DOGE is on the rampage, making headlines every hour or so. The fatal British disease of simply privatizing public assets may also have a big role in DOGE in the US. DOGE itself is costing big money in employee buyouts and related costs of its own.
None of this looks rational on any level. There’s a lot of executive overreach, and the courts have made it clear that they’re not going to play ball. Threatening the courts is unlikely to end well.
There’s also a lot of talk about “support” for this totally opaque and somewhat maniacal process. I disagree totally with every single word of this article supporting DOGE, but this is the logic. Accusing people of impropriety and fraud isn’t much of a basis for policy. Or sanity. It’s polarization by other means.
It’d be nice to know where all this support comes from. Not from the broad electorate, to start with. Do people really have any degree of clear understanding of government finances?
This is not to suggest that the US system is as efficient as it should be. It’s an antiquated system that can’t be efficient in the modern revenue environment. It does badly need to be updated, but not like this chaos.
Unlike the rest of the Western world, the US tax system doesn’t even have a basic VAT tax for goods and services. Revenue is a patchwork.
Expenditure isn’t simple. Off-the-book costs like riders (added conditions) on legislation are incredibly expensive. Wars tend to be expensive.
Corruption isn’t new, either, The culture is anti-revenue. Corporate America has got into the habit of simply breaking laws and paying fines. Tax evasion is a national sport. The other national sport, crime, doesn’t pay taxes. According to data from the Brookings Institute about 1 in 6 dollars of payable tax are not paid. That’s out of $4.4 trillion in estimated Federal revenue in 2024.
Happy? You’re paying for that.
The whole revenue system, which pays for political policies, is largely incoherent and obsolete since the 1970s at the very latest.
Government services are also a foundation stone of how America clumsily works. Without those services, things can only get very messy, very fast.
Let’s try to keep this as simple as possible. Please note that this isn’t just criticism for the sake of criticism.
There’s no real substance to DOGE actually doing what it says it’s doing. Nor is anyone asking what’s being achieved. The net PR effect is to look like a corporate takeover.
The ideological hype element in the DOGE mythos is also fundamentally wrong on so many basic reality levels. It’s absurd and most businesses can tell you why it’s absurd.
Any halfwit illiterate consultant can “identify savings” in any operation.
These guys are usually hired to provide excuses, not input.
Any moron can accuse anyone of anything without evidence or oversight.
So far, any “savings” by DOGE haven’t actually been identified.
No, AI can’t run a government administration.
Impropriety and fraud are the accusations, but where are the charges or identification of incidents?
Those are just the basics.
What is going to replace the current US system?
When’s whatever it is supposed to be happening?
Where’s the revenue coming from to pay for the current DOGE costs?
DOGE has said nothing at all about what happens next. Guesses?
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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
