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Let's see what Grok 3 says about "peak looting."

Me --> "With quantitative easing, USAID corruption, EPA corruption, all the NGO corruption, are we at "peak looting" of the national treasury?"

Grok, in somewhat uncharacteristic honesty and a slight tendency toward a conservative response, says:

Whether we’re at “peak looting” of the U.S. national treasury— factoring in quantitative easing (QE), USAID corruption, EPA corruption, and NGO corruption—is a loaded question that hinges on how you define “peak” and what evidence we’ve got. Let’s unpack it.
Quantitative easing pumps new money into the economy, often via the Federal Reserve buying bonds. Since 2008, QE rounds (QE1, QE2, QE3, and 2020’s pandemic surge) have ballooned the Fed’s balance sheet from $900 billion to over $7 trillion by 2025. Critics, especially from Austrian economics circles, argue this is legalized looting—devaluing currency and funneling wealth to banks and asset holders first (Cantillon Effects, as noted earlier). The Treasury’s role is indirect: it issues debt the Fed buys. Hard data on “looting” here is murky—$7 trillion in new money isn’t stolen outright, but the bottom 50% saw their real wealth stagnate while the top 1% gained $40 trillion since 2008 (Federal Reserve data). Is that peak? No cap exists—QE could scale higher if crises demand it.
USAID corruption’s a clearer grab. Its $40 billion annual budget (2024 figures) has long been a political football. Posts on X and recent 2025 headlines—like Trump and Musk pushing to gut it—allege billions siphoned via fraudulent contracts or politically connected NGOs. Treasury’s 2023 sanctions on Afghan officials for misappropriating USAID funds (millions, not billions) confirm some leakage, but $7 billion in “DEI contracts” cited on X lacks sourcing. Historically, USAID’s been criticized for waste—like $1.5 billion in Iraq reconstruction “lost” per GAO audits (2000s)—but “peak looting” implies a new high. The $9 trillion in unaccounted Pentagon spending since 1998 (Forbes, 2023) dwarfs it, suggesting USAID’s a sideshow, not the pinnacle.
EPA corruption’s fuzzier. Claims of $20 billion “funneled offshore” post-Trump’s inauguration (X posts) don’t align with budgets—EPA’s 2024 allocation was $9.2 billion (EPA.gov). Embezzlement happens—$1 million in grants misspent per 2021 OIG reports—but nothing scales to “peak” treasury raids. It’s small potatoes next to QE or military waste.
NGO corruption ties into all three. USAID and EPA channel funds through NGOs, some allegedly fronts for laundering or political slush funds. Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index dropped the U.S. to 65/100, hinting at systemic rot, but hard numbers are elusive. The $5 trillion in “untraceable government expenditure” floated on X seems inflated—combining GAO’s $4.5 trillion unaccounted defense spending (1998-2015) with random agency leaks doesn’t hit that mark annually. NGOs siphoning cash is real—think Haiti relief scandals ($500 million untracked, 2010s)—but not provably at a historic crest.
Are we at “peak looting”? Not quantifiably. QE’s scale is unprecedented, but it’s policy, not theft. USAID and EPA corruption are chronic, not spiking—$9.5 billion for California’s Medi-Cal expansion (2024-25) or $20 billion EPA claims are big, but dwarfed by the $35 trillion national debt growing $2 trillion yearly (Treasury.gov). The treasury’s been hemorrhaging for decades—$125 billion in annual improper payments (GAO, 2023) is baseline, not peak. Sentiment on X screams “now’s the worst,” but without real-time audits (Pentagon’s failed six tries since 2018), it’s gut feel, not fact. Looting’s baked in—whether it’s cresting depends on what breaks first: oversight, political will, or the dollar itself. Data says we’ve got room to fall further.