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Sunday thought: A national reckoning -Robert Reich [View all]
Friends,
The United States government is no longer able to protect us from real hazards, such as flash floods, because it’s shifting funds to fake hazards, such as a non-existent immigrant crime wave.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been stripped down so much it can barely respond to emergencies, yet it’s funding detention centers such as “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades.
The National Weather Service’s San Angelo office, responsible for some of the areas hardest hit by Friday’s flooding, is missing a senior hydrologist, staff forecaster, and meteorologist.
The Weather Service’s nearby San Antonio office, which covers other areas hit by the floods, is missing a warning coordination meteorologist and science officer who are supposed to work with local emergency managers to plan for floods, including when and how to warn local residents and help them evacuate.
The office’s warning coordination meteorologist left on April 30, after taking the early retirement package offered by Musk’s DOGE to reduce the number of federal employees.
At both offices, the vacancy rate is roughly double what it was when Trump returned to the White House in January.
It’s the same across much of the federal government. Callers can’t get through to Social Security offices. Hazardous waste sites and drinking water facilities aren’t being inspected. National Park services have been scaled back. There aren’t enough air-traffic controllers to safely guide takeoffs and landings at the nation’s major airports.
Trump’s newly-enacted Big Ugly Bill will take funds out of Medicaid and food stamps. For what? To finance another giant tax cut for the rich, along with 10,000 more ICE agents and a gulag of detention camps.
The United States government is no longer able to protect us from real hazards, such as flash floods, because it’s shifting funds to fake hazards, such as a non-existent immigrant crime wave.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been stripped down so much it can barely respond to emergencies, yet it’s funding detention centers such as “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades.
The National Weather Service’s San Angelo office, responsible for some of the areas hardest hit by Friday’s flooding, is missing a senior hydrologist, staff forecaster, and meteorologist.
The Weather Service’s nearby San Antonio office, which covers other areas hit by the floods, is missing a warning coordination meteorologist and science officer who are supposed to work with local emergency managers to plan for floods, including when and how to warn local residents and help them evacuate.
The office’s warning coordination meteorologist left on April 30, after taking the early retirement package offered by Musk’s DOGE to reduce the number of federal employees.
At both offices, the vacancy rate is roughly double what it was when Trump returned to the White House in January.
It’s the same across much of the federal government. Callers can’t get through to Social Security offices. Hazardous waste sites and drinking water facilities aren’t being inspected. National Park services have been scaled back. There aren’t enough air-traffic controllers to safely guide takeoffs and landings at the nation’s major airports.
Trump’s newly-enacted Big Ugly Bill will take funds out of Medicaid and food stamps. For what? To finance another giant tax cut for the rich, along with 10,000 more ICE agents and a gulag of detention camps.
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-thought-a-national-reckoning
8 replies
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