This is *** vlog editorial. Elon Musk and the Doge team promised they would root out government inefficiency, making our federal tax dollars work harder, and that task is proving to be much harder than originally advertised. Some of this is due to some of the unforced errors on their part, and some is the inherent challenges that come with unwinding federal bureaucratic bloat. One of the challenges they face comes from the fact that many of their early offerings have the appearance of political retribution. The cuts seem to be highly partisan. Maybe some of the departments in areas they have proposed making cutbacks in truly are wasteful, but they also have *** partisan flavor to them, and this causes many to raise an eyebrow and their voices to protest. Another challenge they face is the speed of the changes, especially in proposing layoffs. Look, if *** business enterprise was reviewing their financials and looking for areas of efficiency, they may propose reducing staff, but it would be done in *** way that was more empathetic and with more strategic timing. Our government, by its nature, moves slowly, drastic, fast cuts spark fear and anxiety. The deep political divide we have in our country also breeds distrust, and therein lies the other major issue. For Doge to truly be successful, they should make the following adjustments. First, they should approach their work with far more empathy. We've seen firsthand the anxiety some of our friends and neighbors are experiencing. The team at Doe should also increase the level of transparency. And finally, *** better overall approach would be to use the next few weeks and months to truly do *** deep dive into our federal spending and then present the findings to the American people. Consider holding hearings and in that way when the changes are finally implemented we will all see why. Not everyone will agree, but you'll have given us objective reasons why you're making the recommended changes. And that will be better than the current ready fire aim approach we've been seeing. vlog welcomes responsible replies to this editorial.
Editorial: DOGE's 'ready, fire, aim' approach needs more transparency
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Updated: 5:25 PM CST Feb 28, 2025
Elon Musk and the DOGE team promised they would root out government inefficiency, making our federal tax dollars work harder. The task is proving to be much harder than originally advertised. Some of this is due to some unforced errors on their part, and some is the inherent challenges that come with unwinding federal bureaucratic bloat. One of these challenges they face comes from the fact that many of their early offerings have the appearance of political retribution. The cuts seem to be highly partisan. Maybe some of the departments and areas they have proposed making cutbacks in truly are wasteful. But they also have a partisan flavor to them, and this causes many to raise an eyebrow and their voices to protest. Another challenge they face is the speed of the changes — especially in proposing layoffs. If a business enterprise was reviewing their financials and looking for areas of efficiency, they may propose reducing staff, but it would be done in a way that was more empathetic and with more strategic timing. Our government, by its nature, moves slowly. Drastic, fast cuts, spark fear, and anxiety. The deep political divide we have in our country breeds distrust. And therein lies the other major issue. For DOGE to truly be successful, they should make the following adjustments. First, they must approach their work with far more empathy. We've seen firsthand the anxiety some of our friends and neighbors are experiencing. The team at DOGE should also increase the level of transparency.And finally, a better overall approach would be to use the next few weeks and months to truly do a deep dive into our federal spending. And then present the findings to the American people. Consider holding hearings. And that way, when the changes are finally implemented, we will all see why. Not everyone will agree, but you will have given us objective reasons why you're making the recommended changes. And that will be better than the current ready, fire, aim approach we've been seeing.›ĺ See other vlog editorials here
DES MOINES, Iowa — Elon Musk and the DOGE team promised they would root out government inefficiency, making our federal tax dollars work harder. The task is proving to be much harder than originally advertised. Some of this is due to some unforced errors on their part, and some is the inherent challenges that come with unwinding federal bureaucratic bloat.
One of these challenges they face comes from the fact that many of their early offerings have the appearance of political retribution. The cuts seem to be highly partisan. Maybe some of the departments and areas they have proposed making cutbacks in truly are wasteful. But they also have a partisan flavor to them, and this causes many to raise an eyebrow and their voices to protest.
Another challenge they face is the speed of the changes — especially in proposing layoffs. If a business enterprise was reviewing their financials and looking for areas of efficiency, they may propose reducing staff, but it would be done in a way that was more empathetic and with more strategic timing. Our government, by its nature, moves slowly. Drastic, fast cuts, spark fear, and anxiety.
The deep political divide we have in our country breeds distrust. And therein lies the other major issue. For DOGE to truly be successful, they should make the following adjustments. First, they must approach their work with far more empathy. We've seen firsthand the anxiety some of our friends and neighbors are experiencing. The team at DOGE should also increase the level of transparency.
And finally, a better overall approach would be to use the next few weeks and months to truly do a deep dive into our federal spending. And then present the findings to the American people. Consider holding hearings. And that way, when the changes are finally implemented, we will all see why. Not everyone will agree, but you will have given us objective reasons why you're making the recommended changes. And that will be better than the current ready, fire, aim approach we've been seeing.
›ĺ See other vlog editorials here
