It all seems to add up to something big. On a daily, sometimes hourly, basis, Elon Musk claims that his team of fiscal commandos has found yet more government fraud, terminated another wasteful contract or even scrapped an entire agency. Mr Musk's supporters believe that, through tech wizardry and sheer willpower, he is slashing the federal deficit in a way that has eluded politicians for years. But this narrative has a glaring flaw: our review of official data shows that Mr Musk's efforts have scarcely made a dent in spending.
Every working day the Treasury publishes a statement detailing withdrawals of cash from its primary deposit account, providing the best high-frequency indicator of government spending. Since Donald Trump took office a little more than three weeks ago, outlays have averaged $30bn a day. Compare that with the same period last year under Joe Biden: federal spending back then came to about $26bn a day. Outflows from the Treasury have actually risen since January 28th, when Mr Musk first claimed his "Department of Government Efficiency", or DOGE, was saving the federal government $1bn a day. Looking at the bigger picture, the government's spending trajectory in the current fiscal year, which began in October, basically resembles that of the past two years.
!neolibs who could possibly have foreseen this????
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Gonna stop you right there cute twink. No politician in my lifetime has ever made even a half assed attempt to do what musk is doing with doge because they did not actually believe in reducing the size of the federal government.
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What a great deal!
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Elon lowers daily expenses compared to one month ago, somehow this is a failure because it isn't lowering of expenses to less than 365 days ago.
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I hope the axe wound develops an infection and causes all feds to die.
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Do you apply this same logic in other areas of your life? Do you try to move to a smaller house but pay the same rent? Do you always shop around for an older, shittier car that costs the same as a newer one?
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No because I am not a fed.
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