Elon Musk’s DOGE Is Growing Desperate for a “Win”
newrepublic.com
As America turns against DOGE and its assault on the government, its staffers are hoping for a public relations win to change the narrative.

Summary

Elon Musk’s DOGE faces mounting pressure to show achievements amid criticism. Staffers, under pressure from Trump administration officials, seek public relations wins to counter negative headlines.

Cuts to federal offices led to mass layoffs, and efforts to modernize government services have been chaotic. DOGE prioritizes speed over security and protecting sensitive information.

Trump has distanced himself, stating agency chiefs, not Musk, control department cuts, preferring a “scalpel” over a “hatchet” approach. Public opinion has turned against DOGE, with 48% disapproving versus 34% approving, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll.

With limited time before their tenure ends, DOGE officials are desperate to show results.

  • SabinStargemEnglish
    3·
    12 hours ago

    There is no point in capping fiber speeds. Either that capacity is in use or it isn’t. It isn’t like water, where a resource is depleted from usage.

    Aside from that, I agree with your concept of the government providing all the essentials. Capitalism is great for providing products that suit a person’s individuality, but it sucks at ensuring the survival and wellbeing of people.

    • oppy1984@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      6 hours ago

      Ok, now that I’ve had a bit of sleep (,3rd shifter here) how about the government owns the fiber a sells access to the for profit companies. But there is no monopolies so there is competition and every company is required to offer a basic package that is low cost and has enough bandwidth for the average work from home video meeting. Oh yeah, and no data caps.

      After that they can increase prices and offer more services. And if somewhere like farm country isn’t being served by any of the for profit companies, then the government corporation could set up an ISP and serve those citizens.

      • SabinStargemEnglish
        2·
        4 hours ago

        That is local loop unbundling. Anyhow, as I said, no point in capping data speed. Society benefits from faster internet - less congestion, transactions like stocks, purchasing goods, and Zoom meetings are all faster or more reliable. It is a type of infrastructure that benefits civilization, in ways far more beneficial than raw money itself. Time is the most valuable thing for every human, since you can’t buy more and it is always depleting. The less time people spend on slow internet, the more they can use it for other things.

        Money should not, must not, be the purpose of civilization. That is just enslaving humans to it. We invented it to save time, and shouldn’t lose sight of that.

        • oppy1984@lemm.eeEnglish
          1·
          2 hours ago

          I have been approaching this from a middle of the ground standpoint. Basically I know that a large enough percentage of Americans would reject this as “evil socialism” so putting caps on the government industry at first would be a Trojan horse to get a footing and get society comfortable with the idea.

          Ultimately I would like to see companies have to compete with government offered products and services, but I just don’t see it being feasible in our current political climate. Sadly I think it will either take generational change to get it done, or a more kinetic change that would harm the country and take far longer to recover from.