes and more $$ coming your way because of this……..i got good farmland in the everglades to.

No, I just expect our taxes to be used in a rational way that benefits the American people.

gim wrote:

A federal judge has allowed the foreign aid coming out of USAID to continue, for now. He initially ruled that the agency cannot be unilaterally be closed or purged into the State Dept without congressional approval too. So for now, funds that were already appropriated will continue to flow.

Not surprisingly this Federal Judge’s wife is involved with USAID. Conflict of interest much?!

I absolutely love the cutting of wasteful spending. However, that’s assuming this whole cost cutting effort isn’t ultimately going to be offset by tax cuts to the ultra wealthy. I’m in favor of cutting excessive spending in an effort to balance the budget and get rid of this spending deficit. I’m not in favor of cutting expenses to fund billionaire tax cuts.

The part that scares me is how unqualified Elon and his minions are for this. He’s clearly an idea guy and not a numbers guy. He had a tweet a few weeks ago saying how he was going to cut $1T of spending, which would reduce the deficit to $1T, but GDP will grow by $1T in the same period which will thus result in no inflation. This statement shows he lacks even a basic understanding of economics. That’s just not how it works. The idea that you can just add the government budget deficit and GDP growth to calculate inflation is asinine. Yet he is the one steering this ship.

No, I just expect our taxes to be used in a rational way that benefits the American people.
[/quote] i totally agree, but i just cant fathom seeing that happen. from my spot on the couch, and i listen and read things 80% of what going on there is currently revenge. just my opinion though!!!!

guess i’d like to see actual proof of the waste of money. maybe its to early but if they actually have some i’d think it be in these peoples best interest to show the American public!!!!

dont get me wrong……….thats the thing i love about Trump…..he wrangles alot of feathers……..

Matt Moen wrote:

For all this that argue this can’t be done or shouldn’t be done, this is the fourth administration that has had a department like this.

Roosevelt, Reagan and even Al Gore created similar departments. Reagan’s Grace Commission is probably the closest to DOGE.

Fortunately we now have complex computer algorithms and a computer doesn’t focus on one side and ignore the other side. All info is being posted to the internet for all to see. Waste and fraud from all sides need to be stopped. And stuff has been so deeply hidden with money transfers after money transfer to different NGOs and programs that it was nearly impossible to decipher where money was going. Now with computers that can map stuff out in hours rather than days/weeks/months stuff is actually coming to light. And I love to see it.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Not surprisingly this Federal Judge’s wife is involved with USAID. Conflict of interest much?!

The entire makeup of the swamp is one big conflict of interest. That’s what makes it work so well for them.

Bearcat89 wrote:

No, I just expect our taxes to be used in a rational way that benefits the American people.

Exactly 1000000%!!!

munchy wrote:

Fortunately we now have complex computer algorithms and a computer doesn’t focus on one side and ignore the other side. All info is being posted to the internet for all to see. Waste and fraud from all sides need to be stopped.

On the bold, but it can be. We have seen what happened on social media the last many years with certain topics, people, etc all being suppressed so if certainly can be manipulated.
100% we need to identify all cases of fraud and yes, it will be all sides, but only one is currently whining about it.
If an NGO is complaining about not getting government funding then, get this, they are NOT an NGO.