Efficiency for thee but not for me


Elon Musk, as czar of DOGE, has been making deep cuts in federal programs that serve civilians. But what about that budgetary elephant in the room, the military.  There must surely be waste, fraud and abuse in military spending that Musk’s tech bros can ferret out, right?

“After misleading headlines suggested that its topline would be cut by as much as 8% annually for the next five years as part of that supposed efficiency campaign, the real plan was revealed — finding savings in some parts of the Pentagon only to invest whatever money might be saved in — yes! — other military programs without any actual reductions in the department’s overall budget. Then, during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 7th, Trump announced that “we’re going to be approving a budget, and I’m proud to say, actually, the biggest one we’ve ever done for the military . . . $1 trillion. Nobody has seen anything like it.”

I’m kidding. Nobody seriously expected that Trump would cut the military. How will he fund his giant American Bastille Day parade this year otherwise?

 

https://www.juancole.com/2025/04/wasteful-expanding-machine.html

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