I grew up Catholic and was taught that I should strive to cultivate a kind heart, to help build a world where all God’s creatures live in harmony, where suffering meets compassion.
But I can’t pull it off when it comes to Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and possibly the most arrogant. I found myself hoping for the first time that there really is a place where unrepentant sinners burn in flames for all eternity.
I will work on it. But for now, let me breathe.
The New York Times has just published the results of its in-depth investigation into Musk’s amazing adventure in Washington, where he promised to apply his remarkable genius to the problem of government “waste.”
It’s a great public service to divulge the details of it, but the conclusion was obvious from a mile away: It was a complete sham. Of the 40 biggest “savings” Musk claimed on his “wall of receipts”, 28 were fake, including the biggest 12 of them.
He claimed he would save taxpayers $8 billion by canceling two Defense Department contracts, his two biggest scores. But both contracts are still running. “The savings were an accounting mirage,” the Times concluded.
He canceled a $500 million Department of Energy contract and counted it twice. He claimed credit for cuts made by the Biden administration before he came to town. He claimed $312 million in savings by canceling a State Department contract, but did not specify which contract.
So, what does the White House say about all this? No comment. In the media business, we call it a clean kill.
Yes, there have been some real cuts and I will get to the devastation they have caused, especially in the most desperate corners of the world.
But let’s dwell on the arrogance of Musk’s entire project. He has no background in government, like most of the 20-somethings he unleashed.
Still, Musk haplessly made his way into the center circle and waved his chainsaw triumphantly, as if the federal deficit was caused by the utter stupidity of the status quo, as if he could solve the puzzle that stumped them. First, he promised to save $2 trillion. Then $1 trillion. Then $150 billion.
And he didn’t even reach that milestone. Federal spending is up in 2025 because, experts have warned, spending is driven mostly by big programs like Social Security and Medicare that have overwhelming public support. To solve this, we have to make hard compromises by cutting benefits or raising taxes. Waving chainsaws won’t cut it.
Understand, this is not an argument against trying to root out government waste. The most impressive work in this area has come from inspectors general, professionals by profession whose job it is to find it. A year before Trump took office they saved taxpayers $71 billion.
But President Trump he fired 18 of them in January by email referring to a “change in priorities”. Hmm. Could it be that he didn’t want watchdogs who weren’t as loyal to the MAGA project as Musk?
The sad part of this story is that Musk did some real damage. He laid off 7,000 Social Security workers, causing delays and disruptions. He shot 1,300 at the Center for Disease Control. He cut spending on veterans, leading to delays in care.
But the worst part was his attack on USAIDan agency that provides food during famines, drugs to fight AIDS and malaria in Africa, and maternity care and clean water where needed. It alone accounted for 42 percent of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations.
Musk has claimed that no one has died as a result of these cuts, which on the face of it is a more than absurd claim. We will never know the exact number, but so far more than 700,000 have died as a result of the cuts, two-thirds of them children, according to a Boston University study. It is estimated by the respected British scientific journal The Lancet 14 million will die by 2030 without change.
and for what? For small savings that did nothing to stop the rise in federal spending so that an arrogant billionaire could stand before gullible crowds of MAGA supporters as the savior.
I will work on my own soul later. Right now, the idea that Musk lives in luxury and that his fortune has increased by a few crowns burns me estimated at $250 billion since Trump took office. His return is not bad Investment of 291 million dollars in the 2024 election.
But it’s a shame all those dead children. And so I hope the scariest nuns were right after all.
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