Item one: The richest man in the world is an effing idiot. And something worse than that. |
At the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, Elon Musk appeared on stage in oversized sunglasses, a black gothic MAGA hat, a thick gold chain around his neck—and wielding a chainsaw. Ha ha. Over at Politico’s Playbook, the new team may not have heard of the New Deal, but thank goodness they do have enough sense to know that the richest man in the world and the president he works for (or is it the other way around?) might—make that will—come to rue that cringey image. The way Musk’s DOGE is going about these cuts is the equivalent, as I heard former Biden administration official Mitch Landrieu say on TV this week, of a man thinking he needs to lose 30 pounds and deciding to saw off his leg. That’s funny, and true. But this is even worse. A man sawing off his leg hurts only himself. What Musk is doing will hurt millions of people in ways that we’re only beginning to see. Here’s one small example, which you likely haven’t read about but which I take a little personally. If you’re one of my regular readers, you know that I was born in Morgantown, West Virginia, and went to my hometown university, West Virginia University, or WVU, (not UWV, thank you). A week ago, West Virginia Watch, a small nonprofit news organization in the state, moved a story noting that the university expects to lose $12 million annually in funding that supports cancer and vascular research. |
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Under dynamic Dean Clay Marsh, a native of the state recruited back to West Virginia from Ohio State by WVU President E. Gordon Gee (and the son of hell-raising newspaper editor Don Marsh, who once upon a time made The Charleston Gazette one of the most aggressive regional newspapers in the country), the cancer institute has made tremendous strides. The cuts, a university spokesman told West Virginia Watch, could cost the school the faculty it has recruited to do the research and conduct the clinical trials that could lead to the breakthroughs that would save a lot of lives in the state with the third-highest cancer mortality rate in America. And if it’s $12 million at the smallish West Virginia University Health Sciences Center, imagine what it is at New York University, or UCLA, or Johns Hopkins, or even much larger state research hospitals in Florida or Washington. And it’s happening to every state university medical system in the nation. But the broad story here is far worse. The real-world impact of the cuts is bad enough. What’s even worse is the cynicism bred by the endless lies told by Musk, promoted by the right-wing media, and bought hook, line, and sinker by so many Americans. The lies promote the same old right-wing ignorance about how the world actually works. The right-wing myth about how things work is that the federal government is full of waste and bloat and you could cut two-thirds of it and nobody would even notice. This view is based on utter cynicism and stupidity on the part of right-wing shock jocks and cable hosts and others who want to promote hatred and keep people in a state of outrage. Here’s how things actually work. It’s a vital point, one that isn’t well enough understood, and that Democrats don’t make nearly enough. Public sector workers, for the most part, are really different from private sector workers. Private sector workers, as a rule, produce tangible things. Factory workers make car bumpers and furniture and all kinds of things. Other kinds of workers innovate and give us new products. Bankers extend the credit that makes all this production and innovation possible. We all understand that this is how an economy works, because we learn it in school, and it’s completely intuitive (yes, far too many private sector workers in modern capitalism "produce" mostly for themselves, but that’s a separate problem). |
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{{/if}} What most public sector workers do is different. In fact, it’s completely the opposite. They prevent things from happening. They don’t produce goods, but they do make sure that the goods the private sector produces are safe and don’t injure people. They don’t innovate, but they ensure that innovations aren’t fraudulent. They don’t create workplaces, but they make sure that workplaces are safe. This is a part of the economy, too—and it’s one that no one ever thinks about. No one takes a drink of water and thinks, "Hey, I didn’t get sick or die from that water, thank you, Environmental Protection Agency." No one gets on a flight that lands safely and thanks the Federal Aviation Administration. No one buys a toy for their infant or toddler that does not contain any parts the child could accidentally choke on and thanks the Consumer Product Safety Commission. No one does that, and on the one hand, no one should do that. These people signed up to do this work, and when drinking water and airplane flights and children’s toys are safe, they’re just doing their jobs. On the other hand, maybe we should thank them once in a while. They do invaluable work. And the world only notices them—and this is another big reason that public sector workers are easy to pick on, and why they have bad reputations—when something screws up. Think about it. When have, say, the goings on at the Department of the Interior made The Washington Post? Answer: When something goes wrong. You’re not likely to see a headline like "Things Going Great Inside Interior," because that isn’t the nature of the news business. It’s not news when bureaucrats are doing their jobs right. To its great credit, the Post last year ran a series of articles positively profiling government workers. But generally, it’s only news when these folks get something wrong. These kinds of stories appear with some regularity in our lives. But in fact, when you consider the size of the federal bureaucracy and how many things it does, they are actually comparatively rare, which means that about 99 percent of the time, federal bureaucrats are doing their jobs well. And yes, they, too, are an important part of the economy. Imagine what the U.S. economy would be like if even 0.5 percent of airplane flights ended in a crash (domestically, that would mean 275 crashes every day) or if 1 percent of America’s beef supply carried some disease. It’s the federal government, not "self-policing" industry, that makes sure these calamities aren’t happening. If they did, the economy would be a shipwreck. Yet here comes the world’s richest man, in his unfathomable vanity and ignorance, tearing all this to pieces. And lies. Endless lies. The most conspicuous one is this nonsense about tens of millions of 150-year-old people getting Social Security checks. Of this alleged situation, Musk posted on X: "Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security." It’s all a complete lie. There are only 108,000 centenarians in the United States. The lie started because the brilliant Musk and his brilliant interns misread the data from the Social Security Administration’s computer operating system, which is 65 years old. In other words, it’s a mistake that could be rectified easily if Congress appropriated a few million dollars for the SSA to modernize its computers. That, of course, will never happen in this Congress. It’s too busy getting ready to pass tax cuts for the 1 percent. How much will Congress’s plan cut Musk’s taxes? I don’t own a calculator with that many zeroes. The man makes, it is estimated, at least around $55 million dollars a day. He reportedly makes around $8 million a day from the government alone, in the form of federal contracts with his businesses. Aside from the fact, dear Democrats, that every single person in America should know those figures, they also may help explain how he can see the U.S. Agency for International Development as a "criminal organization" and cancer researchers at WVU as pointless people doing the pointless work of saving pointless lives. |
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On March 25, TNR contributors Kim Kelly and Brian Goldstone introduce us to Goldstone’s new book, There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America. By telling the unforgettable stories of five Atlanta families, this landmark work of journalism exposes a new and troubling trend—the dramatic rise of the "working homeless" in cities across America. |
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Last week’s quiz: "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie …" A quiz on Valentine’s Day. |
1. Valentinus was a real person who lived in Rome and was martyred in 269 A.D. (on, duh, February 14). He is said to have done what before his execution? |
A. Chiseled a large heart into the plinth of the Senate building B. Shot an arrow into the arm of the woman he loved C. Written a note to a girl whose blindness he had cured, signed "from your Valentine" D. Given a dozen roses to the wife of the emperor who ordered his execution |
2. St. Valentine’s Day was an amorous holiday by the 1500s. What Shakespeare character said: |
To-morrow is Saint Valentine’s Day, All in the morning betime, And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine. Then up he rose, and donn’d his clothes, And dupp’d the chamber-door; Let in the maid, that out a maid Never departed more. |
A. Ophelia in Hamlet B. Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream C. Timandra in Timon of Athens D. Goneril in King Lear |
Answer: A, Ophelia. The others weren’t very likely candidates, especially that nasty Goneril. |
3. The first mass-produced Valentine’s cards in the United States appeared in what year? |
A. 1814 B. 1847 C. 1877 D. 1890 |
4. Which chocolate company was the first to come up with the heart-shaped box of chocolates, in 1868? |
A. Russell Stover B. Hershey’s C. See’s D. Cadbury |
Answer: D, Cadbury. What happened to Yankee ingenuity?! |
5. In Rodgers and Hart’s "My Funny Valentine," what word rhymes with "laughable"? |
A. Affable B. Diaphanal C. Unphotographable D. Electrocardiographable |
6. Those little heart-shaped candies with messages like "Be Mine" are called conversation hearts. How many calories are there in a suggested serving size of 12 pieces? |
Answer: B, just 60. Also no fat! But lots of sugar, which is, you know, fat. |
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Go ahead and roll your eyes at those who want to emigrate amid Trump’s second term, but it’s a worrying trend. |
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This week’s quiz: "Oh beautiful, for spacious skies …" The firings at the National Park Service are already producing long lines and chaos. So dumb and tragic. Especially when you consider question five. |
1. Yellowstone was the first national park, as many people know. What president signed into law the bill creating it? |
A. Benjamin Harrison B. Theodore Roosevelt C. Chester Arthur D. Ulysses S. Grant |
2. What president created the National Park Service? |
A. Theodore Roosevelt B. William McKinley C. Woodrow Wilson D. Herbert Hoover |
3. How many national parks are there in the United States? |
A. 63 B. 97 C. 132 D. 203 |
4. Surprisingly, only one of the following four states has a national park. Which one is it? |
A. New York B. Georgia C. Arkansas D. Idaho |
5. In 2023, the parks welcomed 325.5 million visitors, who spent $24 billion at the parks and in park "gateway" regions. What was the National Parks Service’s budget that year? |
A. $12 billion B. $8.3 billion C. $6.9 billion D. $4.7 billion |
6. What was the most visited national park in 2024, and by far? |
A. Great Smoky Mountain B. Yellowstone C. Yosemite D. Grand Canyon |
That jerk Milton Friedman thought there should be no national parks. I never thought we’d live to see the day when our actual government would head down that idiotic road. Answers next week. Feedback to [email protected]. —Michael Tomasky, editor |
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This is how you sever the positive relationship between people and government—ensuring there’s nothing left to defend. |
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