Proud of DOGE’s whiz kids

Does it seem odd to anyone else that the Deep State’s howlers take such umbrage against the technically-advantaged whiz kids Elon Musk, DOGE leader, has engaged to root out the trillions of dollars of waste in the federal government?

Shouldn’t any American, whether in the government or private circles, be interested in making our government as efficient as possible.

My computer skills are just what you’d expect from a 20th century Great Depression-era survivor, practically zilch.

I can barely use a computer sufficiently enough to bang out this column a couple of times a week. It’s especially frustrating when the operating rules for a program change. That’s when I have to call on younger staff members to get me out of a bind.

My question is why can’t a majority of Americans be proud of these young people helping make America solvent again?

There are reports that some federal departments, including Social Security, are operating with outdated systems.

Musk alleged that the SSA’s outdated systems have led to significant errors, including records of people over age 150 receiving government benefits. (Oops, some family members apparently forgot to send in a death notice, if that’s the case. I haven’t met any 150-year-old people.)

The SSA currently uses COBOL, which is 60-year-old programming language still widely employed in government databases.

According to reports from Wired, one reason for the supposed 150-year-old people in the Social Security system is COBOL’s lack of a date type. Because some implementations of SSA databases default missing or incomplete birthdates as a reference point, often May 20, 1875, this means that records without proper birthdates could incorrectly display ages far beyond human lifespans, according to a Newsweek report.

Why Is Bannon Criticizing Musk?

It’s also hard to understand why Steve Bannon, a former top advisor to President Trump in his first term, is so critical of Musk, calling the billionaire a “parasitic illegal immigrant” and accusing him of using his influence to push an agenda that disregards American traditions.

Musk is helping do what Trump promised he would do if elected, finding and cutting waste – in the billions of dollars, and revealing it, so that the president can eliminate it.

Could it be Bannon’s a little envious of Musk’s success. Since throwing his support behind Trump in June 2024, Musk has become a key power player in the administration— not just as its top campaign donor but as a frequent presence in the Oval Office. With Trump back in the White House, Musk has been meeting with foreign leaders and overseeing the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been tasked with aggressively cutting federal bureaucracy.

The reports on the billions wasted by USAID alone should bring plaudits to the DOGE team.

A recent Newsweek article recalls that former President Bill Clinton took steps to reform government waste 30 years ago.

The Newsweek article read like this: “When the president of the United States declared that he was taking a “historic step in reforming the federal government” to make it “both less expensive and more efficient,” Donald Trump was still on his first marriage, and Elon Musk was an unassuming undergrad studying physics and economics at the University of Pennsylvania.

“More than 30 years before Trump triumphantly returned to the White House and created the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last month with Musk — now the richest man in the world — at the helm, Bill Clinton was putting his vice president in charge of a sweeping plan to “reinvent government.”

“The National Partnership for Reinventing Government, or REGO as it was known, was spearheaded by Al Gore and aimed at streamlining processes and cutting red tape. The initiative was recognized as successful, having delivered four consecutive budget surpluses — the last time there was a balanced federal budget.

“Touting its success, President Clinton said in his 1996 State of the Union address: “We have worked to give the American people a smaller, less bureaucratic government in Washington. And we have to give the American people one that lives within its means. The era of big government is over.”

If I recall correctly, Clinton was the last president to provide the nation a balanced budget.

Clinton Achievements Lost

His efforts were obviously ignored by later regimes.

The Swamp folks are going to its compliant national media with efforts to make it appear that Musk is actually the real chief executive.

But the White House points out that (DOGE) does not have the statutory authority to fire people.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN that DOGE has only an advisory role and “it’s ultimately up to the discretion of these secretaries to make these hirings and firings.”

The article goes on to say Musk has boasted about “feeding USAID into the wood chipper” after the foreign aid agency was hit with sweeping cuts and mass layoffs and furloughs.

He also joined President Donald Trump in the Oval Office while the president signed an executive order warning federal agencies to prepare for mass layoffs. More than 10,000 government employees were then laid off across multiple agencies over Presidents’ Day weekend.

Musk has been accused of acting with “seemingly limitless and unchecked power to strip the government of its workforce and eliminate entire departments with the stroke of a pen,” in a recent lawsuit filed by multiple Democratic state attorneys general.

You can bet the Deep State and its deep pocket backers will oppose government efficiency with every ounce of its being.

In a court filing, the Trump administration said, “Like other senior White House advisors, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R- Georgia responded to the attacks by sharing video compilations on social media of former Democratic leaders, Clinton and Gore, advocating for federal job cuts and reduced government spending.

“Democrats on my DOGE Committee need to watch this video instead of pitching temper tantrums and threatening me with ‘actual weapons,’” she wrote on X. “Our $36 TRILLION dollar debt is an everyone problem, NOT a partisan problem. America simply just can’t afford it anymore.”

The U.S. national debt stands at $36.22 trillion, up $2 trillion relative from the previous year. Clinton was the first president in recent history to reduce the total deficit during his time in office, recording a $128.2 billion budget surplus as he left office in 2001.

Even governments can go broke due to excessive spending, even with the advantage of government printing presses rolling out unbacked currency.

A national bankruptcy would hurt citizens far more than the inflation caused by previous presidents’ mindless excessive spending.

DOGE revelations show a game of corruption only suspected in the past.

Musk’s business-type actions will permit corrections to be made.

Those complaining the loudest might well be most suspect as the engineers of waste and abuse.