Recent Firings of Federal Employees

What is "that guy" really up to?

A lot is going on nationally and internationally. I’ve thought about writing, and I research and research. On the recommendation of a conservative friend, I’ve listened to some of the congressional hearings regarding Musk and his buddies' USAID investigation. I’ve then fact-checked some of the allegations. I’ve started writing numerous times and thought about what I would say. Finding out the facts seems to make no difference to anyone who disagrees.

I find the abrupt firing of large numbers of federal employees alarming. Then I wonder if we can do our government business well with fewer employees. Every time I start writing, I remember something crazy I want to add. Many years ago, I heard one politician talk about food stamp expenditures, and the push was to take out the fat and fraud in the food stamp budget. What was done was to raise the income requirements for those poor folks who were struggling anyway. They did not take out any fat. They did not find anyone who was fraudulently receiving benefits. Years later, I described in one of my graduate courses what had happened, and I gave the following analogy: if you think you weigh too much, then you can address that by amputating your arm. That would make you weigh less.

In firing so many people at one time, are we cutting off our arm? Leg? Cutting out our brain?

Many say this is not impacting them, and it may not now.

With the frequent mass firings of federal employees, I have heard from some who talk about the devastating impact on individual employees and their families, who worry about paying their mortgage or rent and paying for their car and utilities. Some have mentioned how generous the initial offer was for a six-month payout for leaving. Those of us who remember the 2008 recession—the day the banks went to Congress and requested a bailout—many lost jobs then. I don’t know if any federal workers lost their jobs. The nonprofit I started was in the middle of our biggest fundraiser, and donations dried up within minutes of the banks asking Congress to bail them out.

Why would we need these employees? What type of service are they individually providing that would inconvenience us as citizens? What do they do?

Today, I’ll speak to the National Parks and National Forests and use a favorite location to explore my own experiences with those employees.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/tongass/recreation/natureviewing/recarea/?recid=79154&actid=62

Why would we want to pay people for this National Forest location? What do they do? I lived in the area for almost four years.

· If you want to see the bears fishing and eating salmon at the creek, the procedure is to take a boat and dock in a designated place. A park ranger escorts visitors to the observation area. There is a park ranger in front of the line and a park ranger in the back, carrying guns as we are escorted through bear habitat. We are given instructions on what to take, what not to take, and how to behave during the visit. Keep your voices down; do not take food of any kind. What if there were no park rangers, and we could do whatever we wanted? I heard of an incident decades ago before the government took over this location. Several teenage boys thought going bear hunting would be fun, so they went to Anan and shot every bear they saw. And left them there.

· Similarly, what happened to the bears then was similar to what happened to the bison. They were so easy to kill; we humans took that to be a sport and killed thousands of them – not for food, not for clothing, just for sport. Left to rot. They were almost killed to extinction.

· How many reports have you heard just this year of tourists wanting to get selfies with moose, bears, or other wild animals? I appreciate having instructions from park rangers in the realm of brochures, newsletters, and information about appropriate behavior in viewing wild parts of nature that I have not been familiar with. Are folks getting too close to geysers? How many more people would get hurt if the instructions or guidelines were not there?

· I have numerous friends who have worked as “ridge runners” on the Appalachian Trail. Their jobs include cleaning privies, clearing trails, notifying others when major trail maintenance is needed, chatting with hikers, and emphasizing “leave no trace” and what that means.

· In Wrangell, the forestry service was working with others studying bats in Alaska. I was one of many people trained to assist in collecting data. This was done by using a contraption that picked up the bat sounds and recorded them. Our job was to start driving from a specific spot to the city park at a specific speed while setting up this contraption on the car. Why would we want to know that? This is one of the many “canaries in the coal mine” studies that have us look at how migration and illness patterns of different animals impact humans.

So yeah, I’m concerned for folks who lose their jobs, but citizens are losing their jobs in many recessions. What may change folks’ views about the firings is the lack of services I have had in the past that are now eliminated because of indiscriminate firings.

I have used other federal government services and would like to know if they will be available after these recent firings.

· I have often called the IRS to have a question answered, a form given, or information. Will someone answer the call now?

· As a social worker, I have attempted to assist many veterans in completing forms to get their disability benefits. Those applications frequently take months and sometimes years for approval. The VA benefits office in GA did not have enough people to answer the phone and answer questions. Will this improve? I get that better processes and likely better computer programs or training could help, but is firing many people the way to get that done?

· I researched the USAID website to see where that money goes. The false numbers and information of the programs supported by the administration are riddled with fake information. I noticed that Catholic Social Services was a big recipient of funding. I’m not a catholic, but I have seen some of their work. They provide Meals on Wheels in some locations. They provide social groups for young adults with disabilities. I have worked with the one in Juneau, AK, to create a call-in support group for caregivers who could not leave the person they cared for. They do some fantastic work. So what would happen to those? They laid off 59 in Dallas and 51 in Syracuse. Included in these programs are support classes for documented migrants who did all the proper paperwork to get here, including folks from Afghan and Iraq refugees who aided the US Government.

I have numerous good friends all over the political spectrum. Last year, while researching political issues before the election, I became very concerned about the national debt and funding Social Security. I would love to think that billionaire oligarchs are working diligently to assist the middle class, but I don’t see it. I love this country more than I love or hate any politician. Since “that guy” is who we have this right now, I hope “that guy” is right. If he is not, I shudder at the thought.

EDIT: One of my readers who did spend years on the Appalachian Trail sent me this correction:

To be clear, the ridge runners are employees of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, so they are not controlled by the federal govt. Funding for the various positions along the trail comes from trail clubs and sometimes, as with the VA position, from the US Forest Service. Eliminating funding for the USFS would require the ATC to find other funding and partnership.

In my understanding of how rich the rich ones are, they could personally fund all of those positions and not even notice!