It is refreshing and encouraging to realize that there are individuals who have the capacity to reason, to think beyond what is proscribed. While I believe there are legitimate concerns to be considered, I am willing to suspend judgment in the hope that we are witnessing the start of a much needed "cleaning house" and "reforms." As this unfolds, we will gain a better understanding of some of the long-term implications. Hopefully de-militarization, increasing nuanced diplomacy and understanding of the concerns of others, a significant decrease in consumption, a significant increase in 're-localization' etc.
Deborah: Thank you for your good observations. We live in challenging times — a good part attributable to our own doing. As a religious person I believe that our gradual departure from Judeo-Christian standards is a major contributor to our travails.
Very thoughtful and well written column. We have a 2 trillion annual deficit and a 36+ trillion national debt. Substantial cuts in the civilian federal bureaucracy and substantial cuts in spending are reasonable actions to take.
I whole heartedly agree with you. They are too smart to show their hand early. After the last 4 + years of treasonous behavior patriots like myself are a little impatient.
I agree besides Elon’s 15 engineering “Point Guards” he needs to ad other competent people to his staff, scientists, engineers,doctors etc. to his staff to get a more rounded approach to understanding and presenting solutions to President Trump.
Also, while the announcements of the fraud and waste he and his staff are uncovering is eye opening, he needs to present more details for the public to understand and comprehend. Unless, the strategy is to keep that information close at hand until the time is right.
"Government should only do what only government can do."
— Abraham Lincoln
Broad brush: Read the Tenth Amendment and then eliminate everything for which there is not explicit Constitutional support. Start with the Departments of Labor, Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Agriculture. HHS is questionable but Social Security and Medicare are there, so legal or not we're stuck with them for quite a while. When politicians say they're protecting these they're really protecting Federal workers' union dues, that end up in their pockets and campaign coffers.
Eliminate public sector unions. FDR (!) opposed them, saying they result in two parties negotiating from the same side of the table against the absent taxpayers.
The Constitution authorizes "weights and measures" and interstate commerce, so the Commerce Department is legal. Why is there a separate Interstate Commerce Commission?
The Constitution authorizes "post roads" so the Department of Transportation is legal.
Treasury, Defense, State, Interior, Justice all appear to be legal. A case can be made that Veterans Affairs, HHS, and parts of Energy are related to Defense.
(1) Mark Z. Jacobson's Wind, Water, Solar dream cannot possible work. Stop all research, mandates, and subsidies for them. Hydrocarbons will eventually be depleted. In the long run, the only system that can work using presently-known technology is nuclear fission fueled by uranium and thorium. Maybe fusion will work eventually, but don't bet the entire economy on that "maybe."
(2) Currently operational reactors extract 0.6% of the energy immanent in uranium, and can't use thorium at all. To extract 100% of the energy from uranium and thorium, inherently-safe liquid metal-cooled fast-neutron breeder reactors are required. Reform NRC rules to make it easy to build designs such as GE/Hitachi PRISM.
(3) To extract all the energy from heavy metal, it is necessary to remove fission products, which have strong neutron absorption and therefore stop the fission reaction. The best way to do that is the pyroelectric method developed by Argonne and Idaho National Laboratories. Amend the Nuclear Waste Act to allow at least part of its $43 billion fund to be used for spent fuel processing. Then build a pilot industrial-scale plant with capacity at least 500 tonnes per year, to develop lessons-learned to apply to successors.
For a deep dive, read "Plentiful Energy" by Charles E. Till and Yoon Il Chang. For a gentler summary read Chapter 7 in my book "Where Will We Get Our Energy?"
Oh, and remind them that it is not their money. It is taxpayer money.. make welfare a temporary hand up and help not for life nor from generation to generation
Agreed "Be positive and offer assistance, ".... be proactive write; WH.GOV. It is imperative to watch and keep an eye on the daily happenings in our goverment...Apathy got America into lots of trouble.
Keep up the efforts. A grass roots look at medical conditions is done by the Baileys book The Final Pandemic. See the section on catching a cold! Virus proof is hard to come by etc.
Balancing the budget is kindergarten. We need to do more than that, we need to pay down the debt. Give us a plan to do that and then you’ll have my attention. Implement it and audit and document the results, now I’m impressed. it’s not impossible no matter how many times we’ve been told it is. We just need to get the lead out and do it. It will take some time, it takes commitment , we are able.
If we are serious about leaving our grandchildren a legacy worth leaving then we’ll buckle up and lean into it with God’s best covenant partnership working with us we can get her done. Quit being content with the status quo. Pick up the pace! This ship isn’t going to right itself. Let’s go!!!
Michael: Agreed. I had numerous suggestions that would ultimately involve getting the federal government into better financial shape, so that paying down the debt would be practical.
NIH, CDC, and the FDA should be decommissioned. There is little evidence that any of them do any good. If the FDA is kept, it should become a registry, where studies are placed, risks disclosed, and patients can log in, accept risks, and become able to purchase any drug the manufacturer is willing to sell. There can be plain English standards regarding the registry, both for producers, and consumers. The purchaser then assumes liability.
https://open.substack.com/pub/publicenlightenment/p/context-dems-cozy-up-to-palantir?r=2xd80&utm_medium=ios
It is refreshing and encouraging to realize that there are individuals who have the capacity to reason, to think beyond what is proscribed. While I believe there are legitimate concerns to be considered, I am willing to suspend judgment in the hope that we are witnessing the start of a much needed "cleaning house" and "reforms." As this unfolds, we will gain a better understanding of some of the long-term implications. Hopefully de-militarization, increasing nuanced diplomacy and understanding of the concerns of others, a significant decrease in consumption, a significant increase in 're-localization' etc.
Deborah: Thank you for your good observations. We live in challenging times — a good part attributable to our own doing. As a religious person I believe that our gradual departure from Judeo-Christian standards is a major contributor to our travails.
Very thoughtful and well written column. We have a 2 trillion annual deficit and a 36+ trillion national debt. Substantial cuts in the civilian federal bureaucracy and substantial cuts in spending are reasonable actions to take.
Peter: TY for reposting. Yes, there is so much federal waste — and so little real oversight — that the opportunities for DOGE are enormous.
I whole heartedly agree with you. They are too smart to show their hand early. After the last 4 + years of treasonous behavior patriots like myself are a little impatient.
Mark: It's only been a month, so chill!
Understood!!!!!
I agree besides Elon’s 15 engineering “Point Guards” he needs to ad other competent people to his staff, scientists, engineers,doctors etc. to his staff to get a more rounded approach to understanding and presenting solutions to President Trump.
Also, while the announcements of the fraud and waste he and his staff are uncovering is eye opening, he needs to present more details for the public to understand and comprehend. Unless, the strategy is to keep that information close at hand until the time is right.
Mark: I suspect that they are just piece-mealing out info, but are making a strong legal case.
"Government should only do what only government can do."
— Abraham Lincoln
Broad brush: Read the Tenth Amendment and then eliminate everything for which there is not explicit Constitutional support. Start with the Departments of Labor, Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Agriculture. HHS is questionable but Social Security and Medicare are there, so legal or not we're stuck with them for quite a while. When politicians say they're protecting these they're really protecting Federal workers' union dues, that end up in their pockets and campaign coffers.
Eliminate public sector unions. FDR (!) opposed them, saying they result in two parties negotiating from the same side of the table against the absent taxpayers.
The Constitution authorizes "weights and measures" and interstate commerce, so the Commerce Department is legal. Why is there a separate Interstate Commerce Commission?
The Constitution authorizes "post roads" so the Department of Transportation is legal.
Treasury, Defense, State, Interior, Justice all appear to be legal. A case can be made that Veterans Affairs, HHS, and parts of Energy are related to Defense.
Three points about DoE that DOGE could amplify:
(1) Mark Z. Jacobson's Wind, Water, Solar dream cannot possible work. Stop all research, mandates, and subsidies for them. Hydrocarbons will eventually be depleted. In the long run, the only system that can work using presently-known technology is nuclear fission fueled by uranium and thorium. Maybe fusion will work eventually, but don't bet the entire economy on that "maybe."
(2) Currently operational reactors extract 0.6% of the energy immanent in uranium, and can't use thorium at all. To extract 100% of the energy from uranium and thorium, inherently-safe liquid metal-cooled fast-neutron breeder reactors are required. Reform NRC rules to make it easy to build designs such as GE/Hitachi PRISM.
(3) To extract all the energy from heavy metal, it is necessary to remove fission products, which have strong neutron absorption and therefore stop the fission reaction. The best way to do that is the pyroelectric method developed by Argonne and Idaho National Laboratories. Amend the Nuclear Waste Act to allow at least part of its $43 billion fund to be used for spent fuel processing. Then build a pilot industrial-scale plant with capacity at least 500 tonnes per year, to develop lessons-learned to apply to successors.
For a deep dive, read "Plentiful Energy" by Charles E. Till and Yoon Il Chang. For a gentler summary read Chapter 7 in my book "Where Will We Get Our Energy?"
I already sent this summary to https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Oh, and remind them that it is not their money. It is taxpayer money.. make welfare a temporary hand up and help not for life nor from generation to generation
Audits every year..congress start doing their jobs as our selected trustees...follow the money all the way to the end.
Agreed "Be positive and offer assistance, ".... be proactive write; WH.GOV. It is imperative to watch and keep an eye on the daily happenings in our goverment...Apathy got America into lots of trouble.
Barbara: Indeed constructive and competent citizen input is essential for a successful America.
Keep up the efforts. A grass roots look at medical conditions is done by the Baileys book The Final Pandemic. See the section on catching a cold! Virus proof is hard to come by etc.
Larry: Agreed, but those matters fall under DHHS (RFKjr) not DOGE.
Balancing the budget is kindergarten. We need to do more than that, we need to pay down the debt. Give us a plan to do that and then you’ll have my attention. Implement it and audit and document the results, now I’m impressed. it’s not impossible no matter how many times we’ve been told it is. We just need to get the lead out and do it. It will take some time, it takes commitment , we are able.
If we are serious about leaving our grandchildren a legacy worth leaving then we’ll buckle up and lean into it with God’s best covenant partnership working with us we can get her done. Quit being content with the status quo. Pick up the pace! This ship isn’t going to right itself. Let’s go!!!
Thanks.
Michael: Agreed. I had numerous suggestions that would ultimately involve getting the federal government into better financial shape, so that paying down the debt would be practical.
NIH, CDC, and the FDA should be decommissioned. There is little evidence that any of them do any good. If the FDA is kept, it should become a registry, where studies are placed, risks disclosed, and patients can log in, accept risks, and become able to purchase any drug the manufacturer is willing to sell. There can be plain English standards regarding the registry, both for producers, and consumers. The purchaser then assumes liability.
John,
Several very good ideas.
I would add:
all legislation deals with a single issue (no omnibus bills)
all legislation minimizes bureaucratic discretion (minimize "the Secretary shall ...)
legislatively BAN "sue and settle"
Ed: TTY. I added the provision about no Omnibus bills...
...and one more.
Don't think about rebates. Balance the budget and reduce the national debt first.