Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE.

[Gladiator]

At USAID, Waste and Abuse Runs Deep

The Deep State definitely exists and to all the nay sayers. Good to have you in the know.
This Is just the beginning, and It would be great to have opinions on all of the corruption, irregardless of political affiliation.
This new DOGE department might actually help change the helpless nature of our world, for the positive.

It will also be great to hear from those that still can't wrap their heads around the facts, over false information that we've been fed for 80 years.

 

[calvegas04]

I think it is great idea, just don't like the way it has been implemented. Would like for it to be a bit more professional than some teens/early 20's making calls. I do like the transparently, as long as it is factual.

 

[ColoradoIrish]

I'm all for cutting government waste and. I don't think one of our largest government contractors, whose companies happen to be under investigation by a bunch of government departments, should be the one in charge of it however.

Also fully onboard transparency if it's factual. But I'm skeptical on the numbers they're putting out.

 

[NDVirginia19]

This is fucking insane

 

[drayer54]

This is fucking insane

Not if you just pull a Biden and ignore it.

 

[Gladiator]

I think it is great idea, just don't like the way it has been implemented. Would like for it to be a bit more professional than some teens/early 20's making calls. I do like the transparently, as long as it is factual.

"Big Balls"? I highly doubt the reality of that claim. It should be a meme if anything, and I'm willing to bet my home, it's Elon trolling at the highest level.

If teenagers are capable of unwrapping the corruption of USAID in a few days. What else is going on with the all 3 letter agencies, and what exactly have they been doing since at least 1963, without oversight?

 

[Giddyup]

I don’t even think half these judges have jurisdiction to stop the POTUS and treasury secretary from accessing executive files.

 

[Gladiator]

I don’t even think half these judges have jurisdiction to stop the POTUS and treasury secretary from accessing executive files.

Smoke and mirrors. It's all a game until It's not.
Obama lost more credibility in the last 2 years than Nixon ever lost. The facts are coming, we're in for some changes.
Why would anyone want to stop the flow of information that has come to our attention and understanding lately.
If the information shows fraud, and embezzlement, that we should have known about at least 26 years ago, all of the politicians involved should be brought to trial.
The trust that these politicians have broken only points to treason.

$140,000 salaries that turn into multi-million dollar estates should be the start of all investigations.
Republican's and Democrats whether Senator, or Congressmen should be very worried. All investigative powers that Trump has, should go towards the tax fraud, and all the stock advantages of both parties for the last 50 years.

If he lives through It, He'll have his own mountain carved face.
Might save our Republic for the future.

 

[Irish#1]

To paraphrase a Tweet........People were lining up behind 13 year old Greta on climate change, but cry foul and say they are too young when some 19 & 20 year old kids are identifying massive fraud.

For clarity, these kids aren't reviewing everyone's personal data. They are just very good at data analytics and know how to mine the data to identify the anomalies. More than likely, Musk gave them a set of parameters and they built their queries around those parameters. Once the program is finished they turnover the data to Musk.

 

[Irish#1]

Smoke and mirrors. It's all a game until It's not.
Obama lost more credibility in the last 2 years than Nixon ever lost. The facts are coming, we're in for some changes.
Why would anyone want to stop the flow of information that has come to our attention and understanding lately.
If the information shows fraud, and embezzlement, that we should have known about at least 26 years ago, all of the politicians involved should be brought to trial.
The trust that these politicians have broken only points to treason.

$140,000 salaries that turn into multi-million dollar estates should be the start of all investigations.
Republican's and Democrats whether Senator, or Congressmen should be very worried. All investigative powers that Trump has, should go towards the tax fraud, and all the stock advantages of both parties for the last 50 years.

If he lives through It, He'll have his own mountain carved face.
Might save our Republic for the future.

I don't know about the mountain, but these are solid points. You have to question anyone that opposes it. What do they have to hide?

 

[TorontoGold]

To paraphrase a Tweet........People were lining up behind 13 year old Greta on climate change, but cry foul and say they are too young when some 19 & 20 year old kids are identifying massive fraud.

For clarity, these kids aren't reviewing everyone's personal data. They are just very good at data analytics and know how to mine the data to identify the anomalies. More than likely, Musk gave them a set of parameters and they built their queries around those parameters. Once the program is finished they turnover the data to Musk.

Because Greta was simply just a talking head activist? If she was making the studies that were at the forefront of the people who believe in climate change then yeah it would be the same.

As an auditor, to think that some kids with <5 years experience in any sort of meaningful role are identifying massive fraud is insane. If this was truly about identifying fraud they would be bringing in the top forensic accountants from reputable firms. They're essentially sorting data for politicians to grandstand on, if it was fraud they'd be able to clearly show the steps and not just nifty graphics made by propaganda accounts.

The whole point of an audit is to be reperform the procedures and to document your work. You have to question why they wouldn't want this entire process to be public, what is there to hide in showing your work in finding fraud? I promise you that these discussions in the real world aren't just done with results, but you have to show your work.

 

[Gladiator]

If anyone can listen to this press conference and say: we have to start examining the young guys, that aren't old enough to be taken over with corruption and fraud, there must be some USAID funds going their way.
It's amazing how deep the corruption is and how far the will of the people has been moved to this time, that we are asking the finders why they found fraud and negligence. How dare them catch the bureaucracy red handed.
We are running at a 2 Trillion dollar deficit yearly, and the first question from the one side is, how old are the founders.
I don't live in a Forrest, but stupid Is.

 

[Gladiator]

Because Greta was simply just a talking head activist? If she was making the studies that were at the forefront of the people who believe in climate change then yeah it would be the same.

As an auditor, to think that some kids with <5 years experience in any sort of meaningful role are identifying massive fraud is insane. If this was truly about identifying fraud they would be bringing in the top forensic accountants from reputable firms. They're essentially sorting data for politicians to grandstand on, if it was fraud they'd be able to clearly show the steps and not just nifty graphics made by propaganda accounts.

The whole point of an audit is to be reperform the procedures and to document your work. You have to question why they wouldn't want this entire process to be public, what is there to hide in showing your work in finding fraud? I promise you that these discussions in the real world aren't just done with results, but you have to show your work.

It Is public. Elon has openly stated that any questions not answered or posted on the White House forum should be asked. He will make everything open to the American people. I think he said something like, he knows a proctology examination is what he can expect.
He's not getting paid to do this DOGE job either. From what I've read. That should calm most of us down, but ya never know.

"Competence and caring, If you add competence and caring you can cut the deficit in half"

 

[Gladiator]

 

[TorontoGold]

It Is public. Elon has openly stated that any questions not answered or posted on the White House forum should be asked. He will make everything open to the American people. I think he said something like, he knows a proctology examination is what he can expect.
He's not getting paid to do this DOGE job either. From what I've read. That should calm most of us down, but ya never know.

"Competence and caring, If you add competence and caring you can cut the deficit in half"

What’s public? I see the statements of alleged fraud. Where is the supporting audit trail? The wire details, the contracts with the signatures, the corporate account information etc. When I have a client who is an SEC filler I can’t just rely on their internal audit function. To actually provide an opinion it needs to be a 3rd party. Which is why USAID had an independent CPA firm audit their books. I’m guessing you’ve read through the audit report, and are wondering why there isn’t anything on indications of fraud.

I went to the site for the examples listed of abuse and waste. I found it puzzling that each item listed was below a trivial level. If DOGE is actually conducting an audit, none of these samples would be scoped in. If the total funding is $50B then the typical materiality threshold would be 1%, so material items would be 500M. The trivial threshold would be set at 5% of materiality, which $25M. So, when one looks at the list of examples and sees references to items for 700k or a few million that link to news articles instead of…..you know…..the actual supporting information you get the feeling that this isn’t being run by people honestly trying to root out the fraud and is just political theatre.

I’ll put it to you this way, if you’re trying to explain why Notre Dame might take a step back next year and you’re worried about replacing Ty Chan on special teams you’re not going to be treated like a serious person by ND fans.

 

[Irish#1]

Because Greta was simply just a talking head activist? If she was making the studies that were at the forefront of the people who believe in climate change then yeah it would be the same.

As an auditor, to think that some kids with <5 years experience in any sort of meaningful role are identifying massive fraud is insane. If this was truly about identifying fraud they would be bringing in the top forensic accountants from reputable firms. They're essentially sorting data for politicians to grandstand on, if it was fraud they'd be able to clearly show the steps and not just nifty graphics made by propaganda accounts.

The whole point of an audit is to be reperform the procedures and to document your work. You have to question why they wouldn't want this entire process to be public, what is there to hide in showing your work in finding fraud? I promise you that these discussions in the real world aren't just done with results, but you have to show your work.

She's more than a talking head. She's not just spouted "Carbon Dioxide bad". She's cited studies, but the point is everyone was taking her seriously, but not these guys? These aren't guys Musk just plucked out of nowhere, but the way the libs are panicking, you'd think Musk stopped by some high school and just grabbed some kids walking down the hall.

I don't know the finite details of an audit like you, but I understand the basic premise. Through my work I've had to supply supporting documentation. Audit is might be the wrong word for them to use, but it's a word most citizens recognize, so it's easier for them to get their point across.

1. There is a difference in data mining and sorting data. There's plenty of schools that have degree programs in Data Analytics.
2. They're getting the results of their initial findings out to the public, to show how bad it has gotten.
3. How do we know they aren't looking deeper into the results they are getting? You being an accountant should understand better than anyone that a thorough audit takes more than a couple of weeks when you're digging into something as large as this.
4. JMO, but I think we will eventually see some charges being levied once more details are uncovered.

A 70% approval rating says America supports what they are doing.

 

[ColoradoIrish]

She's more than a talking head. She's not just spouted "Carbon Dioxide bad". She's cited studies, but the point is everyone was taking her seriously, but not these guys? These aren't guys Musk just plucked out of nowhere, but the way the libs are panicking, you'd think Musk stopped by some high school and just grabbed some kids walking down the hall.

I don't know the finite details of an audit like you, but I understand the basic premise. Through my work I've had to supply supporting documentation. Audit is might be the wrong word for them to use, but it's a word most citizens recognize, so it's easier for them to get their point across.

1. There is a difference in data mining and sorting data. There's plenty of schools that have degree programs in Data Analytics.
2. They're getting the results of their initial findings out to the public, to show how bad it has gotten.
3. How do we know they aren't looking deeper into the results they are getting? You being an accountant should understand better than anyone that a thorough audit takes more than a couple of weeks when you're digging into something as large as this.
4. JMO, but I think we will eventually see some charges being levied once more details are uncovered.

A 70% approval rating says America supports what they are doing.

I don't give a single shit about their ages, my concerns is have they been properly vetted and do they have proper clearance, as well how do their ties to Elon's companies influence the direction of these audits.

And for clarification I haven't seen anywhere that they have a 70% approval rating. Is that 70% number from people saying trump is doing what he said he would do? Only approval rating I've seen is 53%.

 

[TorontoGold]

She's more than a talking head. She's not just spouted "Carbon Dioxide bad". She's cited studies, but the point is everyone was taking her seriously, but not these guys? These aren't guys Musk just plucked out of nowhere, but the way the libs are panicking, you'd think Musk stopped by some high school and just grabbed some kids walking down the hall.

I don't know the finite details of an audit like you, but I understand the basic premise. Through my work I've had to supply supporting documentation. Audit is might be the wrong word for them to use, but it's a word most citizens recognize, so it's easier for them to get their point across.

1. There is a difference in data mining and sorting data. There's plenty of schools that have degree programs in Data Analytics.
2. They're getting the results of their initial findings out to the public, to show how bad it has gotten.
3. How do we know they aren't looking deeper into the results they are getting? You being an accountant should understand better than anyone that a thorough audit takes more than a couple of weeks when you're digging into something as large as this.
4. JMO, but I think we will eventually see some charges being levied once more details are uncovered.

A 70% approval rating says America supports what they are doing.

Yes, citing studies is different than being the one actually doing the studies, you would agree on that, no? How do you know their backgrounds are proper fits for this? How are they more qualified than the independent CPA firm that audited the USAID?

Audit is a very basic term for sure, but most people understand what trivial means, and they're purposefully only disclosing trivial items they found. I've lead audit teams where we did have substantial errors found, you absolutely do not communicate trivial errors you found when you're not done the process. I found a CFO putting ~$35M of purchases through his personal credit card and getting the points back for those purchases that wasn't part of his comp package. I did not race to the board to say I found that he was above his per diem on conference trips by a few hundred bucks. They're purposefully making this political by having the findings disaggregated through their preferred media sites, imagine if Biden had an MSNBC article as his source for Trump being a fraud? You'd rightfully be upset. They're the government, they have access to the supporting proof of the wrong doing....why not just show the actual support to the public EVEN if it is trivial. They're hyper focusing on a trivial portion of the overall spending by the government, if you nuked USAID tomorrow and saved the $63B that's 6.6% of the interest payments on the debt!

If I am to believe everything positive of the DOGE team and trust in Elon Musk, if it's taking them this long to get through USAID, how the hell are they even going to make a dent in find anything in the larger departments? If I'm a serious person wanting government waste to actually be rooted out and not just this political song and dance, I would be furious at the focus of the team.

70% of people believe Trump is doing what he said he was going to do, I think the 30% that say he isn't are morons. I think he's following up his first incompetent term with another banger of incompetence and doing what he said he would do, I guess the 30% are wondering why costs haven't gone done, Russia is still at war, and Trump wants to send US troops into Gaza.

 

[Irish#1]

I don't give a single shit about their ages, my concerns is have they been properly vetted and do they have proper clearance, as well how do their ties to Elon's companies influence the direction of these audits.

And for clarification I haven't seen anywhere that they have a 70% approval rating. Is that 70% number from people saying trump is doing what he said he would do? Only approval rating I've seen is 53%.

I have no idea if they were "properly vetted", but I'm sure many people have different opinions on what that means. I'm sure Elon already knew these guys and their qualifications. I would be surprised if they didn't worked for him in some other capacity, but to me, that's irrelevant. I mean every president fills his positions with people they already know and there's a good bunch of them that aren't nearly as qualified as some that aren't picked or even thought of.

The approval rating was on the news the other day.

 

[Irish#1]

Yes, citing studies is different than being the one actually doing the studies, you would agree on that, no? How do you know their backgrounds are proper fits for this? How are they more qualified than the independent CPA firm that audited the USAID?

Audit is a very basic term for sure, but most people understand what trivial means, and they're purposefully only disclosing trivial items they found. I've lead audit teams where we did have substantial errors found, you absolutely do not communicate trivial errors you found when you're not done the process. I found a CFO putting ~$35M of purchases through his personal credit card and getting the points back for those purchases that wasn't part of his comp package. I did not race to the board to say I found that he was above his per diem on conference trips by a few hundred bucks. They're purposefully making this political by having the findings disaggregated through their preferred media sites, imagine if Biden had an MSNBC article as his source for Trump being a fraud? You'd rightfully be upset. They're the government, they have access to the supporting proof of the wrong doing....why not just show the actual support to the public EVEN if it is trivial. They're hyper focusing on a trivial portion of the overall spending by the government, if you nuked USAID tomorrow and saved the $63B that's 6.6% of the interest payments on the debt!

If I am to believe everything positive of the DOGE team and trust in Elon Musk, if it's taking them this long to get through USAID, how the hell are they even going to make a dent in find anything in the larger departments? If I'm a serious person wanting government waste to actually be rooted out and not just this political song and dance, I would be furious at the focus of the team.

70% of people believe Trump is doing what he said he was going to do, I think the 30% that say he isn't are morons. I think he's following up his first incompetent term with another banger of incompetence and doing what he said he would do, I guess the 30% are wondering why costs haven't gone done, Russia is still at war, and Trump wants to send US troops into Gaza.

Is what they found so far trivial? I have no idea, but I do know that the public is responding positively to this and that gets you continuing support. Are these young kids qualified to perform an audit? I doubt they're qualified CPA's, but that's not what they are tasked for. They're just pulling the data and giving it to Musk, whom I have to believe has some accountants, auditors, etc. reviewing it. All of those crying foul like you are assuming it's just these kids running amuck with everyone's personal data.

I tip my hat to you if you're that good that you would have had USAID audited and wrapped up already. This is a mammoth task. I have no expectations of them completing all of these within the first few weeks or even months.

 

[TorontoGold]

Is what they found so far trivial? I have no idea, but I do know that the public is responding positively to this and that gets you continuing support. Are these young kids qualified to perform an audit? I doubt they're qualified CPA's, but that's not what they are tasked for. They're just pulling the data and giving it to Musk, whom I have to believe has some accountants, auditors, etc. reviewing it. All of those crying foul like you are assuming it's just these kids running amuck with everyone's personal data.

I tip my hat to you if you're that good that you would have had USAID audited and wrapped up already. This is a mammoth task. I have no expectations of them completing all of these within the first few weeks or even months.

In total? No it's not, but it is below any sort of material figure. Public support isn't really a good indicator, people can largely understand that $70K for DEI Musical in Ireland is odd but analyzing government spending on Raytheon isn't something the common person will be able to comprehend. What gives you the confidence that Musk is actually having a team of auditors reviewing this? Find my posts of personal data being my concern, let's stick to the numbers and the actual content of my posts and not things that I haven't posted.

The USAID audit report has been issued 6 weeks after YE typically, so we're what 3 weeks into the DOGE experiment, by this time all significant findings would be discussed with the relevant parties as the team would be moving closer to completion of the audit. It's not a mammoth task, at all, the firms that have been the auditors are relatively small firms and they're able to get the engagement done in 6 weeks. I would have expected the world's richest man to have a more high profile team.

I'm not sure about you but I would rather he starts with departments where cuts can actual mean something, I think for more financially conscious people they can see this is just political theatre for MAGA to get riled up.

 

[drayer54]

In total? No it's not, but it is below any sort of material figure. Public support isn't really a good indicator, people can largely understand that $70K for DEI Musical in Ireland is odd but analyzing government spending on Raytheon isn't something the common person will be able to comprehend. What gives you the confidence that Musk is actually having a team of auditors reviewing this? Find my posts of personal data being my concern, let's stick to the numbers and the actual content of my posts and not things that I haven't posted.

The USAID audit report has been issued 6 weeks after YE typically, so we're what 3 weeks into the DOGE experiment, by this time all significant findings would be discussed with the relevant parties as the team would be moving closer to completion of the audit. It's not a mammoth task, at all, the firms that have been the auditors are relatively small firms and they're able to get the engagement done in 6 weeks. I would have expected the world's richest man to have a more high profile team.

I'm not sure about you but I would rather he starts with departments where cuts can actual mean something, I think for more financially conscious people they can see this is just political theatre for MAGA to get riled up.

It's good strategy. You start with the area where you know there's going to be some ridiculous liberal causes, like tobacco effects on lesbians to get the point across that the waste is there and then you get support for the cause. Then you keep going. I have zero problems with this. Cut every dime of waste.

 

[TorontoGold]

It's good strategy. You start with the area where you know there's going to be some ridiculous liberal causes, like tobacco effects on lesbians to get the point across that the waste is there and then you get support for the cause. Then you keep going. I have zero problems with this. Cut every dime of waste.

This is exactly my point.

People who don't actually care about waste and just want this done for political purposes will say stuff like this.

 

[drayer54]

This is exactly my point.

People who don't actually care about waste and just want this done for political purposes will say stuff like this.

Wrong. You have to have momentum and support. Best to score an easy win and then keep rolling. It cuts the same. The NGO complex must be destroyed.

 

[ab2cmiller]

Wrong. You have to have momentum and support. Best to score an easy win and then keep rolling. It cuts the same. The NGO complex must be destroyed.

I mostly agree with this.

 

[TorontoGold]

Wrong. You have to have momentum and support. Best to score an easy win and then keep rolling. It cuts the same. The NGO complex must be destroyed.

Reducing the deficit >>>> Owning the libz

Eliminating USAID doesn't even cover more than 6% of the interest payments on the deficit.

 

[drayer54]

Reducing the deficit >>>> Owning the libz

Eliminating USAID doesn't even cover more than 6% of the interest payments on the deficit.

I'm not going to support paying ridiculous grants just because it isn't going to be the biggest chunk of the pie. Cut all of the waste. This insane defense of spending money on ridiculous grants, because it is "small", is a fight that Republicans should dig in on all day long. We don't need to spend any money on trans comic books for Peru, at all.

 

[TorontoGold]

I'm not going to support paying ridiculous grants just because it isn't going to be the biggest chunk of the pie. Cut all of the waste. This insane defense of spending money on ridiculous grants, because it is "small", is a fight that Republicans should dig in on all day long. We don't need to spend any money on trans comic books for Peru, at all.

I'm not saying you have to support that.

If you're at a budget meeting with the CSuite and you're telling them about how great it is you were able to get stationary at a cheaper price while the company is deep into the red you're going to get laughed out of the room. Sure it's nice that you're saving a few bucks on cheaper pens but the adults in the room want to know what you're doing to help the budget.

 

[drayer54]

I'm not saying you have to support that.

If you're at a budget meeting with the CSuite and you're telling them about how great it is you were able to get stationary at a cheaper price while the company is deep into the red you're going to get laughed out of the room. Sure it's nice that you're saving a few bucks on cheaper pens but the adults in the room want to know what you're doing to help the budget.

I guess we differ on how well the CSuite will receive hearing that HR isn't going to spend 45 million filling the condom bowl outside of the meeting rooms for the Muslim inclusion resource group meetings anymore. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Sea Turtle]

Yes, citing studies is different than being the one actually doing the studies, you would agree on that, no? How do you know their backgrounds are proper fits for this? How are they more qualified than the independent CPA firm that audited the USAID?

Audit is a very basic term for sure, but most people understand what trivial means, and they're purposefully only disclosing trivial items they found. I've lead audit teams where we did have substantial errors found, you absolutely do not communicate trivial errors you found when you're not done the process. I found a CFO putting ~$35M of purchases through his personal credit card and getting the points back for those purchases that wasn't part of his comp package. I did not race to the board to say I found that he was above his per diem on conference trips by a few hundred bucks. They're purposefully making this political by having the findings disaggregated through their preferred media sites, imagine if Biden had an MSNBC article as his source for Trump being a fraud? You'd rightfully be upset. They're the government, they have access to the supporting proof of the wrong doing....why not just show the actual support to the public EVEN if it is trivial. They're hyper focusing on a trivial portion of the overall spending by the government, if you nuked USAID tomorrow and saved the $63B that's 6.6% of the interest payments on the debt!

If I am to believe everything positive of the DOGE team and trust in Elon Musk, if it's taking them this long to get through USAID, how the hell are they even going to make a dent in find anything in the larger departments? If I'm a serious person wanting government waste to actually be rooted out and not just this political song and dance, I would be furious at the focus of the team.

70% of people believe Trump is doing what he said he was going to do, I think the 30% that say he isn't are morons. I think he's following up his first incompetent term with another banger of incompetence and doing what he said he would do, I guess the 30% are wondering why costs haven't gone done, Russia is still at war, and Trump wants to send US troops into Gaza.

The problem is that you had publications like Time making her Person Of The Year.