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DOGE Catch-All
- Thread starter nycfan
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Mulberry Heel
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Based on his past comments, he likely thinks that the vast majority of humanity doesn't deserve or need to survive some kind of apocalypse. Only people like him are worthy to survive, and with his billions he likely has some kind of doomsday survival plan in place for himself and some other uberwealthy white men and women. The guy is a Social Darwinist, pure and simple - he's superior and almost everyone is else is inferior. Sounds like a classic Bond movie villain, which is what he is.
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Why DOGE is struggling to find fraud in Social Security
Claims of massive problems by Elon Musk and President Trump are at odds with the agency’s audits and reports.GIFT LINK
—> https://wapo.st/41O5ZNm“… Musk’s intense focus on Social Security appears central to his promise to slash $2 trillion from the federal budget. The agency distributes $1.6 trillion in benefit payments each year, making up about 20 percent of all federal spending.
… But less than 1 percent of Social Security’s payments in recent years were determined to be improper — often the result of an accidental oversight or change in benefit status, according to a report last year by the agency’s inspector general. That works out to about $9 billion a year, and more than two-thirds of the mistaken payments were eventually clawed back. Another agency audit, which looked only at payments to retired workers, survivors and people with disabilities, found fraud was listed as the cause behind just 3 percent of improper benefit payments.
Despite the flood of money flowing through it, Social Security didn’t make a 2024 list by the General Accounting Office, the legislative branch’s nonpartisan watchdog, detailing the 16 agencies with improper payment rates of at least 10 percent. That report further found that 80 percent of all improper payments were due to just five government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid — but not Social Security.
… Social Security is among the most scrutinized and audited agencies in government, with frequent probes by its 500-person Office of Inspector General. It pays outside auditors to examine its books. Congress grills agency officials. Last year, a major focus in congressional hearings led by the GOP wasn’t waste or fraud — it was about Social Security being too aggressive in clawing back accidental benefit overpayments. …”
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I have 30 ish young friend who suffers from a variety of MH issues He has finally found a group home type setting-on a farm . Has been doing Okay about 11 mths a year.
He recieves his Meds in the mail prepacked, daily doses etc. Helps him "do it right"
His mother told us just now that the firm that does this has been "defunded" by the DOGE fucks . Very sad. This literally could screw up his life-it has been a struggle for years-but he stays out if the Hospital 11 mths year
He recieves his Meds in the mail prepacked, daily doses etc. Helps him "do it right"
His mother told us just now that the firm that does this has been "defunded" by the DOGE fucks . Very sad. This literally could screw up his life-it has been a struggle for years-but he stays out if the Hospital 11 mths year
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ChileG
Iconic Member
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Any Trump voters here willing to go ahead and admit they made a terrible mistake?
MOUNTAINH33L
Esteemed Member
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Musk is offering $100 to every person that signs a petition against a judge. Is that legal? I suppose it is since a public petition is useless in a court of law.
superrific
Legend of ZZL
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Probably not, but it would be a question of Wisconsin state law. A law that would be decided by . . . the judge Elon is running against. LOL.
I have trouble believing this judicial race will be close. The MAGAs are dispirited and loyal only to Trump.
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I'm hopeful Wisconsites will be incensed over this hijacking and attempted purchase of their election and angrily vote against Musk.
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Ron Johnson says hello, I keep getting elected to the Senate by Wisconsinites! Can you believe it?
superrific
Legend of ZZL
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Yeah he barely barely won against a black guy whose skin they darkened in ads, and that was in a good environment for him.
Depending on how bad the economy gets -- not to mention all the other confusion -- 2026 and 2028 are, I think, going to be wakeup calls for the GOP. Especially in the north. I cannot imagine anyone in Wisconsin is happy about the Canada baiting.
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IRS Predicts DOGE Lost Half a Trillion Dollars for the USA
The Post reports today that the IRS’ internal projections estimate that the...
talkingpointsmemo.com
The Post reports today that the IRS’ internal projections estimate that the DOGE-driven disruptions to the IRS since the inauguration are on track to have reduced tax receipts by more than $500 billion by April 15th. This, to be clear, is not a final tally. It’s not April 15th yet. It’s a projection based on historical data, the number of people who’ve filed, paid owed amounts of tax, etc. It’s worth taking a moment to put this number into some context in case half a trillion dollars doesn’t do it for you. Non-defense discretionary spending is the cost to fund the U.S. government once you take out mandatory spending (mostly Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) and the cost of the U.S. military. For 2023 that number was $917 billion. So that’s most of the stuff we think of as the government, apart from those payment programs and the military. In other words, in about eight weeks DOGE managed to lose the U.S. government — more or less light on fire — more than half of what goes to all non-defense discretionary spending.
superrific
Legend of ZZL
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I don't believe this. The numbers seem implausibly large. I think this is the blue dye the administration is using to identify leaks.IRS Predicts DOGE Lost Half a Trillion Dollars for the USA
The Post reports today that the IRS’ internal projections estimate that the...talkingpointsmemo.com
The Post reports today that the IRS’ internal projections estimate that the DOGE-driven disruptions to the IRS since the inauguration are on track to have reduced tax receipts by more than $500 billion by April 15th. This, to be clear, is not a final tally. It’s not April 15th yet. It’s a projection based on historical data, the number of people who’ve filed, paid owed amounts of tax, etc. It’s worth taking a moment to put this number into some context in case half a trillion dollars doesn’t do it for you. Non-defense discretionary spending is the cost to fund the U.S. government once you take out mandatory spending (mostly Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) and the cost of the U.S. military. For 2023 that number was $917 billion. So that’s most of the stuff we think of as the government, apart from those payment programs and the military. In other words, in about eight weeks DOGE managed to lose the U.S. government — more or less light on fire — more than half of what goes to all non-defense discretionary spending.
I could see the IRS claiming that. They believe that the more manpower and budget they have, the better it is for the country. So, they would certainly be motivated to calculate the loss that way.
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Blue dye theory is interesting.
superrific
Legend of ZZL
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It's what I was thinking about the "Musk gets briefing on China war plans" and the appearance of this memo around the same time reinforces my intuition.
$500B is like 12% of national tax revenue, and 30% when you take out payroll taxes. I'm not sure how much of the remainder is collected through withholding, but it's surely the bulk of it. So maybe there's a pot of $1T in tax revenue that could be lost through non-collection, and 50% of it is going to vanish because of chaos at the IRS in one filing season? I don't buy it at all.
I would definitely buy the idea that some people will not pay taxes on more affirmative knowledge that the government won't come after them. Not necessarily a quid pro quo (though I wouldn't rule that out) so much as a policy of "we won't audit rich people." But how many people are going to have that knowledge, and how many of them would be willing to risk it? Statute of Limitations on tax fraud is, I think, 6 years though I don't know for sure. Might be longer.
Is Lebron James going to stop paying taxes because he thinks he wouldn't be audited? Fuck no. What about his money managers? I doubt very much that any sports money managers would be taking this "opportunity." Is Taylor Swift going to evade taxes? I would consider that very unlikely. What about hedge funds? They are absolutely going to pay their carried-interest taxes, because if they don't, they face the prospect of Congress getting rid of the carried interest loophole entirely.
Would hedge funds dance on the edge of compliance, knowing that some of their more esoteric strategies might not be looked at? Absolutely. But there's only so much income a person can shelter through dodges.
EyeballKid
Esteemed Member
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Sweet. I work on a contract with CDC about Long Covid.
I expect a stop work order tomorrow AM.
Awesome.