Musk-DOGE will lead to more fraud
To the Editor:
Many of the letter writers the week of February 28 have a grasp of what is happening in the U.S. However, a couple do not seem to understand the reality behind the MAGA claims.
The writer stating that liberals “protest too much” states that Trump and Musk are ridding the government of waste and fraud. Instead, they are contributing to both.
The DOGE crew of 19- to 21-year-olds has not produced much, if anything, in finding either fraud or waste. In fact, based on some analyses, they have actually contributed to waste.
For example, they fired the people who do the maintenance and management of our nuclear weapons. Then they had to try locating them to hire them back, but they had deleted the contact information to do so. They have fired the meteorologists who make weather prediction possible.
Closer to home, Musk’s crew fired park rangers and forest firefighters. That is not eliminating waste. It is creating a potential disaster on the one hand and harming a tourist area near the most visited national park in the nation.
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As for fraud, how about Musk suggesting that the $2.5 billion contract to update the FAA air control system be removed from the company with the contract to his SpaceX company. For that matter, how about the multimillion dollar contracts for going to the moon or Mars? According to some estimates Musk has received in excess of $38 billion in taxpayer money for his various companies. You don’t hear about cutting funding to go to Mars, do you?
The writer mentioned that the last time we had a balanced budget was “almost 30 years ago” when Bill Clinton was president. In 1993, the Democrats passed a budget reduction package. Not a single Republican voted for it. The idea that Republicans are concerned about the budget is a fallacy. They will be ramming through another big multi-trillion dollar tax cut for billionaires soon.
Among the other agencies Musk has cut are the watchdog agencies that cover labor issues and keep track of other potential wrongdoing. Some of those agencies are investigating complaints against Musk and Trump.
Rather than eliminating fraud or being fiscally responsible, Musk and Trump are being fiscally irresponsible. Additionally, they are making fraud more likely and more profitable.
Norman Hoffman
Waynesille
