Making sweeping, careless cuts affects well-being

Waste, fraud and abuse. These are the seemingly magic words the world’s richest man incants to justify the chain-saw he’s taking to our government in the form of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

- Ben Olinsky, Tribune News Service

However, as Elon Musk steps back to a part-time role, the question remains: Were these words a mantra or mere flimflam? The Trump administration's stated goal of reducing government waste, fraud and abuse is broadly popular among Americans, who experience the government's bureaucracy firsthand and may not feel like their problems are addressed. Still, the face of the administration’s purported efforts to combat waste, fraud and abuse is widely unpopular, falling to a 33 per cent approval rating. Where's the disconnect between the diagnosis and the treatment?