My latest: Is Elon Musk’s war on fraud just cover for a power grab? www.economist.com/united-state... - ThreadSky

dlknowles.bsky.social • 5 days ago

My latest: Is Elon Musk’s war on fraud just cover for a power grab?
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/02/18/is-elon-musks-war-on-fraud-just-cover-for-a-power-grab

Comments

down10.bsky.social•5 days ago

GEE I DUNNO MAN

kirkmurphy.bsky.social•5 hours ago

Yes.

dlknowles.bsky.social•5 hours ago

Yes

elvis15.bsky.social•5 days ago

If I click on the link, does it just say, "Yes," in big, bold font?

ireneadlercal.bsky.social•5 days ago

I’m going with yes. Yes it is.

jimcashel.bsky.social•5 days ago

Authoritarian purges and power grabs are always couched as a war on corruption.

dlknowles.bsky.social•5 days ago

A thing I learned covering Tanzania, Kenya and DRC, among other places, yes

milooleary.bsky.social•5 days ago

That would be a No x$@& Sherlock but thanks for the insightful commentary from The Economist.

rogersparkman.bsky.social•5 hours ago

Yes.

bananapantz.bsky.social•5 days ago

I wish you’d addressed the question at hand.

bananapantz.bsky.social•5 days ago

Duh doi?

kehlkeh.bsky.social•5 days ago

Lol

ifidont.bsky.social•5 days ago

I think you mean, “Elon Musk’s Power Grab Is Covered by Media as a War on Fraud.”

Or “Elon Musk’s DOGE Fraud is a Power Grab.”

Or just “Elon Musk is a Fraud.”

blandphilosophy.bsky.social•5 days ago

Y'all can be very, very dense and credulous sometimes.

drspedinnv.bsky.social•5 days ago

If you have to ask that, you must have just woken from a years long sleep this morning.

meatraffle.bsky.social•5 days ago

is water wet

mathewolson.com•5 days ago

does shit come out of an ass?

calochortus.bsky.social•5 days ago

Gee I wonder

expatgirl.bsky.social•5 days ago

Of course it is

tenaciouslee12.bsky.social•5 days ago

tl;dr: Yes.

bobsyouruncle.bsky.social•5 days ago

Wait wasn’t the Economist just cheering him on a few months ago?

dlknowles.bsky.social•5 days ago

The actual article in that issue was fairly cleared eyed about the danger he posed

bobsyouruncle.bsky.social•5 days ago

Sorry I don’t see any mention of a power grab anywhere here.

Regardless the Nov cover basically lionizes him even though he’s been shown to be a racist misogynistic Nazi lover time and time again.

It’s just wrong

esmeestreachailt.bsky.social•5 days ago

Yes. Yes it is.

carolannete.bsky.social•5 days ago

Of course it is.

swest6602.bsky.social•5 days ago

📌

dlknowles.bsky.social•5 days ago

The thrust of the piece: America's government suffers a vast amount of real fraud. Antiquated systems; decentralisation and an unwillingness to confront it all contribute. But it is hard to see any way in which giving a load of 25-year-old tech bros total access to all government data fixes it

heres.bsky.social•5 days ago

“vast amount of real fraud”? and “unwillingness to confront”?

What do you think the inspectors general (that were fired) generally do?

What do you think that the U.S. Government Accountability Office does?

dlknowles.bsky.social•5 days ago

One of the people I interviewed for the story, and quoted in it, was Linda Miller, a former GAO official, and she told me both of those things!

And yes, the firing of 19 IGs is one of the strong reasons to think they're not actually serious

dlknowles.bsky.social•5 days ago

(as in, she told me there's lot of real fraud and it hasn't always been taken seriously)

heres.bsky.social•5 days ago

There are entities defrauding the government, but the framing makes the scale sound much larger than the 3-7% estimated by GAO.

The estimate was derived from a simulation and also includes the PPP fraud anomaly.

People work hard to keep the percent that low. Unless they’re fired (like the PPP IG).

sailbarque.bsky.social•5 days ago

I feel like this could have been addressed in the headline. I reckon you don't write the headlines, but perhaps pass this note on to the editor who does.

helen121.bsky.social•5 days ago

The answer to your question is yes. Musk wants power and control, and Trump wants to go after his perceived enemies. Nothing to do with fraud, they want the freedom to be corrupt without those pesky lawyers standing in their way.

dlknowles.bsky.social•5 days ago

I talked to a lot of experts on fraud and "improper payments". Several are quoted in the story. Honestly, I was surprised how generous many were willing to be about Musk's intentions. But the reality is, when you ask them if his approach will work, basically everyone says no, obviously not

suhails.bsky.social•5 days ago

I can give Argentina the benefit of doubt when they take a chainsaw to things. But given how ‘swell’ the economy is doing in America, what does doing the same to their body politic do to them?

hoobajoob.bsky.social•5 days ago

📌

hoobajoob.bsky.social•5 days ago

oh gee I wonder what the answer to this question is?

danielb1609.bsky.social•5 days ago

yes.

thefirstarticle.bsky.social•5 days ago

Your President effectively has nullified your constitution by making himself the only source and interpretation of law.

Fraud for them is now legal obviously

dlknowles.bsky.social•5 days ago

Not my president. I just live here.

dlknowles.bsky.social•5 days ago

(I'm an immigrant. Not a citizen)

thefirstarticle.bsky.social•5 days ago

I hope you're legal and white because they greatly expanded what crimes are eligible for execution, and illegal immigration is on it.

dlknowles.bsky.social•5 days ago

I have a visa, yes, and well, you can see my complexion in my profile pic

buckquivas.bsky.social•5 days ago

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