Earlier quoted context omitted.
> But if the question is 'do you think an effort should be made to look for things to cut', I'd say 'yes, of course.' This is such an unbelievably lazy response. Every single person in existence thinks there’s some amount of government waste that we wish were cut and either returned to the citizens or put to better use elsewhere. The interesting and important question which GP poijted out—and which you completely dod…
“Cut all of it” is a serious response. Yes, cut a significant percentage of government spend across the board. Reduce my taxes. Let me decide how and where to reinvest my capital and how and where to give my charity. The fact that DOGE is only focused on the items it has access to is not a logical critique of DOGE’s effort.
There are an enormous number of government services for which the benefit to society is straight multiples of the cost. Throwing out the baby with the bathwater is an phenomenally efficient way to make sure we all suddenly start paying more.
For a blindingly obvious example, see universal healthcare (or more specifically, our country’s lack of it). As the one developed economy without it, we pay multiples of what other people do for worse results. Consider me not particularly enthusiastic about finding out what else we can start paying more for to receive worse results.
> The fact that DOGE is only focused on the items it has access to is not a logical critique of DOGE’s effort.
Of course it fucking is. Just like it is, was, and continues to be a valid critique that California asking residents to cut back on water use when the aggregate of all urban use counts for about 8% of the water is a pointless waste of time, resources, and political energy.
Instead of actually tackling deficits and government spending, they’re putting on a show while cutting to the bone extremely valuable services we rely on. NOAA and FAA are critical for air travel. NASA, the NSF, and scientific research funding in general are critical for our continued technological dominance and for attracting the best and brightest to our country. The CFPB has done incredible work in protecting individual consumers from the worst of banking practices. The parks service, USFS, and everything else under the department of the interior protect our remaining natural spaces which can never be reclaimed once lost.
This is just a microscopic fraction of what’s being dismantled in front of our eyes, and all for the “benefit” of pointlessly saving relative pennies.
For fuck’s sake, as a high-earning, wealthy taxpayer: tax me more. And anyone who’s in the upper echelons of our economy that isn’t saying this while seeing the conditions the rest of our country and world live in is unbelievably narrow-minded, ignorant, selfish, straight up evil, or more likely a combination of all the above.