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I have always believed in the adage that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Agencies like USAID have been piggy banks for politicians pork pr

I have always believed in the adage that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Agencies like USAID have been piggy banks for politicians pork projects and causes forever. I've been in public policy in Washington, DC> for 22 years. We know there is rampant fraud in the government, we know there is highly questionable spending, but we don't talk about it because nobody wants to upset a member of congress. Members of congress don't talk about it generally because of my aforementioned adage. Everyone benefits. It really takes the President and the administration to bring this stuff to light, you simply cannot depend on congers or the bureaucracy. Nobody wants to lose their jobs or get hammered down for making a stink.

vannevar 2y ago
>We know there is rampant fraud in the government, we know there is highly questionable spending, but we don't talk about it because nobody wants to upset a member of congress. People talk about it all the time. And one man's 'fraud' is another man's policy initiative. It's easy to throw the F-word around to label any policy you don't like. And it's especially easy to handwave that there's "fraud everywhere" and use that as an excuse to loot the government yourself. You think there's "rampant fraud"? Put up or shut up, no one trusts your anonymous opinion. If there's actual fraud, Musk should be able to show evidence of it and bring charges against the perpetrators. The President doesn't get to just point at someone and yell "fraud" and make it so. Particularly this President, hawking memecoin scams and $60 made-in-China "American" Bibles as a side hustle.
EnergyAmy 2y ago
Musk is looting the government for personal gain as part of a coup. What is happening right now is bad, full stop. You can advocate for more transparency and tamping down on corruption, but this is not how you do that.
cbradford 2y ago
Absolutely correct. The only reason to resists transparency and accountability is if you have something to hide. The american public is smart enough to know that you don't make a $200,000 per year salary and amass a wealth of multi millions. It was a fun ride for the inside while it lasted, its time to move on now.
scientator 2y ago
We also know there's rampant fraud in the business world: Enron, WorldCom, Madoff, Lehman Brothers, S&L scandal, etc. etc. Now the billionaires are gutting the government's oversight ability. Business fraud will go through the roof. But I guess that's the plan.
throwworhtthrow 2y ago
I can't tell if you're speaking about presidential administrations in general or the current one in particular. Trump already had four years as president, and during that time he did not fight pork spending at all. Rather he personally siphoned many millions of American taxpayers' dollars by frequently bringing government staff to stay with him on his own resort properties.

vannevar 2y ago

>We know there is rampant fraud in the government, we know there is highly questionable spending, but we don't talk about it because nobody wants to upset a member of congress. People talk about it all the time. And one man's 'fraud' is another man's policy initiative. It's easy to throw the F-word around to label any policy you don't like. And it's especially easy to handwave that there's "fraud everywhere" and use that as an excuse to loot the government yourself. You think there's "rampant fraud"? Put up or shut up, no one trusts your anonymous opinion. If there's actual fraud, Musk should be able to show evidence of it and bring charges against the perpetrators. The President doesn't get to just point at someone and yell "fraud" and make it so. Particularly this President, hawking memecoin scams and $60 made-in-China "American" Bibles as a side hustle.

EnergyAmy 2y ago

Musk is looting the government for personal gain as part of a coup. What is happening right now is bad, full stop. You can advocate for more transparency and tamping down on corruption, but this is not how you do that.

cbradford 2y ago

Absolutely correct. The only reason to resists transparency and accountability is if you have something to hide. The american public is smart enough to know that you don't make a $200,000 per year salary and amass a wealth of multi millions. It was a fun ride for the inside while it lasted, its time to move on now.

scientator 2y ago

We also know there's rampant fraud in the business world: Enron, WorldCom, Madoff, Lehman Brothers, S&L scandal, etc. etc. Now the billionaires are gutting the government's oversight ability. Business fraud will go through the roof. But I guess that's the plan.

throwworhtthrow 2y ago

I can't tell if you're speaking about presidential administrations in general or the current one in particular. Trump already had four years as president, and during that time he did not fight pork spending at all. Rather he personally siphoned many millions of American taxpayers' dollars by frequently bringing government staff to stay with him on his own resort properties.