There has been an outcry from some, particularly from the left, over the ongoing reviews and recommendations from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as being too large and wide sweeping. To his credit, the President met with DOGE and his cabinet and cautioned them to make cuts with a scalpel rather than a chainsaw approach. DOGE recommends to the head of the Department being audited and then the department head makes the actual cuts, being careful to retain those essential workers and programs.
Yet the outcry continues... It makes me ask myself, "Why? Who is, or has been benefitting from the status quo?" In a past blog I shared one "expense" found by DOGE from USAID, where two billion dollars were granted to an NGO started in 2023 with Staci Abrams as a principal (she failed in her governor's race bid in Georgia a few years ago- she protested, claiming she won only to be cheated out by voter fraud). In 2023 this NGO had revenues of one hundred dollars- what have they done to deserve two billion now?
Here's another, recently found by DOGE while auditing the GSA, the department that is basically the government "checkbook". You submit a receipt for monies expended, and they reimburse you. That's the protocol for re-imbursement. So, in 2009 Michelle Obama submitted a receipt for a state dinner for one hundred twenty-two thousand dollars. Fine, except for one little bookkeeping problem. Someone, and I'm not pointing any fingers, checked this little box that says "Reoccurring", so each and every month thereafter the GSA issued and sent a check to Michelle Obama for $122,000 until the audit put a stop to it. So, what does that look like, over 15 years? How about twenty-two million dollars! Twenty-two million dollars taken fraudulently over the last 15 years, as reported by Dunning-Kruger-times.com. And this was not the only case like this! Is it any wonder that Congressmen and Senators, being paid an annual salary of $174,000 to $223,500, or the Vice President ($235,100), or President ($400,000) enter public office with modest means only leave public service as millionaires, or multi-millionaires? I would venture a guess that those who are complaining the loudest have to most to hide, and the most to lose.
We aren't just spending wildly and recklessly to government programs and NGOs; we are feeding the very people who are supposed to protect us from graft and corruption with the mechanisms to help themselves to unaudited wealth. Only consistent auditing and transparency in government will we be able to begin to curb this graft. Another way to help curb this problem is to term limit all our politicians to eight years, like we do our presidency. And for those non-elected bureaucrats in government, limit them to ten years maximum employment, then back to the private sector. Plus, once you've served in government for your eight years (or ten years for non-elected bureaucrats) you are ineligible for ANY future federal office. You could still run for state offices, if desired, but you served your time on the big stage.
A plan such as this would allow fresh perspectives, new outlooks, and more efficiency from our elected officials, for their time will be limited going in. No more "lifer" politicians, like Biden, Schumer, Reid, Pelosi, Grassley, Durbin, Sanders, et al. The longer people are in a job the less efficient they tend to become. Instead of complaining about Trump and Elon Musk being dictators, about them out for only themselves and their "billionaire buddies" as the left and mainstream media are touting, let's examine the facts.
First, until this last year, Elon Musk and his "billionaire buddies" were all members of the Democratic party. It was not until the massive shift to the left and towards progressive socialism did they begin to leave a party that they felt deserted them. There was never any outcry from these same Democrats in past years about these billionaires that donated and supported to them and their party. Second, it should be noted that Musk is volunteering his time to run DOGE, taking no salary, just criticism for his efforts. Still, he has uncovered billions in fraud and waste, with billions more waiting. He is intent on lowering our debt and obligations. As to the criticism that his businesses get millions every year from the government, they forget to add that it is in the form of loans, and he has repaid them, many early.
The complaints about Trump are far ranging, but we will examine a few. First, he's a Russia lover, or is Putin's puppet. The facts are, under George Bush Putin took Georgia. Under Obama Putin took Crimea. Under Biden Putin took the Donbas, and the war has dragged on for more than three years. Under Trump Putin took- nothing. Further, the toughest sanctions applied to Russia were placed by Trump. When Biden came in he eased those sanctions, he allowed Putin to build the largest pipeline in the world, that Trump had blocked, while blocking the building of our US pipeline and halting the export of natural gas to Europe. This forced countries like Germany and France to look elsewhere for fuel and they turned to Russia. They paid Putin far more for fuel than they donated to Ukraine in war support. In essence, they have funded Putin's war effort. The Ukraine war started when Biden said to Putin, that he would probably do nothing if Putin did a "minor excursion" into Ukraine. The fault for this war lies directly at his feet.
Trump has been criticized for the way his televised conference with Zelenskyi went. I wrote about this earlier, so I won't go into much detail here. However, depending on who's numbers you use, we have supplied 283 billion to 350 billion dollars given to Ukraine in cash and weaponry. "Given", not loaned, like the $100 billion supplied by the rest of NATO combined. Trump saw the inequity of this and proposed the rare earths treaty with Ukraine, to allow US access to Ukraine's deposits, to develop them and split them with Ukraine equally, to help us recoup some of our tremendous expenditures in their war. Zelenskyi had agreed and then, on TV he recanted and demanded other guarantees before committing. So Trump left and told them to tell Zelenskyi to leave. Not the reaction Zelenskyi expected, nor the following actions by Trump. And he apologized and came back to the bargaining table. Trump vowed to stop the war, to stop the killing, and clearly he's shown, both past and present, that he's nobody's puppet.
As to the criticism over tariffs, those complaining need to do some homework on tariffs we use, versus those applied against us. Trump has used tariffs in the past against China, because they tariffed our goods and we had a trade deficiency of several hundreds of billions of dollars. Thanks to those tariffs we recouped billions against our trade deficit. This presidency Trump has focused on trade inequities across the board- friends and foes alike. He has proposed that we apply reciprocal tariffs on those who tariff us, in the same amounts. This has created quite the stir, and promises of retaliation, to which Trump replied that we will match any retaliation. Let's look at Canada- on our dairy and agriculture products they tariff us at 200 to 300 percent! India tariffs our cars at 100% and Harley Davidson motorcycles at over 150%. The EU tariffs our cars at 103%, plus blue jeans, liquor, and others. We currently reciprocate at virtually nothing. Trump wants equal tariffs, or equal no-tariffs but things will be the same when he's done. In the end we will have a return to manufacturing, both country and individual opportunities for wealth, and increased stability as we reduce our debt thru reduction of waste, fraud, and government. Thru 50 days of his second term, inflation is down to 2.8% (from 7% at inauguration), gas prices are down to $3.03 /gal national average (from $3.30 /gal in 2024). Oil is down to $60-65 / barrel (from about $80 /barrel). It seems that we are headed in the right direction, despite all the seeming instability or uncertainty.
You don't have to like Trump as a person or agree with all he says or does. Just keep in mind that that the majority of Americans believed in his vision and remembered things were better the last time he was in office, and voted him back in. Personally, I find some things he says offensive. Some thigs he says are exaggerated. He tends to repeat himself a lot when wanting to make a point. I'm personally more than tired of hearing how he was cheated out of the 2020 election. It's history, it's in the past. It's time to let the past be in the past and look forward to a better, more successful America. To those who didn't vote for him I ask you to give him a chance. It's time to curtail the hate rhetoric, the constant name-calling and disparaging remarks. We may be two parties politically, but we are one country, one people. Let's work for each other for a change.
Food for Thought...
