From the Left: Musklectric Burgleoo

“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.”

—Thomas Paine

The Founders repeatedly warned against partisans, demagogues, the overambitious, and tyrants. They understood the danger of someone with meager respect for the American experiment placing their ambitions above the country’s or attempting to set aside the rule of law.

How upset must my Tea Party brethren be, tricorn hats and Federalist Papers in tow, regarding immature billionaire provocateurs appointed to created positions without oversight? Neophyte loyalists replacing independent professionals? The consolidation of power by a president? The suggestion by a sitting VP that the judicial branch should just give a pass to the executive? Federal government wielding its clout over the states? 

Not at all, it turns out.

The folks who attacked the Capitol over a manufactured voter fraud claim, then put a criminal who illegally tried to overturn an election back in office… think the rest of us are overreacting.

To recap: There is an unelected billionaire drug user with serious mental health issues (Musk, WSJ) and a group of his adolescent acquaintances taking control of and likely editing the Treasury payment system, NOAA, and much of the US’s personal information.

A man whose biographer (Isaacson) said will “endanger us all” and is “deeply unwell.”

A man whom Trump said he put in charge of DOGE, then the White House said someone else was administrating it, but Musk still oversaw it, and then government attorneys said they didn’t know who was in charge. Sounds like everyone is calling Not It.

Popular program … For lawyers. I can guess how his shareholders feel about it.

“It will be as transparent as possible.” — Elon Musk

The current transparency meter reads zero.

DOGE is reporting on DOGE actions, which is a bit like your kid filling out his report card.

DOGE is also currently ignoring FOIA requests and being sued for it. Either you’re a federal agency, or you aren’t. You don’t get Star Chamber carte blanche (US Constitution).

Trump and Musk have told us that DOGE exists to cut waste and slash regulations. 

Great! Except [see list below].

They also said we spend too much.

Who would argue that? The US throws money around like a drunken sailor.

I’d still rather BatMango and Robbing weren’t rooting around in our utility belts.

And I have yet to hear any controversial cuts in my lifetime not abetted by the handy political catchphrase ‘waste, fraud, and abuse.’

 I am 100% on board for a review of where our money is going, employing level-headed professionals and accountants, and cutting where it is plausible.                                    

I am not on board with that review conducted by dudes who may own fake IDs for Friday nights.  Especially when the goal is to offset yet another Republican tax break for corporations and the rich (Reagan, Bush, Trump 1, Trump 2).

Trading consumer protections and jobs for Richie Rich’s spare island doesn’t sound like a great deal for the average US citizen.

Twenty-one members of DOGE recently quit, noting that the acts of DOGE did not comport with the US Constitution, especially where it put citizen data at risk and dismantled critical public services.

DOGE has repeatedly fired workers and then scrambled to locate them for rehire.

Efficiency begins at home, I guess.

It isn’t a matter of conjecture that many people will become sick, many unwanted pregnancies and abortions will occur, and many will die due to USAID cuts if not amended (Guttmacher Institute, BBC, LSE International, UN, UNICEF).

Nor is it that China will fill the spaces we don’t (FOX, VOA).

Nevertheless, some folks believe the actions by Trump and DOGE will benefit the citizens of the United States.

The delusion is real, and it’s spectacular. Let’s examine.

Just the facts, ma’am. Over half of all US citizens get their news from social media (Pew). The largest social media owners have relaxed the moderation of content on their pages, enabling false personal, political, or corporate messaging (NIH, Carnegie). One of these owners handed Trump 280 million. Another owner, 25 million. That we know of (Citizen’s United).

 I asked Elon’s Grok AI to tell me who the top 3 disseminators of misinformation on X were.    

•    1. Elon
•    2. Trump
•    3. RFK Jr.

Smell the truthiness!

Trump has replaced every Cabinet position with unqualified loyalists, several of whom have previously widely disseminated false information for profit (AP, Reuters, Grok AI).

Trump introduced tariffs on goods that will take money out of the public’s hands. Tariffs are historically hard on farmers, especially family farms (American Farm Bureau Federation).

Trump is re-upping his tax breaks for the rich. Last time, that meant an average of 60k for Richie Rich and less than $500 for the bottom 60% (Tax Policy Center). Before it was signed into law, corporations claimed the billions they saved would go toward wages, infrastructure, and dividends. It went primarily to stock buybacks (Forbes).

More than a dozen Inspectors General were fired. These rooted out abuse at government agencies (unless you believe the folks occupying the list above).

Trump paused a law that prohibits American companies from bribing foreign governments to win business (AP).

Trump’s $4.5 trillion budget includes $880 billion to be cut through the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid. If Medicaid cuts are made, 20 million people may no longer have healthcare (KFF) due to states refiguring their funding to the new federal amounts.

Trump wants to close the Department of Education while he and the party stump for private education. Private education is expensive, shouldn’t be paid for with public money, sometimes promotes one religion over others, and can immorally tier quality of education.

Trump disbanded the Foreign Influence Task Force, whose job it was to combat foreign meddling in elections. Zero surprise registered there.

Trump cut billions of dollars from the NIH, the US agency responsible for biomedical and public health research and information on standards and public health crises.

Trump has evicted critics from the Pentagon press room. He has removed the role of choosing press from WHCA, ensuring he has press present that will report favorably on his words and deeds.

Trump says NOAA — the folks that operate the National Weather Service, track hurricanes and tropical storms, research weather, the oceans, and Earth’s atmosphere, and provide a ton of data regarding the harm corporations do to our food, water, and planet — can expect their workforce to be cut in half, and a 30% reduction in funding to start.

The Vice President has told the US public that it is wrong for the judiciary to rule on the Executive’s actions. This is false and an insanely unConstitutional idea, especially from a VP’s mouth.

Trump signed an order to give him control over 60 independent agencies that provide executive oversight.

Trump is shuttering the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whose sole purpose was to remove deceptive or abusive business practices and protect consumers from ripoffs. They saved the public 21 billion dollars, which would have gone to banks and loan sharks (NCLC).

Think of the suffering banks and loan sharks, people.

Notice a theme? Many of these decisions streamline lying to and profiting from the public. Some create holes to be filled, likely by private interests.

Trump and Doge could’ve looked at military spending (as of this writing, they’re promising to, whatever that means), subsidies for automakers, banks, and energy providers, and Musk’s 38 billion dollars of US taxpayer funds and growing (Fortune). Instead, they first targeted many rules put in place to stop Richie Rich from taking your money.

“If presidents can’t do it to their wives, they’ll do it to their country.” — Mel Brooks

So, where are we?

Predictably, the lawyers and courts are busy.

Trump is consolidating power as the Heritage Foundation has advised. Whether this is the action of a patriot or a wannabe dictator (Joint Chiefs Chair Milley) is for history to decide.

DOGE is chopping jobs and funding, bringing consequences for US and global citizens.

The Republican Party wants more privatization, which is what DOGE is actually about.

Corporate and moneyed interests, as always, are calling the shots.

The problem is that corporate interests often are not public interests.

And as I recall, this land is our land.

Sam Middendorf is retired. He likes to build things, blow up things, play in real and fake bands and dabble in fantasy sports.