DOGE Might Be A Uniting Factor In America After All The Complaining
It's becoming apparent that those in Washington most opposed to DOGE's work might have the most to worry about.
DOGE, or the Department of Government Expenditures, is a hot topic of debate between fervent supporters of the Democrats and the former administration led by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. People don’t like Donald Trump and billionaires are now villainized by the young and the entitled masses because they are richer than ever before. So, appointing Elon Musk as the face of DOGE was bound to be a polarizing decision.
What people might want to ask is why so many Democrats are scared of Elon Musk. Yes, he’s going to have an unprecedented level of access to government records. Yes, he’s going to potentially have access to the personal information of people in the United States. But, he will also be accessing the money trails that have led to the United States being 36 trillion dollars in debt.
What should happen is people watch with an interested eye and see what happens. At this point, it’s merely an audit, authorized by a currently seated president, to find government waste. Not a single person outside of the inner circle can say that there’s anything else going on. Everything else is theory and conjecture.
Another thing that should come of this, if people can put their dislike of Donald Trump aside, is we all look at what is happening. The subcommittee attached to DOGE has alleged that they found 2.7 trillion dollars in improperly dispersed Medicare and Medicaid funds. That’s money that came out of all of our working pockets, taken by our government and meant to be used to protect, defend, and provide for our interests and security in the United States. That is what our taxes are supposed to be spent on.
Sadly, in the age of news on social media and after years of a very biased news cycle, we are forever divided because the Democrats spend years trashing one side and the Republicans will now spend years investigating the Democrats. We have all failed to see the point at times. When you look out your window, or you see your neighbors and fellow members of society at the grocery store, what do you see? They are in the same boat as you are.
Until we recognize that there are problems on both sides of the aisle and until we get voters to stop voting for people because they listen to social media and news agencies without thinking for themselves, nothing changes. And it’s apathetic to continue to do it this way.
When you vote, what are you voting for? Most people voted for safety, border security, and with the hopes that Trump could lower prices as fast as he said. However, the smarter people recognized that nothing changes that fast. In reality, when you look at things that happen, more than half of what you see in a first-year presidency are carry-over effects from the prior administration.
What some people vote for, and what people might consider, is the future. Look at the young who are just starting their lives, or in college. Look at the struggles you’ve endured. Ask yourself, what do you want those coming in behind you to experience? Voting for policy initiatives that will lay the groundwork for a better future for our young is a long-overdue idea that needs to be heard.
Perhaps DOGE will teach us this lesson, as we’ve failed to pay attention to what should be important. Job opportunities for all Americans that will give them a shot at the American dream. Educational opportunities that include a quality education, not one ranked 50th or worse in the world. And, a world where diseases and medical care don’t leave our neighbors struggling to find a way to live their lives without losing what little they have. But until the wasteful government spending is taken care of, we have little chance of seeing any of this become a reality. DOGE’s discoveries should upset us all. Sometimes it is a common problem that reminds us how bonded we are as Americans.
About the Creator
Jason Ray Morton
Writing has become more important as I live with cancer. It's a therapy, it's an escape, and it's a way to do something lasting that hopefully leaves an impression.
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Comments (7)
Too many throughts running through my mind. Truth, neither side wants cut their special interest and special projects. Another truth, lobbyist control both sides with $$$$$$. Things are moving fast. In some cases, too fast. Especially, people being fired who are needed and rehired. Government is noted for moving slowly. Not fast! Unfortunately, building infrastructure was all talk and from what I have read nothing has been accomplished. But, I remember the promises. Truth, a politician's job is to get elected. What do they do? What ever it takes promises and lies and more lies. We have to stay in our economic budget. Unfortunately, the federal government keeps on spending. Trillions of dollars in the red and where will this end? We can't look to government to fix every problem. States have all the same departments that the federal government. Why the redundancies? Truth, there is waste and fraud and both sides are guilty. United we stand! Divided we fall.
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Also, I want to define that this supposed $2.7 trillion of improperly dispersed Medicaid and Medicare funds. So I wasn’t actually improperly dispersed funds. It was improper payment made to tax paying citizens. However that $2.7 trillion is only an estimate. It is not a proven dollar amount. Plus this estimate of $2.7 trillion as a number that was determined before the 2024 election. So this is not something that DOGE found. They are not being honest when they say that they found this. The Biden administration was already aware of this, and they were implementing Programs to decrease the amount of payment errors happening. The Biden administration was making headway with the plans they implemented. in 2022 there was a decrease of $37 billion and payment orders from the year before. In 2023 there was a decrease of $11 billion and payment errors from 2022. So Musk and his team trying to make it sound like as if this is something that they’re discovering for the first time is not correct. This is something that had already been discovered and was already being worked on. As you said things don’t happen fast or overnight. This was something that was being worked on for the long-term. One has to wonder why these payment errors and improper payments were happening. I don’t think it’s really has anything to do with fraud. But more so with funding. The Republicans have a little by little bit chipping away funding for our healthcare, Medicaid and Medicare. With these decreases funding That turn leaves less money to hire employees to do the work that needs to be done. When we had less employees, unfortunately errors happen. Now the Republicans want to decrease funding for these programs by $2 trillion. I can assure you that if they are successful in this, there are gonna be so many mistakes and errors happening. There are so many people who really need the assistance who are not going to get it. There are gonna be people dying, who don’t have to die. There are gonna be people with illnesses who cannot be treated. It’s gonna be a mess. What will happen on the Democrats gain control they’re gonna have to fix the mess. The sad thing is the Republicans and. DOGE do not have any plans to actually fix the issues on hand. They’re just going to cut trillions from the program just so they can free up funds to give billionaires the biggest tax break they’ve ever had. Elon Musk wants to become the first trillionaire ever. He’s going to do that on our backs. I do not trust the man.
Just a few issues with this, Jay. First, is there anyone on this entire planet who considers themselves more entitled while producing less than Donald Trump? Those with wealth & power have always tended to believe that they are entitled to more & more while dismissing as unworthy those who simply want to be entitled to live & get by. Second, it's not simply an audit. Entire departments have experienced mass firings, shutterings & takeovers, often with so little thought as for DOGE/Musk/Trump to have to backtrack. Buyout/retirement messages were sent to all air traffic controllers right before the worst air disaster weekend in over a decade--one where there was only one controller on duty when there should have been two, & the other where the pilot could not even reach the tower. Third, Trump has lied about virtually everything but what his devotees insist he doesn't actually mean. They may say they've identified $1.5 trillion in Medicare/Medicaid fraud/waste, but have provided absolutely no evidence of any of it. Anyone who trusts anything they say before the receipts have been produced & analyzed is rightly thought a fool. All that having been said, the point you are trying to make is absolutely correct. Until we listen to one another & discern together how to solve real problems & truly improve things in this country/world, nothing is ever going to get better. Both Democrats & Republicans bear responsibility for the current state of things, but over the past two decades if someone was going to reach across the aisle it was going to be Democrats (or Republicans who would subsequently lose their seats). Since Newt Gingrich declared total war & that winning was the only thing back in the late 80s-90s, the party has become ever-increasingly devoid of any concern other than destroying Democrats & maintaining power. Even our senator, Jerry Moran, who is considered quite the moderate (& was good friends with my father-in-law), dares not speak openly against anything Trump wants or in support of a Democrat-sponsored initiative. I don't often disagree with Jon Stewart, but after this election he declared that Democrats need to start behaving more like Republicans if they're ever going fix this mess, I had to disagree. It's tempting, but following such a course of action (as many are increasingly wont to do) only leaves the earth scorched & no one standing. Over the past four years, only two well-known Republicans fell on their swords to save the Republican party from itself: Liz & Adam. A few others resigned because they could no longer continue the fight. It's going to take more than that if we are to avoid continuing this descent into madness. But that requires that Democrats also do not cave to their baser instincts (which have held sway among them more than a few times in our nation's history). It also requires that so-called news agencies such as FOX & MSNBC (to name just the two most likely culprits near the mainstream) quit trying to score points & actually report the news with analysis that works to discern real solutions for real problems. I am sick & tired of having to ask MSNBC, "And what's the rest of the story?" (I gave up trying to do that with FOX News long ago. The lies & disinformation were simply too ubiquitous. This last fall when Kamala Harris had to tell Brett Baier three times, "That's not the clip," when he was trying to argue Trump didn't say what he already knew he had & had the full clip where he did, I was done. He was the last supposed legitimate newscaster they had. Britt Hume had given up any pretense long ago.) In other words, I agree wholeheartedly with the point you are making here, Jason, & that it's a point apropos to both sides. If you are trying to say that the burden & responsibility for the current state of affairs are equally balanced, however, I would have to disagree, though I fear they might soon become so.
I am sorry, but to think that this is going be a uniting factor is somewhat naïve. There are so many constitutional wrongs happening here, that once the Democrats take back the Senate and the house in 2026 there are gonna be so many grounds for impeachment. This at best is one of the most divisive moves that any president has ever made in the United States. Already people are being harmed by what is going on. Some people have lost their lives. Others are struggling much more than need to be. On Democrats get back the presidency in 2028. We are gonna have to be working to fix everything that was destroyed. This is not going to unite the people. Believe me it’s not. The main factor why it’s not going to is because this is a partisan witch hunt. They are only looking at spending that was done by Democrats. They are not investigating any Republicans. If this was legitimate, they’d be investigating everybody, including the major amount of money that Donald Trump added to the deficit and his first term. Including the $8 million a day that Elon Musk is being paid out of taxpayer money. Now this is a partisan witch hunt and it’s going to divide the country more than anything else in the past.
I'll complement you on the article. It's very well written. I did not vote for Elon Musk. No one did. You don't see any conflict of interest there? It could be nothing but a coincidence, yes, that for the first time in history, public records have disappeared from the NASA website at exactly the same time that the billionaire who wants to go to the moon 'takes office.' Totally a coincidence! No conflict of interest either when Consumer Protections disappear-- cancelled by the biggest Producer in the world. Billionaires should always decide what meager dribble of income I get being disabled. I have no issue with that at all, even when I haven't had a decent meal in months. When is that 'fraud' money coming my way? I won't hold my breath. {{ Do you ***honestly*** think, Sir, that these rich egomaniacs will enact ANY substantial increase in my income in the next four years? }} It takes roughly five years to be approved for Disability. Part of the reason why is because they don't have the necessary work force. Currently federal workers feel like they're under attack... so yeah, there's all kinds of incentive for people to go to work for the Social Security Administration. Didn't Musk recently say that people like me should just 'tighten my belt and live within my means'? Or did he say that about *all* people in debt? Kinda ironic, don't you think, when he has **utterly no clue** what it's like to struggle financially. I am conceiving a story right now comparing Elon Musk to Doctor Doom. I **have** seen measures I approve of... much to my surprise. I do have an open mind. But every time Musk speaks, he seems more and more like a sneaky supervillain pulling Trump's strings. There is utterly no transparency there. When Musk is caught-- he's either evasive or he flat-out lies. So my theories about what's going on make as much sense as yours. I am happy, however, to know that it's only a matter of time before a vengeful Trump turns on Musk and the richest man in the world no longer decides who gets Social Security. Won't it be fun when Trump defies the Supreme Court, and we have the first True Constitutional Crisis in American history? Musk will certainly be on his side!!! It will then be billionaires helping billionaires at everyone else's expense. {Although, just like on January 6th, a contingent of ignorant Americans won't give a damn about Trump engaging in more criminal activity.} I'm sorry but, considering these narcissists' history, I suspect there will be a lot *more* complaining ahead {like is already building with the families of trans-people now under attack.} Good day, Sir.