Posted on 02/19/2025 9:09:02 AM PST by Red Badger
Elon Musk has endorsed it with an innovative way of showing the country the savings his Department of Government Efficiency is making.
Posting on the X platform on Tuesday, Musk said he would “check with the president” about a proposal to send out $5,000 checks to every American using money saved by DOGE’s cost-cutting operations.
The idea was initially proposed by James Fishback, a partner at the investment firm Azoria.
He explained the idea as follows:
Few in America knew precisely what to expect from DOGE. The early perceived turbulence around leadership, the uncertainty around legal structure, and the lack of precedent for such a bold initiative created a sense of “show me” with DOGE. Just a month into President Trump’s second term, DOGE is delivering. Full stop.
With DOGE reportedly achieving $1 billion in savings per day, President Trump has an opportunity to work with Congress to take DOGE one step further and deliver what we at Azoria call the “DOGE Dividend,” a tax refund check to be sent after the expiration of DOGE in July 2026 funded exclusively with a portion of the total savings delivered by DOGE.
However, the idea comes with some caveats, including that all recipients must be paying federal income tax in order to qualify:
Finally, President Trump’s DOGE Dividend will work to increase labor force participation by requiring individuals to be net payers of federal income tax to be eligible to receive their DOGE Dividend check. As just one example, 7 million working-age men in America are neither working nor looking for work.
The prospect of a $5,000 DOGE Dividend in 2026 will incentivize many to re-enter the labor force in 2025 in order to be eligible for the DOGE Dividend.
Low labor force participation is throttling U.S. economic growth and the DOGE Dividend will provide a powerful incentive to begin reversing this trend on the margins.
Over the past few weeks, Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative has uncovered billions in government waste and corruption, exposing rampant mismanagement of taxpayer dollars.
Investigations revealed $1.7 billion in unspent COVID relief funds, $3 billion lost to fraudulent unemployment claims, and $800 million wasted on failed green energy projects.
Meanwhile, the federal government spent $200 million on diversity training for bureaucrats and $4.5 billion in foreign aid to hostile regimes with little oversight.
No. “We” owe too much debt and for the sake of our children and grandchildren any actuall “savings” should pay down debt, not go into our pockets just to buy more stuff made everywhere but the U.S.
But the American people are underwater as a result of inflation. Many are living off their high interest credit cards. Paying a small portion of what is saved will do a lot toward pulling them out of the hole. The remainder should go to reducing the debt.
Should be for those who file federal taxes with a SSN not TIN on the form.
In just a few weeks, Musk’s DOGE initiative has uncovered billions in govt
waste and corruption, exposing rampant mismanagement of taxpayer dollars.
<><>$1.7 billion in unspent COVID relief funds,
<><>$3 billion lost to fraudulent unemployment claims,
<><>$800 million wasted on failed green energy projects.
<><>$200 million on diversity training for bureaucrats
<><> $4.5 billion in foreign aid to hostile regimes with little oversight
<><>$350 billion just to Ukraine
<><>$4.5 trillion in Treasury payments cannot be accounted for.
yep, purposeful distorting of what was said. Half of adults pay no US income tax, so half would get nothing.
“Conservatives support a smaller government with less taxes.
They DONT SUPPORT the government sending checks out to people.”
It is returning back to the taxpayers. Refunding that which was overpaid.
“ The US federal deficit in fiscal year 2023 was $1.7 trillion, according to USAFacts. In 2024, the deficit was $1.83 trillion”
SPEND LESS MONEY.
No $5,000 checks.
Though I could use the five grand, it’s a bad idea as it is another inflation trigger.
For everyone who complained about the COVID influx of checks to people contributing to inflation explain to me why this wouldn’t have the same effect.
“ The US federal deficit in fiscal year 2023 was $1.7 trillion, according to USAFacts. In 2024, the deficit was $1.83 trillion”
Cut the deficit, no checks to buy votes.
“They DONT SUPPORT the government sending checks out to people.”
And this is NOT sending checks out to the people.
DOGE REPORT——The Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) is an identification code
linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item (a standard financial process).
In the Biden Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible. As of Saturday, Trump made this a required field, increasing taxpayers’ insight into where their money is actually going.
It’s not buying votes. It’s reimbursing us for money they stole from us. The amount isn’t the thing; it’s the principle.
yeah where i work people were already thinking of how to spend their $5k each. ha
What happened to your desire to cut taxes?
If we were not running a deficit, you would be correct. If we were not running a deficit, every penny in overpayments should be paid back to the taxpayer.
But we are running a deficit.
Therefore, every dollar that they send to the taxpayers is a dollar that they needed to print out of thin air. Every dollar they print out of thin air DEVALUES the dollars in circulation. When you devalue the dollars in circulation you are destroying the wealth of the taxpayer.
Think about what the 2020 stimmies and COVID bailouts did to inflation.
I will grant that devaluing the currency by sending checks to individuals is preferable to devaluing the currency by sending money to central bankers. The power of the first dollar spent would be at the local level so they would get the benefit of spending inflation free money. But as time went on and the currency circulated, they would end up feeling it. That is similar to how being asphyxiated might be preferable to being eaten alive by a grizzly bear but you end up in the same shape either way.
Taxation is theft.
...but so is inflation.
Reducing the deficit is priority #1.
Reducing taxes will follow.
Interest rates would plunge if deficits reduced.
Switch it to your household.
You are spending way more than you are earning
You have to pay down existing debt or you go bankrupt .
Spend less and pay down debt.
YOU DONT TAKE A CRUISE with the savings
“Take it from Liz Warren et al and give to the people who work.”
I’m for using saving from cutting government for debt reduction, but I like your idea for amounts recovered from crooks. I would be brilliant to give the public a direct interest in chasing down kickbacks and payoffs, prosecuting and fining corrupt politicians, clawing back diversions to political campaigns, etc.
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