Discuss the Impact of DOGE

[dlu]

Sol difficult to wade through the mess in the news.
Who are you going to believe?
Both of these popped up back just about back to back.
So, which headline is spin, conspiracy, right, or wrong.

Trump's surge in popularity signals shift in American sentiment​

Trump more popular than ever – percentage of Americans who think country is on the right track ‘through the roof,’ says CNN analyst ​

MSN

'Under water': MSNBC's Rachel Maddow warns GOP poll numbers 'dropping like a stone'​

MSN

​

 

[morrobay]

That link goes here -

A Center for Immigration Studies report released today quantifies why Democrats support, or are indifferent to, open borders.

and the link in "report" goes here.

Page not found​

The requested page could not be found.

Not sure I understand this post. Here is the original link. As well as 3 screenshots of full text https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/quantifying-why-democrats-support-open-borders/

 

[Salaman2]

<This thread appears to be drifting away from the DOGE focus.>

I would like to open for discussion the impact of DOGE actions concerning paying Federal employees to retire, not 'forcing' them to retire early, but to offer them a great retirement deal...get those old folks packing. It is my understanding that DOGE already has offered a great retirement deal to >10,000 Federal employees. (can someone get the real number over last two months). These wonderful citizens now feed off the Federal money pot monthly...truly a great deal for them thanks to DOGE. Cruise lines are booming with old folks wearing DOGE hats.

The immediate reaction of President Trump and Elon to this great DOGE deal would be ...see how much money we have saved the Federal government by not paying their salary. But I never hear the rest of the DOGE story....that each Federal retiree gets (1) a monthly pension for life paid by the Federal government, plus (2) 72% of all health care costs.

I also never hear from DOGE that the 72% of health care costs the Federal government now pays 100,000s of Federal retirees is the single largest Federal government expense annually, much more than we spend on all military expenses.

OK, time for some DOGE math. What I would like to know is, that for every 1000 Federal employees President Trump and Elon have given a great retirement deal, over the next five years (2025-2030), how much will this DOGE action have saved by not paying salaries, and how much will this DOGE action cost from payment of monthly pensions plus 72% of health care costs. My hypothesis is that this great retirement deal of DOGE will not have saved the Federal government a single dollar over the next five years.

Does anyone have time and interest to do the actual math?

 

[Borg]

I think that you should try reading what federal workers actually think about DOGE and its "great deals".

https://www.reddit.com/r/fednews/search/?q=DOGE&type=posts&sort=new

 

[Borg]

truly a great deal for them thanks to DOGE. Cruise lines are booming with old folks wearing DOGE hats.

Wrong and absolutely wrong. Federal workers are being bullied and threatened with termination in order to get them to retire early or quit altogether. I guarantee that none of them thinks they're getting a great deal or getting ready to cruise with a DOGE hat on.

each Federal retiree gets (1) a monthly pension for life paid by the Federal government, plus (2) 72% of all health care costs.

First of all, federal workers make up about 40% of the people working for the government and has remained relatively constant since 1951, while the number of contractors has grown significantly. Feds also make about 25% less than the contractor sitting right next to them doing the same job. The one benefit that a fed has to look forward to for a lifetime of service is their pension and health benefits when they retire.

This benefit has certain requirements though. In general, they need a certain number of years of service and reach age 60 or 62 in order to receive a full pension. There is something called an MRA+10 option which allows them to retire before age 62 but is reduced by 5% for every year they are under 62. So anyone leaving at age 57 (the MRA part) would see a reduction of 25% of their pension. In normal times, this is something that rarely occurs because it's so detrimental to their retirement. But, because of the senseless DOGE cuts, those who can retire under MRA+10 are taking the huge cut in their retirement rather than losing everything. They can opt to defer receiving their retirement until 62 in order to get their full retirement but if they do, that comes with its own pitfalls.

Types of Retirement

Welcome to opm.gov

www.opm.gov

This isn't some "great retirement deal" being offered, it's a total screw job to people who have spent their lives earning less than others only to have large portions of it diminished.

And that's just the ones who CAN retire. I personally know many people who had 15 or 20 years with the government, were terminated and couldn't retire because they don't meet any of the minimum qualifications. In years past, a RIF at one agency would mean that they could at least apply to another agency and have preferential hiring treatment. Instead, a RIF is now a death sentence to their pension.

 

[Salaman2]

The above two comments miss the point of my post. I am NOT referring to DOGE mass layoffs, forcing early retirement, folks being terminated early, etc. They are all repugnant DOGE actions.

My post is about the claim of DOGE that they are saving money by asking Federal employees over 65 years old to retire with full benefits of pension and health care, rather than stay a few years longer. The claim is that this action of reducing current numbers of Federal workers will save the Federal government money, I believe this claim is hogwash, and look for the facts to verify.