Consider what we have: an elected plutocracy, the very zenith of predatory capitalism, in a brazen attempt to apply what works in casinos, in satellite and rocket companies, in high-tech unicorns, to mentality of a person who, when asked why she chose her particular career in public service in a federal agency, answers: “stable job, good benefits.” When you squeeze pork, you don’t get accountability, you don’t get efficiency. You feel anxiety and fear. As one Energy Department official said: “I would say there is a general sense of dread among everyone. »
Certainly, I have no illusions that Elon Musk or Vivek Ramaswamy, or new OMB Director Russell Vought, or the new Senate DOGE Caucus, will turn the swamp into a sheet of gleaming ice. They will create a lot of damage in the form of a myriad of lawsuits. Employee morale will drop even further (use your imagination).
Musk isn’t going to help his cause by releasing a “ranking of the most incredibly stupid spending on your taxes.” He adds: “It will be both tragic and extremely entertaining. » While the White House vaudeville will captivate with four years of unflinching clickbait, the great tragedy lies not in the thousands of jobs purged, but in the fact that their organizational genius is fueled by petty political crusades . Their daggers are selectively aimed at the EPA, DOL, Department of Education, IRS, FTC, and FDA, not the DOD and Homeland Security, which together account for 60 percent of the government’s payroll.
In fact, the entire payroll represents only a paltry 4% of the overall federal budget. And you can be sure not to find the $40 billion in USDA farm subsidies in Musk’s rankings. DOGE itself will not be safe from infection and will become yet another tumor in the deep state.
Covered in mud, I have not yet emerged from that pit I ventured into earlier. I had said that greed was better than laziness. Even if I checked the wrong box, whatever the outcome, I blame it on bureaucratic formalities!
After years of traveling the world, Broadman found himself writing from his perch on the Palouse and loving the view. Its policy briefs can be found at US Resist News: https://www.usresistnews.org.