Eliminating Government Waste, 1 in 4 Britons ‘Disabled,’ Trump Still Wants a Deal With Hamas
Our feature story this morning is a major feature from our new print issue, “Germany Is Taking Over the Mediterranean,” by our editor in chief. If you want to view Europe’s militarization and Germany’s political troubles in the larger prophetic context of what the Continent’s leading country is accomplishing, read this article.
[BRIEF]
How could anyone who is not a fraudster be upset at what these men are doing? Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency team sat down with Bret Baier for a 30-minute interview that aired yesterday on Fox News. They aim to reduce the federal deficit by $1 trillion by cutting federal spending 15 percent. They want to do this purely by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse without cutting Social Security and other services.
Musk said the most astonishing find he has made is “the sheer amount of waste and fraud in the government.” “We routinely encounter wastes of a billion dollars or more—casually,” he said. As an example, he cited one government survey that could have easily been created on Survey Monkey for about $10,000. Instead, it cost taxpayers nearly $1 billion.
The other eight members of the group gave several similarly head-shaking examples: Social Security having 15 million “living” individuals age 120 or older still on their rolls; 4.6 million government-issued credit cards for 2.4 million employees, opening the door for unchecked spending and potential fraud; systemic vulnerabilities that cost billions, such as 40 percent of calls to Social Security phone centers coming from crooks impersonating retirees to redirect payments; redundant workers; outdated software systems; and on and on.
It is fascinating to see the antipathy that this effort is provoking among radicals on the left—the Tesla-burning crowd. This is an effort to prevent the nation from going bankrupt. It is finding and working to eliminate at least some of what are obviously gargantuan levels of waste. It is almost certainly not going far enough in doing so. Yet people on the left and even the right are stridently resisting even that!
In a stunning and almost certainly related story:
One in four Britons—about 16.8 million people—now identifies as disabled and is thus eligible for government benefits, the Times reports today. This stupefying figure has surged by 40 percent over the past decade. It includes an explosion in mental health-related disabilities: 48 percent of working-age adults cite mental illness as their primary impairment, up by 2 million since before the COVID pandemic. “For the first time, 25 percent of people say they have a disability that has ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ effects on their ability to function in daily life,” the Times says.
What is happening here? A frail population with increased susceptibility to psychological distress? Long COVID symptoms? Overdiagnosis of mental health problems? Fraud? All possible explanations point to a terrible sickness at the heart of what was, just a few generations ago, the greatest power on Earth. Britain can barely function as a modern country.
Besides that, it can’t afford dispersing all these benefits. “Even after the latest cuts, spending on disability benefits will rise from £36 billion last year to £59 billion by the end of the decade,” this article says. The government is embroiled in contentious debate over the issue. There are actually ministers arguing that any cuts to disability benefits would be unfair and inhumane, and they are threatening a major rebellion if eligibility is tightened. How high would the numbers have to climb before they would accept that this is insane and unsustainable?
Trump apparently still wants to make a deal with Hamas: Even after his envoy Steve Witkoff admitted to being “duped” by the terrorist group, President Trump is still proposing to revive a ceasefire in exchange for the release of American hostage Edan Alexander, the Times of Israel reports. The answer to “Does Donald Trump know the way to peace?” is clearer by the day.
Macron wants to put troops in Ukraine: At a Paris summit yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed a “reassurance force” for Ukraine involving several European nations deploying troops after a potential ceasefire with Russia. This force would aim to deter future Russian aggression, not engage on front lines. Macron is very keen on the idea. Germany is not. And without Germany’s support, many others in Europe also are not. Even with all the talk of European militarization, obstacles to such European deployments remain high. Watch for an article in the next Trumpet issue about why we can expect this status quo to change.
Russia gets more troops to throw at Ukraine: In the first two months of this year, North Korea sent 3,000 more troops to join Russia in its war on Ukraine, the Trumpet reports.
Russia-China influence in Central Asia: A recent Caracal analysis describes how mineral- and resource-rich Uzbekistan is deeply dependent on Russia and China. It underscores the Bible’s prophecies about several nations being led by these two Asian giants in “the kings of the east.”
Another attack in Europe: A man began stabbing people on a popular tourist street in Amsterdam yesterday, injuring five, the Trumpet reports.
China bullies the Philippines—and the U.S.: During joint exercises this week between the U.S. and the Philippines, the Chinese Navy and Coast Guard attempted to drive away aircraft around the Scarborough Shoal. China’s aggressiveness is growing, Ezekiel Malone reports.
Big-bang theory revised—again: A new discovery by the James Webb Space Telescope of a very old, faraway galaxy disproves a theory about the universe’s supposed “dark ages” following the big bang, Peter van Halteren reports.