The following opinion article is not representative of the ETX Bell organization, it’s leadership, or it’s staff and has been sourced from outside the company.
The most famous line from the movie Network (1976) is from anchorman Howard Beale’s (Peter Finch) iconic rant: “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”
This powerful declaration, urging people to stick their heads out the window and shout it, captures the film’s themes of media sensationalism and societal frustration.
Are you at the point yet? You should be. President Trump’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) brought to light the tremendous waste and fraud within our government.
But this isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue. It’s the result of both parties dipping their hands in the money pot for years. Keep in mind that money pot is our money. As taxpayers, we are financing their greed.
For years we have heard or read about different frauds that are discovered. Most recently, the news from Minnesota found Medicaid programs in the state might have resulted in $9 billion being fraudulently scammed. Money that was supposed to be used for those truly in need of the help.
That’s not the only example. We have heard about government waste for years but here are the estimates for the fraudulent losses in the programs:
Health programs $110-120 billion
Unemployment insurance $30-45 billion
Tax credits & benefits $35-45 billion
Social Security $8-12 billion
Defense & Procurement $20-40 billion
Other programs $15-25 billion
According to the GAO (Government Accounting Office), the amount that is stolen annually from you and me, the taxpayer is anywhere from $233 to $521 billion. Why do we allow this? Why doesn’t the people we elect to represent us stop this? Where are the oversight and the accounting reports catching this huge amount? It should be noted that some of these funds are later recovered but only a fraction of what is “lost.”
The figures I outlined above are the federal government programs that are affected. But it doesn’t stop there. What about the missing funds from the Cherokee County tax office? When you look at the numbers above, maybe almost a half of million dollars from the county doesn’t seem like much but for most of us that struggle to make ends meet or stretch our social security checks, it is! That alleged crime happened years ago and even though someone was arrested and charged, after more the 20 “pretrials,” there still hasn’t been a trial. A crime that the indictment alleged in happened in 2016.
There are problems with the City of Rusk and the lack of an audit being submitted. The information we’ve gotten is that city’s the accounting is such a tangled mess that according to City Manager Bob Goldbury, he has been unable to find an accounting firm that would conduct an audit of the books. The city is running a deficit every month, and you’ve got to ask how that can be? That means the local taxpayer have no idea how the tax money is being spent.
We read that the county commissioners or appraisal and school districts haven’t changed the tax rate but then you receive your new evaluations and find out the amount you must pay in taxes have increased dramatically. You should be mad as hell.
We get a daily dose on the news about the impasse between the Republicans and the Democrats in Washington, spending more time squabbling and pointing fingers at each other than they do working for our country. I think I’m in the minority since I’m not a member of either party and I think a political party of common sense will probably be nonexistent.
One of the most important questions is why are we being led like lambs to the slaughter? Why do we keep letting them do this to us? Why don’t we demand accountability from our representatives in Congress, state, county or city leaders? You can do that with your vote at the ballot box, by attending city council and commissioners’ court meetings and demanding transparency and accountability of their actions and decisions.
We hear about the border, road rage, random mass shootings, inflation, high taxes, unemployment, AI, government waste and so much more that, like Howard Beale in “Network,” we should all open our windows and shout at the top of our lungs … I’M MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!
It should be noted that with all the rage in the movie, for almost the 50 years since “Network” was released, nothing has changed. We’re still being lambs led to the slaughter.
