DOGE found to be lying

[billvon 3,131]

So a New York Times reporter went through DOGE's "wall of receipts" to try to verify the amounts.  The wall of recepits didn't have much info; just the name of the agency and the amount of the "savings."  But they looked at the raw HTML of the web page and found some more data, specifically the grant number, which allows you to check to see what the original amounts were.  Then they called the people who actually got the money.

The biggest one on the list was $1.75 billion.  But when they called the agency that received that grant, they said that they had already received and spent the money.  So actual savings of zero.

They looked at several others in the top 20.  And every time they could track down the amount saved it was wrong.  One grant listed a "ceiling" of $83 million.  But that's not what the grant was for; that was the highest amount the grant could possibly be.  The actual amount authorized by the grant was $1.5 million and they had already received $800K.  So the actual savings was $700K even if the grant was really cancelled.

From the list of grants they could track down, the real savings averaged 2.6% of the claimed savings.  So the claimed savings of $155 billion is likely closer to $4 billion - a savings of $25 per taxpayer.

So if DOGE costs more than $4 billion to administer - it's going to increase taxes.

When the NYT reporter asked DOGE about this their response was swift - they removed all the HTML data from the site so nothing could be checked.

In addition the IRS estimates that the cuts DOGE made will reduce tax income by $500 billion, due primarily to cuts to tax cheat enforcement.  There are a great many crooked CPA's that know exactly how to cheat in ways that are hard to detect, and that cheating is now risk-free since there is no review and/or enforcement of such scams.

This is supported by looking at how much money we are actually spending.  Compared to this month last year, we are spending $120 billion more per month.

Remarkable level of dishonesty here.

https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/doge-is-not-cutting-spending

[wmw999 2,600]

12 minutes ago, billvon said:

When the NYT reporter asked DOGE about this their response was swift - they removed all the HTML data from the site so nothing could be checked.

That's one approach. I'll bet a lot of people applaud it, too.

Wendy P.

[billvon 3,131]

On 4/19/2025 at 4:45 PM, wmw999 said:

That's one approach. I'll bet a lot of people applaud it, too.

Trump: "There has never been, ever before, an administration that’s been so open and transparent."

[JerryBaumchen 1,471]

1 hour ago, billvon said:

Trump: "There has never been, ever before, an administration that’s been so open and transparent."

Hi Biil,

Well, it has been very easy to see how incompetent this admin is.

Jerry Baumchen

[JerryBaumchen 1,471]

Hi folks,

Where is DOGE when we need it:  It said operating the island prison was nearly three times more expensive than any other federal prison at the time.

Trump says he'll reopen Alcatraz prison, closed in 1963 due to high costs : NPR

More crackpot ideas from the insane mind of Trump.

To upgrade Alcatraz, would take more time than Trump has to live.

And, that is nothing when compared to the costs.

So much winning.

Jerry Baumchen

[billvon 3,131]

1 hour ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Trump says he'll reopen Alcatraz prison, closed in 1963 due to high costs : NPR

Because a prison located in the SAN FRANCISCO BAY will end up being very cheap to run!

His next prison will be built in Central Park Manhattan, where the cost of living is even lower.

[thelivo 20]

I'm up for him re-opening Alcatraz, on the condition that is where they put him when his term is up.