This administration is out of control. They are acting in defiance of the Constitution, law, and federal court orders. DOGE employees, who, as best we can tell, are private contractors working directly for Elon Musk, are stealing sensitive government records. The one promise Donald Trump seems determined to keep is to rule as an authoritarian dictator. I fear that the challenge for the next weeks, months or years will be not to find the center but to find courage.
David, Under this administration, with a roll-over congress, it will be more than 100% spending cuts and more than negative 100% tax cuts. I am shocked you think DOGE is a good idea. I think we have just seen a coup at the Treasury Department. Steve
Hey Steve! I think ‘the idea’ of DOGE is a good idea. Which is about the fact that we need to find at least $200B of discretionary expenses. Only way to do that is to be aggressive and focused about cutting waste/fraud across the various categories. Including military. But I don’t comment on the methods —which I don’t agree with—I’d prefer the Grand Bargain. But I acknowledge that’s not going to happen under Trump in the current combative, distrustful environment. So failing that, going after discretionaries is a needed thing. There’s a lot of low hanging fruit. I was thinking/hoping that Musk would tire of Trump and the process, and leave other more serious/rational/constitution-respecting people to tend to the details. There is more straight forward ways to get at the same things. But we also know that adding is a lot tougher than cutting. So I suspect the resistance would be equally hard even if one went about this with more decorum
The break it and then let’s try to fix it approach may work in start-up America but is fraught with risks for the United States of America. For example, I suspect the software systems at the Treasury are legacy, perhaps largely written in COBOL, that no one under 50 knows how to spell and are extremely fragile. Having a 19 year-old working his magic on those scares me to death. Wait until we can’t process some or all Social Security checks. The potential for unintended consequences there and nearly everywhere else is almost unimaginable. And the real reason we are going through this is so the $4.6 Trillion in tax cuts won’t cause an even bigger problem for the national debt. No, I don’t like DOGE. And I am even more terrified by the way Congress just asks how high when told to jump. If you aren’t deeply concerned by what we are seeing, you aren’t paying attention. Respectfully, Steve
Hi Dave. Meg McCreery just shared your Substack. Love the name and really look forward to future posts. As a Northern Virginia resident, healthcare industry professional, parent, aunt of a marine, friend to families with transgender young adults, child of vulnerable aging parents, and neighbor/friend to so many federal workers and medical researchers, this has been worse than even our worst predictions. I will personally benefit from some of the tax stuff … but would gladly pay more. I am most disgusted by the cap on social security payroll taxes.
Sorry slow response. Thx for subscribing! Megs the best. Tax stuff coming next. It’s a balance trying to go deep enough to point out the key constraints and realities while not boring the s—- out of people!!!
This administration is out of control. They are acting in defiance of the Constitution, law, and federal court orders. DOGE employees, who, as best we can tell, are private contractors working directly for Elon Musk, are stealing sensitive government records. The one promise Donald Trump seems determined to keep is to rule as an authoritarian dictator. I fear that the challenge for the next weeks, months or years will be not to find the center but to find courage.
Right on, Lawrence.
David, Under this administration, with a roll-over congress, it will be more than 100% spending cuts and more than negative 100% tax cuts. I am shocked you think DOGE is a good idea. I think we have just seen a coup at the Treasury Department. Steve
Hey Steve! I think ‘the idea’ of DOGE is a good idea. Which is about the fact that we need to find at least $200B of discretionary expenses. Only way to do that is to be aggressive and focused about cutting waste/fraud across the various categories. Including military. But I don’t comment on the methods —which I don’t agree with—I’d prefer the Grand Bargain. But I acknowledge that’s not going to happen under Trump in the current combative, distrustful environment. So failing that, going after discretionaries is a needed thing. There’s a lot of low hanging fruit. I was thinking/hoping that Musk would tire of Trump and the process, and leave other more serious/rational/constitution-respecting people to tend to the details. There is more straight forward ways to get at the same things. But we also know that adding is a lot tougher than cutting. So I suspect the resistance would be equally hard even if one went about this with more decorum
David,
The break it and then let’s try to fix it approach may work in start-up America but is fraught with risks for the United States of America. For example, I suspect the software systems at the Treasury are legacy, perhaps largely written in COBOL, that no one under 50 knows how to spell and are extremely fragile. Having a 19 year-old working his magic on those scares me to death. Wait until we can’t process some or all Social Security checks. The potential for unintended consequences there and nearly everywhere else is almost unimaginable. And the real reason we are going through this is so the $4.6 Trillion in tax cuts won’t cause an even bigger problem for the national debt. No, I don’t like DOGE. And I am even more terrified by the way Congress just asks how high when told to jump. If you aren’t deeply concerned by what we are seeing, you aren’t paying attention. Respectfully, Steve
Hi Dave. Meg McCreery just shared your Substack. Love the name and really look forward to future posts. As a Northern Virginia resident, healthcare industry professional, parent, aunt of a marine, friend to families with transgender young adults, child of vulnerable aging parents, and neighbor/friend to so many federal workers and medical researchers, this has been worse than even our worst predictions. I will personally benefit from some of the tax stuff … but would gladly pay more. I am most disgusted by the cap on social security payroll taxes.
Sorry slow response. Thx for subscribing! Megs the best. Tax stuff coming next. It’s a balance trying to go deep enough to point out the key constraints and realities while not boring the s—- out of people!!!