politics
March 13, 2026
Maybe DOGE Was Just Looking in the Wrong Places
Perhaps it should have been looking more closely at President Trump’s Cabinet to find wasteful spending.
TL;DR
- The author previously believed that eliminating government "waste, fraud, and abuse" was an unrealistic way to balance the budget.
- Recent examples of alleged government waste include a luxury Boeing 737 leased by DHS, a fleet of flashy but largely useless ICE SUVs, and extravagant Pentagon spending on items like lobster and steak.
- The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), intended to cut federal spending, is criticized for failing to achieve savings and for hampering essential government functions.
- Tariffs imposed by the administration hurt American farmers, leading to a government bailout that the author deems cynical and wasteful.
- The author concludes that while these individual expenditures are relatively small compared to the overall federal budget, the cost of leaders participating in wasteful behavior is high.
- Balancing the federal budget requires more than just rooting out overspending, necessitating steep program cuts, tax revenue increases, or both.
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