# DOGE; the department of Government Efficiency **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** elon-musk\ **Created:** [November 13, 2024, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227 "2024-11-13T23:28:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/161 "2024-11-26T01:05:43Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Another way is to spend less. Spending less by creating a new department is like saying you’re trying to save money by buying a new lake house where you’ll finally have the peace and quiet to figure out your finances. You’re seeing the same kind of pushback you’d expect from a person whose spouse is proposing they do that. Especially when that spouse keeps taking money from the kids’ college savings accounts to buy high-end electronic entertainment equipment. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/162 "2024-11-26T01:09:27Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Hire more inspectors for the IRS. I hear that each one brings in more money than it costs to employ them. Good point; tax revenues can be increased without changing the tax structure if the existing laws were just enforced. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/163 "2024-11-26T01:54:25Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Do you all _really_ think that our government is already amazing efficient? Hard to say. To take for example: Government buildings look like crap and they’re not generally outbidding the private sector for employees. Their computer systems are usually behind. So on the one hand, they do seem to be being cost conscious and frugal. On the other hand, a lot of the slowness of their work may be a product of that frugality. They’re not spending enough to be able to invest in the infrastructure that would allow them to be more efficient…perhaps. In general, I’d say that you have no idea about the true answer if you haven’t: 1. Run it past an informed yet impartial review committee. 2. Calculated the value of the service to the GDP at varying budget rates. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/164 "2024-11-26T02:37:47Z")
A commentator mentioned that overseeing waste and funding is what the House’s job is anyway, and they’re too busy chasing Hunter’s genitalia pics to even pretend to care. They just need to do what they’re paid to do. There’s some waste right there, Marge. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/165 "2024-11-26T02:58:59Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Another way is to spend less. I’m _amazed_ by the pushback that I’m seeing in this thread. Do you all _really_ think that our government is already amazing efficient? Note: I’m not suggesting that DOGE will make a difference, but, c’mon, there’s nothing that we can become efficient at or cut? I’m sure that there are things in your personal budget that you could save money on. Now I don’t know anything about you or your life but here is what I’m going do to help you out. When you go to a store or shop on line, just before you get to the check out line I’m going to remove at random half of the things in your cart. Now this may mean that you have cheezits in spaghetti sauce for dinner since I threw out the pasta, and you can’t use your phone anymore because I canceled the order to replace your charger, but think about how much money you’re saving. I’m a genius. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/166 "2024-11-26T13:10:09Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > I frequently want to ask the people who want to, “run government like a business,” if they have ever heard the term accounts receivable. One of my big pet peeves. I like to tell those people that if they want ME to run the government like a business, I’ll raise taxes massively and cut spending to the bare minimum. After all, I run a business, and margin is king. They usually don’t like that. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/167 "2024-11-26T13:14:34Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Another way is to spend less. I’m _amazed_ by the pushback that I’m seeing in this thread. Do you all _really_ think that our government is already amazing efficient? Note: I’m not suggesting that DOGE will make a difference, but, c’mon, there’s nothing that we can become efficient at or cut? The issue isn’t that there isn’t waste. The issue is that finding it is not so easy. Because by and large it’s a million little things. I’ve worked in three different Fortune 50 companies, from lowly lab technician to senior manager. And the waste is everywhere, but it’s only really visible if you’re touching it directly. That is, when I had to place orders for things at GE, the process was insanely complex and ate up way more time than it should. But the vast majority of employees at GE will never order stuff. They won’t see it. And the senior management never touches that process either. And all the processes there felt like that- it was a big part of why I left. Just too damn hard to do my job. And GE knows they are inefficient, but they don’t know how to fix it. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/168 "2024-11-26T14:51:44Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > I frequently want to ask the people who want to, “run government like a business,” if they have ever heard the term accounts receivable. I certainly haven’t. Can you explain. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/169 "2024-11-26T14:59:49Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > I’ll raise taxes massively and cut spending to the bare minimum. Well, then, Have I Got News For You! That’s exactly what Trump is going to do. Raise tariffs, and cut spending. He’s got a captive audience, because Americans can’t go anywhere else, and they have to buy stuff to live, no matter what it costs. A shitty businessman’s dream world! Right up until it all collapses, of course, bloody communists! ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/170 "2024-11-26T15:43:17Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I certainly haven’t. Can you explain. > **[Accounts receivable](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounts_receivable)** > > Accounts receivable, abbreviated as AR or A/R, are legally enforceable claims for payment held by a business for goods supplied or services rendered that customers have ordered but not paid for. The accounts receivable process involves customer onboarding, invoicing, collections, deductions, exception management, and finally, cash posting after the payment is collected. > Accounts receivable are generally in the form of invoices raised by a business and delivered to the customer for payment withi... In other words the IRS. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/171 "2024-11-26T19:03:19Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Well, then, Have I Got News For You! That’s exactly what Trump is going to do. Raise tariffs, and cut spending. The cut spending thing will be interesting. Some of Trump’s rich buddies want to cut spending, and he likes rewarding them for their support. But Donald will not like seeing news stories on reduced government services. And he fundamentally does not care about the national debt. [Trump in 2016](https://money.cnn.com/2016/05/05/investing/trump-king-of-debt-fire-janet-yellen/): > [@](#): > > “I’m the king of debt. I love debt.” . . . > > “I would borrow, knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal.” Zero out the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? Sure. But when it comes to big money items, Trump and DOGE are going have an unhappy falling out. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/172 "2024-11-26T20:23:40Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Zero out the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? Sure. But when it comes to big money items, Trump and DOGE are going have an unhappy falling out. The Agency I am most familiar with is Social Security. The numbers I recall hearing are that SSA admin costs are approximately 1% of taxes collected and .5% of benefits paid. That doesn’t impress me as hugely wasteful. Not sure how much you can cut, before you start cutting benefits. And that is going to be a tough sell. They COULD try to cut disability insurance benefits and SSI which - IMO - have become modern welfare. And I love the idea that federal employees should have to report to work 5 days/week, when rent is one of the biggest line items that could be cut. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/173 "2024-11-26T20:29:11Z")
On further thought, DOGE should go after the Pentagon. The Pentagon just recently failed their 7th audit in a row. They can’t tell us where all the money is going. I’d think there is a lot of room for improvement there. > **[Pentagon fails 7th audit in a row, unable to fully account for $824B budget](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pentagon-fails-7th-audit-row-unable-fully-account-824b-budget)** > > The U.S. Department of Defense failed its seventh consecutive audit on Friday, with the agency unable to fully account for its $824 billion budget. > The Pentagon failed its seventh consecutive audit on Friday as the agency was unable to fully account for its massive $824 billion budget, though officials were confident the Department of Defense “has turned a corner” in understanding its budgetary challenges going forward. > > The audits resulted in a disclaimer of opinion, which means auditors were provided with insufficient information to form an accurate opinion of the accounts. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/174 "2024-11-26T20:30:03Z")
Not trying to divert this thread into a topic that’s already been covered elsewhere, and … knowing what you do for a living (and that you’re not all that far from retirement) … a case could be made that a Universal Basic Income (UBI) could be delivered significantly more efficiently than the programs it might be envisioned to replace. It’s similar to me mentioning, upthread, that some sort of flat tax could probably be administered _much_ more efficiently than our current ungodly, unwieldy scheme (but I’m about 95% sure it would force the wealthy to pay a whole lot more, so … hard to imagine Elmo and Vivek shouting that one on day one). ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/175 "2024-11-26T20:32:42Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole (citing Fox News article)](#): > > > The audits resulted in a disclaimer of opinion, which means auditors were provided with insufficient information to form an accurate opinion of the accounts. Exactly what Trump did with his accountancy firm, Mazars, and why they dumped him. I think that gives the Pentagon Trump’s tacit approval of such questionable accounting practices. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/176 "2024-11-26T21:06:51Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > The Pentagon just recently failed their 7th audit in a row. They can’t tell us where all the money is going. I keep on reading this over and over. But even though I was involved in outside audit support before I retired from a federal agency, I am not sure what this could mean. While we always passed (sometimes with moderate severity concerns corrected in the next annual audit), I felt that the outside auditors tended to focus on issues that would be important for a joint stock company, but were not as relevant to our fiscal integrity. [According to this article](https://www.npr.org/2021/05/19/997961646/the-pentagon-has-never-passed-an-audit-some-senators-want-to-change-that), an example of the problem is that the Defense Department does not have a consolidated list of all its buildings in the United States. Sounds like busy work. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/177 "2024-11-26T21:25:23Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Zero out the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? Sure. But when it comes to big money items, Trump and DOGE are going have an unhappy falling out. Googling, federal support for public broadcasting is about half a billion dollars. Zeroing that out will obviously do little to address the deficit. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/178 "2024-11-26T21:28:22Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > a case could be made that a Universal Basic Income (UBI) could be delivered significantly more efficiently than the programs it might be envisioned to replace. Working inside the system, I came upon that idea some 30 years ago, and have not changed my mind since. I think this IS relevant if anyone is discussing efficiency. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/179 "2024-11-26T21:47:18Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > … a case could be made that a Universal Basic Income (UBI) could be delivered significantly more efficiently than the programs it might be envisioned to replace. IIRC a Universal Basic Income is favored by many conservatives. And, at first glance, it seems a decent idea. But it is easy to see an undesirable end-goal of conservatives. Replace all the various programs (like social security) with a UBI…streamline the system. But then, republicans will have only one program to cut and you can be almost guaranteed they will start slashing UBI payments eventually. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227/180 "2024-11-26T21:57:13Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > But then, republicans will have only one program to cut and you can be almost guaranteed they will start slashing UBI payments eventually. Very good point. Certainly a possibility. You know what it makes _me_ think of, though? A time not so awfully long ago when Republicans and I generally agreed on a set of facts but differed widely about the best approach _to_ those facts. Remember that?? It makes me yearn even more for the days when the so-called RINOs ruled the party and reasonable people could disagree, fundamentally, reasonably, and in good faith, _without_ some bloated, entitled, delusional, sociopathic _asshole_ _screaming_ that immigrants are eating my dog. [My dog is just fine, incidentally. Thanks for asking] Sorry. Back to the thread 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doge-the-department-of-government-efficiency/1010227.md?page=10)