In regard to the Monday letter, “Cut civil servants before military”: I wanted to throw out a couple of facts and figures the writer may not be aware of.
The largest air force in the world is (no surprise
here) the United States Air Force. The second largest air force in the world is the United States Navy. We spend more on defense than our five closest competitors and they are all our allies.
The writer states: “Our military personnel are charged with keeping our country free and pay the price in blood to ensure that we remain so. The federal civilian employee is charged with writing and enforcing regulations that restrict and burden our freedoms…”
While our soldiers are told that they are defending our freedom, this is just not true. Not any more. As the writer correctly pointed out, it’s people right here at home that are trying to curtail our freedoms. But it’s not “federal civilian employees” who are stealing our democracy. It’s the politicians on both sides of the aisle who take money from corporate lobbyists and work constantly to roll back the protective regulations that we fought so hard and so long for. Regulations that protect us from unsafe work environments, unfair hiring and firing practices, Wall Street moguls and polluters, to name just a few.
I really wish someone who loves that slogan about “protecting our freedoms” would explain to me what freedoms of ours are in jeopardy over in the Middle East.
To talk about reducing spending without cutting the bloated and wasteful defense budget is pretty meaningless.
Doug McGee
Everett
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