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Something President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and I agree on: the federal government throws away trillions of dollars on wasteful spending. I have spent years trying to squeeze government waste out of our budget, and I’m ready to work with Musk to make government more efficient and save taxpayers money. However, instead of cutting help for people who rely on Medicare, Social Security, and the VA, let’s focus on the billionaires and billionaire corporations who are feasting off the American taxpayer.
Musk’s ambition to cut $2 trillion in government waste is rapidly shrinking, with his goal now reduced to $1 trillion. I crunched the numbers and found $2 trillion that we could cut over the next 10 years by focusing on the guys who are getting rich off our government. I sent Musk my blueprint to do just that, but instead of focusing on cutting essential services, Congressional Republicans’ plans call for cuts to programs that millions of Americans rely on to pay their bills each month, such as Social Security, money to cover nursing home costs, and help buying private health insurance.
We can eliminate at least $2 trillion of government waste over the next decade without cutting programs that help our grandparents, our veterans, and our children. In fact, I have 30 specific proposals to do just that. Here are a few examples of government waste we could start with.
First, we could negotiate better contracts for the Department of Defense. In 2023, the DoD spent $440.7 billion on contracts, and giant contractors overcharge us on nearly everything. American taxpayers are sick of getting scammed by overpaid military contractors. My recommendations on Defense spending alone would save nearly $200 billion in the next 12 years.
Taxpayers are also getting swindled by for-profit health insurance companies. Right now, about half of all seniors have been lured into a privatized Medicare program called Medicare Advantage, which was started to lower costs for seniors, but the insurers figured out how to boost their profits by manipulating claims and denying coverage. Rooting out their dirty tactics could save more than a trillion dollars over ten years without cutting Medicare benefits by one penny.
We can bring down the deficit by cutting spending, but we can also improve our financial position by making millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share. Hedge funds and private equity companies use loopholes to avoid paying anywhere between $1.4 billion and $18 billion each year. By closing just one big estate tax exemption loophole abused by the ultra-rich, the US government could save another $60 billion per year. We should close those loopholes and fully fund the IRS to catch wealthy tax cheats who think they’re above the law.
My list of cuts and loophole closers will save $2 trillion. So where are Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and the DOGE project? Why give up so quickly on beating back the defense contractors, health insurance giants, and other huge companies that are ripping off the American people? If Musk and Trump have the courage to cut this waste, I have a plan and 30 specific recommendations to get it done.