Elon musk access to the treasury

[Mufaletta 53]

On 2/5/2025 at 12:01 PM, TrailGuy said:

The creation and spending was directed by Congress.  President doesn't have the power to do anything.  Know your constitution boyo

CNN says that US AID was created by Congress.  Facts say otherwise. 

The Secretary of State established USAID as directed by Executive Order 10973, signed by President John F Kennedy on November 3, 1961.

[Red White and Blue 81]

I’d be on board with this audit if it wasn’t being conducted by people with conflicts of interest all over the place.

[TrailGuy 552]

1 minute ago, Red White and Blue said:

I’d be on board with this audit if it wasn’t being conducted by people with conflicts of interest all over the place.

We all would.  We would all support an audit with full transparency and oversight conducted by people with the appropriate clearances, employees who have taken oaths and can be trusted.

[Engorgeous George 1,977]

8 minutes ago, Red White and Blue said:

I’d be on board with this audit if it wasn’t being conducted by people with conflicts of interest all over the place.

Why does that matter?  They are merely calling to our attention the expenditures.  If those expenditures are truely constitutional and justified then congress can reinstate them.

[RaiderHaters Revenge 4,173]

12 minutes ago, Red White and Blue said:

I’d be on board with this audit if it wasn’t being conducted by people with conflicts of interest all over the place.

Who should be doing it then?  Who do you think would have conflicts of interest?

[jonmx 2,368]

8 minutes ago, Red White and Blue said:

I’d be on board with this audit if it wasn’t being conducted by people with conflicts of interest all over the place.

Lol...GTFO.  There is so much actual corrupt where billions of dollars of government resources are being used to advance political goals contrary to our constitution and you are going to tell us how you are so concern with some imaginary conflicts of interest.  Spare me your BS concerns.

[jonmx 2,368]

2 minutes ago, Engorgeous George said:

Why does that matter?  They are merely calling to our attention the expenditures.  If those expenditures are truely constitutional and justified then congress can reinstate them.

It doesn't matter one bit.  The same bastards were never concerned that the Biden administration was prosecuting their political enemies where there was a clear conflict of interest.  Musk has zero actual conflicts of interest in exposing waste, fraud and abuse.  I am so sick of these focking lying lowlife bastards.  Good riddance.

[Red White and Blue 81]

9 minutes ago, RaiderHaters Revenge said:

Who should be doing it then?  Who do you think would have conflicts of interest?

Someone who isn’t Trump’s biggest donor and himself a government contractor who’s received billions in contracts and subsidies. I suspect they’re going to uncover a lot of grift, ignore the grift they personally benefit from, and use it as the pretext to gut rather than reform a lot of agencies.

@Engorgeous George basically same answer to your question.

[Mufaletta 53]

On 2/5/2025 at 12:44 PM, Fnord said:

The richest man on the planet, who spent a quarter bil on getting someone elected POTUS, who has billions of dollars of government contracts and myriad conflicts of interest and was not initially granted security access because of those conflicts; who is unelected, unappointed, unvetted, and unsupervised, is mucking around in a government system designed to distribute trillions of tax dollars. He has no authority to do this other than "Donald said so."

That's not how we run this fukking country, and if Dems ever pulled something even remotely similar, you and 3/4 of this board would stroke the fuk out. 

Unelected - Musk has never lost an election.   Many argue, including CNN hosts, that a material % of the electorate actually opted to vote for Trump because Elon began appearing with him on the campaign trail in '24 after the Trump assassination attempt.

Unappointed - appointed Nov 15, 2024 while Trump was President-elect.    Similar to how Biden appointed David Cameron and countless others of the Teamsters (who later refused to endorse him in his '24 campaign) while he was President-Elect.

Unvetted - Musk and SpaceX received multiple clearances from NASA, the Pentagon and the FCC throughout 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 to launch 7,500 Starlink satellites which the Federal Government continues to rely on.    Each of these clearances required multiple layers of vetting, in particular the Pentagon clearances.

Unsupervised - House of Representatives Oversight Committee is supervising DOGE work efforts

 

[jonmx 2,368]

9 minutes ago, Red White and Blue said:

Someone who isn’t Trump’s biggest donor and himself a government contractor who’s received billions in contracts and subsidies. I suspect they’re going to uncover a lot of grift, ignore the grift they personally benefit from, and use it as the pretext to gut rather than reform a lot of agencies.

So full of crap.  Elon provides service no other company can provides.  That is not grift you focking dumbazz.  And besides, that does not conflict with exposing the billions we are spending to make sure some tranny down in Ecuador is able to get his pens cut off.  Why is it any real American would be mad at Musk for saving us hundreds of billions of dollars on wasteful spending?  You are such a disingenious turd.   

[Red White and Blue 81]

1 minute ago, jonmx said:

So full of crap.  Elon provides service no other company can provides.  That is not grift you focking dumbazz.  And besides, that does not conflict with exposing the billions we are spending to back sure some tranny down in Ecuador is able to get his pens cut off.  Why is it any real American would be mad at Musk for saving us hundreds of billions of dollars on wasteful spending.  You are such a disingenious turd.   

I didn’t say it’s “grift,” I said it’s a conflict of interest. Tbf it’s probably hard to read when you’re seeing red all the time.  

[jonmx 2,368]

1 minute ago, Red White and Blue said:

I didn’t say it’s “grift,” I said it’s a conflict of interest. Tbf it’s probably hard to read when you’re seeing red all the time.  

What you said is "they’re going to uncover a lot of grift, ignore the grift they personally benefit..."    Musk would have to have some grift to be able to ignore it.  

And please explain how having contracts to help the government with space communication is in anyway a conflict of interest in exposing waste, fraud and abuse in agencies like USAID who have nothing to do with anything Musk is involved with.   Do you really understand what a conflict of interest is?  

[Fnord 1,920]

1 minute ago, Mufaletta said:

Unelected - Musk has never lost an election.   Many argue, including CNN hosts, that a material % of the electorate actually opted to vote for Trump because Elon began appearing with him on the campaign trail in '24 after the Trump assassination attempt. One might also argue that Elon is nearly single handedly responsible for getting him elected. Neither argument is germane to this conversation.

Unappointed - appointed Nov 15, 2024 while Trump was President-elect.    Similar to how Biden appointed David Cameron and countless others of the Teamsters (who later refused to endorse him in his '24 campaign) while he was President-Elect. He was appointed by POTUS to head a new agency that had never existed. He was not confirmed by committee or Senate vote. 

Unvetted - Musk and SpaceX received multiple clearances from NASA, the Pentagon and the FCC throughout 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 to launch 7,500 Starlink satellites which the Federal Government continues to rely on.    Each of these clearances required multiple layers of vetting, in particular the Pentagon clearances. That is not vetting in the traditional sense, where the FBI investigates nominees prior to seeking Senate approval. Musk himself was at least initially denied top secret security clearance due to his many conflicts of interest, but Trump pushed it through anyway. Can you confirm that the FBI fully vetted the individuals that Musk hand-picked to rummage through super sensitive data? Also, your link only states that the FCC and NASA approved the launch of SpaceX satellites. I didn't see anything about security clearances.

Unsupervised - House of Representatives Oversight Committee is supervising DOGE work efforts Link to which sycophantic Trump knob-washer is in charge of this "oversight?"

 

 

[lickin_starfish 1,843]

40 minutes ago, Red White and Blue said:

I’d be on board with this audit if it wasn’t being conducted by people with conflicts of interest all over the place.

Biden and Emhoff could have exposed it, but they didn't. Why didn't they do it when they had the chance?

[Red White and Blue 81]

Just now, jonmx said:

What you said is "they’re going to uncover a lot of grift, [bignore the grift they personally benefit..."    Musk would have to have some grift to be able to ignore it.  [/b]

And please explain how having contracts to help the government with space communication is in anyway a conflict of interest in exposing waste, fraud and abuse in agencies like USAID who have nothing to do with anything Musk is involved with.   Do you really understand what a conflict of interest is?  

I was implying that they’ll ignore grift in branches of government and industry the GOP likes: military spending, energy, etc.

Do I really need to explain to you how appointing a billionaire donor to audit the guvernement that pays his company billions is a conflict of interest?  

[Red White and Blue 81]

1 minute ago, lickin_starfish said:

Biden and Emhoff could have exposed it, but they didn't. Why didn't they do it when they had the chance?

Because they’re terrible people. Your guy is in charge now.

[Engorgeous George 1,977]

1 hour ago, Fnord said:

So you are okay with this even though potentially: 

-Those doing it do not have the legal right. As noted in your first line of your response maybe they potentially do have the right.  That is the nature of the word "potentialy".

-Only agencies not "aligned" with POTUS' agenda being hamstrung or shut down. I would be very supportive of the democrats conducting a prallel audit to expose republican abuses.  I want all abuses of the public purse to be exposed.

-It's being done by unelected, unappointed, unvetted employees of an unelected, unappointed billionaire running an unofficial agency, granted powers by fiat from POTUS that he ultimately has not been granted constitutionally. Ahh, the kitchen sink attack. Whether those doing the investigating and publicising of the abuses are elected or appointed is irrelevant.  The press use to do such matters and they were never appointed or vetted or elected.  Exposure of truth is exposure of truth no matter who from. In the end Musk and his team only have then poser of exposing the truth and then having the Presidfent act thereon either directly or through his cabinet appointees.  Now I get that Musk himself is not cautious about phrasing the matters that way. and I get that the opposition to trump enjoys mischaracterizing the process so they can foment outrage, but in the end Musk only has the power of persuasion by publicising the truth.

-there are extreme unintended consequences including screwing nonpartisan people in healthcare, disease treatment research and development, humanitarian aid and outreach, etc. I hope that justifiable, defensible, expenditures are reinstituted with great alacrity.  I would go one further and hope that some of the sdavings from the abusive expenditures get rerouted so that defensible expenditure programs even gain a bit of additional funding out of the savings,

-Only targets "small players" in gov't expenditures, not the "big" ones, like DOD. I see no current indication that they will not move on to the big ones.  they are just warming up, honing their craft with the easy ones before the "big game". 

-Is a thinly veiled way to save money only to support a giant tax break for the richest Americans. Thus far it has not been veiled at all, thinly or otherwise.  If in the end this is done to support a tax break for the wealthy rather than for deficit reduction I will join that revolution.  I do have my suspicions I am going to have to join, but we will see.

Nobody has a problem with identifying and ending fraud and abuse. The people doing it do not have the legal authority. This is vigilante politics. Are you also claiming that if Biden had George Soros do the same thing you would be fine with it? The people suggesting ending fraud and abuse after identifying it do not have the authority to end it.  That is very true.  Technically, however, they are not doing so.  They are merely making recommendations to those who do.  Now it does appear that Trump is nothing more than a rubber stamp thus far. That Trump would not have the cojones to not grant Lord Amighty and Grand Poobah Elon all he wants may be true, but  remains Trump's.  Now whetherTrump has that authority, that question is likely to be answered by the Courts, and very soon.

 

I appreciate your concerns and suspicions.  We do need to consider this new phenomenon carefully for Constitutional authorization.  I think we also need to round up the rascals that have been involved in what everybody seems to admit is rampant fraud and abuse and punish them to the fullest extent of the law. Frankly I think the term high crimes and misdemeanors certainly would apply to robbing the public treasury for personal gain including retention of political power.  I believe that to be treason.  I believe it should be punishable by death.  Those who have saddled your progeny with massive debt have turned them into indentured servants.  They have subjected the next generation to taxation without representation.  That was sufficient cause for our first revolution.

[Hardcore troubadour 14,636]

The pentagon has been audited 7 times by swamp  creatures and failed each time. A lot of good those audits did.  

[HellToupee 1,453]

Oh boy who knew…..

 

USAID: Biden threatened to withhold a $1 billion USAID loan guarantee unless Ukraine fired the prosecutor investigating his son's company. Victoria Nuland funded the Ukrainian coup with USAID money. USAID is at the heart of the war between Ukraine and Russia. 

[Mike Honcho 4,934]

12 minutes ago, Fnord said:

Link to which sycophantic Trump knob-washer is in charge of this "oversight?"

 

Well it linked back to this thread and his post, so he is in charge? 

[Engorgeous George 1,977]

19 minutes ago, Fnord said:

 

I can think of few jobs quite as odious as being Trump's Knob washer.  I believe Mike Rowe turned down the opportunity to make an episode based on that premise.

[purdygood 314]

I'm done with Twitter/X.  Ever since Elon took over. My "For You" page is nothing but Pro Elon. Pro Trump. BS.  He bought it based on Free Speech but he is clearly pushing what he wants.  He can not be Trusted. 

[TrailGuy 552]

51 minutes ago, jonmx said:

 Musk has zero actual conflicts of interest in exposing waste, fraud and abuse.  I am so sick of these focking lying lowlife bastards.  Good riddance.

[TrailGuy 552]

19 minutes ago, HellToupee said:

Oh boy who knew…..

 

USAID: Biden threatened to withhold a $1 billion USAID loan guarantee unless Ukraine fired the prosecutor investigating his son's company. Victoria Nuland funded the Ukrainian coup with USAID money. USAID is at the heart of the war between Ukraine and Russia. 

Completely False.  Man you are dumb.

[shadrap 195]

1 hour ago, Fnord said:

So you are okay with this even though potentially:

-Those doing it do not have the legal right.

-Only agencies not "aligned" with POTUS' agenda being hamstrung or shut down.

-It's being done by unelected, unappointed, unvetted employees of an unelected, unappointed billionaire running an unofficial agency, granted powers by fiat from POTUS that he ultimately has not been granted constitutionally.

-there are extreme unintended consequences including screwing nonpartisan people in healthcare, disease treatment research and development, humanitarian aid and outreach, etc.

-Only targets "small players" in gov't expenditures, not the "big" ones, like DOD.

-Is a thinly veiled way to save money only to support a giant tax break for the richest Americans.

Nobody has a problem with identifying and ending fraud and abuse. The people doing it do not have the legal authority. This is vigilante politics. Are you also claiming that if Biden had George Soros do the same thing you would be fine with it?

 

yes & regarding "-Is a thinly veiled way to save money only to support a giant tax break for the richest Americans".  Are you privy to this information or just making it up?

[RLLD 4,100]

The only reason there is consternation toward Musk is his movement away from the radical dogma of leftism.  When he was in their court, no problem.....if tomorrow Soros were to suddenly move away, he would be villainized as well.

Liberals have no policy....nothing that works....no actual outcomes to point to.....they only have one move.....turn their opponents into villains....thats it....

[TrailGuy 552]

2 minutes ago, RLLD said:

The only reason there is consternation toward Musk is his movement away from the radical dogma of leftism.  When he was in their court, no problem.....if tomorrow Soros were to suddenly move away, he would be villainized as well.

Liberals have no policy....nothing that works....no actual outcomes to point to.....they only have one move.....turn their opponents into villains....thats it....

You're not even listening.  I am not a leftist.

If George Soros was locked in the treasury with a group of kids that hacked the system I would be just as concerned.

The fact that you don't care about Elon Musk doing whatever he wants to our government is quite telling.

[The Real timschochet 5,926]

4 minutes ago, RLLD said:

The only reason there is consternation toward Musk is his movement away from the radical dogma of leftism.  When he was in their court, no problem.....if tomorrow Soros were to suddenly move away, he would be villainized as well.

Liberals have no policy....nothing that works....no actual outcomes to point to.....they only have one move.....turn their opponents into villains....thats it....

You have a bad habit of trying to ascribe your own presumed motives to the side you oppose, and you’re usually wrong. 

Liberals (and many conservatives and independents) are concerned about this because programs which really do a lot of good are being slashed, not just the wasteful elements. It also appears to be illegal in many cases. 

[RLLD 4,100]

1 minute ago, TrailGuy said:

You're not even listening.  I am not a leftist.

If George Soros was locked in the treasury with a group of kids that hacked the system I would be just as concerned.

The fact that you don't care about Elon Musk doing whatever he wants to our government is quite telling.

What you are or are not is not relevant.

Those we see in congress and media moving toward vilification show us what the power within the liberal party is.  I surmise they think their antics will endear them to their voters, but in reality it will only move more sane people away.

I want Musk to do exactly what he is doing.  Investigate, inform and then advise Trump as to what he is seeing so Trump and his team can act.  I could not be happier.  Well, actually I could.  Right now they appear to me to be somewhat restrained, and I want more of it, and faster.  But I understand the need to proceed more carefully.

[TrailGuy 552]

1 minute ago, RLLD said:

I want Musk to do exactly what he is doing.  Investigate, inform and then advise Trump as to what he is seeing so Trump and his team can act.  I could not be happier.  Well, actually I could.  Right now they appear to me to be somewhat restrained, and I want more of it, and faster.  But I understand the need to proceed more carefully.

So you have no concerns that Musk has everyone's SSN, Name, Address and payment info stored on a personal server of his?

[RLLD 4,100]

4 minutes ago, The Real timschochet said:

You have a bad habit of trying to ascribe your own presumed motives to the side you oppose, and you’re usually wrong. 

Liberals (and many conservatives and independents) are concerned about this because programs which really do a lot of good are being slashed, not just the wasteful elements. It also appears to be illegal in many cases. 

I do no such thing. It is an odd leap to make. I am a little surprised you might try that......

I do not concur that any of the programs observed are of any value to the American people.  Pull all that money back, feed it into North Carolina and LA instead.  Now, that is an oversimplification.   The government is not built for that level of sanity, and would not easily be able to pursue such a simple and common sense move.  Moreover, Demorats fight anything their ideological opponents do, regardless of value to the people.

[RLLD 4,100]

1 minute ago, TrailGuy said:

So you have no concerns that Musk has everyone's SSN, Name, Address and payment info stored on a personal server of his?

Prove he has this information......

[TrailGuy 552]

3 minutes ago, RLLD said:

Prove he has this information......

Obviously I can't prove it and he's never going to say he does.  There are reports that say he does have information.

It comes down to whether or not you trust Elon Musk to NOT abuse all of his new found powers.  He's the most powerful man in the world right now.  I personally don't trust him and would like some oversight.  It's too late for that now.

Again the lengths to which you trust Elon Musk to do the right thing is quite telling.

[RLLD 4,100]

Just now, TrailGuy said:

Obviously I can't prove it and he's never going to say he does.  There are reports that say he does have information.

It comes down to whether or not you trust Elon Musk to NOT abuse all of his new found powers.  He's the most powerful man in the world right now.  I personally don't trust him and would like some oversight.  It's too late for that now.

Again the lengths to which you trust Elon Musk to do the right thing is quite telling.

Than you should avoid making such assertions.  I know the Democrats and the media will recklessly do this to motivate people to oppose the Republicans, but lets not buy into their manipulations. Time and again, they have done this and later it is revealed it was all a lie.

I trust Muck for now, I trust Trump for now.  I like what they are doing.

[Red White and Blue 81]

Imagine the response if the Dems put George Soros in charge of a guvernement audit. The only difference is that Soros isn’t also a government contractor.  

[jonmx 2,368]

35 minutes ago, TrailGuy said:

Exactly.  So you have zero clue what constitutes a conflict of interest, nor can you articulate what Musks conflict is.   The left is the party of retards. 

[jonmx 2,368]

11 minutes ago, Red White and Blue said:

Imagine the response if the Dems put George Soros in charge of a guvernement audit. The only difference is that Soros isn’t also a government contractor.  

Lol....Apparently you are clueless to the fact that Soros organizations recieved $50 million from USAID so he could free violent criminals and defend those involved in the summer of love riots.  You see that would be an actual conflict of interest with this effort.  Musk's contract for Space X services is not a conflict of interest in anything he has done yet.  

[Hardcore troubadour 14,636]

8 minutes ago, Red White and Blue said:

Imagine the response if the Dems put George Soros in charge of a guvernement audit. The only difference is that Soros isn’t also a government contractor.  

If they ran on him having  a role in government and people vote for it oh well.   But the left doesn’t run on Soros having a role even though he does. Simple. Musk was out in the open and Trump said what he was going to do.  

[Mufaletta 53]

53 minutes ago, Mike Honcho said:

Well it linked back to this thread and his post, so he is in charge? 

The oversight body you seek is in Congress, where oversight is vested per the Constitution.    Article I, Section 8, Clause 18

https://oversight.house.gov/release/comer-oversight-committee-is-working-with-doge-to-improve-government-efficiency-eliminate-rampant-washington-waste/

Now you and F-Nord can proceed with your screeching that everyone in congress in an oversight role is a knob licker.

[RaiderHaters Revenge 4,173]

1 hour ago, Red White and Blue said:

Someone who isn’t Trump’s biggest donor and himself a government contractor who’s received billions in contracts and subsidies. I suspect they’re going to uncover a lot of grift, ignore the grift they personally benefit from, and use it as the pretext to gut rather than reform a lot of agencies.

@Engorgeous George basically same answer to your question.

like? example?

Bill Gates?