Where is Elon Musk when you really need him? DOGE has gone through our government offices, gleefully, with his chainsaw under the guise of cutting waste, fraud and abuse. Never mind that staff has been eliminated from some of our most needed agencies.
How could the chainsaw have missed Congress? There are 535, (100 in the Senate, and 435 in the House) offices that need to be cleaned out for not doing their job. Each one earns a base salary of $174,000, which doesn’t include Travel, office expenses, DC housing expenses and clerical salaries. All mostly doing nothing, but rubber-stamping Trump’s whims.
There are handfuls who are trying to uphold the dignity of the Congressional Branch, but they can’t seem to convince, cajole, or shame the others to come off their apparent five-month break and get back to work.
You remember America, the land of the brave and the free. Do you remember the hard-won Constitution of the United States that has three equal and separate branches of government, each with the ability to provide checks and balances on the others?
Whatever you might think of the necessity to have people in place whose job was to protect the safety of our food, water, environment, and air-travel, as if those measures just happen on their own, what about members of Congress who are paid, handsomely to protect the honor and hard-won values of this United States of America? You might recall that Congress holds the purse strings, as well.
Those of you who are most concerned about the economic aspect of government, why aren’t you appalled at Trump’s spending so far in just five months of his term. Trump’s parade, alone, would range in cost from $25 million to $45 million, but the Army’s latest estimate totaled $40 million. The job of DOGE was cut spending to bare necessities, right?
What were you doing on June 14th during Trump’s birthday parade, dear members of Congress, watching the parade? Well, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, more than five million people participated in over 2,100 rallies and protests. Does that give you a clue to where your constituents are in the matter of spending? Do your job!
There is so much to talk about with this president, but the list is so long that covering it here isn’t possible, but let’s touch on one more area, immigrants.
Trump voters who can’t admit they were wrong in voting this guy in again, shrug their shoulders and say something to the effect of, “Well, he said he would clean out the illegal immigrants and that’s why he was voted in, he’s just doing the job we asked him to do!”
No, voters have a short memory. Trump said he would get rid of the immigrants who commit crimes in order to protect our society. Trump’s mantra on immigration has always been, “Other countries are emptying their jails and their insane asylums, and sending them here.” He said, “They are all rapists, murderers and thieves.”
Fine, get rid of the hardened criminals, but leave the families alone! They are contributing members of our society and our Economy.
Stop the masked ICE agents (good name for them, ICE) who are grabbing people from schools, doctor’s offices, bus stops, and from their actual workplaces where they are trying to earn enough Money to raise their families to enjoy what used to be the American Dream. They have fled countries, sometimes carrying their children on their backs in fear of their lives from gangs and other thugs who run rampant in dictator-run countries. Now they must live in terror again, of ICE.
Congress, you hold the keys to our future. Are you going to stop this before the “Maybe I will, and Maybe I won’t” guy decides to drop bombs on Iran, or sit this one out too, and let the missiles fly where they will?
Eileen Powell, a former New Yorker, has been living in the South for more than 30 years. She’s a freelance writer and is proudly known as “the Liberal Yankee.”Â
