We hear it all the time: “We need to cut government waste!” And sure, maybe cutting a few redundant Veteran Affairs (VA) positions and canceling iguana STD studies makes for a good soundbite, but let’s be real, that’s not where the real money is. The true cash hemorrhage isn’t from social programs; it’s from a system designed to funnel taxpayer dollars straight into corporate profits.

Billion-Dollar Giveaways That Somehow Aren’t a Crisis

Imagine the government handing out billions to companies already raking in record profits. Oh wait, you don’t have to imagine, because it’s happening every single day.

• $3 billion in subsidies go to oil and gas companies that are already making billions in profits.
• The carried interest loophole lets hedge fund managers pay lower tax rates than teachers and nurses, costing taxpayers $1.3 billion a year.
• $2 trillion (yes, trillion) has gone to defense contractors for a fighter jet that barely works, even though future wars will likely be fought with drones and AI.

It took about 20 seconds to come up with that list of actual wasteful spending. But hey, let’s keep pretending that cutting food assistance or limiting public sector pensions is the real path to fiscal responsibility.

The Great Pharma Scam

And let’s not forget pharmaceutical companies. They get everything from our government, tax breaks, research grants, patent extensions, and yet Americans still pay the highest drug prices in the Western Hemisphere.

And when the government finally takes a tiny step forward, like negotiating the price of 10 drugs, it’s treated like a massive win. TEN. Meanwhile, the industry still charges obscene prices for life-saving medications while pumping out TV ads about drugs that could (and this is real) infect your perineum.

The Corporate Welfare State

Let’s talk about actual government dependency:

• Walmart and McDonald’s make billions in taxpayer-subsidized profits while paying employees so little that many rely on food stamps to survive.
• Airlines took billions in taxpayer-funded bailouts, then turned around and spent it on stock buybacks and executive bonuses. Meanwhile, food assistance recipients aren’t even allowed to buy hot meals.
• The government says it’s all about “freedom and liberty”, except the biggest restriction on freedom in America isn’t DEI or pronoun policies, it’s poverty and struggle.

What Should Be Done?

Here’s a wild idea: Instead of fighting over crumbs, let’s go after the billions disappearing into corporate pockets. The government should be exposing this system, not enabling it. Imagine a People’s Audit every day at 5 p.m., where we break down exactly how much of our tax money is being wasted on propping up already-profitable industries.

That’s what we should be fighting. Not non-existent “terrorist condom budgets” or whatever nonsense is getting people riled up today.

At the end of the day, capitalism is exploitative by design. Fine. But the government’s job should be to mitigate that exploitation, not fund it. Right now, we’re being screwed, and they’re making us pay. Enough.