DOGE Failed — Except It Was About Ulterior Motives

Elon Musk lately introduced that he was leaving his function as the top of DOGE (the “Division of Authorities Effectivity”). Supposedly, after just a few months within the job, he obtained quite a bit performed. Nevertheless, he actually didn’t.

Sure, DOGE fired a variety of federal staff, demolished USAID, and killed DEI initiatives. Nevertheless, it in all probability value the USA cash in internet. Even should you’re optimistic concerning the actions and one way or the other don’t suppose that the prices are going to outweigh the financial savings, you need to come to the conclusion that the financial savings are completely tiny in comparison with the general federal finances and US deficit. However let’s dive into a few of these issues in a bit extra element earlier than attending to large potential ulterior motives.

To begin with, we’ve lined earlier than that DOGE’s estimated financial savings, as introduced by Elon Musk, are effectively beneath estimated prices from the mass layoffs. And that’s taking Musk’s phrase for it on the saving, regardless of repeatedly claiming incorrect financial savings as a consequence of typos, counting issues that have been already completed or cancelled beforehand, and different primary errors. Additionally, that’s not even considering public well being and security issues from having far fewer air visitors controllers (there have been a number of airplane crashes and related deaths this 12 months alone after having none in the course of the Biden administration), EPA employees protecting toxins and air pollution out of our air and water, the price of illness outbreaks from USAID being axed, and quite a few different public well being and security prices from mass layoffs. That additionally doesn’t keep in mind the billions of {dollars} the Shopper Monetary Safety Bureau (CFPB) has saved shoppers and DOGE deciding to close it down for no clear purpose. Right here’s what Individuals for Monetary Reform studies relating to the CFPB:

Within the final 14 years, the CFPB has already:

• • Obtained over $21 billion in aid for over 200 million individuals within the type of restitution or cancelled money owed, by its supervision and enforcement powers. The company saved many billions extra in individuals’s pockets by new guidelines, steerage and different efficient oversight insurance policies;
  • Collected $5 billion in civil cash penalties for misconduct and wrongdoing;
  • Returned $363 million again to servicemembers and veterans by 39 public enforcement actions, together with six Army Lending Act violations;
  • Helped get rid of medical debt from credit score studies of twenty-two.8 million individuals with a minimum of one medical debt assortment faraway from their credit score studies;
  • Ordered $100 million in redress for harmed pupil debtors and put an finish to Navient’s abusive and unlawful actions.

The CFPB cracked down on junk charges and has:

The Bureau continues to enhance the equity and accuracy of credit score studies.

• • The medical debt rule will defend 15 million individuals with unfairly lowered credit score scores as a consequence of medical debt. The CFPB’s closing rule to take away medical payments from most credit score studies will prohibit credit score reporting corporations like Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian from sharing medical debt data with lenders in addition to barring lenders from contemplating these medical money owed in underwriting selections. Holding medical debt on credit score studies might make loans dearer, block entry to credit score, and hurt somebody’s capacity to lease an condo or get a job.

The CFPB works to maintain our private monetary information protected and make it simpler for shoppers to change monetary service suppliers.

• • The proposed information dealer rule will defend on-line privateness and stop fraud. The CFPB’s proposed information dealer rule will defend shoppers from unscrupulous information brokers that promote delicate private and monetary data and restrict the sale of private identifiers resembling Social Safety Numbers and telephone numbers. Information brokers that promote delicate shopper data would wish to adjust to the Truthful Credit score Reporting Act (FCRA) and its accuracy necessities, present shoppers entry to their data, and preserve safeguards towards information misuse.
  • The lately finalized Private Monetary Information Rights rule will create a extra consumer-friendly and aggressive monetary companies market. This open-banking proposal empowers shoppers to manage their very own monetary information and permits shoppers to extra simply swap monetary service suppliers and transfer their private monetary information at no additional cost. Coated information would additionally must be standardized and constantly introduced, so shoppers can extra simply comparability store between monetary service suppliers.

The CFPB holds Partitions Road, predatory lenders, and Huge Tech accountable once they harm and defraud individuals.

• • The Huge Tech Bigger Individuals rule will deliver a lot wanted oversight and supervision to nonbank fintech suppliers, so they don’t facilitate fraud and supply the identical oversight for his or her cost apps as banks and credit score unions. Because it turns into far more frequent for shoppers to make use of digital wallets and cost apps to make purchases, massive nonbank fintech suppliers resembling Google Pay or Apply Pay, should take cost fraud extra severely and in addition adhere to the identical compliance measures adopted by banks and credit score unions’ cost apps, together with information privateness legal guidelines and the Digital Funds Switch Act (EFTA).

Why would you shut down the CFPB? Actually, why would you are taking a chainsaw to an company that’s devoted to defending Individuals from monetary fraud and abuse?

Properly, the CFPB would oversee Elon Musk’s X, and particularly, “Only a few days earlier than Musk’s DOGE brokers focused the CFPB, the social media platform X launched a brand new cost system — X Cash — that the ‘company may need scrutinized,’ stated The Washington Publish.” Occurring, The Week writes: “The bureau has ‘huge powers’ to go after ‘unfair, misleading and predatory company practices,’ and it has used these powers to intently look at banks and tech giants which have provided digital banking-style companies. Musk’s work to dismantle the bureau is sort of a ‘financial institution robber attempting to fireside the cops and switch off the alarms earlier than he strolls within the foyer,’ stated Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).”

It has additionally been reported that Musk famous a few of his buddies have been bothered by the CFPB. I’m wondering why that will be.

Extra broadly, it turned out that the businesses Musk was quickest to go after as head of DOGE had connections to Musk’s corporations, together with a number of investigations. However, hey, whenever you’re above the regulators who regulate you, what’s there to fret about? Simply mass hearth individuals, declare it’s for a noble trigger, and watch all of your issues go away.

That is the definition of foxes being put answerable for the henhouse. Now, superfans of Elon Musk have claimed that any investigations into Musk and his corporations will need to have been corrupt and ineffective. However, objectively, that’s absurd. Additionally, Musk has been recognized to chop corners and break guidelines to be able to do issues he needs to do — it is a clear attribute or tendency of his, and one he and his followers flout. So, how can one assume that none of those investigations have been warranted, and even crucial?

Extra critically, have a look at all of the hurt that’s been performed to our nation from mass layoffs at vital businesses.

In fact, the facet impact that has gone and harm Musk is that many individuals will now not take into account shopping for merchandise from his corporations, like Tesla vehicles. The query is how far that’s going to go.

Oh yeah, and it seems Musk’s new buddies within the Grand Previous Celebration don’t care concerning the deficit that a lot anyway. They’re on the verge of passing a finances invoice that can balloon the federal deficit, including trillions to US debt. The place is the outrage from Musk, the bashing of these politicians, and the heroic effort to save lots of the USA? It’s virtually prefer it was all a charade.