(Letter to the Editor - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Elon Musk’s radical attempts to disassemble our federal government must be stopped. As our elected officials refuse to step up and demand that an unelected billionaire be shown the door, it’s up to us, the American citizens.

Let’s consider for a minute our dedicated federal employees. When and why did it become fashionable to malign them? Here are some facts: In 1970, there were 3 million federal employees serving a population of 203 million Americans. In 2024, there were 3 million federal employees serving 340 million Americans. That is a 2/3 increase in population served by the SAME number of federal employees we had in 1970. Is it any wonder the IRS can’t go after the rich tax cheats? We simply don’t have the resources to do so. And when citizens stop paying their fair share, that is when ordinary citizens are ripped off.

Consider our own dedicated federal workforce in this area — our friends and neighbors at the Bureau of Fiscal Services (formerly Public Debt) and the IRS. These are our friends and neighbors. They have mortgages, kids, serve on boards, coach sports, shop at local businesses, and pay taxes. I want you to consider what it would mean for those workers to lose their jobs. I want you to consider the impact on the local tax base, the impact on our businesses. Those 3 million federal employees have been serving ever greater numbers of Americans. My bet is they pulled off that feat by having competent highly skilled IT workers. Do you really think they need Musk’s greenhorns mucking around in their databases? The website of Musk’s minions, Doge.gov, had such poor security that hackers were able to gain control of the entire site.

If Trump was serious about finding corruption and fraud, he would not have illegally fired the 18 Inspectors General, who are the watchdogs of spending in federal agencies. He would have invited them to the White House and explained that he was going to provide them with forensic accountants tasked with finding fraud. He has yet to provide ANY evidence of fraud and corruption in our federal agencies.

And how about Medicaid and Medicare? Let’s chat with the CEOs of Marietta Memorial and Camden Clark and see what their balance sheets would look like without any reimbursement from the U.S. government. How many doctors, nurses, janitors, cooks will be downsized if Musk slashes that spending?

I invite you to step forward for our friends and neighbors in the federal workforce (and beyond) by calling your representatives in the U.S. Congress and by protesting in person if you are able. I own a business and if someone fired our workers, we would be powerless to serve the public. The same will be true of our government agencies — they will be unable to serve the public which is their mission. Whether you identify as a Republican, Democrat or Independent, you should be very concerned about a billionaire taking over our federal government and firing people indiscriminately.

Barbara Stewart

Marietta