And now we see what is possible

This is an almost impossible post to respond to without it become a flame war.<p>But if anyone is curious about the idea that we have too many government bureaucrats, and whether this increases costs, I encourage them to read the findings of the Transit Costs Project. In looking deeply into why transit is so expensive in the US, they found that a major cost was that the US has too <i>few</i> bureaucrats, and instead has to hire extremely expensive consultants.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;transitcosts.com&#x2F;about&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;transitcosts.com&#x2F;about&#x2F;</a><p>This aligns with my understanding from friends&#x2F;family members who work at state and county agencies: they are rarely able to provide the quality of service people want because they&#x27;re severely understaffed, and are killing themselves in a sisyphean attempt to meet people&#x27;s needs.

I think a lot of people fall into this trap of searching for the ultimate person or agency that is accountable, be it Illuminati, the Rockefellers or a deep state of some kind. The reality, that it’s all chaotic, that there are a lot of people with their own agenda, that nobody controls it all from the top, and it all ends up as a never-ending struggle of incomprehensible dimensions, that is too scary a thought for many, even very intelligent people.

&quot;Even if so, this isn’t Twitter, and it may not work.&quot; Is this person under the impression somehow that what Elon did to Twitter _did_ work?

&gt; I really hope Donald Trump understands the need for radical change of the US government (on the order of firing 80% of the people), and also understands that he can’t do it without Elon’s help. So that’s obstacle one, does Elon get free range to operate?<p>I work for the government. Sure, state government, but still… I take this seriously. You&#x27;re gonna find out that quality of services falls apart if and when this happens.<p>This doesn&#x27;t belong on HN.

<i>&gt; “Will this be one of the historical once every 70 years administrations? I’ll know it is if the government budget is cut by over 50%.”</i><p>Did the author even bother to look how the US federal budget is spent?<p>Social Security, Medicare and defense account for 54% and Trump has promised not to cut these.<p>11% is spent on interest payments, and since Trump will cut taxes and thus reduce federal income, the government will have to keep borrowing and keep paying even more interest.<p>Maybe he could cut the 18% of the budget that goes to the states? Oh, but those are mostly benefiting red states. Hmm.<p>No biggie. I’m sure Elon Musk will figure this out in an afternoon while tweeting and playing Diablo in the White House.

I&#x27;m sure Trump and Elon could destroy the bureaucracy that keeps Social Security, SNAP payments, and Medicaid flowing to rural America and somehow spin it as the Democrats&#x27; fault.<p>Also, if you&#x27;re an enemy of the USA, a great moment to attack American interests would be just after 80% of government employees are fired.

This might be a great example of epistemic trespassing.

The only way to cut the federal budget 50% is to tank Medicare and Medicaid.