D.O.G.E. Cuts - 2/27/2025

The U.S. Government spends a lot of money. We don't just spend a lot of money, we spend way too much money. Way too much is an understatement. This post applies to EVERY single U.S. Government Department and Agency, bar NONE. I would break down the spending in broad categories.

1. Spending that is necessary and essential, well intended, and well accounted for which ends up where it was intended and accomplishes the desired goal for which it was intended.

2. Spending that is necessary and essential, well intended, and well accounted for which either does NOT end up where it was intended or does NOT accomplish the desired goal for which it was intended.

3. Spending that perhaps is NOT absolutely necessary or essential, but which is well intended, well accounted for, and which ends up where it was intended and accomplishes the desired goal for which it was intended. 

4. Spending that is NOT absolutely necessary or essential, but which is well intended, well accounted for, but which does NOT end up where it was intended or accomplish the desired goal for which intended. 

5. Frivolous and unnecessary spending that appeases or pleases some political faction or another. We have lots and lots of this. The dirty truth is, both sides have treated it as an unspoken agreement: "you get yours, we get ours, keep it on the down low and the American people will never know nor be the wiser."

6. Money that lines the pockets of influential middle men, either in business or in the non-profit sector. This is especially infuriating when our political or bureaucratic leadership is directly or indirectly linked to or financed by those business of non-profit interests. This includes children, spouses, siblings, friends, etc. This is corrupt, but the way it's set up there is always a bullshit explanation claiming legitimacy. Legitimate, my ass. Looking at you, NGOs.

7. Covert money for international AND domestic intervention and political and or public opinion manipulation. See. Aye. Eh.

8. Monies that are extremely poorly managed that nobody seems to know where or how it was spent, much of it either intentionally or unintentionally untraceable, either due to antiquated systems, inadequate monitoring, gross negligence and incompetence, or nefarious intent. This, if not in and of itself fraud, is an invitation to fraud.

9. Money that is being distributed or collected fraudulently. 

With as many budgetary line items as we have, there is no way to measure each cut carefully with a micrometer, and then to delicately remove itsy bitsy expenditures one by one across the government. All efforts to trim spending in such a manner are doomed. Each tiny cut becomes a battle, and in no time the effort will lose momentum and atrophy, dying under its own weight.

I do not believe there is anyone in public office or at any agency capable of the kinds of cuts we really need. Why? Because where the hell have they been?

Elon, seen here visiting the Oval Office.

Nope. A micrometer and a scalpel aren't adequate. This thing needs dynamite, chainsaws, and dump trucks. Government has grown itself into a behemoth industry unto itself. While there are many, many hard working, high integrity workers in the public sector, even if you won't admit it, we all know there are others who are not nearly as industrious, not nearly as honest, and not nearly as accountable. I say, blow the whole damned thing up. There is nothing that says excessive cuts in personnel and spending can't be reversed and restored later on. But I guarantee you, every penny we spend, every person we employ is someone's sacred cow, and they will fight to keep it in place, truly believing that the world will end without it. The more time you spend debating and deliberating each and every one, the less you'll accomplish in cutting. Fact. "But the world, it will end!"

Newsflash: it won't. Keep going, Elon. Ignore the noise. "Fire in the hole!"

Dumbass of the Week - 2/14/2025

Happy Valentine's Day! It seems like a good day to spread some love. So how about we love us some Dumbass of the Week?

The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City

Fourth Honorable Mention goes to the four now unemployed dumbasses who ignored the Trump Administration's freeze on USAID spending who sent 50 something million to the foreign owned Roosevelt Hotel in New York City which is being used to warehouse illegal aliens.

This week, Third Honorable Mention to everyone who's livid that Elon Musk has access to your Social Security Number. Hello? The data is there. The richest man in the world isn't doing this because he can get rich by pilfering your information, you dumbass.

Some dumbass, likely at the FBI, leaked details of ICE raids to a radio station in California who then put the information out as a means of aiding and abetting criminal illegal aliens in their efforts to evade ICE arrests. I hope that dumbass is lawyered up. Second Honorable Mention goes to you, FBI leaker. I hope a judge presents it to you at your criminal proceeding.

First Honorable Mention, Dumbass of the Week for the week ending 2/14, goes jointly to Rep. Alexandria Occasio-Cortez, who posted a video on her web page advising illegal immigrants how to evade and avoid ICE, and Rep. Ilhan Omar, who engaged in similar aiding and abetting, but in her native Somalian language. Way to go, girls! First Honorable Mention! Woo hoo.

And now, by popular request, drumroll, please, I once again bring you the Dumbass of the Week. 

The Dumbass of the Week for the Week Ending on 2/14/2025, goes to every single person who is more concerned that Elon Musk is finding questionable and unacceptable expenditures, than you are about the questionable and unacceptable use of US Taxpayer money. Many of these dumbasses are too stupid to understand the U.S. Constitution or too politically far gone to recognize it's stature as the law of the land. These dumbasses think the Federal Bureacracy is a fourth branch of our government. "Price check on Lane 3, please." "Is the bureaucracy a branch of the U.S. Government?" "No, sir. The bureaucracy is NOT a branch of the government."

I do recognize that many of this week's dumbasses know USAID, FEMA, DOE, Treasury, etc., etc. are not their own separate branch of our government. These people either don't care or suffer from a non-lethal disease: Trump Derangement Syndrome. Here's the bad news for them. Surveys show that We the People, yeah, us, want the waste, fraud, and abuse cleaned up in our government budget and spending. We don't want migrants in luxury hotels, a trillion in Covid money stolen, endless Social Security payments to dead people, USAID funding Russian collusion hoaxters and Taliban terrorists, transgender comic books for Peruvians, and all the other lightning rod line items D.O.G.E. is making visible to us every day. 

If you've earned the prestigious Dumbass of the Week this week, congratulations, and Happy Valentine's Day! You are loved.

Moral, Ethical, and Legal High Ground - 2/10/2025

I recognize that my friends on the left are true believers. They truly believe that the left owns the moral, ethical, and legal high ground. For them, it seems that all leftist causes are righteous. Unassailably, totally righteous. And woe be he or she who would interrupt or interfere with that righteousness.

Uh, sorry. No. Our Constitution does NOT provide for a 4th branch of government. There is no separate and permanent bureaucracy, untethered and outside the control of any of the other three. I do realize that you on the left can find Federal judges who are fellow travelers and fellow true believers who, like you, believe the kinds of things USAID, FEMA, DOE, and other government agencies have been spending our money on is righteous and unassailable. But I have read our Constitution, and if you ask me, USAID, FEMA, DOE, DOD, etc., etc., all fall under the Executive Branch of the government and Donald J. Trump is the head of the Executive Branch.

I love the argument (sarcasm) that "it's only half a billion" and "it's less than 1% of the Federal Budget." Oh, okay. Then waste as much as you want on whatever you want (end sarcasm). I'm not going to make a long list here of spending I think is insane, immoral, and unacceptable. I will say none of it sits on moral high ground, I don't give a shit how many times you scream and screech and piss, moan, and complain. If you are more concerned about who is looking, and in believing the places these things are being found are unassailable and untouchable, and aren't at all concerned about how far over the line reasonable people see as the end of acceptability, we have nothing to talk about.

It wasn't long ago, FEMA pushed hurricane victims in western NC out of their hotels in winter, but FEMA continues to rent blocks of rooms in luxury hotels in NYC to house illegal immigrants.

"People will die!" "Children will starve!" "You're throwing the baby out with the bathwater!" I love that last analogy, and here's why. Before we can decide whether to throw out the baby, drain the bathwater, or both, don't we first need to stop the flow from the faucet? The discussion is meaningless if the tub continues filling from an endless flow.

D.O.G.E., Big Balls and Big Bucks, too - 2/8/2025

Elon Musk's DOGE group hired a 19 year old high achiever who had the audacity as a teenager to create the screen name "Big Balls". They may be big, but according to the 70's song, AC/DC has the biggest balls of them all. Seriously, if the folks panicking about DOGE are complaining about this to get us to look away from the absolutely unacceptable, insane, corrupt spending by USAID, it's not going to work.

DOGE may have Big Balls, but AC/DC has the biggest balls of them all.

 

A couple of interesting things I read about USAID in the last few days. I'm referring to stuff other than the insane spending itself.

One interesting characteristic of the employees there is that they perceived themselves to be separate and independent of both the Executive and Legislative Branches of the U.S. Government. They felt their work was outside the scope of presidential oversight. I immediately thought of Alexander Vindman when he said in effect that President Trump, this happening in his first term of course, 'didn't understand (paraphrasing) how U.S. foreign policy works,' and in essence Vindman felt it was his duty to protect U.S. foreign policy from the clumsy, meddling hands of the elected President. You know, because how could a new guy like Trump know the ropes. He was being 'helpful'. Or General MIlley, keeping troops in Syria after Trump ordered them out. I mean, the CIC couldn't know what he was ordering, right? Well, these fuckers at USAID also felt autonomous and better equipped to manage the flow of U.S. taxpayer money than any of them silly meddlers in the Trump Administration could possibly understand.

Something else interesting about the USAID crowd. How did this come to be under scrutiny in the first place? When Trump took office, one of the first things he did was put a moratorium on foreign expenditures pending review. The folks at USAID, rather then make a case that some of their expenditures were critical and couldn't be delayed 90 days, worked around the President's edict. DOGE saw money flowing out, looked into it, and this whole corrupt can of worms came to light.

Before I move on to closing thoughts, one recurring response to the shutdown of USAID by DOGE is "people will die". To any asshole spewing that line, the response should be short and to the point. "There is massive corruption in USAID cashflow, and we are NOT going to reopen the spigot until it is eradicated forever." You know why? Because nobody has died yet and nobody is going to die because USAID funding takes a short hiatus.

Go get 'em, DOGE!

I am looking forward to DOGE digging in at the Department of Education. I predict they will find massive money is spent feathering Teacher's Union nests, and on items supporting an extreme left social agenda. There will be more DEI/CRT/LGBTQ+ stuff than reading, writing, and arithmetic. Those last three, I think we used to call them "the three R's," have taken a back seat in recent years to social issues. U.S. academic standing in the world has declined in the 50 or so years since we've had a DOE. We went from first to not even close to first. It's time to get DOE back on their core mission, the 3 R's, or get rid of them altogether. With the shit I expect DOGE to find, the latter will get more support from the public than the former.

DOD, which has failed 7 financial audits in a row, is on the chopping block, too.

Closing thoughts. Why is Trump taking the wrecking ball to D.C? I mean, he has come back in like a bull in a china shop. Simple. Last time around he tried to work with them and they tried to destroy him. For nearly 10 years they've tried. They tried during his 2015/2016 candidacy, his Presidency, his past-Presidency, his second candidacy in 2023/2024 which included attempted assassinations. Even now, there is a Democrat who's filed Articles of Impeachment. The Deep State, the administrative state, and the establishment need to be destroyed. I am damned glad to see Trump hard at work, taking his wrecking balls to it. What kind of wrecking balls? Really big balls.

Speaking of hard at work, no President in our lifetimes worked harder than this guy does. It's nuts. He never stops. Don't stop, Mr. President. You are doing exactly what we voted for.

Dumbass of the Week! - 2/7/2025

As fast as the news cycle is blowing by, it may be a mistake naming the Dumbasss of the on a Friday morning.

The U.S. Taxpayer is Third Runner Up

Third Runner Up, for the Dumbass of the week on Feb 7th, is The U.S. Taxpayer. While we've been watching deficits soar and the debt skyrocket, we've been fleeced for all kinds of shit. I have no way to verify, but it seems pretty clear that we pay under the table, so to speak, via NGOs (Non Government Organizations), to facilitate illegal immigrants entry into, relocations within, and costs for living far, far, far beyond what the government pays for above the table. We also, via third party cutouts, appear to have paid for BLM riots. And lets not forget trans comics in Peru and all the other stuff. If you don't feel stupid and cheated and robbed and taken advantage of, you should. I do.

Rep. Al "Impeachment Al" Green, still using the same rejected playbook.

Second Runner Up. Congressman Al Green. For the committing "Dastardly Deeds", he filed Articles of Impeachment against President Trump. The old playbook ain't gonna work, Al. Sorry.

Democrat reaction to DOGE: a resounding, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."

First Runner Up, Conressional Democrat Leaders. Elizabeth Warren, Corey Booker, Maxine Waters, it's a long list. They're not upset about all of this corruption and wasteful spending of taxpayer money, they're upset that their grift and under the table handouts to far left lunatic fringe activists is becoming public knowledge.

Ta-daaaa! So, here we are, at the moment you've all been waiting for. The Dumbass of the Week for the week ending 2/7, and she really really really deserves it, is fully Trump Deranged and insane Michigan Rep. Laurie Pohutsky. Ms. Puhutsky is going to teach Trump, Republicans, and the world a lesson by having her tubes tied so as not to risk having to raise a child in the era of Trump. Yesiree. That'll teach us! When your virtue signalling rises to the level of self-sterilization, and the virtue you're advertising is Trump Derangement Syndrome, there has always been a need for recognition. Now there is, Good Ol' Matty P's Dumbass of the Week Award. Congratulations, dumbass!

Dumbass of the Week, Laurie Pohutsky.

 

Gaza, USAID, and the FBI - 2/5/2025

Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump

I think the biggest news yesterday is Trump, at his press conference with Israeel PM Netanyahu, said the U.S. will own Gaza, that we will rebuild it. He mentioned it like a smaller Dubai, or something to that effect. This is a bold move. I don't oppose it (yet), nor do I support it (yet). I have more questions than answers. There are people in that region who will not accept a peaceful coexistence with Israel, no matter how good it might be for the Palestinians. My immediate, guttural reaction can be summed up with this simple phrase: "Lebanon 1983". We can't send troops there to be targets, sitting ducks for people who hate Israel and the U.S.A. I need more information before I can support or not support this idea, whatever it is.

Protesters at USAID HQ yesterday

I don't know about you, but all the people mad at Trump and Elon have me convinced the thing needs a full and in depth review. Some of the reported expenditures sound like a woke dream list. I realize it's a drop in the bucket as far as our budget goes, but as an example, transgender comic books for Peru doesn't advance U.S. interests. It advances a woke agenda. DEI initiatives in Somalia doesn't advance U.S. interests, it is advancing a woke agenda. On and on, the examples are pure Insanity. And I suspect the stuff we're not seeing yet, the more deeply hidden, is worse. I am convinced that powerful people in our country are profiting mightily off of funds from this fire hose. I hope Elon and his amazing hackers, programmers, and analysts will trace every dollar, find where it's vanishing, lining people's pockets, or being used for insanity like drag shows in other countries.

Reports of panic in the FBI

Let me put this succinctly: good. Reports that 5-6,000 FBI Agents and or personnel were after the J-6 people is insanity. Maybe 4 or 5,000 of them could have been working to secure our border, track down fentanyl rings, and solving crimes. A leaner, more mission focused FBI suits me fine. See, I don't believe Jan 6th was an insurrection. It was a protest turned to riot. I am not justifying it, nor am I saying nobody did anything wrong. What I am saying is that it was made to be something it wasn't, and people who aren't insurrectionists lives have been ruined to teach the rest of us a lesson: "ear the establishment, "step out of line, the man comes, to take you away."

 

USAID, Sunlight is the best Disinfectant - 2/4/2025

I gotta be honest, three days ago I had never heard of USAID. Today's post will be short, just my nearly random thoughts about it.

USAID vaults into the spotlight just two weeks into Trump's second term.

1) The Democrats going nuts over this, Jamie Raskin and Ilhan Omar, for example to name two of them, are instructive for me. Chances are good that if they're not happy, I'm happy.

They're freaking out because they know Musk is better at finding than they were at hiding.

2) The freaking out over Elon Musk and his band of incredible programmers having access to their systems is also instructive. They never expected anyone to look behind their curtain, especially not people like the people Musk has brought in who are better at finding stuff than the USAID folks were at hiding it.

3) They're freaking out because President Trump is liable to shut USAID down by Executive Order. I read yesterday that President Kennedy started USAID with... you guessed it, an Executive Order. 'Live by the sword, die by the sword,' as they say.

4) If USAID is intended to be the clearinghouse for foreign aid, it belongs under the Department of State. Trump is right to assign it to Secretary of State Rubio (who is off and running, doing a great job so far).

Secretary of State Marco Rubio. If USAID is what they say it is, Department of State is where it belongs.

5) Rubio himself said yesterday that much of what USAID spends is vital, so I don't see it going away completely.

6) Some of the early disclosures of things USAID funded overseas are outrageous. Clearly, leftist political activists have been pushing not a pro-America foreign policy, but a pro-LGBTQ+ agenda, and doing so deep in the shadows. The cliché, 'sunlight is the best disinfectant' comes to mind. Transgender comics or cartoons for kids? YGBSM!

7) Some of the expenditures seem to be the kind allocated by congress on page 645 of a 1500 page spending bill, stuff they're ashamed of, but put in to support unpopular expenses. Now that those things are being moved into the sunlight, some of us are outraged.

8) I have read reports, maybe speculative, that USAID is where the CIA's dark money for the naughty shit they do flows though. Maybe so.

9) I also read that Ukraine aid flows from USAID. I found it interesting that yesterday Zelensky said significantly less than what we allocated actually got to them. As soon as he knew the books were open, he was the first to say, "Wasn't me!" Sure it wasn't.

10) I strongly suspect, strongly is NOT a strong enough word, that many of our politicians are lining their pockets with donations and kickbacks from recipients of USAID money and or from contractors whose services USAID recipients use to do those things being funded.

11) I also suspect that a significant amount of foreign aid goes to corrupt foreign leaders, and that we've been just fine with that, as long as lining their pockets keeps them in line with our agenda.

12) The NGOs who help migrants beat our system are funded by USAID. Via USAID we, the U.S. taxpayers, mostly unwittingly and nearly universally against our will, aid and abet illegal immigrants in beating the system.

As I said in opening, I just learned about this organization. From what I can see, all the right people are complaining, so I hope Trump, Musk, and Vivek keep right on peeling back this onion and exposing what hides inside to the disinfecting sunlight.

In Defense of Rebecca Lobach - 2/3/2025

Her name was Rebecca Lobach. She was 28 years old, and a Captain in the U.S. Army.

Army Captain Rebecca Lobach

If you're calling her "a DEI hire", you're an asshole. You don't know shit about her, do you? Rebecca graduated the University of North Carolina in the top 20% of all ROTC Cadets nationwide.

Rebecca Lobach in happier times.

Something else I've heard a lot of, is that "She only had 500 hours!" How exactly do you expect any military pilot to amass thousands of hours? Lemme give you a little inside info. They ALL had 500 hours at some point. All of them. There isn't some remote airport in Texas or New Mexico where military pilots fly until they get some magical number of hours and then move on to operational squadrons. There are Air Force, Navy, Army, and Marine Corps pilots with less than 500 hours all around the globe RIGHT NOW operating military aircraft, both in training and in operations. I flew with many myself. They've grown up to be retired airline pilots now, most of them, anyways.

"There she is with Biden! See! I told ya!" Proves what, asshole?

I have to imagine for Capt. Lobach it was an honor to represent the U.S. Army at presidential events. I don't know shit about Ft. Belvoir, but it's right there by D.C. and putting on a dress uniform and acting as a VIP escort is probably part of the package, a part any soldier would be proud of. It doesn't make her a partisan or loyalist to any party or President. It doesn't mean she wasn't, either. Hundreds, thousands actually, have been called to such duties as these. Is it possible woman and minorities are asked to do so on a more frequent basis for appearances sake? Probably so. Is that something beneficial to their careers? If they carry themself notably and professionally, I would think so. But to disparage a Captain in the U.S. Army because President Biden is in the picture is asinine. Don't be an ass. You can't help it, can you? Sad little person that you are.

Saying she did this intentionally without proof or evidence is dark-hearted and evil.

There are people saying "She had to have done this on purpose." No. Just no. Is it possible? I guess it can't be ruled out, but without any evidence of that at all, the allegation is wildly inappropriate and absurd.

I know it isn't much, but I felt compelled this morning to stick up for Rebecca Lobach. Until I hear different, I will assume she served honorably and faithfully. You may not be willing to give a soldier the benefit of the doubt, but I am.

Fair skies and following winds, Rebecca. Godspeed.