Is DOGE a good thing or bad thing?

[PotimusWillie]

On principle, what is your take?

Is there a bias in their findings?

Does the US taxpayer have the right to know how tax revenues are spent?

 

[JackRussellDawg]

DOGE is the most wonderful thing since sliced bread.

 

[seatonsdawgs]

Good…

 

[MaitlandFloridaDawg]

It is good. It is unfortunate, but it had to be done this way. It couldn’t have happened by slowly implementing it over a number of years because the bureaucrats would have stayed in charge and it never would have been implemented.

 

[55dawg]

Good…

It’s really not debatable

 

[d-dawg]

It’s a great thing for anyone that has skin in the game. (Taxpayers)

The current spending was not sustainable.

 

[brimur]

It’s a good idea, not a new one, but a good one. Way too early to tell. Literally like 80% of the shock and awe moves are going through litigation so we will see what results are when the air clears. If they have actually increased costs by doing things improperly and getting sued (spending costs on litigation) just to have those funds or positions restored by the courts, seems like a waste and just PR. If not, then it could be a good thing.

 

[willdup]

It’s a great thing for anyone that has skin in the game. (Taxpayers)

The current spending was not sustainable.

Then the party in power should propose a budget that doesn’t continue to add to the deficit.

 

[HarryDawg'95]

Excellent in principal - being very poorly executed.

There are 1 million government employees in the department of defense and another half million in the department of veterans affairs. Many “working” from home. There is where the bulk of your fraud and waste are. Focus here - when you focus on US aid and NOAA right off the bat, while there is certainly fat there as well, it feels more politically motivated than fiscally motivated.

I have been across numerous RIF’s in the corporate world, one needs a measured, transparent, and systematic reduction. No legitimate CEO would come in and do a RIF within the first month of his tenure, the stock would plummet. Take a few months to better understand. The initial fork in the road email for example was amateur hour.

DOGE feels politically motivated and has an image problem outside of the MAGA echo chamber personified by a non-elected official wielding a chainsaw and wearing mirrored sunglasses tweeting 24/7. Seems vindictive. RIFs are often necessary but should be handled with grace and empathy.

A RIF for the government is absolutely warranted, but these are people‘s careers and livelihoods - many of whom voted for Trump. They need to be shown dignity and treated fairly. Not dismissed by an email from a bot on a Saturday night.

 

[Dirty Hairy Dawg]

It’s a good idea, not a new one, but a good one. Way too early to tell. Literally like 80% of the shock and awe moves are going through litigation so we will see what results are when the air clears. If they have actually increased costs by doing things improperly and getting sued (spending costs on litigation) just to have those funds or positions restored by the courts, seems like a waste and just PR. If not, then it could be a good thing.

For the sake of argument let's just say most of what doge is finding is legitimately questionable spending but most does get restored by the courts. At least the citizenry has been informed and have the chance to hold our reps accountable. I think we all agree that both sides have participated in breaking the system and neither side has had much interest in shining a light on how our treasure is spent and what set of hands ultimately ends up with the money. Iows, if we send a billion to an impoverished nation and it ends up in the hands of warlords or if money ends up getting kicked back to pols, it's worth breaking a few eggs to root out the foxes in the hen house. And imo, there's a lot of foxes in the DC hen house.

 

[The Original SLC Dawg]

Excellent in principal - being very poorly executed.

There are 1 million government employees in the department of defense and another half million in the department of veterans affairs. Many “working” from home. There is where the bulk of your fraud and waste are. Focus here - when you focus on US aid and NOAA right off the bat, while there is certainly fat there as well, it feels more politically motivated than fiscally motivated.

I have been across numerous RIF’s in the corporate world, one needs a measured, transparent, and systematic reduction. No legitimate CEO would come in and do a RIF within the first month of his tenure, the stock would plummet. Take a few months to better understand. The initial fork in the road email for example was amateur hour.

DOGE feels politically motivated and has an image problem outside of the MAGA echo chamber personified by a non-elected official wielding a chainsaw and wearing mirrored sunglasses tweeting 24/7. Seems vindictive. RIFs are often necessary but should be handled with grace and empathy.

A RIF for the government is absolutely warranted, but these are people‘s careers and livelihoods - many of whom voted for Trump. They need to be shown dignity and treated fairly. Not dismissed by an email from a bot on a Saturday night.

Hardly any of them voted for Trump. We’ve all worked with bad employees. People that can’t make it to work on time. People that can’t make it to work at all. They made their bed.

 

[d-dawg]

Then the party in power should propose a budget that doesn’t continue to add to the deficit.

I agree. This is not a partisan issue. Both sides are guilty of creating the mess we are in.

 

[PharmDawg08]

Then the party in power should propose a budget that doesn’t continue to add to the deficit.

The MAGAs are so excited to both save a few billion on "waste" but willing to add trillions more to the deficit.

 

[DawgWCK]

Excellent in principal - being very poorly executed.

There are 1 million government employees in the department of defense and another half million in the department of veterans affairs. Many “working” from home. There is where the bulk of your fraud and waste are. Focus here - when you focus on US aid and NOAA right off the bat, while there is certainly fat there as well, it feels more politically motivated than fiscally motivated.

I have been across numerous RIF’s in the corporate world, one needs a measured, transparent, and systematic reduction. No legitimate CEO would come in and do a RIF within the first month of his tenure, the stock would plummet. Take a few months to better understand. The initial fork in the road email for example was amateur hour.

DOGE feels politically motivated and has an image problem outside of the MAGA echo chamber personified by a non-elected official wielding a chainsaw and wearing mirrored sunglasses tweeting 24/7. Seems vindictive. RIFs are often necessary but should be handled with grace and empathy.

A RIF for the government is absolutely warranted, but these are people‘s careers and livelihoods - many of whom voted for Trump. They need to be shown dignity and treated fairly. Not dismissed by an email from a bot on a Saturday night.

• US Aid had tuned into a total slush fund for liberal causes and some of those grants and expenses had to be cut immediately, no brainer to start there
• Collins is cutting 15% of the workforce in Veterans affairs, that seems significant to me.
• Post 15% cuts the VA will have close to 391,000 employees, that seems way to much to me.
• Cuts had to be done ASAP, any delays then more resistance by Dems and burocrats would have occurred
• I too wish Musk was more stealth and less flamboyant but the team is doing the dirty work that needs to be done.
• I have been thru RIFS, they are not always measured, transparent or systematic. Should they be, certainly, are they, most of the times not.
• Musk cut 75% of Twitter jobs almost immediately and it seemed to work ok with that cooperate entity,
• The working from home by many of the Washington Federal Departments personnel was like hanging a note to their shirt - we are getting paid and are not needed
• No question the department of defense is going to get hammered as it should. Based on it size alone, Musk and his group could park there for years. I'm hoping for $ 100 billion plus in questionable cost / fraud / or simply wasteful spending to be unearthed there

 

[HarryDawg'95]

Hardly any of them voted for Trump. We’ve all worked with bad employees. People that can’t make it to work on time. People that can’t make it to work at all. They made their bed.

Where is your evidence that hardly any of them voted for Trump? Help me understand the data behind your assertion?

 

[HarryDawg'95]

• US Aid had tuned into a total slush fund for liberal causes and some of those grants and expenses had to be cut immediately, no brainer to start there
• Collins is cutting 15% of the workforce in Veterans affairs, that seems significant to me.
• Post 15% cuts the VA will have close to 391,000 employees, that seems way to much to me.
• Cuts had to be done ASAP, any delays then more resistance by Dems and burocrats would have occurred
• I too wish Musk was more stealth and less flamboyant but the team is doing the dirty work that needs to be done.
• I have been thru RIFS, they are not always measured, transparent or systematic. Should they be, certainly, are they, most of the times not.
• Musk cut 75% of Twitter jobs almost immediately and it seemed to work ok with that cooperate entity,
• The working from home by many of the Washington Federal Departments personnel was like hanging a note to their shirt - we are getting paid and are not needed
• No question the department of defense is going to get hammered as it should. Based on it size alone, Musk and his group could park there for years. I'm hoping for $ 100 billion plus in questionable cost / fraud / or simply wasteful spending to be unearthed there

Fair points - thank you.

I’m not convinced of the need to rush - MAGA controls all branches of government for now not sure what waiting a few months to do it right matters.

I have worked for CEOs who come in on day one and try and immediately put their fingerprints all over the business and they never last very long.

X has lost significant value this year so not sure that worked out ok.

Working from home isnt the bogeyman many think IMO - many folks can be very productive from home - if your meeting KPIs I don’t care if you work on the moon. It does make boomers heads explode.

 

[The Original SLC Dawg]

Where is your evidence that hardly any of them voted for Trump? Help me understand the data behind your assertion?

DC and northern Virginia are about 80% democrat

 

[HarryDawg'95]

DC and northern Virginia are about 80% democrat

Wrong.

Federal workers, both Democrat and Republican, eager to vote this fall

Past behavior shows this population will show up big at the polls. How feds will vote is less clear.

www.federaltimes.com

 

[The Original SLC Dawg]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/11/08/virginia-elections-nova-loudoun-democrats/

Democrats win special elections in Northern Virginia, maintain legislative control

Dems Singh, Srinivasan and Republican Cifers win contests

www.vpm.org

 

[DawgWCK]

Fair points - thank you.

I’m not convinced of the need to rush - MAGA controls all branches of government for now not sure what waiting a few months to do it right matters.

Again, not sure you can do it right. More measured steps may have causes less blowback but regardless of when it is done the media and dems were going to throw haymakers and look for any issue to report. Our Gov't is more bloaded Post Biden than anytime in history, so immediate cuts had to be made.

I have worked for CEOs who come in on day one and try and immediately put their fingerprints all over the business and they never last very long.

X has lost significant value this year so not sure that worked out ok.

I don't think cutting the workforce for X has contributed to their loss in value. I don't think Twitter or X has ever been profitable, (pre or post Elon). Seems to be way too much overhead but overall its financial forecast have been more positive since Musk took over. They think 2025 could be profitable. (if it is he should probably sell is ASAP)

Working from home isnt the bogeyman many think IMO - many folks can be very productive from home - if your meeting KPIs I don’t care if you work on the moon. It does make boomers heads explode.

20% of employees are as or more productive from home, 80% are not. I'm in the 80%. I think it is the boogeyman in Government related work because of failure to monitor and ensure adequate productivity for the 80% class. So with the mass working from home you had 80% getting MUCH less productivity, probably 15%-25% with little or any.

 

[Athens is Heaven]

Fair points - thank you.

I’m not convinced of the need to rush - MAGA controls all branches of government for now not sure what waiting a few months to do it right matters.

I have worked for CEOs who come in on day one and try and immediately put their fingerprints all over the business and they never last very long.

X has lost significant value this year so not sure that worked out ok.

Working from home isnt the bogeyman many think IMO - many folks can be very productive from home - if your meeting KPIs I don’t care if you work on the moon. It does make boomers heads explode.

These people work for the taxpayer and the majority are telling Trump to get their ass back to work in Washington.

 

[oldmandawg]

Doge is a very good thing. Anyone who argues otherwise just doesn't give a damn about how our tax dollars are spent.

 

[BlessedDawg]

On principle, what is your take?

Is there a bias in their findings?

Does the US taxpayer have the right to know how tax revenues are spent?

IMO, DOGE is a mastermind decision by Trump. He and the top GOP knew that normal politics and politicians wouldn’t have the stomach to cut government spending and downsize the federal bureaucracy. In comes an outsider heading up the DOGE effort and Musk takes the brunt of the left and MSM vitriol instead of Trump. To me it is brilliant, cut waste and downsize government and let the world’s richest man take the blame as we head to mid term elections in 2026.

 

[Athens is Heaven]

These people work for the taxpayer and the majority are telling Trump to get their ass back to work in Washington.

 

[HarryDawg'95]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/11/08/virginia-elections-nova-loudoun-democrats/

Democrats win special elections in Northern Virginia, maintain legislative control

Dems Singh, Srinivasan and Republican Cifers win contests

www.vpm.org

Dude - first off this is the fake news liberal Washington post

Secondly, they dominated who won - no where does it talk percentages (like my link) - could have won each race 55-45.

From what I can gather, at least 40% of the federal workers who have been fired voted for Trump. If you disagree, provide data.

 

[brimur]

DC and northern Virginia are about 80% democrat

Northern VA is lighter blue than that. Unless you are defining NoVA as the very inner suburbs of Alexandria and Arlington. Among the other 3 NOVA counties Trump won more than 40% of the vote. So more than 4 out of 10 people voted for him.

 

[Zonadog]

Dude - first off this is the fake news liberal Washington post

Secondly, they dominated who won - no where does it talk percentages (like my link) - could have won each race 55-45.

From what I can gather, at least 40% of the federal workers who have been fired voted for Trump. If you disagree, provide data.

Here's something interesting from Federal Election Commission data, sorted by responsible cabinet positions, for the 2024 Presidential election:

 

[PotimusWillie]

Then the party in power should propose a budget that doesn’t continue to add to the deficit.

The point of the post was about DOGE. Will transparency AND stopping wasteful spending not help cut the deficit?

A budget? It serves no purpose if you keep spending on salaries and programs not needed.

It looks to me the party in power is the only one in my lifetime to tell me where my money goes.

That’s a start.

 

[3 Pete]

US Postal Service just agreed to cut 10,000 people. Hope my email arrives on time.

 

[willdup]

The point of the post was about DOGE. Will transparency AND stopping wasteful spending not help cut the deficit?

A budget? It serves no purpose if you keep spending on salaries and programs not needed.

It looks to me the party in power is the only one in my lifetime to tell me where my money goes.

That’s a start.

I’m all for transparency, although DOGE keeps getting that part wrong. They have had to revise a number of their largest claims of savings because they failed to understand basic accounting and contracts.

The point of a budget should be to balance total revenues and total expenditures to net out flat or ideally at a surplus at the end of the year. If the GOP plans on reducing revenues more than they plan on reducing expenditures, we’re still adding to the deficit.

The budget they just passed is projected to add $2t to $2.5t to the deficit over the next decade. Thats a problem.

 

[Two if by Sea]

On principle, what is your take?

Is there a bias in their findings?

Does the US taxpayer have the right to know how tax revenues are spent?

Fact of the matter is, America is deeply unprofitable. Far away from making money and if outsiders stop loaning us money, we go bankrupt.

If you are wishing for DOGE to fail, you are wishing America to default.

 

[OriginalGatorHator]

DOGE’s primary benefit is showing just how useless of an opposition party Republicans are. They’ve had access to this same information for 30+ years and did nothing. Elon took a group of 20 year old computer nerds and uncovered it within about 14 minutes.

However, no permanent good will come unless Pam Bondi arises from her slumber and starts indicting people.

 

[litedawg1968]

Excellent in principal - being very poorly executed.

There are 1 million government employees in the department of defense and another half million in the department of veterans affairs. Many “working” from home. There is where the bulk of your fraud and waste are. Focus here - when you focus on US aid and NOAA right off the bat, while there is certainly fat there as well, it feels more politically motivated than fiscally motivated.

I have been across numerous RIF’s in the corporate world, one needs a measured, transparent, and systematic reduction. No legitimate CEO would come in and do a RIF within the first month of his tenure, the stock would plummet. Take a few months to better understand. The initial fork in the road email for example was amateur hour.

DOGE feels politically motivated and has an image problem outside of the MAGA echo chamber personified by a non-elected official wielding a chainsaw and wearing mirrored sunglasses tweeting 24/7. Seems vindictive. RIFs are often necessary but should be handled with grace and empathy.

A RIF for the government is absolutely warranted, but these are people‘s careers and livelihoods - many of whom voted for Trump. They need to be shown dignity and treated fairly. Not dismissed by an email from a bot on a Saturday night.

The image problem is fraudulent and phony.

Just like when Hamas invaded Israel, all of a sudden online you have millions of accounts that all of a sudden love Palestine and hate Israel and 95% of them couldnt find Israel on a map. The same with these protests. They are paid actors. The same with protests at Tesla dealerships. These are not real. They know Trump is basically untouchable, so now its Elon. This is very easy to see what is happening.

I would venture to guess that 99% of the time , Elon is the smartest guy in the room. He is also most likely autistic and is definitely awkward. I would also venture to guess that that these systems are so outdated and complex , it had to be done by people who are like him. He has risked his business and reputation to cut the waste and the money laundering that is happening. Hes surely getting death threats.

Think about how insane that is. The man is cutting waste and fraud and people are threatening his life. I truly dont get it. You Liberals are insane. Yall better pray to all that is holy that our side doesnt start fighting, you will be wiped out in 3 months.

 

[litedawg1968]

DOGE’s primary benefit is showing just how useless of an opposition party Republicans are. They’ve had access to this same information for 30+ years and did nothing. Elon took a group of 20 year old computer nerds and uncovered it within about 14 minutes.

However, no permanent good will come unless Pam Bondi arises from her slumber and starts indicting people.

Her slumber? Shes been in office a month. Wtf man.

 

[HarryDawg'95]

The image problem is fraudulent and phony.

Just like when Hamas invaded Israel, all of a sudden online you have millions of accounts that all of a sudden love Palestine and hate Israel and 95% of them couldnt find Israel on a map. The same with these protests. They are paid actors. The same with protests at Tesla dealerships. These are not real. They know Trump is basically untouchable, so now its Elon. This is very easy to see what is happening.

I would venture to guess that 99% of the time , Elon is the smartest guy in the room. He is also most likely autistic and is definitely awkward. I would also venture to guess that that these systems are so outdated and complex , it had to be done by people who are like him. He has risked his business and reputation to cut the waste and the money laundering that is happening. Hes surely getting death threats.

Think about how insane that is. The man is cutting waste and fraud and people are threatening his life. I truly dont get it. You Liberals are insane. Yall better pray to all that is holy that our side doesnt start fighting, you will be wiped out in 3 months.

“Yall better pray to all that is holy that our side doesnt start fighting, you will be wiped out in 3 months.”

Huh? You’re suggesting killing fellow Americans? Our side - lol - how pathetic. Maybe let the authorities handle any supposed death threats…

 

[litedawg1968]

Fair points - thank you.

I’m not convinced of the need to rush - MAGA controls all branches of government for now not sure what waiting a few months to do it right matters.

I have worked for CEOs who come in on day one and try and immediately put their fingerprints all over the business and they never last very long.

X has lost significant value this year so not sure that worked out ok.

Working from home isnt the bogeyman many think IMO - many folks can be very productive from home - if your meeting KPIs I don’t care if you work on the moon. It does make boomers heads explode.

You are right , the Republicans have time to figure this out. Lets face it , the US Government and all its tentacles is the biggest business that has ever existed. There will be mistakes made.

There are differing reports on the valuation of X. You can find anywhere from $9.4 to $12.4 billion , but Bloomberg had a new round of funding that had it at $44 billion. So, who really knows, right? I do knoiw that X gets more traffic in a 24 hour period than any other site, and they lead by a lot. That helps , a lot.

As someone who is in property management and manages 2 large Government buildings working in conjunction w the GSA, government workers working from home has been an abject disaster, esp during Covid.

 

[litedawg1968]

“Yall better pray to all that is holy that our side doesnt start fighting, you will be wiped out in 3 months.”

Huh? You’re suggesting killing fellow Americans? Our side - lol - how pathetic. Maybe let the authorities handle any supposed death threats…

Yes that is exactly what I mean. You nailed it.

You know, I read some of your posts, and I think this guy is pretty smart. Then I read shit like this , and I think you have an IQ of 78.

 

[HarryDawg'95]

Yes that is exactly what I mean. You nailed it.

You know, I read some of your posts, and I think this guy is pretty smart. Then I read shit like this , and I think you have an IQ of 78.

Get some help bro - I’ll pray for you.

 

[litedawg1968]

“Yall better pray to all that is holy that our side doesnt start fighting, you will be wiped out in 3 months.”

Huh? You’re suggesting killing fellow Americans? Our side - lol - how pathetic. Maybe let the authorities handle any supposed death threats…

Is it pathetic to blow up Tesla charging stations? Yes. Is it pathetic to protest against Israel and support Hamas? Yes.

The entire Democrat Party is pathetic.

 

[-lowcountrydawg]

I’m all for transparency, although DOGE keeps getting that part wrong. They have had to revise a number of their largest claims of savings because they failed to understand basic accounting and contracts.

The point of a budget should be to balance total revenues and total expenditures to net out flat or ideally at a surplus at the end of the year. If the GOP plans on reducing revenues more than they plan on reducing expenditures, we’re still adding to the deficit.

The budget they just passed is projected to add $2t to $2.5t to the deficit over the next decade. Thats a problem.

The budget scoring mechanism on revenues won't allow growth assumptions above a really conservative baseline - hence the "official" budget pointing to continued deficits notwithstanding budget cuts. I can understand why they do this.....However, the admin's own pro formas assume much more revenue growth, along with the cut in expenses.....arriving at a much better deficit situation.

We can debate (it is a legit debate) whether the philosophy of keeping taxes lower (along with easing regulations, lowering oil prices & interest rates, etc)......will spurn growth and significantly bump revenues from fed income taxes.

When all said and done, we will take in a lot more revenue via economic growth spurned by keeping taxes lower and letting capitalism work. I think raising taxes on Jan 1 would be the dumbest thing ever if you want a strong economy.