Government Spending And Reduction Efforts

 

In 2023, major entitlement programs—Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, and other health care programs—consumed 50 percent of all federal spending. Soon, this spending will be larger than the portion of spending for all other priorities (such as national defense) combined. https://www.federalbudgetinpictures.com/where-does-all-the-money-go/

Making government more efficient and reducing costs are a laudable and should and is an ongoing effort.  But giving Musk the power to do it without careful thought or congressional oversight is no way to do it.

You need to do it carefully, with minimal disruption. Carefully considered reduction in force can work, but you first need to make sure that your remaining work force can do the job.  And a wise leader does not demoralize their work force with threats and uncertainty.  No way to run a railroad or a country.

The illustration above shows where the money is spent. Half of government spending is on social security and medicare. Most Americans have paid into these two programs all their lives, and expect to receive benefits from those programs when they get older. There are likely reductions in workforce that can be made, but you do it carefully, with a deep look at where efficiencies can be made. 

What you don't do is what Musk did to Twitter, where he bought a company, decimated the workforce, ruined their morale, and now runs a company that is worth much less than when he bought it, and is filled with "free" hate speach. 

Elon Musk’s X is worth nearly 80% less than when he bought it, Fidelity estimates.  https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/02/business/elon-musk-twitter-x-fidelity/index.html

Musk is a fascinating fellow.  He did a brilliant job with Tesla and his rocket company.  But he failed when he took over Twitter, a large and successful company. So the take on him that he is great when building a company, but terrible when he takes his talents to an existing organization.

And this is the fellow we have entrusted to improve our government.  SAD. Nuts.