Davin News Server

From: Gronk <invalide@invalid.invalid>
Newsgroups: alt.politics.trump,alt.politics.liberalism,alt.politics.democrats,alt.politics.usa.republican,alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,can.politics
Subject: WSJ finds Musketeers haven't found much! Re: Can Someone PLEASE Tell Me Why ANYONE Would Protest Against Stopping Government Waste?
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2025 23:35:40 -0700
Organization: 0002.0

Alan wrote:
> On 2025-02-11 13:05, AlleyCat wrote:
>>
>> RIGHT NOW: Democrats are marching in DC to protest DOGE's crackdown on 
>> government waste.
> 'DOGE Claims It Has Saved Billions. See Where.
> 
> A WSJ analysis of government data found that many claims of savings were 
> overstated and ‘woke’ cuts were only a tiny fraction of the total'
> 
> <https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/elon-musk-doge-federal-savings-claims-783b9507> 

heh heh and who is running the WSJ?


> Here are a couple of fun excerpts:
> 
> 'The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency touts 
> cuts of $55 billion in federal spending, often citing canceled DEI and 
> climate contracts. However, a Wall Street Journal analysis of government 
> contract data showed a much different picture: “Woke” cuts were a tiny 
> fraction of the total, and many claims of savings were overstated.
> 
> While DOGE hasn’t offered details about all of the stated savings, it 
> has posted a list of more than 1,100 canceled contracts to its website. 
> As of Friday, it said the savings from these contracts amounted to about 
> $7 billion.
> 
> The Journal analysis projects the actual savings could be closer to $2.6 
> billion over the next year if spending levels remained constant—and 
> about 2% of the funds would have gone to contracts related to DEI.'
> 
> 
> 
> 'DOGE terminated more than 60 Health and Human Services contracts 
> including a clinical evaluation of an Alzheimer’s and traumatic brain 
> injury drug and a study of smokers with chronic lung disease. DOGE 
> described these as “administrative expenses.” '
> 
> 
> 
> 'Many of the Education Department’s canceled contracts funded research 
> on college costs, student career paths and early childhood development. 
> DOGE said one $1.4 million contract funded “mailing and clerical 
> operations.” The contract was used to mail surveys to respondents 
> participating in studies and was nearly complete when canceled, creating 
> no savings for terminating it.'
> 
> 
> 
> 'On Monday, DOGE posted its “wall of receipts” touting transparency, 
> showing 1,127 contracts. But as the Journal and others raised questions 
> about the figures, the tally of savings on DOGE’s website dwindled from 
> $16 billion to about $7 billion.
> 
> Two contracts also disappeared from the site Thursday because DOGE 
> counted the same $665 million USAID contract three times, the Journal 
> found.'
> 
> 
> 
> 'Even as DOGE edited the numbers, the total savings listed on its site 
> remained overstated, experts told the Journal. Agency contract amounts 
> are often akin to credit card limits, said Deniece Peterson, senior 
> director of federal market analysis at Deltek.
> 
> “If I have a credit card with a $30,000 limit and I have a $2,000 
> balance and I cancel the credit card, I’m not saving $28,000,” she said. 
> “What I’m seeing in many of these transactions is not savings.”'
> 
> 
> 
> 'More than a quarter of the contracts listed by DOGE were actually 
> already paid, the Journal found, saving no money. '