OPINION:
Donald Trump has spelled out some of his economic goals for his hoped-for next White House win, and nestled among the plans to “Make America Affordable Again” is this gem: appoint “X” man Elon Musk to head up a government efficiency commission to root out waste of taxpayer dollars.
Predictably, Democrats are already whining about it. They’ve never met a tax dollar they don’t mind spending, after all.
But with America’s national debt reaching upwards of $35 trillion, and government showing no inclination to slow the spending, a peer into financial waste at the federal level isn’t just a sounds-good idea. It’s perilously necessary. America cannot remain free much longer in the face of such hefty debt. Debt, after all, is a form of slavery.
“I will create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms. Need to do it. Can’t go on the way we are now,” Trump said at the Economic Club of New York, The Hill reported.
Start by tossing out the boondoggle of ridiculous spending called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, where President Joe Biden stuck taxpayers with somewhere between $780 billion and $1.2 trillion through 2031, depending on the source of estimation, primarily for climate change madness — and then carry that chopping block right over to the Department of Education. That’s where USASpending.gov reports taxpayers poured $224 billion in fiscal 2024 alone — a good portion of which is then recycled to fuel Democrat politicians’ campaigns and reelections, so that these Democrat politicians can, in turn, rubber-stamp more money, more money, more money to the teachers’ unions. It’s high time somebody bite that hand the taxpayers are constantly feeding. Get rid of DOE; get rid of a huge swath of waste in one fell swoop.
Musk is a good choice to do these deeds. Why? In the time between buying Twitter and turning it into X, he’s cut about 80 percent of his staff. The platform’s gone from employing about 8,000 to around 1,500, and while revenues are still not what they used to be under Jack Dorsey’s leadership of the platform — freedom of speech is thriving. The pro-America takeaway is two-fold: Musk, worth around $230 billion, cares more about freedom than padding his pockets even more — a man of principle, one might argue, who is standing and fighting for liberty even as Brazil blocks him and Democrats detest him; and Musk, as a pragmatic businessman, isn’t afraid to fire people.
This is what America’s government needs.
This is how runaway spending by feds will be stopped.
Bring in a person with a proven record of fighting for freedom and slashing waste. Let the drastic cutting begin.
“I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises,” he said on X, in response to Trump’s call. “No pay, no title, no recognition is needed.”
Dealing with tax dollar waste, the national debt and federal overspending should not be partisan. It’s actually a problem generated by both parties; the solution should come as a collaborative effort. But too often, politicians at the federal level see taxes as a form of entitlement pay, and they forget that they are not the bosses, but rather the humble servants of the tax-paying people. Democrats, in particular, see their roles in government as taking as much money from individuals as they possibly can, so that they can redistribute to those they see as more in need, and wickedly, more deserving. Who is more deserving of money, after all, than the individual who physically works for that money? Democrats see otherwise.
Democrats — Democrats and their party’s socialist and communist influencers who have taken over their agendas and platforms — all believe they have the righteous and moral obligation to take from Peter and give to Paul. This is why debt has risen so much in Biden’s White House.
“The [Congressional Budget Office] now expects the debt to be $7.2 trillion higher than it had projected when Trump left office — all because of Biden’s reckless spending policies,” The Heritage Foundation wrote in July. “The debt actually rose $6.5 trillion during Trump’s entire term — and is up $7.9 trillion in less than four years of Biden’s tenure.”
The $35 trillion America now owes actually represents the economies of the entire governments of China, Germany, Japan, India and the United Kingdom, according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. That translates into a burden of $266,000 per U.S. household or $104,000 per American individual.
Government spending must slow. Government waste must stop. Rome, China, Spain, England, Germany, Greece — these countries all have histories that show the pitfalls of paper money, of spending more than is available, of running a country into debt, of continuing to spend, spend, spend even as rising inflation warns of looming crashes. And here stands America with its fiat currency and government penchant for printing money — for magic money — for the soon-to-come, more easily manipulated and controlled Central Bank Digital Currency.
Recipe, meet disaster.
The politicians have had plenty of time and opportunity to reel in America’s debt and address federal overspending. They failed; they’re reluctant and unwilling to curb their reckless ways. The solution to national debt — to save America from the enslavement of debt — must come from outside the bubble of Washington, D.C., and away from the self-interested politicians who have no real motivation to reform.
Musk is a solid choice to start the slashing and get America back on a track of solvency — and back on a path of freedom.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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