***!!!***!!! A sign at a recent Washington, D.C. protest against Elon Musk: D.O.G.E. IS. “Dangerous Oligarchs Grab Everything”
***”We cab either have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentration in the hands of a few. But we can’t have both.” [ Justice Louis Brandeis ]
*** “Musk’s Dangerous Bullying” [ Robert Reich; The Progressive Populist; 1/15/25]: “No one better illustrates the sinister consequences of great wealth turned into unaccountable power than Elon Musk…not only claiming presidential authority to fire federal workers, but he’s posting the identities of those whose jobs he wants to eliminate – with the clear intention..his followers harass and threaten them so they quit…
“..America spends less each year on the federal government’s civilian workforce..than we spend annually on federal contractors..Much of the “fat” is found in these private, for-profit contractors…The biggest waste is in the Defense Department…Musk, whose businesses are fast becoming among the government’s largest contract monopolists.”
*** “The most popular man under democracy is not the democratic man, but the most despotic man. The common folk delight in the exactions of such a man. They like him to boss them. Their natural gait is the goose step.” [H.L. Mencken]
*** “Musk becomes Trump’s ‘first buddy'” [A.Parker, J.Dawsey, M.Scherer; Wash. Post Weekly; 11/17/24]: “Ever since President-elect Donald Trump’s political ascent, the unofficial rules governing his private Mar-a-Lago Cub have remained unchanged: His steak is well-done. He controls the musical playlist and the volume. And club members regularly applaud him when he enters and exits the patio.” [note: for perspective refer to stories in Stalinist Russia – NOBODY wanted to be the first to stop applauding Stalin…..just saying…]
*** For perspective on THE BIG QUESTION of “WHY”??? – consider this old quote from the employee of a well-known billionaire: “Only governments and courts remained as sources of authority, if enacted Charles’ ‘libertarian policies would eliminate these.’…”He was driven..to smash the one thing left in the world that could discipline him: the government.” [NOW – THINK!!! – one billionaire – Musk – goes looking for ways to “eliminate waste” – but WHERE is he looking, and WHO gets hurt when he supposedly finds “waste” – YOU or the rich people like himself????????]
As YOU witness the withering away of YOUR democracy under the FAR RIGHT assault, now in its 45th year, in the corrupt hands of the Trump-Musk. KAKISTOCRACY, ponder the above, plus MUCH MORE……..
1] “Selling massive budget cuts..involves deception about actual motives and consequences. The first deception is..DOGE..is a government agency…A second deception involves Trump administration positioning DOGE and massive budget cuts as necessary…A third deception involves DOGE promises to deliver massive budget cuts..with minimal pain… The final deception. The Trump administration is continuing a long-standing Republican Party tradition of paying for tax breaks for the rich by hurting the poor and increasing the national debt.” [ Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer; “Time to get out of DOGE”; Minn. Star-Tribune; 2/8/25 ]
****!!!! Why should we be surprised that the Trump-Musk DOGE monster is a BIG LIE????; like the 30,XXX before
2] “The Supreme Court won’t save Musk’s DOGE plans” [Noah Feldman; Bloomberg Opinion; 12/8/24]: “The plans for for the Department of Government Efficiency..are..riddled with legal problems…The looming conflicts of interest are..low-hanging fruit. The promises to roll back existing federal regulations by executive fiat, then fire the civil servants who administer the rules, grossly misrepresent how the regulatory process and civil service protections work..But the piece de resistance is the idea..the president can simply choose not to spend money..Congress has appropriated and directed the executive to disperse. This absurd notion violates the basic text of the Constitution..”
**** But – think on mad geniuses; think on “move fast and break things.” The Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY is moving fast, and they are “breaking things” – like the American democracy. OK – so they get “stopped” by courts – BUT, how much damage did they accomplish? Can WE re-construct government to work – for US? Is THIS part of their plan? – we’ll get to keep some of our ideological goals, because they – US – can’t get back to normal?
3]. “Is Musk’s Blitz Illegal?” [J.Stein, D.Diamond, F.Siddiqui; New York Times; 2/5/25]” “..many of these moves appear to violate federal law, according to more than two dozen current and former officials, one audio recording and several internal messages obtained by the Washington Post.
“So many of these things are so wildly illegal that I think they’re playing a quantity game and assuming the system can’t react to all this illegality at once,” said David Super, an administrative law professor at Georgetown Law School..”.. several legal experts and government officials expressed alarm over how Musk’s team appears to operate as a strike force, outside typical agency rules and constitutional checks on executive power.
“The big picture constitutional worry is that there is a kind of shadow executive branch that is existing and operating and exercising power outside the channels of the Constitution and the statutes..Congress authorized,’ said Blake Emerson, a professor of constitutional law at the UCLA School of Law.”
**** Obtain a copy of. Kurt Andersen”s. “Evil Geniuses…The Unmaking of America” [2020]
4]. “Treasury was warned of DOGE risk” [J.Menn, J.Stein, E.Nakashima; Washington Post; 2/8/25]: “..was warned in a confidential assessment that U.S. DOGE’s access to a sensitive sensitive payment network represented an “unprecedented insider threat risk,”.. said that DOGE’s access to the payment network should be “immediately” suspended. It also urged Treasury to scour the payments system for any changes approved by affiliates of DOGE…The memo highlights the degree of concern among government officials and cybersecurity experts…with implications for tens of millions of Americans….”There are reasons we don’t let just anyone peer into the fiscal machinery. Our adversaries would love to get to the headwaters of the money flows ..they can try to trace out who is receiving payments.” [So -are Russia & China getting crucial info, courtesy of Musk’s DOGE? Will we know? }
5] “DOGE targets U.S. health agencies, gains access to payment systems” [D.Diamond, H.Knowles, J.Stein, L/Sun, L.Kaori Gurley; Washington Post; 2/6/25]: “..alarming some government workers with requests for access to sensitive records…a DOGE associate had been made a Treasury official [**Bingo!, just like that!!!!!]…Current and former federal officials said..federal personnel who access those systems are required to undergo specialized training to comply with privacy protections. It was not immediately clear if DOGE officials have undergone that training.” [****!!!** Would YOU like to place a bet – a really big one – that NO DOGE “officials” have undergone normal training of federal personnel??!!??]
***** consider historic FAR-RIGHT goals: deregulation [as in Wall Street & its 2008 crash!!!]; privatization [as in hiring civilians, paying them TWICE govern workers doing the SAME job]; tax cuts [as in national debt busting 2017 Trump tax cut for billionaires, that he wants to re-new!!!]. Think on this: THE reason for Trump-Musk destruction of YOUR government is to PRIVATIZE all those government functions – which will cost YOU more. SECOND: “..Trump’s pet vision of funding..government through tariffs..a long-standing conservative dream: eliminating the income tax.” [Andrew Duehren: “The Tariff Man’s guide to taxes”; The Week; October 4, 2024]
6] IF Musk is serious about ‘REFORMING U.S. government finances, he should:
#1]. adequately fund the I.R.S. [which Republicans REFUSE to do] – Why/ – because then it could collect more than $1 trillion annually in payable income taxes that it can’t now. [from likely, people like Musk!!!]
2] cancel the 2017 Trump tax cut for the rich – which is responsible NOW for 25% of U.S,. national debt – and – if renewed it is KNOWN, will add an estimated $5 trillion in more debt
3] save $1 trillion annually by eliminating the interest paid on “our’ national debt – and most certainly NOT cutting taxes on billionaires like Elon Musk
4]. stop subsidizing fossil fuel industry – when humans are destroying the earth by burning fossil fuels – why encourage burning more? [is this THE definition of stupidity?]
5] take an inventory of ALL the “private contractors” working for the federal government – fire them all, replace them [back] with normal government employees. [at less cost!]
6] take on BIG PHARMA – and demand to “negotiate” ALL prescription drug prices – so Americans and the governments – pay MUCH lower prices – like the REST OF THE WORLD !!!!!!!
7] stop giving away U.s. taxpayer owned resources – like under the 1872 law giving away U.S. mineral assets to private claimants; charge cattle ranchers the same grazing rates as private land owners do – i.e. more
8] stop giving farm subsidies to primarily rich and connected farmers [some of whom live in big cities!!!] and give only to “Mom & Pop” family farmers actually living and working their own farms
9] tax ALL American income for Social Security and Medicare the same rates – eliminate the “cap” where billionaires only pay on the first $170,000. [under the ABSURD ideology they “don’t benefit’ from having to pay more!!!!!!]
10]. audit the Defense Department ! – rumor has it the Defense Department has NEVER passed an audit]
***** THE big DOGE fraud is that Musk will only ‘find” waste’ that doesn’t hurt him and Trump personally – YOUR test on the validity of Musk’s “findings” are simple – the Preamble’s test: ‘..benefit the general Welfare” – i.e US, ALL 330 million Americans. YOU want to ‘save the country” – protest vehemently if Musk announces budget cuts that are obviously not fair, not what citizens of a “democracy” should expect.
With Justice For All 