Off the Publisher’s Desk 3-19-2025

A mistake from the past that can be avoided!

With all the federal employees getting laid off or fired and the hardship it may impose on their families, I found this great piece written by Bill Wilson and published by the Capitol Guardian and we have permission to republish it.

“While it may not be top news around much of the country, in the Washington D.C. area the staffing cuts in various federal government offices are all consuming. This is neither surprising nor without merit. With 375,000 federal workers in the D.C. Metro region, the impact of any employment cut will be felt immediately. 

“But the macro-economic impact of sizeable reductions in federal workers is not the primary result. The impact on individuals and their families is. And in that measure, whether it is 100,000 jobs lost or 1, the impact is harsh and all too real. The issue of justification or economic long-term need to reduce government expenditures are in fact secondary to those now on the street. Are there those who openly defy the lawful orders of the political leadership? Yes. And are there federal employees who have acted as if they were a law unto themselves with no accountability? Sadly, also yes. But how many fall into these categories? I would wager few do.

“As for those who have gamed the system, perpetrated fraud or outright theft as has been uncovered in some high-profile instances, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law. Their punishment should be severe. Why? Because their actions have not only harmed the general public, but they have harmed federal employees more. Buy tarring all federal employees with the stain of their actions; these criminals need to be punished. But that still leaves hundreds of thousands of people who go to work, do their jobs and are now being harmed by the cuts the Administration is advancing, what of them?

“That is where a reasoned eye needs to be applied. After all, people will lose their homes; children will not receive the benefits of a sound and stable home, and overall, the quality of life for the entire region will suffer.

“How the federal employees being let go are treated will reverberate for generations. Nothing in politics is clearly seen until many years and often decades later. Here is a unique opportunity to avoid the mistakes of the past and extend the hand of national unity to those in need.”

Thanks for reading!     ~Carlton