Never mind that Trump’s double barrel shotgun approach may be too much, but I think most American taxpayers have regretted for a very long time that too much of their tax money was wasted and that it should be studied as to where all the money goes.
Yes, no, maybe?
Like tax fraud? And what was the response to hiring more folks so the IRS could root out tax fraud?
I’ll answer that when I see it, and not just a blatant power grab and attempt to destroy the government from within.
Or the sort of fraud and abuse that the now-fired inspectors general look for?
Yes, it’s a good thing; Trump’s efforts are greatly harming the effort and will vastly increase waste and fraud (mainly because Trump himself is built on waste and fraud, and his primary way of enriching himself is through waste and fraud).
Yeah, I said this else where, Musk is looking for ‘waste, fraud, and abuse’ in Medicare and Medicaid and he’ll find it.
But I’m quite certain the ‘wasters, frauders, and abusers’ won’t be doctors, hospitals, or insurance companies. The ‘waste, fraud, and abuse’ is providing health care to the elderly, disabled, and poor.
Elimination of waste and fraud is always a good thing.
But first — you must specifically identify the waste and fraud, and more importantly you must identify the reasons they have occurred in the first place.
Otherwise you’re claiming to be removing rats from the restaurant when all you’re really doing is running around blindfolded with a shotgun shooting at anything that makes a noise.
I can’t see how it’s not a good thing. Like so many issues, however, the devil is in the details. What, exactly, is it that you consider waste and fraud? I suspect your list and mine might have significant overlap, but there are sure to be programs you think are completely frivolous and I think worth having, and vice versa.
If you honestly want to root out waste and fraud, you also have to go where it’s most likely to be and most amenable to correction. As @crowmanyclouds pointed out, tax fraud is a great place to focus. Good luck getting the modern Republican party to have any interest in increasing the IRS’s enforcement capability, especially against the biggest pools of potential fraud. Similarly, I am sure there is tons of money to be recovered the DoD, but anything that even smacks of taking money away from DoD is a political non-starter.
For sure, though, firing a whole bunch of Inspectors General is not how you do it.
We’ve already seen what the current gang of idiots consider “waste and fraud”. Buying condoms for Africa. All sorts of academic research, particularly those related to DEI. Certain FBI investigations.
Plus there will be all their usual “wastes”, like environmental research, medicare, welfare, etcetera.
It’s not a good thing when it’s done by eliminating effective government programs.
For instance: is it going to cost you, say, ten million to identify and remove each four million worth of “waste and fraud”? Not counting the time and money wasted by the people who weren’t actually committing fraud in trying to prove that they’re not doing so, of course.
Thanks for a reasonable answer and I mostly agree with you.
Trump says that every department will be studied. I have said many times that he’s not smart but I don’t think he’s so stupid not to understand the ramifications of eliminating good and necessary programs.
This will take a while, and that’s a good thing. It’s the only reasonable way to do it. In the meantime a lot of people that probably complained about govt waste will now complain about an attempt to provide govt efficiency.
Not if you throw out several babies with the bath water.
Please note that, thus far, Trump has only been concerned with “waste” when it comes to human services and humane treatment. Things like military waste and corporate contract waste, which accounts for huge amounts, seem curiously “immune”.
Actually, I expect there is fraud and waste among the doctors, hospitals and insurance companies. But you need the right people to investigate and prosecute this.
I believe that he said it. Given his actual past actions, I see no reason to believe it is true.
I say he is at least that stupid. My cite is his first term, and everything so far in his second term.
What Trump and his administration will do, cannot be described as “reasonable”.
This is definitely NOT an attempt to “provide govt efficiency”. It is an attempt to gut a variety of useful or even vital programs while claiming to cut waste and provide efficiency.
Nobody is in favor of fraud or waste. The problem is that it’s almost impossible to weed out all waste and fraud without indirectly incurring great cost or harm in the process.
Absolutely
Perhaps not impossible. At least try to do it instead of exacerbating it
And yes, I do realize this administration may play favorites with their own, same as past administrations did.
It’s not like they’re, pretty much, the only folks that can get Medicare/Medicaid to convert a billing statement into cash.
Again, Trump and his administration are not trying to eliminate waste or fraud. They are jusr gutting programs they do no lke or do not understand.
Ah, slightly veiled ‘both sides do it’ arguments. Very good.
@BorealisCooper You seem to be choosing not to respond to most posts. Why is that?