DOGE seeks access to personal taxpayer data
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My feeling about this is that many of Trump's followers, the very same people who until recently said that government has been interfering far too much in our lives, will find a way to say that it's OK for them to do this because it will stop something terrible from occurring.
@Doctor-Phibes LIke the majority of Ax's links, that one is paywalled, but yes, I doubt people who support the mission of DOGE will be doing any hand wringing about framings of the forensic accounting that emphasize the government looking at its own data and how that's terrifying. Or maybe there's a better way to articulate the concern here?
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If he didn’t have a daily history of publishing the state’s data, but wrapped in a narrative that is false about half the time, then maybe you’d have a point.
To answer more directly, the concern is privacy.
I’ll ask again- why won’t deidentified data suffice for any analysis he’d have a legitimate reason to perform?
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No. You're talking about many tables from huge distributed databases, each with identifying keys. It's not as simple as you might think.
@Mik said in DOGE seeks access to personal taxpayer data:
No. You're talking about many tables from huge distributed databases, each with identifying keys. It's not as simple as you might think.
Try putting on your info-sec hat and see if you think the time it would take to de-identify that data is worth it.
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In Trump’s world there are two kinds of people. Those who the law protects but doesn’t necessarily bind, and those who the law binds but doesn’t necessarily protect. Doge is in the first group, career civil service is in the latter.
I want only the latter group to have access to personally-identifiable tax information.
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Of course, the DOGE needs access to personal taxpayer data. How else can President Trump send USD$5000 checks to every one?
President Donald Trump suggested that some savings from his federal cost-cutting effort, overseen by billionaire Elon Musk, could be sent back to US taxpayers, with another portion being used to reduce the national deficit.
and
Trump’s idea has been floated previously by Musk, who was in attendance for the address. Musk responded this week to a post on his social media platform X suggesting that Trump announce a “DOGE Dividend” with a $5,000 tax refund check sent to taxpaying households, saying he would “check with the President.”
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FFS.
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Seems like a large majority of links on this forum anymore are paywalled or registration walled. Sad.
@Horace Here is the article from Bloomberg
President Donald Trump suggested that some savings from his federal cost-cutting effort, overseen by billionaire Elon Musk, could be sent back to US taxpayers, with another portion being used to reduce the national deficit.
“There’s even under consideration a new concept where we give 20% of the DOGE savings to American citizens, and 20% goes to paying down debt, because the numbers are incredible,” Trump said referring to his Department of Government Efficiency effort during an address Wednesday at an investment summit backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in Miami.
Trump’s idea has been floated previously by Musk, who was in attendance for the address. Musk responded this week to a post on his social media platform X suggesting that Trump announce a “DOGE Dividend” with a $5,000 tax refund check sent to taxpaying households, saying he would “check with the President.”
The remarks were the latest signal that Trump is working to justify his DOGE effort, which has sent shockwaves through Washington as Musk’s moves to slash the federal government’s spending and workforce invite legal challenges and questions over the effort’s authority and powers.
Critics have argued that the slash-and-burn style of canceled contracts and worker layoffs risk crippling critical government services while doing little to deliver long-term taxpayer savings. And Trump and Musk have repeatedly overstated the amount of realized taxpayer savings — casting doubt on whether ambitious goals to significantly slash spending could be met.
While the White House has claimed some $55 billion in savings so far, itemized documents posted by the group suggest the actual savings are only a fraction of that amount. Sending 20% of the roughly $8.6 billion of DOGE savings the group has so far listed on its website would amount to about $11 per taxpayer.
Still, some 75,000 federal workers took a offer for a buyout offer, Trump said, arguing it would provide long-term savings to the government. And Trump and Musk have argued that the biting cuts are necessary given the nation’s debt.
The US recorded an annual deficit of $1.8 trillion in the last fiscal year, and deficits are on track to rise over the next decade, adding further to government red ink. The US would need to eliminate those budget shortfalls before even beginning to make a dent in its $29 trillion debt load.
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While the White House has claimed some $55 billion in savings so far, itemized documents posted by the group suggest the actual savings are only a fraction of that amount. Sending 20% of the roughly $8.6 billion of DOGE savings the group has so far listed on its website would amount to about $11 per taxpayer.
$11 per tax payer might be affordable.
Re the inflated claims of Doge, I’ve seen some analyses. Some real amateur stuff there, eg canceling an 8B contract that’s in (say) year 6 out of 8 and claiming the full $8B as savings. That kind of thing.
“Don’t make me repeat myself”
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@Horace Here is the article from Bloomberg
President Donald Trump suggested that some savings from his federal cost-cutting effort, overseen by billionaire Elon Musk, could be sent back to US taxpayers, with another portion being used to reduce the national deficit.
“There’s even under consideration a new concept where we give 20% of the DOGE savings to American citizens, and 20% goes to paying down debt, because the numbers are incredible,” Trump said referring to his Department of Government Efficiency effort during an address Wednesday at an investment summit backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in Miami.
Trump’s idea has been floated previously by Musk, who was in attendance for the address. Musk responded this week to a post on his social media platform X suggesting that Trump announce a “DOGE Dividend” with a $5,000 tax refund check sent to taxpaying households, saying he would “check with the President.”
The remarks were the latest signal that Trump is working to justify his DOGE effort, which has sent shockwaves through Washington as Musk’s moves to slash the federal government’s spending and workforce invite legal challenges and questions over the effort’s authority and powers.
Critics have argued that the slash-and-burn style of canceled contracts and worker layoffs risk crippling critical government services while doing little to deliver long-term taxpayer savings. And Trump and Musk have repeatedly overstated the amount of realized taxpayer savings — casting doubt on whether ambitious goals to significantly slash spending could be met.
While the White House has claimed some $55 billion in savings so far, itemized documents posted by the group suggest the actual savings are only a fraction of that amount. Sending 20% of the roughly $8.6 billion of DOGE savings the group has so far listed on its website would amount to about $11 per taxpayer.
Still, some 75,000 federal workers took a offer for a buyout offer, Trump said, arguing it would provide long-term savings to the government. And Trump and Musk have argued that the biting cuts are necessary given the nation’s debt.
The US recorded an annual deficit of $1.8 trillion in the last fiscal year, and deficits are on track to rise over the next decade, adding further to government red ink. The US would need to eliminate those budget shortfalls before even beginning to make a dent in its $29 trillion debt load.
@taiwan_girl Thanks TG!
