As Jon Lee Anderson wrote in a recent New Yorker profile, Milei (Argentina) has changed “the compact between the Argentinian state and its citizens — cutting cost-of-living increases to pensioners, funding for education and supplies for soup kitchens in poor neighborhoods.”
In some ways, he is succeeding; inflation has plummeted. But the poverty rate rose by around 11 points during his first six months in office, to almost 53 percent, and the country has fallen into a recession.
Source: New York Times
Is this what Musk means by “Americans need to accept “temporary hardship” to reduce spending, and Ramaswamy recently called for “Milei-style cuts on steroids.” A reasonable formula he called it.
Is that how you save $2 trillion? Yup
Americans have no clue what they have voted for
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
With respect to zero based budgeting, you have to use it to transform the organization, not just cut. You have to eliminate the unnecessary, the duplicative, etc.
Define the goal. It isn’t $2 Trillion in cuts. It is … Once you have a clear vision of what you are trying to achieve, then reevaluate every agency, every department, look for overlap, look for duplication. I once had a CFO who convinced me that the Fortune 100 employer (with 20+ subsidiaries) could run off a single checking account. That was his response when I confirmed to him that we could achieve significant economies of scale if we ran one payroll system, one payroll period, and no mid-cycle exceptions except where the authorizing department paid the outrageous cost of issuing a mid-cycle paycheck.
Start with the Constitution. What does it require?
Everything else is up for challenge, justification.
not spreadsheets
The most successful zero-based budgeting initiatives begin with a clear vision of transformation. Instead of starting with cost targets, ask: What is the corporate strategy and the intended financial outcome? What capabilities do we need to achieve our strategic and financial goals? Which capabilities are no longer needed? How are we sourcing all our capabilities to optimize the input costs?
Actions that reduce spend by eliminating that which is not aligned with the strategic goal allows for reductions in national debt, and in turn interest on the national debt, which ultimately will allow for increases in spend in furtherance of the strategic goals.
No longer should wages be a function of the size of the department or the budget. Every leader must embrace zero-based thinking – disregarding historical spending allocations.
The goal is to get people in the Education Department to cut their spending so that it can be allocated to a more strategic priority, say the Defense Department, or reducing the annual deficit, national debt and interest on that debt.
Once spend is down to the appropriate zero based budget goal consistent with the strategy, that should open up the discussion to changes in revenue, so as to eliminate the annual deficit and start to repay/retire the national debt.
LikeLike
And, whatever limited success DOGE achieves, let’s also put a sunset on all existing spending other than that authorized by constitutional provision, requiring Congress to re-authorized all programs. Arizona has such a sunset law tied to many of its spending initiatives.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/arizonas-sunset-law-is-an-example-for-doge-reform-trump-democracy-19bbf9c2?mod=hp_opin_pos_5#cxrecs_s
LikeLike
I’ve said this before but it bears repeating, when Quinn hits a nerve with one of his posts and Al Lindquist and BenefitJack start firing back, I have to run to keep up. This is what thinking is all about folks, read and digest it. I can only hope there is this much discussion in DC on these topics.
LikeLike
AL LINDQUIST
You can’t work with folks like Quinn because they are immune to facts and and high on emotion–of course lower taxes lead to more revenue as we see right now in the U.S.A.–but as Jack as so artfully pointed out in his Gibson/Obama replay (thanks for you hard work) even if you bring in more money at a lower rate it makes no difference to them–you have to laugh as I did New Year’s Day when some lefty folks like Quinn were here–it’s a hoot when you give facts and they use the term “convicted felon”–“insulting folks”–NAZI and Hitler.
If you have facts–Quinn has emotion–then you are basically a low IQ voter as, according to Quinn, we who voted for Trump, got it all wrong about inflation (20% increase since 1/20/21)–crime (CVS locks up the product but the thieves receive no punishment), immigration (“the border is closed and those 8 million are Faux News plants coming across”), the corpse is alive and not mentally/physically impaired–he decided himself not to run after being nominated–I guess he thought he needed time off with Hunter and grandkids–and of course the laptop was Russian disinformation.
So you see Quinn and his high IQ voters fell for none of that BS above only us low information–low IQ folks–Quinn and his buddies are too smart for the misinformation and propaganda above.
Inflation hit 300% before Milei was elected–fired 33,000 public employees and closed numerous ministries and state agencies. 1st surplus was in order for ’24–2.4% inflation for November much less than the 26% for January of ’24 when he took over.
It is going to take some time to recover from the loons on the left who created the problem–WSJ article talks about the enormous printing of money (peso) that created the inflation–sounds like our folks here who printed up all the funny dollars to finance the $1,400 give away–The New Green Deal–and the IRA which was just another name for spending $ we didn’t have, and of course the attempted buying of college debt.
LikeLike
Lower taxes have never resulted in net revenue gain, including last Trump’s tax cuts.
LikeLike
Prove it! How do you know? As a % of GDP revenue is much higher now than pre covid years. Lower taxes helps stimulate growth.
Checked growth rates in G7 countries? How have higher taxes worked in those countries? Probably one of a few reasons folks are voting for conservative government. Germany is the next one to go right. Great Britain is the lone holdout.
Checked U HAUL rates from LA to Miami and from Miami to LA? People vote with their feet and we know which states people are leaving and gravitating to.
LikeLike
You may be right that people don’t know what they are going to get with what they voted for, but they do know what they were getting and didn’t want more of it.
LikeLike
Not sure they did know, especially about the economy, crime, unemployment, even inflation even immigration. That had their perceptions fostered by effective propaganda and in the end facts didn’t matter. The misinformation campaign was very effective on frightened low information voters.
LikeLike
Quinn, why don’t you get a tattoo on your forehead that say’s ” anything Trump stands for is wrong”. You’d rather this country go down the toilet then make any changes
LikeLike
If I was into tattoos it would be a large one with something like “Why did Americans elect an immoral con man whose stated aims and actions will undermine our Constitution and put our country at risk and who speaks irresponsibly out of ignorance?”
He played on fears, hate, prejudice and simple ignorance of facts and he won. I doubt most people know what they have voted for, but they will find out.
Personally, I’m still waiting for the great new health plan promised in 2015, the one where zero effort was made, just like ignoring SS and Medicare and making no effort to push Congress to act.
The American people are the last thing on the new administrations mind, just deregulation and shrinking the federal government matters – and pushing costs to the states. And who do you think benefits? Not you or me.
LikeLike
Why did he get elected? Because the far left Dems went woke and forget their base, and nominated a complete moron!
LikeLike
To some degree you are right, Richard. However voters did get out and vote because they did not like the Biden administration and all that it presented.
LikeLike
Argentina was (and still is) a basket case with 25.5% inflation rate in late 2023 and a poverty rate of 42% and increasing. There was no way forward for them. Their money was becoming more and more worthless and collapse was imminent. At least Milei is giving them a shot at recovery. The last I read was their recession was over but that could be the official party talking.
I only know that Argentina was a basket case last year and years before that and nobody was doing anything to pull them out of the ditch. Maybe they will pull through. I don’t compare our economy to theirs and I don’t think we need radical programs to improve our condition and I don’t expect to see any radical programs.
LikeLike
Consider Greece. Ten to fifteen years ago, Greece was an economic basket case – in the throes of a devastating debt crisis marked by years of austerity, hardship and unrest. However, 2024 performance, with 2.4% inflation, and 3% growth – leaves that economy at its pre-crisis, 2009 size – where borrowing costs are now less than those suffered in Italy and banks are again fully privatized.
In fact, one of the major challenges to the Greek economy is its participation with other countries in the euro zone.
Further, natural and man made disasters continue to be a challenge – a declining birthrate, labor shortages, wildfires and floods.
But heck, if Greece can do it, why not us?
LikeLike
Well, we can do it, just not by cutting govt programs and services already in existence or by shifting spending to the states or irresponsible tax policy. Of course, there is the fact Greece is only slightly larger than NJ.
LikeLike
if we do not reduce federal spending, if we do not reduce the size and scope of the federal government, if we do not eliminate duplication with the states and local governments where it exists (education, environment, etc.), if we do not stop using federal monies to pick winners and losers in our economy (Solyndra, etc.), if we do not stop boondoggles such as government funded charging stations (where, as of May 2024, $7.5 Billion in Federal Funds yielded only 8 EV Charging Stations), and on and on and on, the only option is to raise taxes by $2+ Trillion a year and crap on economic growth – because we can’t tax the poor, only those productive Americans who earn income, generate profits, create jobs, etc.
Remember the idiot President Obama who agreed that an increase in the capital gains tax rate would actually reduce tax revenues, but thought it was a good idea anyway, because it was “fair”? (see below, April 16, 2008 debate). There, he complains about deficit spending, he the idiot that all but doubled the national debt he had inherited from Bush II.
A decision that we should raise tax rates to avoid reducing or eliminating unnecessary and duplicative and unproductive federal government spending sounds like an Obama echo regarding fairness.
Seems an obvious choice to me.
How about you?
ABC News’ Charlie Gibson, and then candidate Obama.
GIBSON: All right. You have, however, said you would favor an increase in the capital gains tax. As a matter of fact, you said on CNBC, and I quote, “I certainly would not go above what existed under Bill Clinton,” which was 28 percent. It’s now 15 percent. That’s almost a doubling, if you went to 28 percent.
But actually, Bill Clinton, in 1997, signed legislation that dropped the capital gains tax to 20 percent.
OBAMA: Right.
GIBSON: And George Bush has taken it down to 15 percent.
OBAMA: Right.
GIBSON: And in each instance, when the rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased; the government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down.
So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?
OBAMA: Well, Charlie, what I’ve said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness.
We saw an article today which showed that the top 50 hedge fund managers made $29 billion last year — $29 billion for 50 individuals. And part of what has happened is that those who are able to work the stock market and amass huge fortunes on capital gains are paying a lower tax rate than their secretaries. That’s not fair.
And what I want is not oppressive taxation. I want businesses to thrive, and I want people to be rewarded for their success. But what I also want to make sure is that our tax system is fair and that we are able to finance health care for Americans who currently don’t have it and that we’re able to invest in our infrastructure and invest in our schools.
And you can’t do that for free.
OBAMA: And you can’t take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children and our grandchildren, and then say that you’re cutting taxes, which is essentially what John McCain has been talking about.
And that is irresponsible. I believe in the principle that you pay as you go. And, you know, you don’t propose tax cuts, unless you are closing other tax breaks for individuals. And you don’t increase spending, unless you’re eliminating some spending or you’re finding some new revenue. That’s how we got an additional $4 trillion worth of debt under George Bush. That is helping to undermine our economy. And it’s going to change when I’m president of the United States.
GIBSON: But history shows that when you drop the capital gains tax, the revenues go up.
OBAMA: Well, that might happen, or it might not. It depends on what’s happening on Wall Street and how business is going. I think the biggest problem that we’ve got on Wall Street right now is the fact that we got have a housing crisis that this president has not been attentive to and that it took John McCain three tries before he got it right.
And if we can stabilize that market, and we can get credit flowing again, then I think we’ll see stocks do well. And once again, I think we can generate the revenue that we need to run this government and hopefully to pay down some of this debt.
LikeLike
You are talking about a lot going to the states, who pays? Sure by all means look for as much efficiency as possible, trim waste, but you are not eliminating or cutting the big stuff.
The key is first to get Congress and politicians to stop spending new money, to tell the truth about deficits and debt. Let’s consider the added ACA subsidies that should not have happened, Congress can’t even fix that and if they did what would be the impact on millions of people now relying on them. Tough luck?
It will take years to get to where we need to be and fiscal and tax discipline along the way. And baring an economic miracle which is unlikely higher taxes at least back to pre 2017.
LikeLike
Fed and states – eliminating conflicts, overlap, duplication. Wiping out the majority of the EPA, all but interstate, and wiping out all of the Education Department (including returning student debt to commercial banks, and eliminating all of the student debt forgiveness).
But, to get from here to there (even if it isn’t $2 Trillion when I am done), let’s have a little bit of zero base budgeting, agency/department consolidation. Let’s have some span of control discipline among federal employees, where a supervisor/manager has no less than 5 direct reports.
We need someone to have the discipline to go through every agency and department. Here are some possible candidates – and this is just A to D (if you are like me, you probably never heard of the majority of these agencies/departments):
AbilityOne Commission
Access Board
Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
Administration for Community Living (ACL)
Administration for Native Americans (ANA)
Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS)
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP)
African Development Foundation (USADF)
Agency for Global Media
Agency for International Development (USAID)
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)
Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
Agriculture Department (USDA) – At least curtail all of the crop subsidies, eliminate the ethanol stupidity, return SNAP to initial targets (what used to be about 17 million recipients ended up over 60 million recipients in 2022)
Agriculture Library (NAL)
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)
Alhurra TV
American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC)
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps Seniors
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
Antitrust Division
Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC)
Arctic Research Commission (USARC)
Arms Control and International Security
Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institute of (NIAMS)
Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)
Botanic Garden
Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade (TTB)
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB)
Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)
Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB)
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) – Consolidate, eliminate overlap in Department of Interior
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)
Bureau of Reclamation
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)
Bureau of the Fiscal Service
Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
Career, Technical, and Adult Education, Office of (OCTAE)
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN)
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP)
Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR)
Chemical Safety Board (CSB)
Chief Acquisition Officers Council (CAOC)
Chief Financial Officers Council (CFO)
Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) Council
Chief Information Officers Council
Child Support Enforcement, Office of (OCSS)
Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC)
Civil Rights, Department of Education Office of (OCR)
Civil Rights, Department of Health and Human Services Office for
Commission of Fine Arts
Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR)
Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)
Commission on Presidential Scholars
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission)
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
Community Planning and Development (CPD)
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Congressional Workplace Rights, Office of (OCWR)
Consular Affairs, Bureau of
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE)
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia (CSOSA)
Debt and Claims Management Center
Defense Commissary Agency – Consolidate, eliminate overlap, in Defense Department
Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) – Consolidate, eliminate overlap, in Defense Department
Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) – Consolidate, eliminate overlap, in Defense Department
Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) Consolidate, eliminate overlap, in Defense Department
Defense Health Agency (DHA) Consolidate, eliminate overlap, in Defense Department
Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Consolidate, eliminate overlap, in Defense Department
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) Consolidate, eliminate overlap, in Defense Department
Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) Consolidate, eliminate overlap, in Defense Department
Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) – Consolidate, eliminate overlap, in Defense Department
Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) – Consolidate, eliminate overlap, in Defense Department
Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC)
Delta Regional Authority (DRA)
Denali Commission
Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Department of Education (ED)
Department of Energy (DOE) – consolidate in the Department of the Interior, or Commerce
Department of Energy’s Office of Science – consolidate in the Department of the Interior or Commerce
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – consolidate in FBI or DIA
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Department of Transportation (DOT) – consolidate in the department of the Interior
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) – consolidate in the Defense Department
Disability Employment Policy, Office of (ODEP)
I won’t waste my time looking beyond this group or your time.
But, long past time to, as you say, stop adding to the federal government bureaucracy AND challenge all the crap added since Kennedy.
LikeLike