{"id":164425,"date":"2026-10-06T08:37:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T16:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/06\/do-you-also-want-your-money-back\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T08:37:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T16:37:05","slug":"do-you-also-want-your-money-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/06\/do-you-also-want-your-money-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Also Want Your Money Back?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I want my money back.\u00a0How about you?<\/p>\n

The cost of changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the \u201cGulf of America\u201d has been about 500 grand.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like my share back, please.<\/p>\n

The cost of changing the name of Lake Ontario to \u201cLake America\u201d?\u00a0Perplexity can\u2019t help me.<\/p>\n

The cost of restoring the name of Mt. Denali to Mt. McKinley?\u00a0Also unknown.<\/p>\n

Now we\u2019re changing \u201cartificial intelligence\u201d to \u201csuperintelligence\u201d in all government documents.<\/p>\n

Whatever the costs are, I want my share back.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump proposes these name changes simply to attract attention and own the libs.\u00a0Those are fine choices, I suppose, but does he really get to spend my money to indulge his silly narcissistic needs?<\/p>\n

Several times, President Trump has tried to strip press credentials from national media because Trump resents negative reporting.\u00a0Those efforts at stripping press credentials are doomed to fail.\u00a0But having the government stagger its way to failure incurs a cost \u2014 in Department of Justice time and effort, in judicial time deciding those cases, and the like.\u00a0It\u2019s all government money.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to spend my money on Trump\u2019s useless fits of pique.\u00a0I want my share of the wasted money back.<\/p>\n

Same deal with tariffs that legal scholars know will not be permitted.\u00a0There\u2019re administrative costs in implementing the tariffs, DOJ and court time in striking down the tariffs, administrative time undoing the tariffs and reimbursing money.\u00a0 It\u2019s all waste.\u00a0I want my share back.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s a billionaire, and he\u2019s enriching himself by the day.\u00a0He can afford the cost of silly little games \u2014 especially when my money, not his, pays the price of admission.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m out here in the cheap seats.<\/p>\n

If Trump wants to fight about the name (and membership on the board) of the Institute of Peace, he can do it.\u00a0But not on my nickel.<\/p>\n

If he wants to fight about the name (and membership on the board) of the Kennedy Center, and the cost of losing performers and shutting down the building, he can do it. But not on my nickel.<\/p>\n

If Trump wants to destroy a perfectly good East Wing of the White House and replace it with a fancy ballroom, the ballroom would surely make his life more pleasant.\u00a0But the expense makes my life less pleasant.\u00a0Let\u2019s stop.<\/p>\n

Triumphal arches for no reason other than glorifying Trump?\u00a0Five million bucks to change the Arts of War and Arts of Peace sculptures (framing the Arlington Memorial Bridge) from bronze to gold leaf?\u00a0Running public service announcements about how only Trump can keep the communists out of America?\u00a0Same deal.<\/p>\n

Flying to Mar-a-Lago at government expense, with a government security detail, every month or so?\u00a0It\u2019s nice for Trump; he likes golf.\u00a0But he\u2019s rich; and he can afford it; and he\u2019s not even paying, for heaven\u2019s sake.\u00a0Why are we charging me for his luxuries?<\/p>\n

Remodeling the Lincoln Bathroom?<\/p>\n

Golden doodads in the Oval Office?<\/p>\n

Those silly plaques lining the West Wing Colonnade (with Biden depicted as an auto-pen)?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The helipad?<\/p>\n

I realize that being president costs the government money.\u00a0The president has to travel, and be protected, and all that stuff.<\/p>\n

But how about the unnecessary stuff?\u00a0Shouldn\u2019t the president be treating government money as though it were yours?<\/p>\n

Because it is.<\/p>\n

I want my share back.\u00a0 Do you?<\/p>\n

\n

Mark\u00a0Herrmann\u00a0spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Curmudgeon\u2019s Guide to Practicing Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(affiliate links). You can reach him by email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>inhouse@abovethelaw.com<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

The post Do You Also Want Your Money Back?<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I want my money back.\u00a0How about you?<\/p>\n

The cost of changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the \u201cGulf of America\u201d has been about 500 grand.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like my share back, please.<\/p>\n

The cost of changing the name of Lake Ontario to \u201cLake America\u201d?\u00a0Perplexity can\u2019t help me.<\/p>\n

The cost of restoring the name of Mt. Denali to Mt. McKinley?\u00a0Also unknown.<\/p>\n

Now we\u2019re changing \u201cartificial intelligence\u201d to \u201csuperintelligence\u201d in all government documents.<\/p>\n

Whatever the costs are, I want my share back.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump proposes these name changes simply to attract attention and own the libs.\u00a0Those are fine choices, I suppose, but does he really get to spend my money to indulge his silly narcissistic needs?<\/p>\n

Several times, President Trump has tried to strip press credentials from national media because Trump resents negative reporting.\u00a0Those efforts at stripping press credentials are doomed to fail.\u00a0But having the government stagger its way to failure incurs a cost \u2014 in Department of Justice time and effort, in judicial time deciding those cases, and the like.\u00a0It\u2019s all government money.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to spend my money on Trump\u2019s useless fits of pique.\u00a0I want my share of the wasted money back.<\/p>\n

Same deal with tariffs that legal scholars know will not be permitted.\u00a0There\u2019re administrative costs in implementing the tariffs, DOJ and court time in striking down the tariffs, administrative time undoing the tariffs and reimbursing money.\u00a0 It\u2019s all waste.\u00a0I want my share back.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s a billionaire, and he\u2019s enriching himself by the day.\u00a0He can afford the cost of silly little games \u2014 especially when my money, not his, pays the price of admission.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m out here in the cheap seats.<\/p>\n

If Trump wants to fight about the name (and membership on the board) of the Institute of Peace, he can do it.\u00a0But not on my nickel.<\/p>\n

If he wants to fight about the name (and membership on the board) of the Kennedy Center, and the cost of losing performers and shutting down the building, he can do it. But not on my nickel.<\/p>\n

If Trump wants to destroy a perfectly good East Wing of the White House and replace it with a fancy ballroom, the ballroom would surely make his life more pleasant.\u00a0But the expense makes my life less pleasant.\u00a0Let\u2019s stop.<\/p>\n

Triumphal arches for no reason other than glorifying Trump?\u00a0Five million bucks to change the Arts of War and Arts of Peace sculptures (framing the Arlington Memorial Bridge) from bronze to gold leaf?\u00a0Running public service announcements about how only Trump can keep the communists out of America?\u00a0Same deal.<\/p>\n

Flying to Mar-a-Lago at government expense, with a government security detail, every month or so?\u00a0It\u2019s nice for Trump; he likes golf.\u00a0But he\u2019s rich; and he can afford it; and he\u2019s not even paying, for heaven\u2019s sake.\u00a0Why are we charging me for his luxuries?<\/p>\n

Remodeling the Lincoln Bathroom?<\/p>\n

Golden doodads in the Oval Office?<\/p>\n

Those silly plaques lining the West Wing Colonnade (with Biden depicted as an auto-pen)?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The helipad?<\/p>\n

I realize that being president costs the government money.\u00a0The president has to travel, and be protected, and all that stuff.<\/p>\n

But how about the unnecessary stuff?\u00a0Shouldn\u2019t the president be treating government money as though it were yours?<\/p>\n

Because it is.<\/p>\n

I want my share back.\u00a0 Do you?<\/p>\n

\n

Mark\u00a0Herrmann\u00a0spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Curmudgeon\u2019s Guide to Practicing Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(affiliate links). You can reach him by email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>inhouse@abovethelaw.com<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

The post Do You Also Want Your Money Back?<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I want my money back.\u00a0How about you? The cost of changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the \u201cGulf of America\u201d has been about 500 grand. I\u2019d like my share back, please. The cost of changing the name of Lake Ontario to \u201cLake America\u201d?\u00a0Perplexity can\u2019t help me. The cost of restoring the name […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":164363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}