Cutting Layers of Bureaucracy, pt II

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Doge, waste, fraud, and abuse. That is what a fair
piece of the country is talking about today and has
been each year. We spend six trillion dollars take in
four trillion. Donald Trump won three hundred plus electoral votes
promising to go through that budget like buckshot through a
Christmas goose. Brought in serial entrepreneur financial whiz Elon Musk

(00:22):
to lead a team of successful business people to do
the chopping. To the amazement of millions of Americans, this
effort is getting political pushback. It's devolved into a partisan squabble,
with Democrats, who traditionally support big government handouts paid for
by big taxes, decrying the effort and accusing the financially

(00:42):
auste Republicans of having no heart, callously robbing the underserved
from life's necessities, regardless of their capacity to provide for themselves. Now,
when you ask skeptics which endangered programs cause you this anguish,
you get nothing. They cite none in particular, just a

(01:02):
general outrage at the executive branch. Why might that be, Well,
you decide if any of this is a connection, maybe some,
not all, of the Democrat's interest in preserving some of
these programs and their massive funding stops at the noble
like Minnesota Democrat Congresswoman Angie Craig. Her spouse, Cheryl, serves

(01:26):
as a director at the Human Rights Campaign and ngo
we learned about those yesterday deeply invested in left wing
political and social advocacy. Or Democrat Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts,
his wife directs the South Boston Community Center, which gets
a lot of federal money to ensure Bostonians in need

(01:48):
are served. Overserved depends on if you're one of them.
Virginia Democrat Don Byer, whose wife Megan sits on the
board of directors of the Global Women's Leadership Initiative, a
federally funded NGO. How about Kinnisandra Jeffries, employed by Union
eleven ninety nine SEIU. It is an NGO providing money

(02:13):
and services to union employees and their families in New
York City. Her husband is House Minority Leader Hakeim Jeffries.
Steve Williamson of Seattle is executive director of the Essential
Workers for Democracy, an NGO that gets money from the
federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is a

(02:33):
storefront for big labor. Mister Williamson's wife is Promila Jayapaul, Democrat,
congresswoman from Washington, who is Labour's biggest champion on Capitol Hill.
But this kind of pillow talk isn't confined to the House.
Over in the Senate, Colorado Democrat Michael Bennett's wife, Susan,
is a board member for Smart Growth America, an NGO

(02:56):
that also benefits from federal housing projects. Sheldon Whitehouse Liberal
of Rhode Island, is a vocal critic of corporate influence,
while his wife Sandra is senior policy advisor to the
Ocean Conservancy, a big NGO getting money from the Green
New Deal. Now, factually none of this is illegal, but

(03:18):
could their unbending support for all of this be rooted
in self interest high paying jobs for their friends, family, cronies, contributors.
Ed Her Musk, who has begun a deep dive into
the financial relationships between members of Congress and the gigantic
NGO program in the federal government. He has been candid.

(03:40):
His research says many of these NGOs have become money
laundering operations for political corruption and cronyism, which leaves the
rest of us with an energized imagination. These federal dollars
appear to function less as charitable enterprises and more as
condom suits for political patronage. Musk's team is finding what

(04:04):
may well be funds directed to organizations only closely aligned
with Capitol Hill influence. Part of what may drive the
public sentiment in favor of DOGE is a lack of
trust confidence that the needs of the public with that
money is secondary to preserving these lucrative political arrangements for

(04:24):
members of Congress. Should taxpayer funds comprise a slush fund
for political dynasties. But if you truly want to regain
the trust of the voters, we must have reforms that
prevent family members from working in organizations that get tax money.
And that's what DOGE is seeking to do.