Big Fat Financial Blow Up

DOGE failed to make a dent in federal deficits. With the last conservative in Congress out of the way, what’s to keep the Big Man’s Big Government from its Big Spending rendezvous with a big blow up?

Another year…another $2 trillion added to the national debt. Source: US Senate Joint Economic Committee Monthly Report

Friday, May 29th, 2026

Bill Bonner, from Gualfin, Argentina

‘Based on what I’ve heard, we could balance the federal budget if only the dollars that went out of the Treasury went to individuals who were lawfully, correctly entitled to receive them.’

--Stephen Miller

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What in the world is he thinking?

He is one of the most powerful figures on the Trump Team. And it is this administration which is in charge of sending out the checks. If he believes the bookkeeper is embezzling the public’s money, why not call him into the office and give him a good thrashing?

The ‘experts’ were quick to point out that while the evidence of widespread waste, corruption and incompetence is unimpeachable — what fool would argue against it? — the sums don’t come anywhere near the amounts needed to balance the budget.

What the ‘experts’ didn’t say is that while the cast of scoundrels and scalawags changes every four years, the spectacle itself — with all its plots, subplots, and plotters — continues almost unaltered. Nor do they mention that the whole show is a farce. The villains of unnecessary spending...and the heroes who pretend to stop it...are all frauds.

Talk about money going to the wrong people...the Pentagon doesn’t even know where it goes. Military.com:

‘The Pentagon failed its eighth consecutive financial audit and says it is still working toward a clean opinion by 2028, keeping pressure on defense accountability and oversight.’

Our own tour of duty during the Vietnam War confirmed it. The officers and sailors were competent and well-meaning, but they were placed upon a multi-billion dollar battleship, with the latest firepower, and the most sophisticated and expensive materiel. Then, we were all sent out into the vast Pacific to protect the nation against an enemy that didn’t exist. (The Viet Cong had no heavy cruisers. It had no navy at all. China, then, was still recovering from the Cultural Revolution; it had no meaningful navy either. And neither did Russia. What were we protecting the Homeland against? Nobody knew.)

The source of the waste, as every swabbie knew, was the casta politica — the same clowns and pretenders who claim to be protecting the taxpayers’ money with every breath they take. Even back then — and that was half a century ago — the real idea was to spend money, not save it.

And God forbid that you didn’t spend all the money you were allocated! The following year, your budget might be reduced.

But along comes Team Trump...with a new cause for hope and hosannas. The famous DOGE. The Department of Government Efficiency — was set up with the smartest, most competent human being who ever lived — Elon Musk — at its head.

And then the fur flew...as Musk’s young geniuses began poking their heads into the feds’ warrens, nests, and hidey holes. They dug into the accounts...and pored over the organization charts. Surely, it was just a question of time until the federal budget was balanced. TimesNow:

When Donald Trump took office in 2025, DOGE’s head at the time, Elon Musk, had pledged to cut spending by $2 trillion

DOGE claimed billions in government savings through cancelling contracts, terminating grants and renegotiating leases. According to its website, the department reached $214 billion in savings as of November 24, [2025] estimating this to be worth $1,329.19 per taxpayer.

And what was the result? The New York Times:

‘Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency said it made more than 29,000 cuts to the federal government — slashing billion-dollar contracts, canceling thousands of grants and pushing out civil servants.’

‘But the group did not do what Mr. Musk said it would: reduce federal spending by $1 trillion before October. On DOGE’s watch, federal spending did not go down at all. It went up.’

DOGE failed to make even a dent in federal deficits. And now, with the last conservative in Congress out of the way, what’s to keep the Big Man’s Big Government from its Big Spending rendezvous with a Big Fat Financial Blow-up?

If Miller were right, all it would have to do would be to stop sending checks to people who weren’t supposed to get them. That won’t happen. But Mr. Trump did not invent this arrangement; he merely succeeds, as he succeeds at every spectacle, in making it gaudier.

Stay tuned.

Regards,

Bill Bonner

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The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index was up 3.8% year-over-year in April, according to data released yesterday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Excluding food and energy costs (both of which are up) core PCE was up 3.3% year-over-year. Both measures are well above the Fed’s target of 2% inflation. Will higher inflation force the Fed to raise rates this year? And if so, what will that mean for stocks and gold? More later today for paying subscribers.