You’re Kidding, Right???

Since President Trump asked the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to audit various federal agencies, this once cute little joke has turned into a national horror show.

DOGE’s daily reports about wasting billions of taxpayer dollars for items every member of congress should lose their job for supporting, are frightening. How can they justify spending millions for circumcisions in Mozambique, a trans-opera in Colombia or social security payments for 130-year-olds? Each day brings more revelations of atrocities; how our money is wasted.

I’m upset. The bureaucracy spends trillions with no oversight or accountability. Meanwhile politicians, bureaucrats and the media are screaming, singing and dropping F-bombs; Americans have no right to audit, or question their actions. The process is nuts!

I’ll avoid the line-item insanity and focus on the system; what can be done to stop the madness before our country goes bankrupt.

Common sense economics….

In 7th grade, we were required to take “Home economics.” I did better learning how to balance a checkbook and prepare a home budget than I did sewing and cooking.

Budgeting was a simple process, calculate the cost of groceries, utilities, transportation, housing, you name it. Compare those costs to your anticipated income – the necessary money to pay the bills. If you had extra money, some went into savings, and some went for fun stuff. In 7th grade it made perfect sense – and still does.

As teens we wanted money for cars, entertainment, clothes, dating, movies, whatever. Our parents never gave us money, they gave us reality – get a job! That was our first lesson in working hard, budgeting and living within our means.

Marriage & children made implementation tougher. Money was tight, we budgeted and watched every dollar. Many times, I asked “How come there’s so much month left at the end of the money?”

Every check highlighted what it was for and reconciled with the budget. Keeping score was easy, the challenge was controlling our spending. No credit cards back then, we couldn’t spend money we didn’t have!

The process is still the same, regardless of your age.

Different rules for government….

Pew Research explains Congress doesn’t even follow their own rules:

“In the nearly five decades that the current system for budgeting and spending tax dollars has been in place, Congress has passed all its required appropriations measures on time only four times: fiscal 1977, 1989, 1995 and 1997. …. Those last three times, Congress was late in passing the budget blueprint that, in theory at least, precedes the actual spending bills.

…. The typical appropriations process isn’t the orderly one laid out in the 1974 Congressional Budget Act. Instead, it’s a hodgepodge of late budget blueprints, temporary spending measures to keep the government running, and sprawling omnibus appropriations packages that often are passed in the waning days before one Congress ends and the next one begins.”

Congress abhors a budget; preferring to act like spoiled children, spending on whatever they want with NO ACCOUNTABILITY or concern for the consequences.

Paul Craig Roberts highlighted a simple tweet from DOGE:

Money doesn’t grow on trees, except for Congress….

DOGE discovered $4.7 trillion was spent with no identification code linking the money spent (filling in the “for” section in the checkbook) to the appropriate budget. Zero accountability, no attempt to keep spending in line with any budget.

For generations, taxpayers’ screams for a “Balanced Budget Amendment” have been ignored and scorned. The Center On Budget and Policy Priorities issued a threatening warning:

“A balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution would be an unusual and economically dangerous way to address the nation’s long-term fiscal problems. It would threaten significant economic harm…. It also would raise a host of problems for the operation of Social Security and other vital federal programs.

…. Requiring a balanced budget every year, no matter the state of the economy,…would force policymakers to cut federal programs, raise taxes, or both when the economy is weak.”

How can “We the people” be so dumb to demand our representatives spend our money wisely? Same old crap! Any mention of budget cuts, the establishment immediately threatens Social Security and other “vital programs.” DOGE discovered hundreds of billions in waste; perhaps Mozambique circumcisions are considered as vital as Social Security.

Social Security

The recent SSA.gov report tells us the system is quickly going bankrupt:

“The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund will be able to pay 100 percent of total scheduled benefits until 2033.”

The “Trust Fund” is a good reason NOT to trust the government:

“The only disbursements permitted from the funds are benefit payments and administrative expenses. The Trustees must invest all excess funds in interest-bearing securities backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.”

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The shell game….

For decades the government collected more in contributions from workers than it paid out in benefits. What did they do with the “excess?” They spent the money and put IOUs (political promises) in the trust fund. Today payouts exceed contributions. They move the shells around saying the fund is being depleted, borrowing the shortfall, or simply printing the money. They should call it the Social Security DIS-trust fund….

Paul Craig Roberts tells us:

“Social Security Has More Active Social Security Numbers than the United States Has Population.

If you are puzzled why Democrats and the US Civil Service are begging judges to prevent the Trump administration from having access to official US government data, the Social Security data alone explains it.

The US population according to the Census Bureau is 334 million, but according to current Social Security records, there are 398 million people with active Social Security numbers.”

ZeroHedge reports:

“President Trump rattled off some of the massive waste, fraud and abuse found by Elon Musk’s team at DOGE – including thousands of Social Security recipients listed as being more than 200 years old.”

Here’s the breakdown:

There are 20,789,524 million people with active social security numbers over age 100.

A recent New England centenarian study found:

“Out of a US population of approximately 336,997,624, in 2021, there were 89,739 centenarians (age 100+).”

Perhaps the discrepancy of 20,699,785 would be described by the propeller-beanied government experts as a “rounding error.”

ZeroHedge continues:

“Musk posted what he says could be the ‘biggest fraud in US history‘ in which millions of ‘people’ over the age of 100 are collecting payments.”

The reaction of the SSA is galling:

“Acting commissioner…Michelle King, resigned on Sunday after a standoff with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) over access to sensitive government records.

…. King – who worked at the agency for over 30 years, left her position…after refusing to give DOGE staffers access to sensitive information, such as the fraudulent payments to ‘vampires’ – with at least one recipient being older than the United States itself

…. In the wake of King’s departure, President Donald Trump appointed Leland Dudek – a manager in charge of Social Security’s anti-fraud office, as acting commissioner, while the Senate vets Trump nominee Frank Bisignano.”

More unmitigated gall…. Quoting Martin O’Malley, former Social Security Commissioner:

“It’s a shame the chilling effect it has to disregard 120 senior executive service people. To pick an acting commissioner that is not in the senior executive service sends a message that professional people should leave that beleaguered public agency.”

Beleaguered agency – disregard?? No mention about 120 senior executives total disregard for protecting taxpayer dollars. This is beyond incompetence! DOGE, an outsider auditor, provided a blinding flash of the obvious. Damn right, those responsible for fraud prevention should go! Don’t let the door hit ya, where the Good Lord split ya….

But wait! There’s more!

The signatories to the Social Security report adds to the story.

There are six trustees on the Social Security commission, 4 government employees and two “public trustees.” Since 2016, the “Public Trustee” job has been vacant, no one is looking out for “We the People.”

Many of our worst fears are coming to light. Bureaucrats, politicos and media are begging judges to stop Musk – an outsider – from conducting a real audit. Those screaming, singing and shouting obscenities about DOGE say nothing about the billions being wasted. Zero concern about our country headed for bankruptcy.

What should be done?

Appoint public trustees to the Social Security board immediately. They should be from the public sector serving as outside auditors, the crap that has gone on is inexcusable. They should represent, “We the people.”

Non-Government Organizations (NGO) and US AID eliminated. They’ve morphed into political slush funds. Blanket grants must stop. If Congress doesn’t have the courage to vote to spend the item directly, don’t funnel money to someone else to waste for political gain.

Corruption and Fraud must be prosecuted. While DOGE may highlight waste, that won’t slow down the process beyond the end of Trump’s term. Where corruption and fraud are found, there must be severe prosecution. The incentive to steal tax dollars is high, the accompanying risk/consequences must be raised even higher.

Roman historian Tacitus’ warning has come true. “When public authority loses credibility, no matter what it says or does, society will view it negatively.”

The government has violated our trust; just as the founding fathers envisioned…. We need an ongoing DOGE, accountability and line-item budgeting as part of the annual process – just like we learned in 7th grade….

Help keep us online! I love it when readers thank me for “telling it like it is” for providing content they won’t find in the mainstream media. I’ve been sent to Facebook purgatory a few times – they didn’t approve. Free speech isn’t appreciated in all circles. When I started Miller On The Money, I vowed to keep our newsletter FREE! I’ve kept my promise – our weekly letter is an expensive hobby. Donations are our primary source of financial support, and what keeps us going. We don’t peddle your name to anyone. I’ve turned down proposals from advertisers, feeling their offerings were inappropriate for our readers. Readers pitching in to help offset our cost are much appreciated. It’s strictly voluntary – no pressure – no hassle! If you want to help, click the DONATE button below. You do not have to sign up for PayPal to use your credit card. And thank you all!

On The Lighter Side…

I want to thank all the readers who took the time to drop me a note commenting on last week’s article. We received a record amount of email and several donations from kind readers. I still pinch myself when readers pitch in and help.

Veteran world traveler and subscriber Larry A. commented, “My general observation is that 90% of the people I have met are nice, humble, and honest people just trying to get through life; that other 10% which includes politicians, lawyers, Mafia and other criminals bear considerable watching.” I’ve found that most of us just want to be left alone and not have to worry about government, and just love our family.

When I started Miller On The Money, I never anticipated I’d be writing so much about the damn government. Friend Chuck Butler and I have had many conversations about how difficult it is to discuss investing strategies without first accounting for what government is doing. Investing is very defensive these days, trying to stay ahead of the government and inflation.

People roll their eyes when us old guys refer to “The good old days.” I know my blood pressure was much lower when watching the news before bedtime was our daily news fix. Today, dozens of 24-hour media outlets scream and put outrageous headlines across the screen, competing for viewers’ attention. Yeah, I know we have a clicker…. Some nights Jo and I tune things out and watch reruns of Andy Griffith or Gunsmoke….

Quote (s) Of The Week…

“Logic dragged the founders kicking and screaming to the conclusion that no one who wants political power can be trusted with it, because it is evil stuff; any mortal who has it will be corrupted by it.” – Richard J. Maybury

“A government that forces you to account to them for the way you spend YOUR money but refuses to be accountable to you for how they spend YOUR money should be immediately replaced.” – Unknown

And Finally…

When speaking about government we can always count on Will Rogers for a realistic perspective:

• The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.

• When ignorance gets started it knows no bounds.

• It sure did kick up some excitement in the Senate when one Senator called the other Senators ‘sons of Wild jackasses.’ Well, if you thought it made the Senators hot, you wait till you see what happens when the jackasses hear how they have been slandered.

• Never blame a legislative body for not doing something. When they do nothing, that don’t hurt anybody. When they do something is when they become dangerous.

• If America ever passes out as a great nation, we ought to put on our tombstone: America died from a delusion she had Moral Leadership.

• The more you read and observe about this Politics thing, the more you’ve got to admit that each party is worse than the other.

• If you ever injected truth into politics, you would have no politics.

• America has the best politicians money can buy.

• There is one guaranteed formula for failure, and that is to try to please everyone.

• Government investigations have always contributed more to our amusement than they have to our knowledge.

And my favorite:

• Common sense ain’t common.

Until next time…

Dennis Miller

“Economic independence is the foundation of the only sort of freedom worth a damn.” – H. L. Mencken

 

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