There is waste. There is fraud. There is abuse. And there is money — our tax dollars — spent on not only wacky but dangerous things. 

It’s undeniable to everyone but the most partisan and left-wing among us. It’s why they are screaming — literally — and protesting. It’s why they are calling for protests “in the streets.” And it’s why they are rushing to get in front of left-wing judges to demand court-ordered halts to the investigation.

We’re less than one month into the Trump administration. Buckle up.

As many of us noted during the Trump transition, he is getting to do something so many of us want in life: a do-over. Having been President for four years, Trump returns to the White House knowing there’s an urgency, knowing what he wants to do (and how to get it done), and knowing he’s on the clock. He’s assembled a team of cabinet officials, staff members and volunteers who know the mission, share his vision, and can effectively share the administration’s message with voters.

Have a vision. Assemble a team. Set goals. Go for it. Move fast. And mostly focus on things that 60 to 80 percent of Americans agree with, being ever-mindful of what the campaign message and issues were.

Much of the early focus has been on USAID — the United States Agency for International Development. Depending on how one counts, it spends about $40 to $50 billion a year. It’s a flash point because of what we are learning, because of how Democrats, legacy media, and “the swamp” are reacting, and because everyone knows that this is only the tip of the $6.8 trillion iceberg.

Defenders of USAID — and Democratic talking heads and their allies in legacy media — often begin their defense with: “C’mon, what’s the big deal: it’s less than one percent of the federal budget.”

And there, friends, is where the great American divide begins.

The left truly doesn’t realize how ineffective it is when they respond like that. It reveals their lack of concern about how dollars are used. After all, being a progressive means one cares more about feelings and intentions than results. Thankfully, most of us understand that if they don’t care about how $40 billion in “aid” is spent, they probably don’t care about the other dollars they take from our paychecks.

What have we learned so far? Sending tax dollars to impoverished nations for roads, hospitals or schools — but, they have to agree to advance LGBT policies. DEI policies being tied to aid. Our deficit is growing because we are underwriting studies on the impact of music on different sexual orientations. We are going into debt with China in order to send tax dollars to so-called NGOs — non-governmental organizations — that seem to behave like governments, imposing rules and demanding left-wing behavior. Infrastructure programs in Pennsylvania might be delayed because we are sending our money to “non-profits” with board members who are donors to or spouses of members of Congress — or even members of Congress themselves.

Our tax dollars apparently went to Hamas and were used to help build their underground tunnels — where they hide weapons and terrorists, and possibly American hostages.

The curtain is being pulled back. Yes, America, there is a swamp — and it’s deeper and dirtier than you imagined.

You may not have heard of all of this because — so we learned — very often our tax dollars have been directed to media outlets covering the news. Be it grants or “subscriptions” that sound dangerously like foreign “art investors” “buying” Hunter Biden’s paintings for millions.

Millions here. Millions there. To impose left-wing ideology on the world’s poorest nations. To prop up our enemies. To support a left-wing media that attacks Republicans and conservatives and promotes, protects, and defends Democrats.

In the next ring of the “circus,” the full, unedited CBS interview of Kamala Harris was released — two months after the election. It is now crystal clear that they not only edited out her gaffes, pauses and misstatements; they pieced together segments to make her answers seem more coherent.

Yes, America, there is a swamp. And it’s run and protected by politicians, bureaucrats and legacy media.

The reactions have been louder, angrier and more desperate than the run up to the election. 

The reactions are worse than we feared. After all, we all want the political temperature to be lowered, don’t we? We all want America to succeed, don’t we? Trump, Musk, Rubio, Homan, and company must all be striking nerves because the screams are deafening. The outbursts online show their hysteria.

They’re arguing, again, that it’s a “crisis.” To them anything that challenges their sense of entitlement, their view of the world, their belief of always being right is a “crisis.” They have a never-ending list of things to throw at the wall — hoping it will stick. It’s unlawful. It’s a data security issue. The DOGE staffers are too young. China will step into the void. Children will die.

It is a swamp and it’s even worse than many alleged. Government of the insiders by the insiders and for the insiders. Funded by us,  and we are not allowed to look behind the curtain nor ask questions. After all, they know best.

But change is happening. It will get louder and even maybe nastier, but it’s needed. 

Wasteful and corrupt spending. Sealing the border. Removing illegal immigrant criminals. The relationship between government and Big Pharma. Between government and legacy media. Government and higher education. Out-of-control, unaccountable bureaucrats. Using our students as political pawns, while test scores plummet and their anxiety rises.

Heck, the Democrats already filed articles of impeachment! Buckle up, indeed.

If successful, we will all be better for it. Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Guy Ciarrocchi is Senior Fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation. He was the former Chief of Staff to Lt. Governor Jim Cawley and Congressman Jim Gerlach. He writes for Broad + Liberty and RealClear Pennsylvania. Follow Guy @PaSuburbsGuy.