Over the past few days, I heard a lot of grumbling about paying taxes, and I agree, they are way too high for what we get. For many years, we have been literally throwing our hard-earned tax dollars to the wind.
Our money has been wasted. But this year, it struck me that, while taxes are still exorbitant, we are entering a new golden era for America. The money we pay has a better chance of being used for good. The prognosis for our 2025 taxes and beyond looks better. I sincerely hope the best for you as an American taxpayer, and I extend support and prayers to Elon Musk and the DOGE team as they continue with the laborious task of “washing the dishes” in DC.
Here’s what DOGE has been up to in the past few days, we’ll also listen to a video of Elon speaking about NGOs later in this article.
DAY 83 (WEEK 13): AGENCIES TERMINATE $3.3B IN WASTEFUL CONTRACTS, SAVE $2.6B
DOGE highlighted major contract cancellations across agencies.
Agencies terminated 180 wasteful contracts with a ceiling value of $3.3B and savings of $2.6B, including a $85.5K Environmental Protection Agency contract for ‘live plant maintenance services’ (the internal EPA team will water them going forward) and a $265.5K Health and Human Services contract for ‘social media monitoring subscription, training, and platform setup’.
VA CANCELS OVERPRICED $15.3M CONTRACT, SAVES $11.1M
DOGE commended the Veterans Administration for slashing wasteful spending:
Great work by the VA cancelling an unreasonably priced multi-year $15.3M services contract for ‘salary survey data and analysis.’ The service was replaced at market price of ~$5K/year vs. the contracted $3.9M/year, saving $11.1M over the remaining life of the contract.
DAY 84 (WEEK 13): STATE DEPT CUTS $5.15M IN WASTEFUL GRANTS
DOGE praised Secretary Rubio and the State Dept. for terminating non-essential grants:
“Great job by Secretary Rubio and the State Dept. In addition to the ones below, they also cancelled these wasteful grants: -$1.4M for ‘Preventing Internet Fragmentation’ in Brazil -$750K for ‘Enabling Civil Society Resilience and Adaptation’ in Kyrgyzstan -$1M for ‘Building Trust and Keeping Hope Alive’ in Sri Lanka -$2M for ‘Advancing Democratic Culture’ in Armenia”
Elon Musk Speaks out on NGOs
Elon: “NGOs are a way to do things that would be illegal if done by a government but are somehow legal through a nonprofit. These nonprofits become very wealthy as people cash out. It’s a gigantic loophole, one of the biggest ever. There are thousands of NGOs in the system. Someone can set up an NGO for a small amount of money. He’s a genius at this, like a hacker who figured out how to hack the system. With a small donation, say $10 million, you can create a nonprofit, lobby politicians, and leverage it into a $1 billion NGO. The government continues to fund it every year. They give it a nice-sounding name like “Institute for Peace,” but it’s really a graft machine. There are no requirements for how the money is used; they get grants, and the government assumes they’re doing good work. But they know it’s a giant graft machine.”
TAXES: Sec of Treasury Scott Bessent’s IRS Progress Updates (Day 85, Week 13)
Scott Bessent’s IRS Reforms Save $2B for American Families
Secretary Scott Bessent’s IRS modernization, spotlighted by DOGE on Day 85 (Week 13), has saved $2 billion by eliminating wasteful contracts, as shared in his own words on X. His reforms streamline operations, enhance cybersecurity, and curb fraud, ensuring taxpayer dollars work harder. By prioritizing technical expertise and cutting paper processing, Bessent’s IRS offers a more efficient, secure experience, restoring confidence in a fairer tax system for American families.
From @SecScottBessent ’s X post: “With Tax Day upon us, we are doubly focused on making the IRS work better for American families, at a better price… The IRS has successfully saved $2 billion without any operational disruptions by eliminating wasteful contracts… The IRS has removed non-technical people from technical leadership roles… strengthening privacy by empowering technical cybersecurity experts… Last year, we spent $450 million on paper processing… Reducing paper checks… will help reduce fraud and theft.”
- Saved $2 Billion: Eliminated wasteful contracts seamlessly, maximizing taxpayer value.
- Increased Efficiency: Shifted technical roles to experts, speeding up decisions.
- Bolstered Cybersecurity: Empowered cybersecurity specialists to protect taxpayer data.
- Curbed Fraud: Cut $450 million in paper checks to reduce theft and errors.
- Modernized Systems: Expanded digital tools for faster, user-friendly taxpayer access.
470K UNUSED GOV CREDIT CARDS DEACTIVATED ACROSS 30 AGENCIES
DOGE shared an update on their credit card audit program:
“Credit Card Update! The program to audit unused/unneeded credit cards has been expanded to 30 agencies. After 7 weeks, ~470k cards have been de-activated. As a reminder, at the start of the audit, there were ~4.6M active cards/accounts, so still more work to do.”
My thoughts: DOGE DIARIES
We’re at a great place in American History, and I hope this article finds you optimistic and hopeful. I was like you, an anti-Trump person and a lifelong Democrat.
When I voted for Trump, it was my first time. Why the shift? I saw the problem from the perspective of our country losing billions daily. I am a writer and have been writing about Tesla for years, looking deeply into their highly efficient ways. How could the company keep going against all odds when so many tried to stop it from success? America is in a position to win or lose.
With DOGE, the chances of winning are much higher!
What's Up Doge? 
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