Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE, has prided himself on its savings for the country, though there are many questions about the truth and ethicality of these cuts.
An $8 billion contract, with a closer look, was $8 million. If one were to look at the DOGE website on the savings tab, one would see an estimated savings, but it lacks “specific documentation” as to what it came from. DOGE claimed it saved $8 Billion in one contract. It was actually $8 Million. New York Times wrote, “The DOGE website initially included a screenshot from the federal contracting database showing that the contract’s value was $8 million, even as the DOGE site listed $8 billion in savings.” It may have been a typo, but some editors fix such mistakes. The problem remains: if not a typo, why does the contract have two bills? Simple mistake, careless, fearmongering? This seems to be a tactic to make their work seem more important, for without a big contract in savings it seems like they haven’t done as much as they purport.
They might be planning on giving the taxpayers a 20% dividend of their earnings. This may sound nice from the look of it, but once one looks deeper, one will see that it would cause inflation to go up even more than it has been. However,
20% would go to the country’s debt. CNN reported that Trump said, “There’s even a — under consideration, a new concept where we give 20% of the DOGE savings to American citizens and 20% goes to paying down debt.” Though it would be a nice sentiment, inflation would rise more due to the US dollar being worth less. This inflation is what Trump is trying to slow; thhe question is will he turn a blind eye if inflation rises because of the dividend? If not what will he do about it?
DOGE claims to be reviewing the contracts to make sure they are using money “wisely” but who judges if it is wise? There may be some obvious sources of waste, but there are some that aren’t agreed upon. How do the people know that the U.S. isn’t getting rid of something important, or cutting down on needed funds to an extreme extent? While some might find spending on National Parks to be misuse of funds, others might prioritize it. How is a non-elected official being given such a powerful role over how American’s tax dollars are spent with no attempt to reflect American’s interests?
These questions need to be posed, or else how do we, the people, know that he won’t destroy something valuable without a second thought or regard? We don’t know that we can trust Elon Musk, and he is not an elected official. He hasn’t shown much for us to trust and sparked concerns with his questionable salute resembling Nazism. It was excused as being “just a Roman salute” to a result of his autism and poor social manners.
But people should worry; they should question. The second we stop questioning is when they take the most control. Don’t let that happen; no matter who is in office always ask questions.
