Be outraged by opportunities for waste, fraud and abuse<\/a>,” March 2 commentary<\/p>\nNo doubt, financial controls are vital to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in all organizations. However, the article claims, \u201cour government has no money of its own — all of it comes from taxpayers,\u201d and interest on debt is an \u201cunsustainable spiral.\u201d Such statements are remnants of 20th-century economics and soundbites of deficit hawks.\u00a0 However, modern monetary economists (and maybe a few politicians) know better. Already making inroads in academia, there is hope for America if their message can reach the masses.<\/p>\n
Regarding the \u201csource of money\u201d claim, currency-issuing nations must spend first to put money into the hands of citizens before it can tax. So, unless you have a money tree in your backyard, you are not the source of money!\u00a0 Taxes serve several purposes (primarily to give fiat currency its value), but government money does not spring forth from taxes. Regarding the \u201cspiral\u201d claim, all currency-issuing nations naturally run deficits over the long run. However, the government\u2019s deficit is the private sector\u2019s surplus. The deficit is not what we owe, it is what we own!<\/p>\n
Thankfully, our government leaves money in the economy for us to compete for and save. Currency-issuing governments do not need to borrow their own currency. Treasuries have been around for a long time, but their underlying purpose is debatable at best.<\/p>\n
I would encourage all taxpayers to stop taking mainstream economics at face value, to explore modern monetary theory (warning, it\u2019s a dense topic), and to demand their elected officials do likewise.<\/p>\n
Tom Berger,\u00a0Highlands Ranch<\/em><\/p>\nJohn Griggs rightly emphasizes that efficiency and accountability for government spending are essential. But he wrongly implies that the private sector does a better job. Many businesses fail, costing investors money and employees their livelihood. When businesses succeed all sorts of \u201cwasteful\u201d spending is tolerated \u2013 lavish expense accounts, private jets, multiple-luxurious vacation properties or corporate apartments, you name it \u2013 because it is \u201ctheir\u201d money. Never mind that huge accumulations of wealth are paid for by customers, who often have limited choices.<\/p>\n
Much of the governmental \u201cwaste\u201d that Elon Musk deplores limits monopoly, private sector fraud, dangerous workplace conditions, and environmental damage. The job of government is to pass and enforce laws and policies that give people the security, opportunity, and freedom necessary to thrive. As the Pledge of Allegiance asserts, our country\u2019s aspiration is liberty and justice for all, not freedom for some to exploit and harm others.<\/p>\n
Government employees are the most regulated, accountable workers in society. We limit their compensation and expense accounts, define all their responsibilities and powers in legislation, and frequently refuse to hire enough employees to do the job we demand. I, like Mr. Griggs, have waited too long for a refund due to me by the IRS; I expect it is because they are understaffed, and too many people are not paying their fair share of taxes.<\/p>\n
Of course, every government employee and elected official should be accountable. So should we all.<\/p>\n
Paul Lingenfelter, Denver<\/em><\/p>\nThere is no doubt that in an economy as large as ours there is fraud and abuse that needs to be addressed and eliminated. On that point, everyone is in agreement.<\/p>\n
My question is: Why can\u2019t we do it lawfully by going through Congress rather than have the wealthiest man on earth take a sledgehammer to the problem? Yes, there are federal service jobs that could be eliminated, but many of these people have chosen this career path because they truly want to make America work better for everyone. To vilify all these people with massive firings is not the solution. Rather, let\u2019s work with the agencies to make them more efficient.<\/p>\n
Regarding the deficit, let\u2019s not forget that during President Donald Trump’s first term, his tax cuts for the top 1%, middle class and largest corporations in the country ballooned the deficit. Now, as John Griggs talks about rooting out fraud and abuse, Trump is pushing to extend his tax cuts, which will continue to grow our deficit.<\/p>\n
Trickle-down economics has proven over and over again to be a failed policy, and yet Republicans keep doing the same thing over and over again. Deficits matter when Democrats are in power but not so much when Republicans are in power.<\/p>\n
America is at a crossroads and what happens in the next four years could alter the path of our country forever. I only hope that some Republican Senators and Congressmen put their country ahead of their own self-interest. If not I genuinely fear for the future of our democracy.<\/p>\n
David Shaw, Highlands Ranch<\/em><\/p>\nIn this time of nonstop lies, full-on press suppression, and removal of fact-checking, it is discouraging to see The Denver Post carry water for Trump’s propaganda machine.<\/p>\n
John Griggs was given way too much newsprint to spew more of Elon Musk’s lies about supposed fraud, waste, and abuse in every government system he has cyber-attacked to date. Neither Griggs nor Musk has provided any proof of such a large-scale Treasury problem nor any such supposed findings in any system to date. The only “proof” about the missing TAS codes is a single statement on X by whoever was running the DOGE account. Fact-checkers have proven over and over that Musk’s findings are false — like an $8 billion contract that was $8 million. He himself has admitted that he has made “mistakes.”<\/p>\n
Musk was supposed to fix his reporting system but didn’t. He is not bringing in forensic auditors and truly auditing each system and providing the complex audit documentation for transparency on publicly accessible government sites for all to see. He and his hackers may have read\/write access and could change any data they want.<\/p>\n
Denver Post, I expect better. Do basic fact-checking before printing, especially when there are known issues with the source of the information.<\/p>\n
Dawn Caldwell, Highlands Ranch<\/em><\/p>\nSign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns, editorials and more. <\/a><\/em><\/p>\nTo send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online<\/a> or check out our guidelines<\/a> for how to submit by email or mail.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Helen Richardson is a Colorado Treasure Re: “End of an era,” March 2 news story Many thanks to The Denver Post and Helen Richardson for the article on the Phillips<\/p>\n
Continue reading <\/use> <\/svg>Letters: Helen Richardson captured the sad end of Chico Basin Ranch<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ezcpv.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ezcpv.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ezcpv.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ezcpv.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ezcpv.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/ezcpv.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":294,"href":"http:\/\/ezcpv.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293\/revisions\/294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ezcpv.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ezcpv.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ezcpv.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ezcpv.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}