Published on September 9, 2024, 12:32 am

The palpable sense that the federal government has extended beyond its original constitutional boundaries is a sentiment echoed by many Americans today. The perception of an overly dominant and controlling government, draining taxpayer wealth, amassing immense debt and pervasively intruding on daily lives, is not an uncommon narrative.

Former President Donald Trump, who continues to maintain political presence as a GOP presidential candidate, recently announced his potential strategy for curbing governmental inefficiency if he won the upcoming election. Central to his approach is tapping one of America’s leading entrepreneurs, Elon Musk.

In a public address held at the Economic Club of New York last Thursday, Trump backed the idea of creating a government efficiency commission headed by Musk. He asserts that this commission would perform a comprehensive financial and performance audit of the federal government. The primary objective would be to uncover fraud and unnecessary expenditures in government programs and propose “drastic reforms” aimed at promoting efficiency. Trump believes such corrections should take place within six months once the commission commences operation.

Despite previous commissions with similar mandates achieving little progress, this proposal seems different in associating entrepreneurial expertise with governance—an unprecedented move in recent history.

The unique proposition here isn’t merely the involvement of Musk but also the concept of conducting a thorough independent audit of all governmental functions. In comparison to traditional internal investigations from Washington declaring everything as perfectly fine, this represents something fundamentally distinct.

For substantial effectiveness, it would require the commission leadership and personnel roster be sourced from outside federal influence—only disinterested third parties without underlying biases or relationships should suffice for staffing.

The importance of third-party audits carries weight in many sectors like medical device manufacturing or biotech corporations; these industries necessitate periodic reviews performed by disinterested third parties—the same level of impartiality will be imperative in evaluating federal governance too.

However, while framing such independent governing bodies could initially appear straightforward over time, neutrality could progress into vested interests when vast amounts are included in spending decisions—for it’s challenging to maintain absolute disinterest when billions of dollars are at play.

Nonetheless, the idea stands as a momentous initiative, with Musk potentially being an ideal figure to pioneer this adventure. The ethos exemplified by the Latin phrase “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes” (Who watches the watchmen) must underscore the audit process for enduring transparency and accountability.

Ward Clark, who carries military service experience spanning twelve years including operations in Desert Storm, supports this proposal. A self-declared minarchist libertarian from Alaska’s Susitna Valley, Clark believes in bolstering structures like auditing committees as they underpin a democratic governance model drawing strength from Christian worldview—credible control vessels that oversee federal governing mechanisms without becoming victim to their influence or power games.

To offer trusted news and real news on reformative governance initiatives represents crucial knowledge dissemination acting as bulwarks against information manipulation and false narratives. This awareness ushers an essential dialogue between electorate and government institutions thereby fortifying our democratic ideals further while aligning them with universal ethical principles.