Free Republic

What is DOGE really doing—and why is it so controversial? The answer lies in an esoteric if straightforward concept that began in the world of budgeting: Zero-basing.As a general rule, most organizations, businesses, agencies, and even households building budgets start by asking themselves a simple question: What did we spend last year? To answer, they compile a list of expense categories and the amounts spent in each one. Next, they look ahead to the coming year to see which categories will require a bump up and where they can cut. Finally, they look at projected revenues to see whether they...