Letter to the editor: Ramifications of the Trump/Musk efforts

The writer of the letter “Get a real job and get over it” (July 23, TribLive) answered a letter from a government worker who had lost his job as part of President Trump and Elon Musk’s effort to wreck the federal government. He wrote, “Are you an unemployed government employee who thinks I should pay your salary and pension?” (He does not consider that those salaries and pensions may be required by current law.)

“If so, get a real job in the private sector.” Are the workers making sure he gets his Social Security checks on time down there in Smugland, Fla., doing “real work”? Is he happy with the wholesale firing of Social Security workers manning its offices and answering its phones? If he ever has problems with his Social Security and finds he can’t get help, I have no doubt he will be the first to complain, “This is another example of government that doesn’t work.”

He wrote: “I can only assume that your job loss is due to your own shortcomings. Get over it.” Really? There is no evidence that workers were fired for incompetence. Rather, Trump/Musk gleefully took a meat axe to agencies, ignoring who they were firing.

They rode roughshod over 1883’s Pendleton Act. Back then, politicians handed out government jobs to cronies, often after receiving handsome bribes. I guess Trump wants to go back to that system, giving him the power to hand out government jobs at will, perhaps after receiving a kickback. This is not good for our country.

Robert Supansic

McKeesport