@RalphHightower: Hey, @Elon Musk! Can’t you afford a babysitter for your kid?

American Federation of Government Employees President on ‘absurdity’ of slashing federal agencies

Dec 7, 2024 #Elonmusk #vivekramaswamy #doge

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy held “brainstorming” sessions with GOP lawmakers this week. Everett Kelly joins The Weekend to discuss how their proposed budget cuts and what the Department of Government Efficiency could actually be doing to government workers.

A complete lack of understanding what public service is, that you know, the private sector is the be all and the end all, and those who want to be in the private sector, guess, what, they’re in the private sector. But those who want to work in the federal government, to serve the people of this country as my dad did, as I did in the early stages of my career, that matters to them. For your employees, hearing this knowing what’s about to come to town starting on January 20th, are a group of individuals who don’t give a rat’s ass about them, who think they’re expendable, who think they’re a burden, that costs too much, they should be in offices that are sitting empty. But first of all, you know, it is nerve-racking for the employees I represent constantly to be called names or when, in actuality, these are the people that make America work. These are doctors in the V.A. Hospital that serves veterans. These are scientists who make sure that the water and air we breathe are good. These are meat inspectors that inspect the food we eat. Because they come to work every single day. These are patriotic Americans who enjoy providing a service for the American people.

I’m aware of the prices that defense contractors charge the American public to do certain work. That’s the first thing I would look at because there’s about $740 billion that’s spent on defense service contracts versus about 200 billion for federal employees, wages, and benefits and those types of things. The real cost of doing business is not necessarily going to be addressed. Because Elon Musk has contracts in which he’s getting more than he should be getting, right? His contracts are padded. So you know, if Elon wants to put his contracts for examination on the table and start there in creating efficiency in the government, now we are talking. Let’s have that conversation.