Tag: Elon Musk

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) What Is It and How Does It Work?

Arguably the biggest kerfuffle in America today is over President Trump’s determination to cut the fraud, waste, and abuse out of the federal government. His establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk, is moving at rocket speed in attacking spending that is wasting taxpayer dollars. Let’s take a look at how this mysterious mechanism works and why the Democrats are so radically opposed to it.

On his first day in office, the president signed an executive order creating DOGE to “maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” He announced it would be headed by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Ramaswamy later resigned to run for governor of Ohio. Trump said the agency would help “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies. Musk, in his typical flamboyant style, claimed he would cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. The current federal budget is $6.8 trillion. So, can DOGE really expect to cut the budget by almost 30%? Probably not, but I am very pleased to see the Administration launch a “shock and awe” attack on every agency in Washington that spends my money.

So, how does DOGE work? Musk, in addition to being a genius, is a phenomenal organizer for problem solving. He has created several teams made up of the smartest people in the country. Each team is small, usually comprising a team leader, an engineer, a human resources specialist, and an attorney. The teams are going into federal government department offices looking for how employees are structured, how technology is being used, how funds are being spent, and compliance with the president’s strategy. There will eventually be one DOGE team for each government department and agency. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has a subcommittee called the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (also DOGE) which takes recommendations from Musk and his staff and considers them for legislative action as necessary. Musk and DOGE have no authority to change or terminate anything, although the Dems are screaming like Chicken Little that the teams are defunding and firing the federal government into ruins.

All Trump has assigned DOGE to do is to look deeply into all aspects of government and shine a light on frivilous spending, bloated manpower, and any other hinderances to efficiency. They are just to illuminate the darkness. With the obvious corruption and sluggishness in Washington, Musk would find his job easy and rewarding if it weren’t for the firewalls the bureaucracies have built to protect their turf. From security over-classification to privacy laws to employment safeguards, the DOGE teams are being pushed back at every turn. Plus, liberal federal judges are throwing the penalty flag at almost every move toward doing more with less.

Democrats and career government officials (essentially redundant terms) make up most of the Washington establishment, or “swamp.” Altough many of them are dedicated servants of the people, many serve themselves by orchestrating schemes of exchanges of favors, kickbacks, and political advantages. Some are simply incompetent. Meticulous scrutiny of their jobs would not bode well for their future. So, they fight DOGE like a wild predator backed into a corner.

Liberals are decrying that Musk is an unelected person with no authority or accountability who is acting counter to the Constitution in his inspection of government operations. Actually, his constitutional authority lies in being rightly appointed by the elected president who has a mandate from the voters to do his assigned duties. The bureaucrats who are giving him the most flack are also unelected.

What President Trump is doing through Elon Musk and DOGE is exhilerating to me and most other conservatives. I have never seen such a war on big government, overspending, and Washington corruption in my lifetime. It is long overdue. I can accept an occasional misstep or constitutional infringement in this effort. That is to be expected with this level of tactical assault on colossal mismanagement. Any war has some setbacks. But as long as it is one step back and 100 steps forward, we are assured of victory. So, stand up a cheer, America! The tax payments we file this year will perhaps be less wasted than ever before.

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What’s the Starlink Train?

If you enjoy the occasional spotting of a satellite or the International Space Station zipping across the night sky, you will go bananas over the newest overhead spectacular, the Starlink train. Although I was generally aware of this recent space venture, I saw a notice about its being clearly visible over Arkansas this week, and it piqued my interest. What I saw was the most surreal sight I’ve ever witnessed in the night sky. Here’s what I’ve learned about this mystical orbital phenomenon.

Over the last five years, Elon Musk’s SpaceX enterprise has been developing a unique satellite network designed to create a whole new concept in internet connection and communication. This breakthrough may be the answer to households and nations underserved in cyberspace access. The ultimate goal of SpaceX is to cover the entire planet with thousands of small satellites leaving not a square mile anywhere without internet connection. Additionally, plans are already on the table for unlimited cellular phone coverage from this system.

Approximately 5,000 satellites are already in low earth orbit (about 340 miles above the earth) with thousands of internet subscribers in the test phase. SpaceX plans to eventually have 12,000 of these satellites in stationary orbit covering the earth. There is even strategic planning that envisions over 40,000 Starlink satellites. The satellites are only 8’ x 4’ x 4” with 60 feet high solar panels attached (See lower photo above).  Each weighs 573 pounds. Future satellites will be considerably larger. Up to 30 stacked satellites at a time are rocket-launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, every two or three weeks and placed into orbit.

Once in orbit, the satellites carried by each launch vehicle are all released in a manner that lines them up in a row 75 miles apart at about 248 miles above the earth. From earth, at a location near their orbit and on a clear night, this “Starlink train” appears like 30 or so stars or planets perfectly aligned moving rather rapidly across the sky (See upper photo above). This “train” circles the earth every 95 minutes at 17,000 miles-per-hour eventually traveling over almost every location on the globe before dispersing to assigned position higher in space. The space trains remain in that in-line mode for a few months of preliminary operation and testing before being commanded by SpaceX to split up, spread out, and climb about 100 miles higher to their permanent positions. They then become part of the integrative network that will ultimately cover the entire earth. These science-fiction-like real maneuvers can be observed on a regular schedule just about anywhere for a few months after every launch. At any given time, there are approximately 20 trains of about 30 satellites each in orbit crisscrossing over the earth awaiting dispersal into operational orbit. Many lower train orbits in viewer proximity are obscured by clouds or haze as well as being too near the horizon to be easily seen. However, over a period of several days, anyone at any location is likely to have a clear view of the amazing sight, although it may require setting the alarm for the wee hours of the morning. A free app is available that gives the times of the clearest visibility of the train for particular areas. It is called “Find Starlink Satellites.” Or, one can go to www.findstarlink.com. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed once you see it. The wow!-factor is absolutely worth the inconvenience.

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Don’t Miss the Biggest Space Launch This Week Since the First Moon Landing

With everything else going on in the world, this week’s American space launch with two astronauts aboard a private commercial space ship is a huge historical event that is getting too little attention. Let’s take a moment to soak up what is really happening here.

I was in Air Force pilot training when, on July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to become the first humans to set foot on the moon. Many other breakthroughs in space have flashed across worldwide news media over the 51 years since that phenomenon–Skylab, space shuttle, Mars rover missions, etc. But astronauts Doug Hurley’s and Bob Behnken’s flight to the Skylab this Wednesday crosses a historical threshold considered science fiction until recently.

Elon Musk, a South Africa born American, became a multi-billionaire from his ingenious entrepreneurial adventures with PayPal, Tesla, and other leading edge projects.

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In 2002, he founded SpaceX with the dream of becoming the first commercial transporter of people into the far reaches of space. Since the space race of the early 1960’s, all human space travel has been through the technology and funding of powerful governments, namely the US, Russia, and China. For six decades, the consensus of scientists and governments was to dismiss the idea of privately operated space travel. Meanwhile, Musk has been seriously developing a plan to travel to Mars.

With $100 million of his early fortune, the 49-year old led the SpaceX corporation in designing a family of launch vehicles and the multipurpose spacecraft, Dragon, over a span of seven years. On May 25, 2012, the unmanned Dragon docked with the Skylab in the first of 12 historic supply missions contracted by NASA after the US space shuttle retired in 2011. Space travel had become officially commercialized. However, our American astronauts shuttling to and from Skylab were still hitch-hiking on Russian spacecraft.

This Wednesday, May 27, weather permitting, NASA’s Hurley and Behnken will suit up and strap into Dragon for this unprecedented ride to Skylab. America will be back in the game with over-the-top fanfare. The two crewmen will ride from the remodeled crew quarters to the launch pad not in the typical nondescript government van but in the Elon Musk Tesla Model X electric car. Their space suits will be new one-piece Star-Wars-like fashion statements.

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Expect Musk to milk the significance of this day for all it’s worth.

America owned space travel through the latter half of the 20th century. Unfortunately, we somehow lost our ambition for leadership in the realm of space. America’s astronauts thumbing rides on Russia’s space vehicles has been shameful. In keeping with the American free market spirit, this week will mark the turning point of the reclaiming of our place in space–and rightly through non-government entrepreneurial tenacity. America is back!

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