Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

LymphocyteLover

(8,356 posts)
Sat Mar 29, 2025, 09:23 AM Mar 2025

America is Trapped in a Burning Tesla (Surprise! The madman stuff wasn't an act)

https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/america-is-trapped-in-a-burning-tesla

One thing that really struck me from Rattner’s piece — something I’ve heard from other sources — is that big businessmen think Elon Musk is doing a good job. I guess this is one of those cases where power and privilege make you blind to things that are obvious to everyone else.

What those of us not cocooned in our corner offices see is that Musk let a bunch of Dunning-Kruger kids — too incompetent to realize that they’re incompetent — loose on federal agencies, where they began firing workers without trying to understand what these workers do or why it might be important. These firings have been followed in several cases by desperate attempts to rehire the lost workers, who turn out to have been doing things like, um, securing the nation’s nuclear weapons.

Now, Musk’s DOGE claims that it has already saved taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, but it has provided no evidence to back those claims. Instead, last month it released what it called a “wall of receipts,” purportedly documenting some of the claimed savings. That document, however, turned out to be riddled with huge errors, including misreading an $8 million contract as $8 billion and counting the same canceled contract three times. Last week it released a revised, much smaller “wall” — but that version also turns out to be full of major errors, and DOGE has already retracted 5 of its 7 biggest claims about cost savings.

Imagine how a private business would react if it hired a supposed efficiency expert who quickly fired crucial employees while making grandiose claims about the money he’s saving, but kept releasing progress reports that were full of ludicrous errors. You wouldn’t keep him on; you’d have security escort him out of the building and immediately change all the locks. But Trump went out of his way to praise Musk, who is still wreaking havoc that goes beyond the immediate impact of the layoffs. Think about what his actions must be doing to the morale of those federal workers who remain.

Sooner or later, and probably sooner rather than later, important things are going to break.
6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
America is Trapped in a Burning Tesla (Surprise! The madman stuff wasn't an act) (Original Post) LymphocyteLover Mar 2025 OP
Simplifying a complex society is a regression. cachukis Mar 2025 #1
Yup.... ugh... I fucking hate this timeline LymphocyteLover Mar 2025 #5
Efficiency experts Maninacan Mar 2025 #2
Oy! Sounds about right! LymphocyteLover Mar 2025 #4
Confidence men ZDU Mar 2025 #3
The Nazi parasite is a lifelong scam artist dalton99a Mar 2025 #6

cachukis

(3,331 posts)
1. Simplifying a complex society is a regression.
Sat Mar 29, 2025, 09:41 AM
Mar 2025

Think of it as the structures that make us whole, as the USA, now in the same shape as the landscape of Gaza.
Not at all confident about any prediction as to what's next, other than a lot of unhappiness.

Maninacan

(158 posts)
2. Efficiency experts
Sat Mar 29, 2025, 09:50 AM
Mar 2025

Worked in a factory that hired consulting company that really screwed things up. Made us run really small batches of parts that took setup time.Our setup time hours went up and production went down. They said inventory was a cost. We ran out of components and could not fill orders.

ZDU

(582 posts)
3. Confidence men
Sat Mar 29, 2025, 09:58 AM
Mar 2025

... play con-games. Surprise! Surprise! Surprise? Nope, not at all. Expect idiocy and a cult following

Latest Discussions»Editorials & Other Articles»America is Trapped in a B...