DOGE

[O Really]

Can't get through by phone, can't get an appointment, website actually has "office" hours, and if THEY make a mistake the want the overage back immediately but will give you the shortage over time. No cuts to be found there, I guess.

[1 CAT FAN]

The view's pretty good from under that sand, eh?

That's a hoot that you are still explaining the definition of 'cut'. MAGA literacy.

How bout' the view from inside a gated community? Leftist hypocrisy.

[Vrede too]

The view's pretty good from under that sand, eh?

That's a hoot that you are still explaining the definition of 'cut'. MAGA literacy.

Yeah, maybe he doesn't understand the term "benefit" has more than one definition. Sure, in social security to " receive benefits" means to get a monthly payment from SSA. But the term also applies rightfully to the overall program as in, " a retirement benefit program." So if he wants to use a very narrow and exclusive definition to be able to defend his fellow Republicans and Trumpsters, fine. But clearly there have been efforts for years to "cut" social security, no matter how you look at it.

We refused to treat "cuts" in the ER. However, we would treat 'slices', 'stabs', 'lacerations', etc.

By hook and by crook.

Not to mention the sideways way they are cutting service to delay or mitigate new applications and claims or non service existing recipients.

It's abhorrent.

Want to apply for benefits?

Sure. Oh sorry, our servers are down and we have disconnected phone lines and cut staff.

Your call will be answered in three days, seventeen hours and forty five minutes.

Please stay on the phone. Otherwise, you will lose your place in line.

[O Really]

They're part of the effort to undermine confidence in all government so that the trumpsters can "fix" it. And they're counting on such short memories that people won't remember that it all worked fine as recently as 4 months ago. And they're probably right. The US majority is now facists or fools and the rest of us are just onlookers at a train wreck.

[1 CAT FAN]

They're part of the effort to undermine confidence in all government so that the trumpsters can "fix" it. And they're counting on such short memories that people won't remember that it all worked fine as recently as 4 months ago. And they're probably right. The US majority is now facists or fools and the rest of us are just onlookers at a train wreck.

Is that what you have in your gated community, confidence? That's nice, isn't it?

[Vrede too]

They're part of the effort to undermine confidence in all government so that the trumpsters can "fix" it. And they're counting on such short memories that people won't remember that it all worked fine as recently as 4 months ago. And they're probably right. The US majority is now fascists or fools and the rest of us are just onlookers at a train wreck.

My experience with SSI has been painless. I did get an automated notice of COLA increase in benefits during the last 4 months, but otherwise have not had any contact.

[O Really]

They're part of the effort to undermine confidence in all government so that the trumpsters can "fix" it. And they're counting on such short memories that people won't remember that it all worked fine as recently as 4 months ago. And they're probably right. The US majority is now fascists or fools and the rest of us are just onlookers at a train wreck.

My experience with SSI has been painless. I did get an automated notice of COLA increase in benefits during the last 4 months, but otherwise have not had any contact.

Yeah, to put into perspective, the vast majority of people have no trouble at all once they're eligible and receiving payments. That would include Lady O and myself. Problem is, if there is any issue, even as minor as changing a direct deposit bank, the wheels grind slowly and now they're grinding even more slowly intentionally because of all the sand Doge et. al. are throwing in the gears. Getting disability benefits already usually required an attorney's help and it's pretty easy to get disqualified - for real or by error. Same for spousal benefits when one dies. And then there was that idiot that said he didn't think any "honest" people would complain if they missed a payment.

[Vrede too]

They're part of the effort to undermine confidence in all government so that the trumpsters can "fix" it. And they're counting on such short memories that people won't remember that it all worked fine as recently as 4 months ago. And they're probably right. The US majority is now fascists or fools and the rest of us are just onlookers at a train wreck.

My experience with SSI has been painless. I did get an automated notice of COLA increase in benefits during the last 4 months, but otherwise have not had any contact.

Yeah, to put into perspective, the vast majority of people have no trouble at all once they're eligible and receiving payments. That would include Lady O and myself. Problem is, if there is any issue, even as minor as changing a direct deposit bank, the wheels grind slowly and now they're grinding even more slowly intentionally because of all the sand Doge et. al. are throwing in the gears. Getting disability benefits already usually required an attorney's help and it's pretty easy to get disqualified - for real or by error. Same for spousal benefits when one dies. And then there was that idiot that said he didn't think any "honest" people would complain if they missed a payment.

I had some issue when registering. Called, got an appointment to talk by phone with an agent. Instead of just telling me what to do she walked me through the fix until it was done. My payments were backdated to when I started the process. Thanks, Joe.

[O Really]

Called, got an appointment to talk by phone with an agent. Instead of just telling me what to do she walked me through the fix until it was done. My payments were backdated to when I started the process. Thanks, Joe.

That won't be happening again anytime soon. But don't worry - being required to chase endlessly down rabbit holes until you finally give up isn't a cut in benefits.

[Vrede too]

Called, got an appointment to talk by phone with an agent. Instead of just telling me what to do she walked me through the fix until it was done. My payments were backdated to when I started the process. Thanks, Joe.

That won't be happening again anytime soon. But don't worry - being required to chase endlessly down rabbit holes until you finally give up isn't a cut in benefits.

Thank goodness. I was worried about cuts.

Speaking of de facto cuts, the lawbreaking by POTUS Musk and PINO is relentless:

Trump administration withholding $436.87 billion in approved spending, top Democrats say

Will RepuQs ever get off their asses and defend Congress?

[Vrede too]

EPA to shut down Energy Star program

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s longstanding Energy Star program that certifies the energy efficiency of homes, contractors and appliances is reportedly being cut as part of a reorganization effort.

An EPA director told staffers during a meeting Monday the program will be “de-prioritized and eliminated,” according to recordings received and confirmed by The New York Times. The move is part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to reduce costs at federal agencies.

Energy Star also helps homeowners save money on utility bills by providing tools to find efficient appliances and determining eligibility for tax credits and rebates.

Some experts have warned that utility costs could increase for homeowners as a result of the program’s end. Energy Star began in 1992 and, according to the EPA, has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 4 billion metric tons and saved Americans $500 billion in that time.

[GoCubsGo]

It really is crazy.

Who wins? Furthermore, manufacturers aren't going to change winning designs knowing that in three years they'll have to comply again.

[Vrede too]

It really is crazy.

Who wins? Furthermore, manufacturers aren't going to change winning designs knowing that in three years they'll have to comply again.

Yep. Energy Star is popular with the public.

Bill Gates Has Harsh Words For Elon Musk’s Effect On Humanity

... The Microsoft mogul accused the Tesla CEO of “killing the world’s poorest children” by making drastic and, in Gates’ view, misguided cuts on the U.S. Agency for International Development through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency....

Gates went on the offensive Thursday and said Musk’s actions resulted in life-saving food and medicine being allowed to go to waste in warehouses.

“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates said.

Then, Gates added that Musk had cancelled grants to a hospital in Gaza Province, Mozambique, that would have helped prevent women from transmitting HIV to their babies because Musk incorrectly thought the U.S. was supplying condoms to Hamas in Gaza in the Middle East.

Hateful idiot.

“I’d love for him to go in and meet the children that have now been infected with HIV because he cut that money,” Gates said.

As if.

... Gates, in January, referred to Musk’s desire to promote far-right politics around the world as “insane shit.”

POTUS Musk and PINO lose, again:

Judge Pauses Much Of Trump Administration's Massive Downsizing Of Federal Agencies
A California judge has ordered the Trump administration to halt much of its massive downsizing of the federal workforce.

... “The Court holds the President likely must request Congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks, and thus issues a temporary restraining order to pause large-scale reductions in force in the meantime,” Illston wrote in her order....

Will the cowardly GQP Congress ever step up to re-assert their constitutional authority?

[GoCubsGo]

Bill Gates Has Harsh Words For Elon Musk’s Effect On Humanity

... The Microsoft mogul accused the Tesla CEO of “killing the world’s poorest children” by making drastic and, in Gates’ view, misguided cuts on the U.S. Agency for International Development through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency....

Gates went on the offensive Thursday and said Musk’s actions resulted in life-saving food and medicine being allowed to go to waste in warehouses.

“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates said.

Another republican that wants women to bear more children but doesn't give a flying f@*k about what happens to them after birth.

Weird doesn't begin to describe them.

[Vrede too]

Another republican that wants women to bear more children but doesn't give a flying f@*k about what happens to them after birth.

Weird doesn't begin to describe them.

"doesn't give a flying f@*k about what happens to them," including starvation. Talk about "waste", criminal and heartbreaking:

U.S. Aid Cuts Leave Food For Millions Mouldering In Storage: Reuters Exclusive
Some stocks that are due to expire as early as July are likely to be destroyed.

Food rations that could supply 3.5 million people for a month are mouldering in warehouses around the world because of U.S. aid cuts and risk becoming unusable, according to five people familiar with the situation.

The food stocks have been stuck inside four U.S. government warehouses since the Trump administration’s decision in January to cut global aid programmes, according to three people who previously worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development and two sources from other aid organisations.

Some stocks that are due to expire as early as July are likely to be destroyed, either by incineration, using them as animal feed or disposing of them in other ways, two of the sources said.

The warehouses, which are run by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), contain between 60,000 to 66,000 metric tonnes of food, sourced from American farmers and manufacturers, the five people said....


Edesia Nutrition CEO Navyn Salem walks past shipping boxes piled high alongside raw materials for Plumpy'Nut, a nutritional lifesaving peanut paste sent to malnourished children worldwide, at the company's warehouse Friday, March 14, 2025, in North Kingstown, R.I.

Those supplies are valued at over $98 million, according to the document reviewed by Reuters, which was shared by an aid official and verified by a U.S. government source as up to date.

That food could feed over a million people for three months, or the entire population of Gaza for a month and a half, according to a Reuters analysis using figures from the World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian agency.

The U.N. body says that one tonne of food - typically including cereals, pulses and oil - can meet the daily need of approximately 1,660 people.

The dismantling of USAID and cuts to humanitarian aid spending by President Donald Trump come as global hunger levels are rising due to conflict and climate change, which are driving more people toward famine, undoing decades of progress.

According to the World Food Programme, 343 million people are facing acute levels of food insecurity worldwide. Of those, 1.9 million people are gripped by catastrophic hunger and on the brink of famine. Most of them are in Gaza and Sudan, but also in pockets of South Sudan, Haiti and Mali....

SOME FOOD LIKELY TO BE DESTROYED

Although the Trump administration has issued waivers for some humanitarian programmes - including in Gaza and Sudan - the cancellation of contracts and freezing of funds needed to pay suppliers, shippers and contractors has left food stocks stuck in the four warehouses, the sources said.

A proposal to hand the stocks to aid organizations that can distribute them is on hold, according to the U.S. source and two former USAID sources briefed on the proposal. The plan is awaiting approval from the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance, the two former USAID sources said.

Little Marco is dropping the ball.

... USAID plans to fire almost all of its staff in two rounds on July 1 and Sept. 2, as it prepares to shut down, according to a notification submitted to Congress in March. The two former USAID sources said many of the critical staff needed to manage the warehouses or move the supplies will depart in July.

Congress, get off your asses and defend these agencies and programs that YOU funded.

CHILDREN DYING

... The UN children’s agency UNICEF warned in late March that RUTF stocks were running short in 17 countries due to funding cuts, potentially forcing 2.4 million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition to go without these crucial supplies for the rest of the year.

The four USAID warehouses contain the majority of the agency’s pre-positioned food stockpiles. In normal times, these could be rapidly deployed to places like Sudan, where 25 million people - half the country’s population - face acute hunger.

Jeanette Bailey, director of nutrition at the International Rescue Committee, which receives much of its funding from the U.S., said it was scaling back its programmes following the cuts....

This is the opposite of "efficiency".

[GoCubsGo]

This is the opposite of "efficiency".

They're effing crazy.

[Vrede too]

This is the opposite of "efficiency".

They're effing crazy.

And stupid:

DOGE’s Fraud Tracker at Social Security Turns Into a Massive Self-Own

How’s that for efficiency?

Procedures implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency uncovered just two out of 110,000 calls to the Social Security Administration this spring had a “high probability” of being fraudulent, Federal Computer Week reported.

That is a far cry from the 40 percent figure that was parroted by MAGA in recent months, including by DOGE’s recently departed leader, Elon Musk, and Vice President JD Vance. The real figure is about .0018 percent.

The anti-fraud procedures were put in place by DOGE last month and have seemingly done more harm than good, according to an internal memo viewed by Federal Computer Week. While it reassured DOGE staff that fraudsters are not phoning the SSA every second, it reportedly slowed processing times at the administration by 25 percent and may soon be removed from protocol.

Such delays were described in a memo as a “degradation of public service,” which is the antithesis of DOGE’s supposed goal within the federal government.

“No significant fraud has been detected from the flagged cases,” the internal document said, according to the magazine.

DOGE’s anti-fraud protocol required a three-day hold to be placed on phone claims in order to check for fraud. This procedure “delays payments and benefits to customers, despite an extremely low risk of fraud,” the memo said.

The 40 percent figure circulating in MAGA circles stems from a Fox News segment on March 27, where the DOGE engineer Aram Moghaddassi erroneously said 40 percent of calls made to the SSA to change direct deposit information are from fraudsters.

DOGE lies, Faux Noise doesn't fact check, gullible MAGA swallows the lies whole.

In reality, Federal Computer Week reports that 40 percent of direct deposit fraud at the agency is associated with phone calls—not that four out of every 10 calls to the agency are from fraudsters.

Opps.

Likely based on the exaggerated fraud figures, the SSA announced in March that it would phase out allowing people to make account changes or claims over the phone. That policy was scrapped shortly after due to public backlash.

Musk, who has been notably quieter the last month, did not immediately address his department’s face-palm on Thursday.

Of course he didn't.

Huge Cost Of Massive Military Parade That Coincides With Trump's Birthday Is Revealed
Twin celebrations of the Army's 250th anniversary and the president's birthday will include as many as 25 tanks rolling through Washington.

Twin celebrations of U.S. President Donald Trump’s birthday and the Army’s 250th anniversary will include as many as 25 tanks rolling through Washington in a celebration that will cost $25 million to $45 million, U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday....

The U.S. Army had long been planning to move troops and equipment to the National Mall in Washington on June 14 as part of its anniversary celebration. Plans now include a parade since that coincides with Trump’s 79th birthday.

Two U.S. officials told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, the eventual cost could be as high as $45 million. One of them said the cost included several million dollars more than it would have without a parade.

Thanks, King Tang.

The official added that the Army is planning on sending about two dozen M1 Abrams tanks for the celebration.

Send them to Ukraine, instead.

The officials’ latest estimates exclude costs the city of Washington would have to bear, like trash cleanup or road repairs for damage from the heavy tanks.

Of course it does. DonOLD never pays his bills.

... Critics have called such a parade an authoritarian display of power that is wasteful, especially as Trump slashes costs throughout the federal government....

Doge, DOGE, are you there, Doge?

[Vrede too]

Can't get through by phone, can't get an appointment, website actually has "office" hours, and if THEY make a mistake the want the overage back immediately but will give you the shortage over time. No cuts to be found there, I guess.

Granny don't play that, and Granny is kicking Elon's ass:

How DOGE’s grand plan to remake Social Security is backfiring

... But as of this week, many of the major changes DOGE pushed at Social Security have been abandoned or are being reversed after proving ineffective, while others are yielding unintended consequences and badly damaging customer service and satisfaction. The problems come as the agency struggles to cope with a record surge of hundreds of thousands of retirement claims in recent months....

Opps.

[GoCubsGo]

Can't get through by phone, can't get an appointment, website actually has "office" hours, and if THEY make a mistake the want the overage back immediately but will give you the shortage over time. No cuts to be found there, I guess.

Granny don't play that, and Granny is kicking Elon's ass:

How DOGE’s grand plan to remake Social Security is backfiring

... But as of this week, many of the major changes DOGE pushed at Social Security have been abandoned or are being reversed after proving ineffective, while others are yielding unintended consequences and badly damaging customer service and satisfaction. The problems come as the agency struggles to cope with a record surge of hundreds of thousands of retirement claims in recent months....

Opps.

Who could've predicted?

[GoCubsGo]