Your Personal Data with the Treasury Department is at Risk

Yeah, we’re going to need a lot of coffee to get through the next four years! Welcome to the 4th episode of “Morning Coffee with Professor Alex.” So, what are we going to talk about today? Well, apparently, Doogie Howser has taken over DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and now has all of our personal information.

Listen to this blog post.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is Taken Over by Doogie Howser

Yes, you heard that right. For those of you who don’t know who Doogie Howser is, Neil Patrick Harris had a show when I was in high school, around 1989. Doogie Howser was a sixteen-year-old trauma surgeon. I didn’t really watch the show, but I definitely know who Doogie Howser was. And now we have Doogie Howser types running DOGE. Most of them are barely out of high school. Note that this isn’t an exaggeration; it’s well-documented.

We have four young individuals—I’m going to call them kids since I’m more than twice their age, so I’m at that age where they’ll call me “Sir” and I’ll call them “kids.” They are between the ages of 19 to 24. What are they actually doing? Nobody really seems to know other than something related to coding with access to personal data from the Treasury Department.

Clearly, they are highly, highly intelligent. They are coders working for Elon Musk. So, again, they are Doogie Howsers, but there are a lot of things they lack, and one of those things is experience, especially at the federal level with a department as big as the Treasury Department.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of years of experience in the U.S. Treasury Department, which excludes kids. I have to be honest with you. Is there a book titled “How to Run Things for 19 to 24-Year-Olds”? No. Do they know how to code? Yes. But just because you know how to code doesn’t mean you also know how to practice law—there’s no connection.

Yet, somehow, they have taken over the Treasury Department literally by brute force, as members of Congress are even being denied access. There’s plenty of documentation showing that they’ve just walked in, and people, feeling under the threat of arrest, have either been kicked out or quit.

• What’s In Store for the Department of Education and Student Loans?

Now, Elon Musk, who has a social media company, has access to information about us that only the federal government had, especially regarding personal data like our Social Security and the Social Security payment system, all accessible through the Treasury Department.

Social media companies aren’t selling shoes or any tangible products. You go on there, and you post your photos. People often wonder how these companies make their money. They make their money because they have your information, and information on consumers is worth billions. How much is Zuckerberg worth? There’s your answer.

• Consider Freezing Your Credit Now Thanks to DOGE

We can’t feel comfortable with what’s going on, especially when our private information is now in the hands of Elon Musk. Has a lawsuit been filed? Sure, but I don’t trust the system at this point. I used to, but I don’t now because of who’s in charge of the system. Even if the lawsuit is a victory for Democrats and interested organizations, and the information is withheld, it’s not like you can’t put it somewhere else and just claim he doesn’t have it. We know President Trump is going to take care of them.

So, that’s where we are. Elon Musk and DOGE are apparently running all these things, and now all our information is in the hands of a bunch of kids—a bunch of coders who have no experience working for the government or the Treasury Department.

They’re excellent at what they do, but they lack experience. Could there have been a merger? Sure. Could President Trump have said, “I want whatever department, whether they’re kids or not, to create software to find holes in the system, fix things that need to be fixed, or identify duplications to save time and money?” Yes, but that’s not what we have.

U.S. Citizens to be Deported to El Salvador?

So, now what we have is, I guess, the term everybody keeps saying is “oligarchy.” But let me look something up here while I’m on camera. At the same time, I’ll mention this issue with El Salvador. Apparently, El Salvador has made an offer to house American criminals. Think about that.

Here’s the word I was looking for: coup—a sudden, violent, and unlawful seizure of power from a government. Keep that in mind.

• Finding the Calm within the Political Storm

Now, I have been asked by several people, whether they have citizenship or not, about losing their rights as citizens. One person is relocating out of the country. He said he doesn’t like what he sees politically, and just like him, there are plenty of U.S.-born citizens, not anchor babies, who are wondering how their rights are going to be stripped away.

I keep saying we do have rights, and those rights will get violated, but you know what? Our rights have always been violated. There’s always a situation where, for example, at work, something happens, or maybe it’s law enforcement crossing the line and violating your rights. So, what do we do? We go to court, file a lawsuit, and win. We make some money to try to make up for whatever losses we have had. Our rights being stripped is nothing new. But that process I just described is the due process rights we are given, and there’s the problem with how the Trump administration is handling these deportations.

First, you can’t use the words “deportation” and “citizens” in the same sentence—it just doesn’t work that way. But now El Salvador is saying, “We’ll take your prisoners.” Why? Because they need money to run their prison. I saw photos of it. It looks like a supermax, similar to the one in Colorado (ADX). You know, just a high-tech, let’s say, “beautiful” prison. That’s what they’re claiming. They can use the money now. Sounds good in theory, right?

Well, just because you’re in prison doesn’t mean your rights are stripped away either. For example, we have all heard the term in the 8th Amendment of “cruel and unusual punishment,” right? So the first thing I thought of is, first, that sounds like you’re getting someone in the U.S. and sending them out of the country, which violates the law.

Second, the laws of the U.S. apply. So, how is this prison system going to just separate the two and say, “Well, you’re American, so we have to apply U.S. law to your situation. You’re from El Salvador or whatever other country they’re bringing in, and those laws don’t apply to you.” Do you really think that’s going to happen?

But this is just one of the endless issues we’re facing now. Is President Trump going to start deporting criminals? We know the legal issues, but we also know the social aspects. He doesn’t care. He’s going to do it anyway, right? Who’s going to stop him? He’s not running for re-election, which brings up my final point: Did you vote for this? Simple question, right? Did you vote for this? Obviously, I didn’t vote for this. But when your chosen individual doesn’t win, like in this case, Kamala Harris, what does that mean?

Well, it means there are going to be some policies that you disagree with. They see things differently—socially, morally, ethically, and legally.

It’s Hard to See a Positive Outlook

The term going to hell in a handbasket comes to mind. That’s why my wife and I constantly say “blue,” meaning that’s the color of the handbasket we’re choosing. It’s an inside joke. But to be serious for a moment, did you vote for this?

Honestly, it gets to the point where, and my wife says it all the time, it’s a saying in Spanish: “You cannot cover the sun with your fingertip.” Think about what that means. We didn’t vote for this. Even the people who voted for him didn’t vote for this. They’ll rationalize because they always do, and say something crazy like, “My 401K is up.” That’s usually the argument they have to supersede whatever else is going on, which is a ridiculous argument.

So let me ask you this, especially those of you in relationships, whether long-term, newly met, or married. When you choose your spouse or loved one, do you only take the parts that you like? No. You got the full package—the good with the bad. You can ask any couple what they don’t like about each other, and they’ll all have their ABCs, right? But we all come as a full package, good and bad.

When President Trump was voted into office, we voted for the full package. As much as people thought he was going to be great for the economy—well, let me exclude myself from that group—as much as they thought he was going to be great for the economy, it’s the full package, and it’s all the chaos that comes with it. Have you ever worked at a business where there’s chaos? Or in a classroom, or anywhere with chaos? How did it go?

I can’t imagine things running smoothly when we’re surrounded by chaos. So to think that magically, just like that, he’s going to make the economy great and put money in your pocket… That’s not how capitalism works.

Capitalism is a dog-eat-dog world. Let’s go back to the great television show and “Cheers.” Remember Norm? He comes into the bar, and they ask, “How are you doing?” He replies, “It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and I’m wearing Milk-Bone underwear.” But in my opinion, that succinctly explains capitalism.

Updated: Coincidentally, I’m editing this blog post today, and “Norm Peterson,” played by actor George Wendt, died today.

And so, is all this chaos going to compensate for whatever economy we think we’re getting, even though capitalism doesn’t work to benefit you? It works to benefit the business owners. Maybe you happen to benefit from it if you’re in that company, but we’re not entitled to anything. That’s not the way capitalism works. Maybe in other forms in other countries, right? They call that socialism.

A lot of times, people don’t realize that what they’re asking for is a form of socialism. But I’m not going to get into that right now. I think social media’s been a little quiet on this issue. All the people going crazy for President Trump are feeling emboldened, and I’ve seen it already on social media. But did you vote for this full package? Because when you vote, you’ve got to take the good with the bad. There’s no denying that, no matter what side of the aisle you’re on, there’s a lot of bad, and it ain’t working.

Deregulation of Wall Street is Inevitable! That’s not a Good Thing!

I can’t imagine it’s going to get any better. Things will get worse before they get better. All I can tell you is what I’ve been saying consistently for two months: chaos creates political instability, and political instability creates financial instability.

I don’t know to what extent this is going to hit our pocketbooks, but I don’t see anything positive financially coming our way. All I can think about is PTSD from the mortgage foreclosure crisis, where I had my property foreclosed on. I just gave it up—it wasn’t worth it anymore.

What happened then? Deregulation of Wall Street. They were left alone to police themselves. Do you know who else is left to police themselves? The Supreme Court. We see how well that’s going, right? Let’s just let people police themselves; we don’t need regulations, is their belief of how businesses should run.

Elon Musk was posting some gibberish about getting rid of all regulations. Midnight calls? Why is that guy up at midnight doing calls with who knows how many individuals? Maybe if he slept more, he would be more rational.

Regulation is there for a reason. And what are the odds this administration is going to follow the same deregulation process, especially since they are in bed with Wall Street? So let’s go back to the days when everybody got approved for a loan. But not everybody should get approved for a loan, and when that happens, it leads to another foreclosure crisis.

Sorry, I don’t really see it any other way. History tends to repeat itself, especially when we’ve forgotten about it. George Santayana said it best that those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. So, keep that in mind.

So if there was ever a time to focus on your finances, that time is now. I’ve never seen a situation where chaos works to the benefit of everybody; it only works to the benefit of the few, those who created the chaos. So unless you’re part of those few, you’re on the outside looking in, and we might have some serious problems down the road.

I’m going to say it like I always have before. I don’t mind being wrong. I hope I’m the most wrong person on the planet right now, but unfortunately, I don’t think I am, and I haven’t really seen too many expert economists who disagree.

So keep that in mind, and next time you vote, ask yourself one simple question: Do you like the full package? Because if you don’t, then you know the answer.

Alright, take care. I’ve still got a little bit of coffee to go, so I’ll enjoy this one in silence. Take care of yourselves and remember, Doogie Howsers have taken over the Treasury Department. Take care.

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