MY TURN: Fear, anxiety and fury
Eventually, after requesting from Sen. Mike Crapo and Sen. Jim Risch their personal assurances that my financial information, residing within the purview of the U.S. Treasury, would be protected from the likes of Elon Musk and his operatives, I did hear back from Sen. Crapo. He informed me that DOGE service was established as a temporary organization through a lawful Executive Order, and he also intimated that Elon Musk basically has the authority to be doing what he is doing as a designated “special government employee” until sunset July 4, 2026. I am not certain the courts fully agree with him; nevertheless, he continued by stating that he “applauded the efforts to maximize government efficiency and productivity.”
I appreciate the senator responding. I have yet to hear back from Sen. Risch.
Sen. Crapo's response, however, stimulated more in-depth thought on my part over this idea of waste, fraud and abuse ... A trio of nemeses for most organizations, businesses and governments. However, it would seem that when you rely on essentially one individual as your brain trust to plan and implement the eradication of corruption and waste, you are operating at a significant disadvantage for success.
Franklin D. Roosevelt had several individuals from Columbia University, for example, that advised him on economic and social issues, which afforded him a balanced approach to his governing, and was also the inspiration behind the phrase “Brain Trust.” We are missing that balance with this current administration, and they are instilling fear, anxiety and fury through their efforts.
When leaders choose to cut labor first to improve their bottom line they are choosing the path of least resistance, generally because someone else is doing it for them. But, failing to explore viable alternatives often can result in the exact opposite of the objective. Wrongful termination claims, as we are seeing within our federal government, significant rehiring costs, as we are seeing within our federal government, customer service impacts, as we are seeing within our federal government, decreased productivity and morale, as we are seeing within our federal government, knowledge and expertise loss, as we are seeing within our federal government all can, and are, proving to be the overwhelming consequences of Elon Musk's efforts.
It is a curiosity how many tax dollars have been, and will be, spent on just the litigation alone as a result of these contrived 'knee-jerk' decisions that would have been avoided had there been more academic consideration put into the plan, if this was even, in fact, the plan. Or, is this strategy just a means to a different end? A Rolling Stone article by Lindsay Owens suggests this is nothing more than a land grab in a time where data is the new oil. Either way, this ad hoc approach, in its own right, screams of waste, fraud and abuse.
I would like to offer Sen. Crapo, and Sen. Risch, some alternative approaches and considerations to take back to their committees, and the president, for reducing waste, fraud and abuse, of which I agree exists within the federal government, including the decision to enlist Elon Musk's help.
Most of my suggestions; however, do not follow the path of least resistance from the position of career politicians.
Simply, I would like to see an increase in the number of years required to serve as a federal employee in order to qualify for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan (for life), from five years to 10 years (an estimated savings of $12.9 billion over 10 years), while assembling a "brain trust" to design and implement a term-limit schedule for all elected officials, as this too could "maximize government efficiency and productivity." This surely can't be as debilitating as thousands of terminations for working Americans without adequate notice and time to prepare, can it? Perhaps our elected officials believe they, and their staffs, are exempt from this sort of scrutiny and are above accountability for government waste, fraud and abuse, not to mention the economic ramifications and subsequent costs related to the spike in unemployment.
I would also suggest adding more federal employees, not less, in an effort to establish meaningful oversight committees, with proper license, to oversee the procurement of the goods and services we are paying for with government contracts through private companies, and the oversight to deter any conflicts of interest, before further lining the pockets of the ultra-rich even more.
I am reminded of all the attention in the 1980s and the stories surrounding the Department of Defense, during the Reagan administration, for paying $640 for a toilet seat, $435 for a hammer, and a $7,622 coffee maker. I understand the explanation had something to do with research and development, and specialized manufacturing; however, you can ascertain your own conclusions … And, what does it say about fraud and abuse when we have American citizens choosing to bypass our own health care system to pay for quality dental and medical procedures, as well as medications, in foreign countries, including the cost for food and lodging, as it is still less expensive than in this country, in many cases? This is very troubling and deserves correction.
The most egregious, fury invoking, display of waste, fraud and abuse is the fact one man, and a few operatives, have been enlisted to haphazardly do what approximately 1,300 years of current collective senatorial “representation” (85 years for two senators alone), has not. This may, in fact, be one of the root causes of waste, fraud and abuse. Shouldn't this duly-elected 'brain trust' have addressed this long before now, and shouldn't they have been able to come up with more feasible solutions through their committee work than one man, while preventing needless disruptions of American lives through massive and costly terminations along the way? I don't think there has ever been a better argument for term limits for all politicians.
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Brad Banta is a Coeur d'Alene resident.