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We are exactly one month into Trump’s second term. It seems much longer doesn’t it. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and the press/media (PM), are out of breath trying to keep up with him. Several past Presidents have campaigned on getting rid of waste, fraud, and abuse, in government. They promised to make government smaller and more efficient. President Clinton, in his 1996 State of the Union Address, famously said: “The era of big government is over.” For the record, our government spent 4 times as much money in 2024 than it did in 1996. Government NEVER gets smaller. Until now.

Then, partly on the promise to shrink the government, Donald Trump was elected. He is working within what might be considered a perfect storm. As a second term President, he doesn’t need to worry about reelection. He can advance his agenda without being concerned about political correctness. His first term provided essential experience he could not have gained anywhere else. He learned the old saying: If you want a friend in DC, get a dog, is true.

In retrospect, the 4 years between his first and second terms proved to be a blessing. That hiatus allowed him time to plan a strategy, and to hit the road running immediately after his recent inauguration. The utter failure of the Biden/Harris administration during those 4 years reminded Americans of the importance of quality leadership. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and young people, all historically loyal to Democrats, voted Republican in record numbers. Most Americans knew something was wrong within the workings of our country. More than 70% of those polled said our country was headed in the wrong direction. That seems to have proved an Abraham Lincoln quote: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time. But you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”

To complete that perfect storm, immediately following his election, Trump appointed Elon Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE is tasked with auditing the government in search of waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption. This is almost certainly the first time the entire government has been audited. In just its first month of operation, DOGE found tens of billions of misspent, unallocated, perhaps stolen, American taxpayer dollars. Musk has stated that he expects his team’s audits to uncover at least $1 trillion. For perspective, in 1990, the U.S. government spent a grand total of just a bit over $1 trillion! What hasn’t been discussed so far, is that most of the wasteful/fraudulent activity being uncovered is recurring. The savings identified by the DOGE team will thus be saved every year into the future.

Is there really $1 TRILLION of waste, fraud, and abuse, in our government? Before DOGE that is a question that was impossible to answer. Nobody knew, and obviously, nobody cared. When you understand the following data, it is entirely possible the final number will be even higher. In an April 2024 report, the Government Accountability Office said the federal government could be losing between $233-$521 billion a year to fraud. If the higher amount is correct, it represents half of DOGE’s goal. Even more alarming is the $4.7 trillion in expenditures that have no explanation as to where our money went. Really? The Treasury Dept., in conjunction with the Office of Management and Budget, is supposed to assign a Treasury Account Symbol to track every federal government transaction. Oops! Apparently, the Treasury ‘forgot’ to assign a symbol to $4.7 trillion in transactions. As if that weren’t bad enough, nobody bothered to make a note in the memo section as to where the dollars were going. That makes tracking them nearly impossible. Since DOGE found this grievous error, assigning a symbol is now mandatory. At least until people stop looking. There is the Dept of Defense with an $842 billion budget that has failed its last 7 audits! We should be comforted in knowing the Dept. says it is making progress and is well on its way to achieving a clean audit by . . . 2028! I doubt DOGE will be similarly comforted. Medicare/Medicaid, the government employee pension system, and Social Security are all rife with fraud and abuse. In my 2015 book, I wrote a chapter on Social Security. I found a mountain of fraud and mismanagement. That it still exists today is at once infuriating and appalling. The level of sloppiness, ineptitude, fraud, and corruption, in our government is otherworldly. So, yes, I think $1 trillion+ will be found by Doge.

So why aren’t American taxpayers, regardless of political affiliation, celebrating in the streets? The answer is sad, but simple. It is the “Orange Man” who decided to tackle government waste, fraud, and abuse. Therefore, it must be bad. He chose Elon Musk as the leader of DOGE. Musk is one of a handful of people capable of doing its tedious, relentless work. It was only a couple of years ago that Musk was a darling of Democrats, and thus the PM. He was doing incredible things in space that NASA couldn’t, and he launched the EV brand, Tesla. Musk was a hero to the Progressive Left. (Remember that buy a dog thing mentioned above?) Then he committed a Democrat and PM mortal sin, He purchased social media giant Twitter and removed its censorship of conservatives. Dems and the PM went apoplectic, and Musk became public enemy #2.

It is irrational for us to be angry at DOGE for identifying those people who are using our hard-earned tax dollars in a wasteful or fraudulent manner. It is like being angry at the police department for recovering your stolen property. What follows is a list of people who deserve our ire. 1. Those Directors of Depts. or Agencies who signed off on or initiated wasteful or fraudulent spending. They should be fired immediately. 2. The Inspectors General whose job it is to ensure that Dept. and Agency Directors don’t waste or steal taxpayer dollars. They too, should be sent packing. 3. The Congressional Oversight Committees whose job it is to ensure the people’s money is being allocated prudently. They should be removed from all Oversight Committee assignments. 4. The PM was given special privileges by our Founding Fathers. They were charged with monitoring the federal government for fraud and corruption. They could not have failed more miserably in fulfilling their Constitutional responsibilities. As Americans, we have a right to feel betrayed by all of the above. But let’s be sure not to punish the team that is doing good because it was created by a person you don’t like. My dear grandmother used to say: “Be careful not to cut off your nose just to spite your face.”

The truth is that no career politician has heretofore mustered the courage to investigate the government from stem to stern. Trump is not a politician. He is not beholden to lobbyists, or special interest groups. He is a businessman who understands that waste and fraud are anathema to the success of any organization. Musk is a laser focused multibillionaire who doesn’t care what people think of him. Together, they are a match made in heaven for all freedom loving, taxpaying, Americans.

I hope you found this article informative and interesting. Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. Bob