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Culture War Roundup for the week of February 3, 2025

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This exactly. Let's put aside the DoD for a second because everyone knows about the waste there.

Many people are nakedly asserting that there is close to zero fraud in SSI and Medicare/Medicaid. I have no idea where this belief comes from. We haven't even looked! USAID was riddled with waste and fraud. It was just sitting in the open for anyone to see. But no one bothered to check until now.

Similarly, the government forgave tens of billions in fraudulent PPI loans.

They let murderers and rapists who were illegal aliens stay in the country when they knew about their crimes and had their addresses.

Would it really be a surprise if they also let illegal aliens, dead people, and scammers collect social security?

They need to slow the deficit enough to get out of a debt spiral.

Yes. If interest rates go down and inflation runs a little hot, then it won't be hard reduce the size of the debt relative to GDP. If DOGE is allowed to work, Trump could end his term having made a significant reduction in debt/GDP. This is not an impossible task.