> Everything about DOGE and their mission has a fundamental deep misunderstanding of why governments with their own currency must have deficits

DOGE has nothing to do with deficits, they're not even bothering to count it properly [1]. DOGE will remake the federal government for Musk's benefit. That's why he's using cannon-fodder DOGE bros instead of his best and brightest. That's why the collateral damage isn't of principal concern, and why they're moving quickly: they need to finish their work before checks and balances start swinging.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/upshot/doge-contracts-mus...

It doesn't appear that DOGE is handling the problem with the appropriate amount of care or analysis, but the US does have a deficit problem. The issue is not simply that the US has a deficit, nor have I heard anyone argue this point, but that the deficit to GDP ratio is around twice as large as the historical average, and is projected to continue to increase.

This is news to me that “accounting 101” demands you spend more than you bring in. Any reasonable person would realize you can only do this for so long. Can you explain this in great detail?

>why governments with their own currency must have deficits

I'm not sure I understand this myself. Can you elaborate?

No need to infatilize their behavior by pointing to a lack of education. If he can head up several corporations, he can read a balance sheet. This is smash and grab politics, the things that happen in places like post-USSR when there's a power vaccuum, everything is up for grabs, the courts are powerless and territories start getting carved up by a coterie of connected technocrats. How long was it before Yeltsin's uneasy alliance with oligarchs crumbled, paving the way for a ruler who wasn't going to make the same mistakes?