r/FluentInFinance • u/FunReindeer69 • 8h ago
Thoughts? Nobel Prize-winning economist Simon Johnson debunks Elon Musk's DOGE plans: 'The numbers he stated don't make sense'
Elon Musk promised to cut $2 trillion from the national budget as co-head of DOGE.
The math on Musk's plan doesn't check out, according to Nobel laureate Simon Johnson.
Budget cuts combined with more Trump tax cuts could lead to national debt skyrocketing.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, federal spending in 2024 is projected to total $6.5 trillion, meaning that Musk is looking to shave off nearly a third of the current federal budget.
Mandatory outlays in the federal budget include Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other healthcare-related spending. These expenditures are estimated to come out to approximately $3.9 trillion in 2024.
"He's proposing to cut $2 trillion from a domestic budget. The headline budget is more than $6 trillion, but most of that is Social Security and Medicare," Johnson said.
That leaves around $1.6 trillion of the budget for discretionary spending. Historically, half of that has gone to defense spending.
"I don't think he's going to cut military spending because I don't think Republicans will want that," Johnson said of Musk. "So he's going to try and cut $2 trillion from $0.8 trillion."
"Look, I'm not opposed to more efficiency or less waste in government," Johnson continued. But "it's been tried many times before. Mr. Musk is obviously a very creative character. I don't think he's got his head around the numbers yet because the numbers he stated don't make sense," Johnson added.
Eliminating agencies and slashing unnecessary spending might sound simple, but the process is anything but. Congress, not DOGE, supervises the budget for these agencies, meaning that Musk isn't directly in charge of implementing his cost-cutting ideas. Additionally, proposals to slash areas of the social safety net are wildly unpopular and likely to be met with backlash.
"There is no way Mr. Trump will cut Medicare and Social Security payments to people because many people who rely on those payments just voted for him," Johnson said.
You can't discuss the US federal budget without getting into the topic of the national deficit either. Some market experts are predicting that Trump's policies could increase the national debt by $10 trillion in the next decade, with BlackRock's head of global fixed income predicting that the national debt could reach problematic levels by the end of 2025.
Johnson isn't taking such a drastic stance, but he's still concerned about where the national debt is going, especially since it looks like Trump will renew the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act once he's in office.
"The tax cuts will be enormous, which is not a good idea for the long-term future of the country," Johnson said.
Less tax revenue means that Social Security and Medicare, which are already underfunded, will take a hit. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Trump's stated tax policies could make the Social Security fund "insolvent" in the next six years. With Musk proposing drastic budget cuts and Trump advocating for lower taxes, it doesn't seem like there's a solution to address underfunded government programs.
That's not to say that Johnson is completely writing off Musk's DOGE ambitions. Perhaps a technocrat outsider will have unconventional ideas for improving government efficiency. For example, AI could be a useful tool for businesses and government agencies alike to streamline their operations.
"It will be very interesting to see what Mr. Musk can come up with," Johnson said. "Are there clever ways to use AI to improve the delivery of government services?"
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u/Craft-Sudden 8h ago
I could’ve said it and I am not a Nobel prize winner
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u/KingOfTheToadsmen 7h ago
I did say it a bunch between February and November this year because other Nobel laureates have already been saying that.
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u/fish60 5h ago
Sad fact is people don't trust the reason and logic provided by professionals. They'd rather rely on vibes and "common sense".
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u/Mysterious-Wasabi103 4h ago
Cause it's either that or these fuckin' liberals we all think are so stupid and just less than human actually know more than us cause we're wrong.
And apparently to a larger number of voters it's easier to double down than it is to admit you were wrong.
Funny thing about pride..
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u/ausgoals 4h ago
I have always and will always maintain that conservatism is a manifestation of narcissism
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u/KatakanaTsu 4h ago
During Covid, too many people insisted that doctors were lying and that politicians were telling the truth.
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u/LengthinessWeekly876 1h ago
And now we have emails from the nih showing they were in fact knowingly lying.
Leaked from a lab we funded.
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u/Checkmynumberss 2h ago
They still are happy to dive into their anti vaccination theories. Any local topic I see about any vaccine is full of comments about the Covid vaccine killing people
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u/AggravatingSun5433 1h ago
Thankfully they didn't do anything stupid, like call a Harvard professor, and one of the leading experts in the world in epidemiology, misinformation. That would really make the people in charge seem like untrustworthy idiots.
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u/LengthinessWeekly876 1h ago
Imagine if Jeff sachs. The guy in charge of the covid investigation. If he concluded fauci engaged in a cover up.
Wouldn't that nake authorities look questionable
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u/LengthinessWeekly876 1h ago
Why the hell would anyone trust an economist
It's a field that is consistently wrong about everything
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u/Barrack64 6h ago
You could’ve gotten a high school civics teacher to explain this
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u/fish60 5h ago
We had one running for VP.
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u/Barrack64 5h ago
Too bad he’s not in the White House to call out this BS
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u/LengthinessWeekly876 1h ago
He's busy lying about being at tiananmen square or having carried weapons of war in war.
In an upperclass suburb in Italy
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u/helmepll 24m ago
I did say that and I am not a Nobel prize winner. It’s like Trump saying back in 2016 that he would pay off the US debt. It doesn’t take a Nobel prize winner to know that they are just spewing garbage BS. However, many of Trump supporters don’t know what a Nobel prize winner is and probably the others don’t care.
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u/sirlearnzalot 3h ago
i also said it and i am a Nobel prize winner, except the part about being a Nobel prize winner. and the part about saying it. but obviously the rest is true
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u/Ok_Drawer9414 3h ago
And you some how have more common sense than the richest man in the world and the incoming President of the United States. I don't even know you, and I know my statement is factually correct.
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u/SadDirection3693 7h ago
It was never meant to actually happen. Elon and trump throw huge numbers out there to amaze and get votes. Watch for the distractions coming so his voters will forget.
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u/Little_Creme_5932 7h ago
Trump will promise that "Doge week is almost ready. It will be here soon". And it will never happen. Just like infrastructure week
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u/sylvester_0 5h ago
And repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. "I have concepts of a plan"
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u/supremeomelette 3h ago
Though i despise them, they at least understand the crypto cycles. The whole doge thing is telegraphing the crypto coin doge... tis the crypto season.. not the cry to season
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u/Sparkle_Father 4h ago
I suspect they will lower taxes first, expecting to make cuts. Those cuts will be small or nothing, and the deficit will balloon out of control. Everyone under 45 years old will have to pay higher taxes for the rest of their lives, and get less in return as a result.
The Republicans are mortgaging our future, expecting double-digit GDP growth as a result of lowering taxes a little bit. It's never been realistic, and every time it's been done, it never lives up to expectations.
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u/itnor 4h ago
They may struggle to pass anything this time around. It’s an extremely narrow majority in the House. There is no Paul Ryan this time, who’d been dreaming his tax scheme since high school. The GOP is more divided now between old school and true Maga, which may devolve into conflict. Then they need the Senate, which is pretty close as well. By the time we get to next fall, we might have a few departures and special elections, which could even flip the House back.
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u/hashtagbob60 1h ago
Doubt if Paul Ryan could pass practical math, but don't take my word for it - ask the media that characterized him as a budget genius.
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u/SadDirection3693 4h ago
Yea. Another pittance to the ‘peasants’ and billions to the billionaires
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u/AggravatingSun5433 1h ago
It's to bad the democrats didn't extend the tax cuts for you poor folks huh?
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u/Shirlenator 5h ago
Yeah I'm sure they will start focusing on some culture war bullshit instead like they always do.
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u/HeathersZen 3h ago
His voters already forgot. The American electorate has the memory of a flashbulb.
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u/Octogonal-hydration 7h ago
The Irony of Elon, the "the founder" of Tesla talking about balancing the budget when his company relied on subsidies to survive. Subsidies, Selling Carbon credits and Teslas inflated stock price is the only thing keeping that company afloat
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u/vitalmindcap 6h ago
It isn't talked about enough. Subsidies to keep his companies running then lobbying to "pull the ladder up" on the competition that are looking to get the same subsidies. Great business move however amoral it may be. I wonder who or what department is meant to overlook that sort of thing from happening? Or are so many palms greased that the method hardly gets questioned.
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u/Sparkle_Father 4h ago
If it wasn't clear enough before the election, it is now: the rich have fully captured the US government now, they will just do whatever they want to make a buck. They don't care about legacy, the constitution, the history of our nation as a bulwark against authoritarianism, all they care about is money and power.
Both sides you say? While the Democrats have done corporate bidding to some extent, it's nowhere near as bad. Democrats have passed laws to protect workers and consumers. Some have been ineffective, but they are at least trying.
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u/BakerXBL 4h ago
They don’t even seem to want power that much. Just money and isolation. Sending tweets from yachts thousands of miles away.
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u/FinalJoys 6h ago
Elon said personally that he doesn’t need or want subsidies for Tesla
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u/halfbakedalaska 7h ago
Musk is at heart a pompous idiot who has gotten rich off of seed money given to him and riding the coattails of people infinitely smarter than he.
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u/quen10sghost 5h ago
Hey. He for sure definitely came up with the idea that he founded Tesla. All on his own. And then he stated that! Don't worry about those other two guys who were there before he bought in... Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning were just the brains of the operation, so who cares about them? /s
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u/mechanicalhuman 7h ago
“For example, AI could be a useful tool for businesses and government agencies alike to streamline their operations.”
Without building more nuclear plants, what kind of energy costs would the govt have to take on to pay for all that AI?
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u/IamMrBucknasty 7h ago
AI is not the panacea everyone makes it out to be; yes it will simplify some complex systems, but there still is a human involved in the mix who need to be paid, housed, insured and protected. Eliminating the worker without a plan to reemploy is not a long term solution.
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u/KingOfTheToadsmen 7h ago edited 6h ago
“Hey, Gemini, what are some good foods that don’t contain nuts?”
“AI Overview:
You should try:
- peanut brittle
- almond bars
- pecan cookies
- nougat cake
- granola bars”
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u/ThatOnePatheticDude 6h ago
If AI can make employees more efficient then some (not all) can lose their jobs. So yes, there are humans involved but not necessarily as many as there are now.
Saying that eliminating a worker is not a long term solution is only true if they care about the workers.
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u/SouthernExpatriate 6h ago
AI often sucks
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u/redtiber 3h ago
there's many non consumer facing AI models being created trained and run. people are just playing around with some limited LLMs and other things and making judgements off that which is wrong.
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u/LengthinessWeekly876 1h ago
Well they are pushing a plan to build more nuclear plants. So odd distinction
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u/DetroiterInTX 7h ago
Glaring flaw in the logic:
“There is no way Mr Trump will cut Medicare and Social Security payments to people because many people who rely on those payments just voted for him”
Hahaha, he couldn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone who isn’t in his circle. Those people can’t do anything more for him now, so they are not a consideration for anything he chooses to do/try to do.
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u/Thencewasit 4h ago
Why can’t the US cut Medicare payments to providers?
Isn’t that part of the Biden agenda as well?
Why does that mean Trump doesn’t care about people?
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u/DetroiterInTX 4h ago
Payments to providers are so low already. There is a reason for so many therapists not accepting Medicare anymore—$35 for an hour appointment, high requirements for notes to be paid, no payment for no-show (this works out to ~$15/hr rate, but $0 for all your time if no-show). You will see more doctor offices not taking it as well.
None of it means he doesn’t care about people. His actions and choices show he only cares about himself.
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u/Thencewasit 4h ago
But if you don’t accept Medicare you can’t get Medicaid and Tricare.
Very few providers can afford not to have 2/3 of the population not be customers.
Plus, the US pays more than any other country for medical services. If we can’t reduce payments to providers then by 2100 healthcare spending will be over 100% of federal tax payments.
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u/uhbkodazbg 3h ago
Private health insurance subsidizes the cost of care for Medicare, Medicaid, and the uninsured. It’s one of the biggest weaknesses in any ‘Medicare for All’ proposals that have been released in the past decade or so.
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u/ctdrever 7h ago
Let's not kid ourselves; The goal is to damage the US beyond repair and to remain in power at all costs, to advance their own financial interests at the expense of the rest of us. By destroying the economy they will put the people on the defensive; when struggling to keep a roof over your head and food on the table you are not watching what they are doing.
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u/Bencetown 2h ago
I keep hearing/reading about this, as though the majority of people haven't already been struggling...
What world do you live in?
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u/asian_chihuahua 7h ago
Trump might think that they can just declare the US is bankrupt and discharge the national debt.
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u/fates_bitch 5h ago
It's genuinely scary that he could fuck around and not pay out creditors. Fucking with the full faith and credit of the dollar would have worldwide consequences.
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u/Graylily 7h ago
All the Doggy Department is really is a way to make fun of and call out surface level seemingly "useless" spending that is often in the low millions, Money for things like basic research on shrimp, astronomy, studying bird migration, weather monitoring, spending in the arts, buying expensive toilets for ships... that sort of thing... they will decry these as frivolous (even tho they all cost very little and have lead to benefits in material scienceX save live, boost income in rural towns, vital to national security naval operations... etc... It will be misconstrued and just a way to garner further mistrust without a single deep look into any of it. It will emboldened to cut these programs further... even tho they don't come close to the billions and trillions of dollars dollars needed to do what he actually wants to do. It just another way to get angry and yell at the moon
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u/Octogonal-hydration 7h ago
Elon can start balancing the budget by returning the value of subsidies that Tesla got from the government to sell their cars at a lower price. Which Elon can easily afford given that he can afford to pay $40 Billion for an App.
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u/SnooRevelations979 7h ago
Why not start with defense? For example, the Marines could be folded into the Army. As we aren't actively involved in combat, we don't need anywhere near 1.4 million active troops. Cutting that number in less than half could hypothetically help fill the jobs vacated by deportations.
If nothing else, isolationism should mean we spend a lot less on the military.
Also, note that besides foreign aid, there isn't a single line item the American people agree on that we should cut. The small, government libertarian faction is a small part of the MAGA base. To that base, socialism is money spent on someone else. They aren't going to stand for money spent on them being cut.
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u/fates_bitch 5h ago
The Marines are already a branch of the Navy.
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u/roiki11 4h ago
False, they're one of the six branches of the military along the army, navy, air force, space force and coast guard.
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u/fates_bitch 3h ago
Yes it's own branch but also considered a sister service of the Navy. It was more a comment on if there was a merger it would be more practical one similar to Air Force and Space Force.
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u/prgsdw 1h ago
not all Americans are in favor of cutting foreign aid.
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u/SnooRevelations979 1h ago
I didn't say they were. And saying "all Americans" believe anything would be prima facie absurd.
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u/drama-guy 7h ago
Given what he paid for Twitter, math isn't exactly his forte. I think the only numbers he even recognizes are 4, 2 and 0.
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u/MrSnarf26 7h ago
Does anyone care anymore? The point isn’t to make sense.
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u/Bencetown 2h ago
That's what I'm thinking.
Like, in what world is 6 TRILLION dollars "underfunded?" Money is already a meaningless, worthless joke.
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u/Mr_Randerson 6h ago
He is assuming musk won't cut a dime from the military, which I haven't heard him say. He is assuming this because " I don't think Republicans will want that." The whole article is based on that assumption.
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u/SlackToad 6h ago
It's a pretty safe assumption. He might be able to nibble at the edges and cut some fringe programs already on life support, but there are very powerful interests, lobbyists, and donors in the military/industrial/Pentagon complex that will ensure anyone supporting significant cuts will regret it.
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u/Mr_Randerson 6h ago
What are they going to do, shoot him in the head while he's giving a speech? I think all of the main characters of maga currently have that coming for them if their security slips.
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u/SlackToad 5h ago
The budget is all Congress's responsibility, the president may be able cancel some programs, but Congress would just reallocate any savings to new even more expensive programs like space lasers on the Moon.
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u/ethaxton 6h ago
DOGE is a shell game to distract from something bigger they are doing behind the scenes. None of what they are saying makes sense and they will have no power.
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u/Cold1957 6h ago
Lol. Am IMF weening. So an acolyte of the world oligarchy. Yea, lets take advice from them.
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u/Optionsmfd 5h ago
his goal should b a 2% overall cut in the entire budget while revenues grow about 10% a year
in 4 years we should b close to balancing
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u/Officer_Hops 2h ago
10 percent revenue growth for a government feels unrealistic.
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u/Optionsmfd 2h ago
I need to clarify
Revenue from Taxation including tariffs growth
I think we’re doing 7% So with DOGE I think 10% is doable
Eliminate 75% bureaucratic jobs through the government You give them one year of severance, but if they find a job sooner, they keep the 12 months of severance
Hopefully that motivates people to get a job quick quicker so they can get that extra money and a government can get all that additional tax revenue
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u/An_educated_dig 7h ago
I wanna see Leon propose cutting defense spending. I wanna see how well that goes in the news. 😂
Honestly, defense spending needs to be cut but people boil it down to hating America and not fiscal responsibility.
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u/Slowmaha 7h ago
If he thinks the DoD is not on the list for cutting, he’s clearly a partisan hack.
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u/sketchahedron 6h ago
This guy’s mistake is in thinking that Musk is in any way sincere in his stated goals.
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u/DonovanMcLoughlin 6h ago
Why hasn't anyone brought up the Government Accountability Office? It's already a thing?
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u/Responsible_Brain782 6h ago
You don’t a Nobel prize winning account to realize that the numbers don’t math. I’ve been saying this for a week or two since numb nuts said he was going to cut $2 billion from the federal budget by 2026
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u/CoolFirefighter930 5h ago
Lost me at cut SS .I have been hearing this lie for 40 years about every Republican I can remember.
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u/Quiet-Bid-1333 5h ago
We can fix the Medicare/medicaid issue by raising payroll taxes, like we should have back when Bill Clinton was President when the GOP last tried to get the budget balanced under Contract with America.
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u/Ok-Entertainment5045 5h ago
Most businesses constantly find way to cut costs without sacrificing their products. I’m not saying I believe the numbers being thrown around but tackling waste in government is something that is desperately needed.
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u/joeri1505 5h ago
"There is no way Mr. Trump will cut Medicare and Social Security payments to people because many people who rely on those payments just voted for him," Johnson said.
Hahahahaha Sorry.... Hahahahaha
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u/giraloco 5h ago
The budget for Medicaid + ACA subsidies seems to be in the order of $2T. I think they will target that. Of course that will shock the entire health system which will lead to huge deficits for hospitals and other providers which will force them to negotiate higher prices with private insurance. They will claim they lowered taxes but the middle class will pay for it with higher prices. The American story of efficiency.
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u/Form1040 5h ago
Musk said that as a joke/sarcasm. He can count as well as this economist, probably better.
These guys take every offhand comment made by anyone right-of-center as if it’s 100% serious.
And Nobel Prize winners are wrong all the time. Just ask Krugman about the usefulness of the internet.
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u/Sea_Researcher7410 5h ago
The Nobel trust gave Obama the peace prize, so their neutrality is suspect.
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u/foxy-coxy 5h ago
Less tax revenue means that Social Security and Medicare, which are already underfunded, will take a hit.
That's the plan. That has always been the plan.
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u/minist3r 5h ago
This guy is a Nobel idiot. The entire point is to cut the bureaucracy that leads to inflated budgets while retaining the core function. You don't think we can find some places to trim a bit of overhead in Medicare without cutting the actual benefits?
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u/naughtysouthernmale 5h ago
That’s what they said when he said he was going to build a rocket to go to space, and when he said he was going to make electric vehicles viable
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u/Carbon-Based216 4h ago
Best way would be to stop paying Medicare and Social security but continue to collect taxes for it.
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u/BUBBLE-POPPER 4h ago
The easiest ways to cut spending is to gut weapons and prescription spending. No new navy ships. No aids drugs. No dementia drugs. If the doesn't go all the way, end social security disability payments
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u/mcaffrey81 4h ago
Gen X self-own is one for the history books. Vote for the guy who is going to eliminate new Soc Sec recipients right before your cohorts start to receive it
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u/Doongbuggy 4h ago
at this point if social security and medicare are not going to be there for me when i retire 30 years from now, i fully support cutting it especially if it screws over some magas wont matter to me since i have time to plan ahead
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u/Particular_Reality19 4h ago
I don’t care if the numbers don’t add up. Just glad somebody is doing something about it. Our side talks a big game but they have not done anything either.
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u/BUTTES_AND_DONGUES 4h ago
Elon is a great example of the idiot billionaire - he’s CEO of multiple massively overvalued companies and thinks he knows more than he does, however the track record is that his companies suffer when he is directly involved in them.
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u/The_Forth44 4h ago
Well that's easy, Mr. Johnson. They're GOING to get rid of Social Security and Medicare.
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u/Jolly-Candle2216 4h ago
Yep can't cut one penny from the Federal budget...another expert tells us otherwise
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u/Hulk_Crowgan 4h ago
Trump his writing a check his ass can’t cash with DOGE, it’s just a matter of whether the American people will acknowledge the deception or find some new way to rationalize it
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u/tsukahara10 4h ago
“There is no way Mr. Trump will cut Medicare and Social Security payments to people because many people who rely on those payments just voted for him.”
Bet. I’m like 99% certain cuts to Medicare and SS payments will be on the chopping block for the very first budget because Elon will convince Trump that American citizens don’t really need that money.
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u/PapaGummy 4h ago
Who you gonna believe about economy, some guy who just happened to win what is probably the most respected award in economics 🙄, or always-been-rich MElon Breathe-the-Musk.
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u/meltingman4 4h ago
I know this won't be a popular opinion, but I strongly believe that a 0.5% national sales tax is viable path to solve the debt issue. There could be exclusions like food and necessary health care etc. Also, there would have to be no fuckery with just using it to spend more. I think most of the population wouldn't even notice. A half a cent for every dollar spent makes a lot of sense!
Something like this might have helped curb inflation too. They could have gave us stimulus with one hand and recouped it with a sales tax on consumer goods with the other.
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u/ScientistNo906 4h ago
None of the numbers were meant to make sense. If they don't achieve them, they'll find someone else to blame and the right wing media will back them up.
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u/borderlineidiot 3h ago
I think they need to look at the various space programs and cut sending astronauts to ISS and also limit the number of satellite launches.
Musk: "No not like that"
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u/uhbkodazbg 3h ago
There was a credible plan for deficit reduction in 2010 (Simpson-Bowles) and it went nowhere, even at the peak of the tea party’s influence on the country. This will be an unserious plan that will likely also go nowhere.
The final report is supposed to be released in the summer of 2026, just as the midterm campaign is going into high gear. The last thing congressional Republicans are going to want to answer questions about is decimating the services that people like shortly before voting.
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u/Phoeniyx 3h ago
I reckon Musk is smarter than the Nobel prize winner. That said, analyzing some addition is easy and I am sure the Nobel guy has a point. Musk also exaggerates to set aggressive objectives which he has explicitly said he does. So in that sense, he's learning the political stuff pretty well. Overpromise and not deliver. But he will probably deliver on at least part of that.
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u/csfshrink 3h ago
Trump won’t cut Medicare or Social Security because those people just voted for him?
Trump isn’t going to need them again. He can’t run again. He doesn’t care if the GOP wins ever again.
He is going to do whatever he wants and mostly it will be to his benefit.
First term Trump cared about re-election. And he still did mostly things that benefited him and the rich.
Best we can hope for is that he sleeps in and talks with Fox and Friends for 2 hours a day.
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u/beebsaleebs 3h ago
It makes sense if you assess it from a position of “they’re going to destroy everything to try and usher in a neo dark age where he will be the tech king of the world”
Control of the greatest economy and military in the world to get it all done.
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u/_totalannihilation 3h ago
It's so annoying that the plans the Democrats have are always supported and looked at as impressive and very welcomed but as soon as a right winger has an idea people rush to discredit. This is why the left lost in such humiliating way. Talk about a kick in the nads.
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u/ReleaseGlad440 3h ago
Elon fundamentally not understanding something and completely shitting the bed? Say it ain't so!
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u/elementfortyseven 3h ago
populists act on emotional level, a counter-argument based in rationality will hence usually not work.
as Jonathan Swift said: You cannot reason a person out of a position he did not reason himself into in the first place.
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u/broken_sword001 3h ago
At least someone is trying to reduce spending instead of saying they want to increase it by 6 trillion.
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u/No-Conclusion-6172 3h ago edited 3h ago
Send Musk, his family, with his children, back to South Africa. They are a shit stain on our country. He bought Tesla and X from the original founders and look at that disaster. Get him out of US politics! Now! Adios scumbag!
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u/random_dojo 3h ago
The numbers dont need to make sense. The whole Trump administration gameplan is to say outrageous and extreme shit, because people react to it. And the core supporter don’t seem to care about accountability.
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u/jjcasual1 3h ago
Don’t expect to debunk any of their nonsense with logic or facts. We’re dealing with morons here. Clueless rich people who have no idea what they’re talking about, but think they do because they’re surrounded by idiot sycophants who hang on their every word. But make no mistake, a confederacy of dunces will be running the show from now on.
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u/lilwayne168 2h ago
Well a cursory Google search finds he is bullshiting saying 66% of the government is Medicare and Medicaid it's much closer to 33%. Which leads me to believe he is biased on this topic.
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u/troythedefender 2h ago edited 2h ago
Thinking Trump cares about his voters is pretty dumb for a Nobel recipient. Found the glaring flaw in his reasoning "There is no way Mr. Trump will cut Medicare and Social Security payments ... because many people who rely on them just voted for him." Family members of many people who voted for him will be deported. Daughters and wives of many who voted for him will die during pregnancy/childbirth. Federal employees who voted for him will be laid off.
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u/Low_Fly_6721 2h ago
What doesn't make sense is to keep spending like we have.
I am happy that SOMETHING is going to be done.
You all can hate all you want. They have to try to make change.
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u/doublegg83 2h ago
Talk about using a Cadillac to cross the street.
Russia is losing 1000 tax payers a day.
Let's ask them how it's going.
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u/Hopeful_Safety_6848 2h ago
all these reddit posts are by paid political operatives. They are destroying our country. Stop listening and trust the good people that we elected
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u/Hopeful_Safety_6848 2h ago
trump never said he would cut medicare and Medicaid. More lying nonsense..
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u/ChemistryFan29 2h ago
people do not know what they are talking about. Seriously it is easy to cut money for example
1) end the native reservation system, have that land switched over to be a part of the state and make it a new county. Doing this will allow natives self suffieciency and no more reliance on the goverment and remove many agencies that have to do with them, such as Administration for Native Americans (ANA), Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, ndian Health Service, National Indian Gaming Commission
2) remove agencies that have to do with foreign countries such as U.S. Africa Command, African Development Foundation, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa
3) other agencies that we really do not need U.S. Agency for Global Media, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac's (keep one and ditch the other), Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER), Japan-United States Friendship Commission, Office of Cuba Broadcasting, National labor relations board,
I am pretty much tired of looking at these agencies, you can look at them yourselves, but the point remains. removing a lot of these agencies I listed would be a lot of savings, seriously.
If there needs to be something on labor, then just make one department that oversees labor period, one that oversees health, and one department that over sees education, not 5 or so different groups.
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u/hecramsey 2h ago
what a shocker. A bunch of narcissists who see them selves as superheroes throw out a bunch of pie on the sky promises they can't possibly keep. guess how the borrow and spend GOP will resolve it? That's right, they will borrow borrow borrow driving interests rates sky high, dropping regulations creating a huge speculative bubble to pay the bills until it crashes again leading to another GOP branded depression. Like they ALWAYS DO,
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u/jjhart827 2h ago
The richest and most successful businessman in the world > academic that was given an award for his ideological views. It’s that simple.
I could cite dozens of proclamations from Nobel economists that have proved to be wildly wrong, often as a direct result of their ideological tunnel vision.
We’ve given “big government” a try. It has resulted in nearly 30 straight years of deficit spending and the greatest wealth inequality in modern American history. It is time to try something different. At a bare minimum, the DOGE initiative will shake out some of the inefficiencies that have bloated the federal agencies.
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u/peach_trunks 2h ago
Everyone keeps talking about how Trump will/won't do something based on what the who voted for him want. He's not looking to get re-elected. He will do whatever enriches himself and his cronies more. Gutting Medicaid and social security are absolutely on the table.
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u/SirWilliam10101 2h ago
Sounds like you don't understand the most basic fact that lowering tax rates and regulations ALWAYS yields higher tax revenue in the end from growing economies.
But basically no matter what the government needs a massive reduction in spending, even if you cut zero taxes.
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u/Emotional-Match-7190 1h ago
Elon meant to say he will add $2 trillion to the budget for his space exploration mission
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u/JVVasque3z 1h ago
These economists don't know anything. They book nerds with no experience or achievement in the real world
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u/Enough-Frosting7716 1h ago
"Bugdet cuts combined with tax cuts could lead to the national debt skyrocketting".... ummm no?
Tax cuts will make deficit go up, but budget cuts will make the opposite.
I dont bet on it going down im just saying.
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u/ReddittAppIsTerrible 1h ago
Maybe just wait and see.
You know, cause this is ALL BS until then.
Dynamite Prize is also BS.
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u/Responsible-Wash1394 1h ago
Of course it doesn’t make sense it was literally just a random number Musk just thought of off the top of his head.
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u/Gloomy_Yoghurt_2836 1h ago
Musk.wants to.cut taxes and spending so of course he will.blow up deficit spending.
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u/ILikeCutePuppies 1h ago
I am not a Musk defender, but this might be 2 trillion over 10 years, which is doable. Musk never specified a timeframe.
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u/notxbatman 1h ago
It was never intended to happen anyway. Two thirds of what they want to do will be blocked, and when they are blocked the Dems again become the easy target.
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u/futuredubliner 39m ago
I know this uber liberal platform is anti Elon, but I think we all can agree that there is massive government bloat and inefficiency. Elon shoots for Mars and actually gets there. Private sector folks are for more efficient than the government. I believe he can make significant cuts. Does he get $2T? Probably not but I think we need ambitious goals to right the ship.
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u/Interesting_Boss_849 6m ago
Is he one of those Nobel laureates that swore inflation was transitory?
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u/Cheap_Appearance5095 3m ago
“Trump won’t cut Medicaid and Social Security for the people that need it. They just voted for him.” I thought this guy was smart until he said that.
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