Commentary

Those of you who are regular readers will recall my frequent rants about those unelected bureaucrats who control our government, and understand my delight in absorbing what President Trump, with the help of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), are undertaking to diminish big government’s impact on our lives.

They are involved in the most aggressive overhaul ever attempted of the federal government in American history, shrinking it to levels unseen in some 20 years.  Both parties have strived to cut government waste in the past, but without success.  The establishment of DOGE under Musk, who will accept no salary, recently got the attention of former bartender, now New York’s Democrat Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  She made this brilliant statement on social media: “This dude is probably one of the most unintelligent billionaires I have ever met.”

They are eliminating jobs and programs not ideologically aligned with the Trump administrative goals.  Reportedly, Musk aims to cut the federal workforce by at least 10 percent.  About 60,000 federal employees have agreed to employment payouts.  Trump’s offer of payouts to those who want to resign is still in court, but I ask, why not, corporations often do that when the bottom line demands it.

I understand that as much as half of the government’s real estate holdings will be eliminated, a move aimed at closing offices that were nearly empty with employees “working” from home.

They are actively seeking to cancel government contracts along with the elimination of jobs.

While the Wall Street Journal cited in its Best of the Web, “it’s a rare stroke of luck for U.S. citizens that a few of the smartest people in the country have agreed to come to Washington and work around the clock to identify federal waste, fraud and abuse,”

Do Democrats realize how foolish they look with their defense of the U.S. Agency for International Development amid the flood of waste, fraud and abuse information now even being covered by leftist media? A Reuters poll revealed that 56 percent of Americans backed the freezing of U.S.-funded foreign assistance. 

While Trump campaigned with Musk, promising to lead an effort to reform government, Democrats now pretend that he is somehow illegitimate though Americans supported it with their vote in November.

Iowa’s Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, who has been repeatedly stonewalled by USAID as she sought a list of recipients of funds sent to Ukraine, has been supportive of the freezing of taxpayer money going to the agency. 

In her Wall Street Journal op-ed Monday, she cited USAID as a rogue bureaucracy, noting that she has uncovered information that the agency often acts at odds with our nation’s best interests and uses intimidation and shell games to hide where money is going, how it’s spent and why.

I found it laughable that Democrats are shown to be defending the indefensible and are pretending again that an administration they oppose is illegitimate.

While 55 percent of likely voters told Rasmussuen Reports they believe it would be better for the Democrat Party if they would work with Trump, Oregon’s leftist Rep. Val Hoyle went on CNN to say Democrats should not vote to fund the government because the Trump agenda “undermines the American people.”  Of course, she didn’t explain how.

 And making a stand at the door of the Education Department, opposing its possible elimination, while we spend more per student than any other country, its union agenda programs have been a failure.  Trump is considering a transfer of its funds to individual states, which will be accountable for results.

You know the Democrat Party is hurting for leadership when Chuck Schumer is seen with Maxine Waters – what a pair – shouting against Musk.  Texas Democrat Rep. Al Green, who sought to impeach Trump in 2017, says he will again file articles of impeachment against Trump.

You will recall, I’m sure, how the left kept telling us of the threat risk to democracy we faced electing Trump in 2024.  Interestingly, here’s how fellow blogger Francis Menton succinctly explained the meaning of democracy:  “The people periodically get the opportunity to vote the current authorities out and replace them with the new authorities who will implement new policies.”

Menton noted how Trump promised fundamental change on many important aspects of government policy, and he is following through quickly on those promises, so many and dealing in varied agencies it is difficult to keep current. All will save taxpayers millions of dollars, but you and I know that Americans are looking for lower costs at the pump and in the supermarket.

I had to laugh when I read Ruth Marcus’s Washington Post column in which she said, “No president in history has caused more damage to the nation more quickly.”  And, while we are wondering how to recover from the Biden years, Marcus cries, “The country faces a real threat that the harm Trump inflicts will be irreparable.”

While columnist Peggy Noonan warns the new administration of going too far, she recognizes that Musk is trying to reform a government whose agencies themselves went too far, citing their open border immigration policy. 

Incidentally, the DOGE people learned that that FEMA spent $59 million last week to continue to fund the housing of illegal migrants in New York luxury hotels.

Rick Kubisch of Mukwonago, Wisconsin, in a letter to the Wall Street Journal, differs from Noonan. “Mr. Trump’s preparations, fast pace and decisiveness are admirable.  It is refreshing to have a president who is in charge, understands the issues and can speak coherently to the press.”

Citing an old saying among entrepreneurs – “move fast and break things” – John Fowler of Portola Valley, California writes, “that’s exactly what Mr. Trump and his team are doing.”

As we cheer the efforts of Trump, in some cases he is facing roadblocks in courts.  Journal columnist Gerald F. Seib notes that Trump knows that one way to find out his limits is to try, like his attempt to alter birthright rules.  National Review’s Andrew C. McCarthy believes he has a chance of winning on several of the cases.  Trump’s a fighter and isn’t likely to throw in the towel early.  He likes winning.  So do we.

May God continue to bless the United States of America’s transition to the Golden Age.