Now is the time for all good men (and women) . . . Well, you know what’s next.
There is a large-scale movement to reduce governmental waste and eliminate fraud by massive firings of federal staff. I am sure there are some savings to be had by a careful review and investigation of our nation’s spending.
I don’t love paying taxes, especially if I were to come to understand that waste and fraud are serious issues and that our federal dollars are being squandered by lazy, inefficient, and even non-existent people. I for one don’t think that is the case.
The federal employees I know are not lazy, inefficient, and they certainly exist. I am talking about the staff of the Tampa Bay and Crystal River National Wildlife Refuges. Two of a total staff of eight were let go this month.
I am talking about the post office workers who greet me with courtesy and help me with packages and letters, delivering my outbound and inbound mail. I’m talking about the men and women working for the National Weather Service who tell me about upcoming hurricanes, rain, and my daily weather, helping me make my life decisions every day.
I am talking about staff of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who review permits and defend the dolphins, whales, and turtles I value in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. I may never see those animals, but my heart swells when I think of them in the deep blue sea, swimming free and wild and living their aquatic lives.
Federal administrators are working with the Florida Department of Transportation to make our roads safer and the bridges better – even if they have some major catching up to do for some of the Hillsborough County traffic.
Federal workers inspect our food and our medicines, ensuring that we can buy these commodities and eat our suppers in confidence that we won’t get sick. The men and women of our armed forces make us safe in a dangerous world. There are so many more agencies I could name, but you understand my meaning.
These folks generally are not over-paid, but as hard-working Americans they come to work and do their jobs faithfully. And our lives are better because of the work they do.
Please join me in asking our U.S. Congressmen and our President to stop harassing and firing the workers who protect our clean air and water, who manage our National Parks and forests, who man our borders and monitor our skies, ensuring that the lives and lands we leave for our children and grandchildren will be as rich, beautiful, and bountiful as ever, in our American the Beautiful.
Write them an email or letter. Call them on the phone. Let them know you care about our federal workers who work for us and our country. In so many ways.
Now is the time . . .
Ann Paul
President
Tampa Audubon Society
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