The Exposé

In January 2010 a group of Senators proposed the creation of a fiscal commission that would send Congress a proposal to address the budget deficits and national debt with no possibility of amendments.  The bill failed but President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

Its goal was to produce a report recommending budget steps that would address the nation’s long-term fiscal issues.  Unfortunately, while the report remains one of the most credible debt/deficit reduction plans designed to contain health care costs, stabilize the debt, and reform the budget process ever to grace Washington, it was never sent to Congress for a vote and a golden opportunity to address our fiscal irresponsibility was lost.

Fast forward to 2024 and Trump’s election victory and the nation may get another bite at the apple in the form of the recently established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to be co-chaired by Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, with the goal of reforming and shrinking the size of our bloated federal government.  As noted, these types of reforms have been tried before, but getting congress to act to reduce federal spending is akin to trying to draw a square circle.  But this time it’s Donald Trump and two very serious entrepreneurs who have taken up the call and are promising a fiscal “Manhattan Project,” not dissimilar from the all-hands-on-deck effort that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II.  And can anyone deny the necessity for such a project for a nation that’s $36,000,000,000,000 in debt?

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will be a non-government operation working with the White House.  To quote the WSJ, “The policy vector, as one source puts it, will be the regulatory shop in the Office of Management and Budget, with a goal of rapid repealing of regulations and a “massive” reduction in the size of the federal bureaucracy, with or without the help of Congress.”

Not surprisingly, the notion is already being criticized by democrats; most recently the uber liberal senator from Massachusetts, Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on X, “The Office of Government Efficiency is off to a great start with split leadership: two people to do the work of one person.” “Yeah, this seems REALLY efficient.”  Ah yes, the ignorant and spendthrift Left as usual is quick to criticize what they don’t understand.  Of course, the Left doesn’t understand this, because they don’t want to understand it.   Musk and Ramaswamy want to put an end to the fantasy that there are easy solutions and will focus on facts, with the understanding that compromise is not a dirty word.

Trump noted that “DOGE,” “will provide advice and guidance from outside of government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.”

Meanwhile, in the spirit of transparency, Elon Musk invited the public to share their thoughts about what should and should not be slashed as he wrote on X – “All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency. Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know! We will also have a leaderboard for the most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining,” while Ramaswamy tweeted – “DOGE will soon begin crowdsourcing examples of government waste, fraud, & and abuse.  Americans voted for drastic government reform & they deserve to be part of fixing it.”

Normally I don’t put much stock in politicians telling us they’re going to reduce spending because it never happens, and frankly when Obama was elected, I wanted to give him a chance to demonstrate the positive changes he was going to make, but I was enormously disappointed by his attitude towards Simpson-Bowles, i.e., “I’ll never get this through congress,” so why waste political capital on lost cause?  But Trump isn’t Obama and Trump isn’t preoccupied with getting re-elected as Obama was in 2010.

From what I’ve be able to glean the Musk/Ramaswamy duo will be able to advise on the repeal of numerous regulations and a significant reduction in the size of the federal bureaucracy without the help of Congress.  Although I’m betting neither party is going to accept the goring of their sacred cows and we can expect lawsuits and in-fighting as senators and house members fight for their pet projects.

~ An Exposé ~

And  exposé is  a report about something scandalous and what has really piqued my interest is the “Leaderboard” concept proffered by Elon Musk who promises to attack redundant, unnecessary and ineffective programs.  Most of us, including myself, have no idea of exactly how wasteful our government is, so it will be interesting to see how the voters react when they see the ridiculousness of spending $100 million for a harbor and an airport for a town in South Carolina with no roads and 75 full-time residents or the $16 million spent on food stamps for 2,000 dead people in NY City.

As noted, lawsuits will proliferate as both sides in congress protests cuts in their budget and regulatory sway.  We can also expect the bureaucracy, lobbyists and the congress aided and abetted by a complicit media to portray every decision as a threat to public health and safety.  And because it’s Trump, every recommendation will be dissected by the media telling anyone who will listen how preposterous these ideas are, but frankly, I have faith that once the American people see the wastefulness and redundancy with their own eyes they will respond appropriately.

All in all, if nothing else, it’s going to be an interesting next two years in Washington.