Passing Thoughts

At the outset of the current administration the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was established to ferret out wasteful spending and downsize the government.

As of spring 2025, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk claims to have identified $105 billion to $160 billion in potential savings. However, these figures are not independently verified, and analysis suggests the actual, documented savings are significantly lower, with estimates ranging from $1.4 billion to roughly $8.5 billion.  Hundreds of government employees were also terminated.
 
Reports in November 2025 indicated that DOGE was dismantled eight months ahead of its planned July 4, 2026, charter end date.
 
And now, it is been recently reported the Department of War under the leadership of Secretary Hegseth spent a record $93.4 billion on grants and contracts in September 2025. This "use-it-or-lose-it" spending spree included roughly $22 million for steak and lobster, $225 million on furniture, and $1.8 million on musical instruments.  

So, if DOGE was created to stop wasteful spending and possibly fraud…why not just return the 94.3 billion to the general fund.  Rib Eye, lobster, crab legs….are they part of the military MREs?  For you older vets…C-Rations.

So much for wasteful spending.


President Donald Trump publicly contradicted Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard regarding Iran's nuclear program on June 17, 2025, dismissing her assessment that Iran was not actively building a nuclear weapon.  Gabbard is the Head of the NSI which oversees ALL of the intelligence agencies of the US.  If Trump wasn’t listening to Gabbard, who then, was he with in consultation?
 
On June 22, 2025, President Trump ordered the bombing of Iranian sites capable of producing enriched uranium needed for the production of a nuclear weapon.  The President proudly claimed the sites they “obliterated” in June of 2025.
 
President Trump has announced to the nation the reason for war in Iran was because Iran was about 2 weeks away from possessing a nuclear weapon.    (If the sites were in fact “obliterated” how did Iran rebuild the facilities quickly enough to produce enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear weapon so quickly?)
 
According to Larry Nutter, graduate from Northern Colorado…

How long it would take to enrich uranium to make a nuclear bomb is entirely dependent on how many centrifuges are being used and correct operation of the equipment. If an operation had one centrifuge, it would take many lifetimes to produce enough fissile uranium to make a nuclear bomb. Iran was operating about 18,000 first-generation IR-1 centrifuges and about 1,000 second-generation IR-2 centrifuges. It had also accumulated a stockpile of roughly 7,000 kilograms (about 15,430 pounds) of low-enriched uranium (under 5%) and about 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of 20% enrichment uranium. To be weapons grade, the U-235 content of uranium has to be 80%+. Creating at least 55 kilograms of 80%+ from almost 20,000 would take several months. Modern nuclear weapons based on uranium typically use uranium enriched to 90% to 93% U-235, which is known as weapons-grade uranium, for the primary fuel. Making weapons grade uranium is a very difficult process.
 
In later statements, the President would say Iran was on the verge of having built missiles of mass destruction and it would benefit all if those missiles were destroyed.  The President also added that Iran was planning on taking over the entire Middle East.

So which is it?  Nuclear weapons, missiles of mass destruction or the take-over of the Middle East by Iran?  Maybe all…who really knows?

And just for another passing thought…
 
Why would the President prepare to send an expeditionary force of 2500 Marines to the Middle East (Iran) if he was only considering “boots on the ground?” 
 
U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters on Thursday, March 5, 2026, the United States must be involved in choosing the next leader of Iran.  Trump said in a ‌telephone interview that he thinks the next leader of Iran is unlikely to be the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son, who has emerged as a frontrunner to succeed his father.
 
And the Iranians chose whom to be their next leader?