DOGE People Are Idiots. Heres Why

[jross]

2 hours ago, red viking said:

Lol. Deflection. There's always waste, in both private and public sectors. You can go ahead and "trim the fat" all you want but you still aren't going to make any meaningful cuts without going after the big ticket expenditures. Actually, cutting oversight (workers) of federal budgets will probably INCREASE fraud and waste. 

Claims re: to balancing the budget by cutting only the tiny programs and "trimming fat"is a bunch of garbage, and actually not remotely close to possible. The people that buy into this are morons and the people that propose it are either morons, manipulating you, gutless or a combination of these. Probably all of the above.  

If you want to actually make significant cuts, you need to slash military and/or programs like social security, health insurance, Medicare and Medicaid. It's pretty simple. Welcome to reality.

1. The country can reduce billions by trimming the fat.

2. Cutting capacity can increase productivity.  

3. We can and should slash the military expenditure.

4. We should cut back and transform social security, medicare, and medicaid.

Social Security could be so much better!

1. My Current Contributions ($260K):
   1. Social Security Investment Yield (~4%): $330K
   2. S&P 500 Average Yield (~9.8%): $535K
2. My Future Contributions at Age 67 ($760K):
   1. Social Security Investment Yield: $1.70M
   2. S&P 500 Average Yield (9.8%): $9.1M
3. Retirement and Life Expectancy:
   1. Social Security Payout at Death at 73: $275K (avg age the man dies in US)
   2. Social Security Payout if Live to 77: $450K

If my social security contributions were 25% of what me/employer had actually paid, and invested in the S&P 500, by age 67, it would theoretically be worth $2.3M.  

And think about what the government could do with that money.

And just think about the state of the economy if more Americans had company ownership and vested interest in their success.

Edited November 16 by jross

[red viking]

3 minutes ago, ionel said:

Please reference where they've said have made decisions on what to cut. 

I've only heard about cutting waste, gov workers and dept of education. Haven't heard any remarks about meaningful cuts except maybe medicaid (but not medicare). 

[ionel]

7 minutes ago, red viking said:

I've only heard about cutting waste, gov workers and dept of education. Haven't heard any remarks about meaningful cuts except maybe medicaid (but not medicare). 

From where?  Site your source.  

[red viking]

1 minute ago, ionel said:

From where?  Site your source.  

Various. More from Musk than Trump, but Trump is going along w Musk from all accounts. 

See Musks talks on YouTube re: "govt efficiency." Its easy to find. 

[jross]

The government is the only place I know where workers with under 40 weekly hours can sleep at their desk and stay employed.

[red viking]

4 minutes ago, jross said:

The government is the only place I know where workers with under 40 weekly hours can sleep at their desk and stay employed.

Empty claim. Sure, I'm sure you can get away w that as a lower paid worker in some cases. Same thing for some pvt sector jobs that are entry level. 

On a,related note, I never saw more people sleep on the job than when I was in the military. I agree strongly w you on that particular aspect. 

Edited November 16 by red viking

[ionel]

7 minutes ago, jross said:

The government is the only place I know where workers with under 40 weekly hours can sleep at their desk and stay employed.

 

3 minutes ago, red viking said:

Empty claim.

I "heard" this too from "various sources" so it must be true.  

[red viking]

So, anyway, enough w the deflections. How are you idiots actually going to come close to balancing the budget without cutting any big programs and while cutting taxes. 

Show me your math.

[jross]

My friend from childhood, that I still see and talk to, who works and manages government employees, must have lied to me.

[ionel]

1 minute ago, jross said:

My friend from childhood, that I still see and talk to, who works and manages government employees, must have lied to me.

Report is much of DC govt workers never went back to the office after Covid.  

[Offthemat]

34 minutes ago, jross said:

The government is the only place I know where workers with under 40 weekly hours can sleep at their desk and stay employed.

That’s against OSHA regulations.  It’s one of the things Elon was hit with.  His employees that is. 

[red viking]

36 minutes ago, jross said:

My friend from childhood, that I still see and talk to, who works and manages government employees, must have lied to me.

There are bad workers in every sector and field that has desk jobs, including people that sleep on the job. 

[Wrestleknownothing]

1 hour ago, jross said:

1. The country can reduce billions by trimming the fat.

2. Cutting capacity can increase productivity.  

3. We can and should slash the military expenditure.

4. We should cut back and transform social security, medicare, and medicaid.

Social Security could be so much better!

1. My Current Contributions ($260K):
   1. Social Security Investment Yield (~4%): $330K
   2. S&P 500 Average Yield (~9.8%): $535K
2. My Future Contributions at Age 67 ($760K):
   1. Social Security Investment Yield: $1.70M
   2. S&P 500 Average Yield (9.8%): $9.1M
3. Retirement and Life Expectancy:
   1. Social Security Payout at Death at 73: $275K (avg age the man dies in US)
   2. Social Security Payout if Live to 77: $450K

If my social security contributions were 25% of what me/employer had actually paid, and invested in the S&P 500, by age 67, it would theoretically be worth $2.3M.  

And think about what the government could do with that money.

And just think about the state of the economy if more Americans had company ownership and vested interest in their success.

What does one have to do with the other?

How social security is invested has nothing to do with government waste. Social Security, by law, can only invest in federal debt securities (treasuries and social security specific forms of treasuries).

Waste. No waste. It does not change how The Social Security Trust Fund is invested. Hell, if SS were to be allowed to invest in stocks imagine the idiotic political campaigns we would have to listen t. "Politician XYZ wants to take your hard earned retirement money away from you and GAMBLE it on Wall Street." That is an actual ad I listened to over and over again this election cycle.

[red viking]

5 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

What does one have to do with the other?

How social security is invested has nothing to do with government waste. Social Security, by law, can only invest in federal debt securities (treasuries and social security specific forms of treasuries).

Waste. No waste. It does not change how The Social Security Trust Fund is invested. Hell, if SS were to be allowed to invest in stocks imagine the idiotic political campaigns we would have to listen t. "Politician XYZ wants to take your hard earned retirement money away from you and GAMBLE it on Wall Street." That is an actual ad I listened to over and over again this election cycle.

I can actually respect that but one major thing you got wrong is failing to acknowledge that social security should be and is progressive. Higher paid workers pay in more than they get back and its the opposite for lower paid workers. 

[ionel]

[Paul158]

17 minutes ago, red viking said:

I can actually respect that but one major thing you got wrong is failing to acknowledge that social security should be and is progressive. Higher paid workers pay in more than they get back and its the opposite for lower paid workers. 

Are you aware there have been caps on social security maximum taxable wages. 2011 it was 106.8K . It is 168.6 k now.

Edited November 16 by Paul158
missed a word

[Offthemat]

So we’ve got a guy on this forum who’s so smart he makes Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Donald Trump look like idiots.  Might as well throw Bill Ackman in with the bunch.  Should we put him (RV) in charge of the budget?

[red viking]

15 minutes ago, Offthemat said:

So we’ve got a guy on this forum who’s so smart he makes Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Donald Trump look like idiots.  Might as well throw Bill Ackman in with the bunch.  Should we put him (RV) in charge of the budget?

Yes you should but I'm not electable because I tell it like it is. 

[headshuck]

[Caveira]

17 minutes ago, headshuck said:

 

But but musk is mean to kids and puppies and dolphins!

Edited November 16 by Caveira

[red viking]

18 minutes ago, headshuck said:

 

I agree 200%. Pentagon is a cesspool of government waste. Gotta gut that entire sector of spending. 

[Paul158]

26 minutes ago, headshuck said:

 

I know they left a few billion dollar's  worth of our assets in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now Ukraine is a benefactor of a lot of our assets. 

[Tripnsweep]

30 minutes ago, Paul158 said:

I know they left a few billion dollar's  worth of our assets in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now Ukraine is a benefactor of a lot of our assets. 

The military has done that since before WW2. It actually costs less to replace the equipment left behind than to transport it back. Also this keeps the various defense contractors happy because whichever congressional districts have big manufacturing for defense contractors basically will make sure the money keeps flowing no matter what. 

You'll also never eliminate all fraud and waste with the Pentagon. There are a ton of things that us mere mortals don't know about that get funding that's basically a black hole. 

[jross]

2 hours ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

What does one have to do with the other?

How social security is invested has nothing to do with government waste. Social Security, by law, can only invest in federal debt securities (treasuries and social security specific forms of treasuries).

Waste. No waste. It does not change how The Social Security Trust Fund is invested. Hell, if SS were to be allowed to invest in stocks imagine the idiotic political campaigns we would have to listen t. "Politician XYZ wants to take your hard earned retirement money away from you and GAMBLE it on Wall Street." That is an actual ad I listened to over and over again this election cycle.

lost opportunity is waste

[Lipdrag]

Without a freeze on the debt limit and a Balanced Budget Mandate (with an exception for world war III and nothing else) then we all engaged in a discussion less useful than counting how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

However, the DOGE will go a long way to restoring confidence in the credibility of our government, institutions, and swampies.  That is a very important first step because right now the government/financial/media complex is at an all time low in terms of the esteem the public has for it.  DOGE can be a crucial demonstration of resolve - and a sort of restitution - before the really big next steps required to get our interest payments back to the equivalent of federal pocket change.

Right now interest is number two - above Defense and Medicare - in what our tax money pays: