It’s fair to say that Elon Musk has had some unflattering headlines of late. It was just last month that The Wall Street Journal reported, “The $13 billion Elon Musk borrowed to buy Twitter has become the worst merger financing deal for banks since the 2008-09 financial crisis.”
The conniving billionaire’s favorite presidential candidate, however, seems eager to reward him with a position of influence. NBC News reported:
Former President Donald Trump announced Thursday that, if re-elected, he plans to adopt billionaire Elon Musk’s plan for a government efficiency commission to cut federal spending. Musk has agreed to lead the commission “when he has the time.” The announcement came as the former president delivered a speech to members of the Economic Club of New York in Midtown Manhattan, where he outlined a seven-pillar economic plan.
“I will establish a Commission on Government Efficiency charged with conducting a full financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms,” the Republican candidate said, noting that the panel was Musk’s idea.
“On the proposal of @elonmusk…I will create a Government Efficiency Commission charged with conducting a full financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms. And Elon…has agreed to lead that task force.” photo.twitter.com/ep2WU9ySRT
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 5, 2024
As part of the same remarks, the former president boasted that the commission will save taxpayers “trillions of dollars” by “developing an action plan to completely eliminate fraud and improper payments within six months.”
To emphasize, Trump told his audience again, “Trillions. It’s huge.”
At this point, we could talk at length about the fact that Musk has no meaningful experience in auditing, which makes him an odd choice for such a “commission.” We could also note that the billionaire has no background in federal budgeting or appropriations (other than receiving taxpayer money to boost one of his companies.)
We could even spend some time wondering why Trump, during his four years in the White House, has made no meaningful effort to identify or address the “fraud and improper payments” that he apparently believes are rampant in the federal government. (Somehow, we’re also supposed to believe that Musk will succeed where the GOP-led congressional budget committees failed.)
But after reading the comments I was also stuck on the word “trillions.”
The federal government’s budget for the most recent fiscal year was about $6 trillion. If Trump is to be believed, Musk’s “government efficiency commission” will not only expose previously unidentified waste, his panel will also outline “drastic” reforms.
This raises a number of questions that need to be answered before the elections.
How many Americans will be affected by these “drastic” cuts? How exactly will Trump and his cronies generate “trillions” in savings without gutting Social Security and Medicare? Can the GOP candidate point to specific programs and/or departments — literally, any — that are expected to be cut?
Or is this just one example – the latest in a series – of the former president seeking to reward a political ally while making ridiculous promises to voters that he barely attempts to keep?
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
