I'm still very happy Harris and Walz didn't win.

But yeah, the republicans in congress are as feckless and corrupt as the communists are evil. They toe the line and take the money.

I don't consider that Elon or Trump's fault.

DoctorSolo,

It's a big club and you and I are not in it.

Trump, Elon, Harris, Walz, and most of congress are in it.

That's why nothing ever gets fixed. Nothing ever changes.

That's why Trump didn't fight for the DOGE cuts.

It's why the spending bill last November continued the Biden spending levels.

It's why suppressors are still in the NFA.

One party appeals to liberals and promotes the DEI agenda. The other party appeals to conservatives and promotes the fiscal responsibility agenda. When power changes hands, the propaganda changes but little else does.

I started a thread about this new division that you may not know about or forgot about.

I'd like to keep a positive outlook that they'll continue to produce good results.

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfr...dkt_nbr=010504inub5b



Trump Taps Top Prosecutor to Lead National Fraud Fight

President Donald Trump on Wednesday named seasoned federal prosecutor Colin McDonald to lead the Department of Justice’s new National Fraud Enforcement Division.

The role is designed to aggressively tackle large-scale fraud affecting federal programs.

Trump described McDonald as a "tough, smart, and highly respected America First federal prosecutor" in a Truth Social post announcing the nomination.

He said the new position will focus on stopping what his administration has called widespread theft of taxpayer dollars.

"My Administration has uncovered Fraud schemes in States like Minnesota and California, where these thieves have stolen Hundreds of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars," Trump wrote.

"Colin McDonald is a very Smart, Tough, and Highly Respected AMERICA FIRST Federal Prosecutor who has successfully delivered Justice in some of the most difficult and high-stakes cases our Country has ever seen.

"Together, we will END THE FRAUD, and RESTORE INTEGRITY to our Federal Programs."

"Congratulations Colin — STOP THE SCAMS!" Trump wrote.

McDonald has served as an associate deputy attorney general and federal prosecutor in Southern California and Hawaii since 2014, earning praise for a track record that includes winning convictions in a high-profile corruption case against former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha, his wife, and two officers, according to the New York Post.

In that case, the defendants were convicted of framing a relative to conceal a theft of $148,000, then spending the money on luxury cars, vacations, and other expensive items, court records show.

Vice President JD Vance and Attorney General Pam Bondi lauded McDonald’s prosecutorial skill and leadership, saying his experience makes him well-suited to lead federal efforts to dismantle fraud networks and recover stolen funds, according to the Post.

Former Southern California U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer, who was McDonald’s boss during Trump’s first term, called him "a career public servant as well as a fearless, strong, and ethical prosecutor," according to the Post.

"I assigned him to a very difficult public corruption case in Hawaii that seriously needed his organizational and legal skills.

"As expected, he was invaluable in resolving the case in a most favorable way," Brewer said.

"Mr. McDonald is exceedingly bright, dedicated, and a great leader. The American people can trust his judgment, his ethics, and will be proud of his work."

The Senate must confirm the nomination.

Details on the specific jurisdiction and authorities of the new enforcement unit have not been completed, but the administration said the division will spearhead efforts to pursue fraud nationwide.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...0601935/m/7190082915

Smoke and mirrors!

In objective and purely monetary terms, DOGE didn't accomplish much. A few billion dollars saved against $38 trillion dollars is an infinitesimally small percentage, a popcorn fart in a tsunami. That doesn't mean it did nothing or that we should give up trying. It will take time, but it will eventually have a net positive effect.

Ask USAID, oh wait

https://www.newsmax.com/politi...dkt_nbr=0101024c8q3e

Congress Hobbles Trump's Efforts to Cut Govt Spending

Nearly a year after President Donald Trump unveiled a budget blueprint calling for some of the steepest spending reductions in modern history, Congress declined to adopt many of the proposed cuts, according to a report Tuesday by The New York Times.

Lawmakers from both parties have largely set aside the administration's most aggressive reductions for the current fiscal year, preserving a wide range of federal programs that the White House had sought to scale back or eliminate.

As a result, Congress is on pace to approve more than $1.6 trillion in discretionary spending for fiscal year 2026 — a total that represents little change from the prior year, according to a preliminary analysis of federal budget data by the Penn Wharton Budget Model, a nonpartisan research organization.

The findings underscore the challenges the administration has faced in translating its budget proposals into enacted law, as appropriators in Congress move forward with spending levels that diverge significantly from the president's original plan.

The data show that some of the funding that the president had attempted to erase — including for medical research, college aid, and benefits for poor people — instead changed only slightly, according to the Times.

However, Trump prevailed in other ways, most notably in his efforts to reduce the size and reach of government by firing thousands of federal workers.

Some congressional Republicans, many of whom are up for reelection in November, have been at odds with the White House, reinforcing Trump's desire to circumvent lawmakers by using a series of contested maneuvers to revoke billions in congressionally approved spending the president opposes.

Kent Smetters, the faculty director for the Penn Wharton Budget Model, said there is a well-worn truth that presidential budgets are "aspirational in nature," and that in the fight to trim spending, there are always "strong vested interests" for keeping federal funds intact.

To arrive at the preliminary budget estimates, the Times analyzed spending across the 11 appropriations bills adopted by Congress, primarily using early data provided by Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee and outside groups. A final, 12th bill, covering homeland security, has not yet passed.

Top Republican appropriators did not respond to requests for comment.

The analysis focused primarily on domestic spending, not defense, which Trump has increased. He secured some of that military funding as part of his tax legislation, which was paid for in part by cutting benefits in programs such as Medicaid and food stamps.

The White House said it has changed the nation's fiscal trajectory. The administration has moved to close entire agencies and revoke billions in spending previously authorized by Congress, including rescinding about $14 billion that lawmakers approved for foreign aid and public broadcasting last year.

"The appropriations bills, reconciliation, rescissions, all the different tools we are using — it's the end of futility," Russell Vought, the director of the budget office, said in a statement.

Marc Goldwein, the senior vice president at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said the president's actions in his first year in office carried mixed budgetary implications.

He said the Trump administration did not "get a big nominal cut in spending" in Congress for the 2026 fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. But Goldwein, whose group supports deficit reduction, said the White House did manage to prevent perennial spending increases for domestic programs, which amounted to a "big victory."

Some Republican leaders openly criticized the White House when it unilaterally attempted to hold up billions in research grants last year, before Congress could consider such cuts.

Congress imposed new restrictions on the White House in its recent spending deals in an attempt to make it harder for the president to interrupt funds lawmakers had appropriated.”

Many of Trump's actions, targeting a wide array of funds totaling billions of dollars, remain the subject of hundreds of unresolved lawsuits, and several recent federal probes have found evidence of legal violations.

But Trump has remained undeterred, and his aides have signaled they intend to continue trying to revoke spending he opposes, with or without Congress.

I would love to see Trump do an Oval Office address to the nation about the fiscal precipice we are going over. A couple of charts, and maybe an example given in terms of an average household. Earning $81,600 per year, spending $110,308 per year, with $461,529 balance due on the credit card. And then ask how will you pay that off? Not by keeping on putting ever more on the credit card each year!

Bully Congress a bit, or a lot, in that address. Tell voters to demand Congress make real and substantial spending reductions or they'll be voted out.

Right now, Trump isn't looking like he cares that much about the national debt.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
In objective and purely monetary terms, DOGE didn't accomplish much. A few billion dollars saved against $38 trillion dollars is an infinitesimally small percentage, a popcorn fart in a tsunami. That doesn't mean it did nothing or that we should give up trying. It will take time, but it will eventually have a net positive effect.

DOGE effectively exposed the fraud, fraudsters, put it all on display for everyone to see, anything gained financially was a plus.

I think it is what set Musk off and out of the game, as a billionaire he's used to just saying, "do it now" and it's done, Government doesn't work like that and it was frustrating, Trump knows this is a long term process.

USAID is gone, that alone is huge, a milestone of DOGE and Trump, now the world knows it can be exposed.

The only people that can continue this are the voters, let the left win and it's back in business, get a D congress and POTUS and USAID will be restored, because the feckless R in congress won't pass a bill to defund all past monies and prevent NGO's and any organization like it from being formed.

Right now they are just sitting there (NGO's) waiting their turn back at the trough....