Dear editor:

“...that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” These immortal lines spoken by Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg have been our national aspiration ever since. In other words, the purpose of our government is to benefit the citizens. That’s its “mission statement.”

The objective of a capitalist business structure, or a corporation is “of the company, by the company, for the company.”

These are completely different directives. American government was conceived to benefit citizens. Corporations exist to engage in a money-making enterprise, to benefit the company and the shareholders. These objectives should not be confused, and corporate models of efficiency should not be applied to a government of/by/for the people. President Donald Trump’s mega-donor Elon Musk claims that he and DOGE are eliminating fraud and saving taxpayer money. They claim the mandate, and the power, to eliminate the jobs of tens of thousands of civil servants, while hamstringing the work of the agencies that the American people created to serve the public good. DOGE has already cost taxpayers an estimated $500 billion in lost tax revenue, while firing thousands of IRS workers, disproportionately specialists in recouping fraud from corporate and mega-wealthy tax cheaters. Many workers in this and other agencies who were reinstated by judges’ orders have been placed on administrative leave, meaning that taxpayers continue to pay their salaries although they are prevented from doing their work.

Not only is the DOGE mission wrong-headed, but their actions have been detrimental to the best interests of the American public. Instead of efficiency, they have created expense and chaos, which is tanking the economy. One could wonder what they’re really up to.  

Linda Raynolds

Cody