This article is written under the premise that Trump and Musk are truly trying to do the "right thing" and reform our government, when, in my opinion, they are doing neither.
To me it seems they are trying to replace our democracy with an autocratic Fascist state.
And, writing articles like this that give them the pretext of doing the right thing to me does more harm than good. Paint them for what they are, red Autocratic Fascists!
My two cents—Stier should add Corruption to the end of the title—Department of Government Ineptitude and Corruption (DOGIC). DOGE is fundamentally corrupt. Do we need to know anything other than that Trump fired 17 inspector generals? If we’re serious about waste, fraud and abuse, DOGE should be shut down ASAP. Describing DOGE as inept does give them a pass, as if they can learn and do better. Heather Cox Richardson provides details of DOGE corruption in her Feb. 25 letter. DOGE is an illegitimate takeover of government functioning with corrupt purposes at its core. See also “It’s the corruption, stupid,” by Alex Aronson in The Contrarian.
Love it! Doggy dick. You are so right. We must stand together. I am doing post cards for Wisconsin Supreme Court election, comebackalive.org support for Ukraine as recommended by Anne Applebaum and supporting spanberger for governor in VA. What else are you doing to save a democracy? Be well. I want to know :)
Marie, Thanks. I plan to reach out to my family members to encourage them to subscribe to The Contrarian. Not sure it will be everybody’s cup of tea, but it has the added value of supporting legal cases against the Trump administration. I will write my elected representatives to thank them for holding the line by making Republicans responsible for the budget. I will go to my alderwoman’s office to ask how I can serve the ward as a volunteer (Chicago’s neighborhoods are organized into wards, which are represented by alderpeople on the City Council.) I live in a very diverse ward with a lot of immigrants. I will look into your Ukraine suggestion, and being so close to Wisconsin, I can do something for the Supreme Court election, even if it’s just giving money.
"As any seasoned manager knows, it’s best to engage and motivate rather than to alienate your workforce. The DOGE team has gone the extra mile to denigrate public servants and public service itself, which is a recipe for chasing away good people and will lead to a poorer customer experience for the public."
To dumb it down further, they are attacking Americans--your friends and neighbors, their friends and neighbors. And for every public servant targeted, the pain and suffering are really tenfold, as the people who care about and depend on them are also hurt irreparably. You can't fix calling a 30-year civil servant lazy and criminal. I'm just the partner of one, and it hurts me to the core. I didn't sign on for this, but every Christmas I get to worry about bills instead of presents in the face of shutdown threats; I have to watch thoughtless jerks respond with glee to another thoughtless jerk who doesn't work and doesn't pay taxes calling federal employees lazy criminals.
This, almost more than the detrimental firings, is killing our government operations and democracy. It has to stop. God, I sure wish it would.
At some point, federal employees are going to say "Enough" and simply walk off the job, en masse. The sudden loss of air traffic controllers, FBI agents, DoJ lawyers, FDA inspectors, IRS and Social Security employees might send a message.
There’s an old joke about the “3 biggest lies” the first being “the check is in the mail”. Maybe you’ve heard it so I’ll stop there. There should be a 4th: “what we need is a businessman to run our country”. Sounds great except it isn’t. Government was never intended to be a business. Business is about making money. Government is about serving its citizens. And while Musk and Trump are said to be “successful businessmen”, I can tell you, as someone who’s studied business for 50 years and owned my own company for 21 - they are breaking every fundamental rule as it relates to long term success. Do we need more efficiency in government? Absolutely. But you also need honesty, transparency and trust from the beginning. And in that they’re 0 for 3. What they’re doing is “slash and burn” (see Twitter). If I worked for the company they’re running, I’d quit and find another job. Can’t do that here.
The Republicans in the House and Senate just told the press that they are not going to limit Trumps authority in any way, saying that if a shutdown occurs over the budget it will be the unreasonable demands of the Democrats who are responsible. It is the job of Congress to provide checks and balances on presidential authority so they are basically saying that they will not do what our constitution states necessary for a balance of power. That combined with the partisan Supreme Court is pretty ominous. The Democrats need to get the message out to the press now that no Republican is going to abide by the constitution to prevent Trump from taking over the country with a fascist regime. This has to be made crystal clear to the public. Republicans had no issues with providing checks on Bidens tenure as president so the blatant hypocrisy is on display for all to see. They are ignoring the will of the voters and this must messaged to the public now.
The Republican Party barely exists at this point. It's a collection of amoral ambitious people like MTG, Boebert and phony Christians like Mike Johnson. They have driven out anyone who has a sense of duty to country. They just want to serve their corporate masters and catch the crumbs.
It's never been about government efficiency. It's always been about firing/dismantling those personal and agencies which are or might be investigating president Musk's companies and/or stopping Trump's lawlessness first. Then fire enough employees to pass Trump's tax cuts for the top 10%. GOP Congressional members were just sitting back because the knew their constituents would be up in arms if they attempted to fire federal employees for tax cuts.
I'm inclined to think that all of this is very much deliberate. The chaos is an intentional effort to demoralize the bureaucracy and eliminate them as a source of resistance. They can't fire them easily, but if they can get them to quit, then they can backfill with loyalists. "Efficiency," meanwhile, is just a thought-terminating cliché for those who need to avoid thinking about what's going on so that they can continue supporting it.
How is there any assurance that when musk fired the whole crew who oversaw our entire nuclear capabilities, that said scum didn't then plant a backdoor into that entire software system.
Used to disarm us for Russian takeover or to sell to the highest bidder?
I grieve the needless destruction of peoples' lives and security, hidden behind these numbers. Those who chose to work in Public Service are usually dedicated to their work. What Musk has been doing is demeaning the very people who help this country to function and creating chaos for their families. For shame! Musk - who has most likely never had this treatment applied to his own life and career.
My question is are they specifically firing registered democrats. The goal as stated in Project 2025 was, as I understand it, not only to reduce the number of federal employees but also to end up having the government composed specifically from a list of vetted and “trained” pro Trumpsters which was to be ready on day one.
My spouse was a software designer and can't believe the lack of knowledge of computer systems. I will mention that he has said that the Chinese working for him were definitely superior to Americans in skill and attitude. I was an accountant and I am suggesting that we file taxes on April 15, print your return and mail it in along with paper checks. Of course use certifies mail but this is one form of protest. They might realize that they need IRS workers.
“Violating every principle of good management” … true, but … that’s like saying when Trump colluded with Russia to win the election, he “acted in an un-presidential manner”. HE BROKE THE LAW. That’s what’s important, not that he wore a blue suit while doing so. I’m so sick of white washing, varnishing, spinning the facts. Yes, it’s poor management, but for god’s sakes, that’s not the point.
We got on this ride with Nixon, then the ride morphed into something different when the Kochs and the Evangelicals got on the train with Reagain in the 1980s, the really ugly bits got constructed behind the scenes during Obama's two terms. After Trump's first administration, the folks who got their hands on the plans constructed the scariest Haunted Carnival ride that's ever been built. It's based on the plans from the funhouse that was running in Germany from 1933-1945.
If you’d like to know a bit more about what to expect as this ride moves forward, may I suggest some light reading? Try a manifesto written by Mencius Moldbug, who is better known as Curtis Yarvin. Never heard of him? Me either. I googled him. It was the worst good idea I ever had.
Said manifesto is apparently but a single chapter in an entire tome. You’ll need a strong constitution to get through it, but you need to know because what’s written there is what the folks running this administration mean when they say that "it'll hurt a little bit, but America will be better for it."
This article is written under the premise that Trump and Musk are truly trying to do the "right thing" and reform our government, when, in my opinion, they are doing neither.
To me it seems they are trying to replace our democracy with an autocratic Fascist state.
And, writing articles like this that give them the pretext of doing the right thing to me does more harm than good. Paint them for what they are, red Autocratic Fascists!
My two cents—Stier should add Corruption to the end of the title—Department of Government Ineptitude and Corruption (DOGIC). DOGE is fundamentally corrupt. Do we need to know anything other than that Trump fired 17 inspector generals? If we’re serious about waste, fraud and abuse, DOGE should be shut down ASAP. Describing DOGE as inept does give them a pass, as if they can learn and do better. Heather Cox Richardson provides details of DOGE corruption in her Feb. 25 letter. DOGE is an illegitimate takeover of government functioning with corrupt purposes at its core. See also “It’s the corruption, stupid,” by Alex Aronson in The Contrarian.
Love it! Doggy dick. You are so right. We must stand together. I am doing post cards for Wisconsin Supreme Court election, comebackalive.org support for Ukraine as recommended by Anne Applebaum and supporting spanberger for governor in VA. What else are you doing to save a democracy? Be well. I want to know :)
Marie, Thanks. I plan to reach out to my family members to encourage them to subscribe to The Contrarian. Not sure it will be everybody’s cup of tea, but it has the added value of supporting legal cases against the Trump administration. I will write my elected representatives to thank them for holding the line by making Republicans responsible for the budget. I will go to my alderwoman’s office to ask how I can serve the ward as a volunteer (Chicago’s neighborhoods are organized into wards, which are represented by alderpeople on the City Council.) I live in a very diverse ward with a lot of immigrants. I will look into your Ukraine suggestion, and being so close to Wisconsin, I can do something for the Supreme Court election, even if it’s just giving money.
Could not agree more. What more evidence do you need to see before you call the lawlessness for what it is?
"As any seasoned manager knows, it’s best to engage and motivate rather than to alienate your workforce. The DOGE team has gone the extra mile to denigrate public servants and public service itself, which is a recipe for chasing away good people and will lead to a poorer customer experience for the public."
To dumb it down further, they are attacking Americans--your friends and neighbors, their friends and neighbors. And for every public servant targeted, the pain and suffering are really tenfold, as the people who care about and depend on them are also hurt irreparably. You can't fix calling a 30-year civil servant lazy and criminal. I'm just the partner of one, and it hurts me to the core. I didn't sign on for this, but every Christmas I get to worry about bills instead of presents in the face of shutdown threats; I have to watch thoughtless jerks respond with glee to another thoughtless jerk who doesn't work and doesn't pay taxes calling federal employees lazy criminals.
This, almost more than the detrimental firings, is killing our government operations and democracy. It has to stop. God, I sure wish it would.
At some point, federal employees are going to say "Enough" and simply walk off the job, en masse. The sudden loss of air traffic controllers, FBI agents, DoJ lawyers, FDA inspectors, IRS and Social Security employees might send a message.
There’s an old joke about the “3 biggest lies” the first being “the check is in the mail”. Maybe you’ve heard it so I’ll stop there. There should be a 4th: “what we need is a businessman to run our country”. Sounds great except it isn’t. Government was never intended to be a business. Business is about making money. Government is about serving its citizens. And while Musk and Trump are said to be “successful businessmen”, I can tell you, as someone who’s studied business for 50 years and owned my own company for 21 - they are breaking every fundamental rule as it relates to long term success. Do we need more efficiency in government? Absolutely. But you also need honesty, transparency and trust from the beginning. And in that they’re 0 for 3. What they’re doing is “slash and burn” (see Twitter). If I worked for the company they’re running, I’d quit and find another job. Can’t do that here.
The Republicans in the House and Senate just told the press that they are not going to limit Trumps authority in any way, saying that if a shutdown occurs over the budget it will be the unreasonable demands of the Democrats who are responsible. It is the job of Congress to provide checks and balances on presidential authority so they are basically saying that they will not do what our constitution states necessary for a balance of power. That combined with the partisan Supreme Court is pretty ominous. The Democrats need to get the message out to the press now that no Republican is going to abide by the constitution to prevent Trump from taking over the country with a fascist regime. This has to be made crystal clear to the public. Republicans had no issues with providing checks on Bidens tenure as president so the blatant hypocrisy is on display for all to see. They are ignoring the will of the voters and this must messaged to the public now.
The Republican Party barely exists at this point. It's a collection of amoral ambitious people like MTG, Boebert and phony Christians like Mike Johnson. They have driven out anyone who has a sense of duty to country. They just want to serve their corporate masters and catch the crumbs.
It's never been about government efficiency. It's always been about firing/dismantling those personal and agencies which are or might be investigating president Musk's companies and/or stopping Trump's lawlessness first. Then fire enough employees to pass Trump's tax cuts for the top 10%. GOP Congressional members were just sitting back because the knew their constituents would be up in arms if they attempted to fire federal employees for tax cuts.
I'm inclined to think that all of this is very much deliberate. The chaos is an intentional effort to demoralize the bureaucracy and eliminate them as a source of resistance. They can't fire them easily, but if they can get them to quit, then they can backfill with loyalists. "Efficiency," meanwhile, is just a thought-terminating cliché for those who need to avoid thinking about what's going on so that they can continue supporting it.
Breaking it is the point.
How is there any assurance that when musk fired the whole crew who oversaw our entire nuclear capabilities, that said scum didn't then plant a backdoor into that entire software system.
Used to disarm us for Russian takeover or to sell to the highest bidder?
Ask a Senator that question.
Our systems are now full of backdoors. Enemies, including PINO and Muskrat can take down our government at any moment.
Shouldn't that be, "Ready, fire, aim?"
I think it's just, fire; no ready, no aim.
Omit Nos. 1 and 2 and leave it at “fire”.
I grieve the needless destruction of peoples' lives and security, hidden behind these numbers. Those who chose to work in Public Service are usually dedicated to their work. What Musk has been doing is demeaning the very people who help this country to function and creating chaos for their families. For shame! Musk - who has most likely never had this treatment applied to his own life and career.
When the Harvard case writers publish this case of horrible and total mismanagement?
"When will" ...
My question is are they specifically firing registered democrats. The goal as stated in Project 2025 was, as I understand it, not only to reduce the number of federal employees but also to end up having the government composed specifically from a list of vetted and “trained” pro Trumpsters which was to be ready on day one.
My spouse was a software designer and can't believe the lack of knowledge of computer systems. I will mention that he has said that the Chinese working for him were definitely superior to Americans in skill and attitude. I was an accountant and I am suggesting that we file taxes on April 15, print your return and mail it in along with paper checks. Of course use certifies mail but this is one form of protest. They might realize that they need IRS workers.
“Violating every principle of good management” … true, but … that’s like saying when Trump colluded with Russia to win the election, he “acted in an un-presidential manner”. HE BROKE THE LAW. That’s what’s important, not that he wore a blue suit while doing so. I’m so sick of white washing, varnishing, spinning the facts. Yes, it’s poor management, but for god’s sakes, that’s not the point.
We got on this ride with Nixon, then the ride morphed into something different when the Kochs and the Evangelicals got on the train with Reagain in the 1980s, the really ugly bits got constructed behind the scenes during Obama's two terms. After Trump's first administration, the folks who got their hands on the plans constructed the scariest Haunted Carnival ride that's ever been built. It's based on the plans from the funhouse that was running in Germany from 1933-1945.
If you’d like to know a bit more about what to expect as this ride moves forward, may I suggest some light reading? Try a manifesto written by Mencius Moldbug, who is better known as Curtis Yarvin. Never heard of him? Me either. I googled him. It was the worst good idea I ever had.
Said manifesto is apparently but a single chapter in an entire tome. You’ll need a strong constitution to get through it, but you need to know because what’s written there is what the folks running this administration mean when they say that "it'll hurt a little bit, but America will be better for it."