This America

Shining the light of democracy in the storm

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THIS AMERICA

Hey Musk, I Have Some Federal Government Waste to Report

Katharine Valentino
This America
Published in
5 min readFeb 21, 2025

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As the director of the Department of Government Efficiency, you’ve fired a number of probationary federal employees who have been earning an average of $50,000 a year. I know of a federal employee making $569,000 a year whom DOGE could fire.

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The $50,000 we taxpayers pay for each probationary federal employee’s salary is taxable. The taxed amounts of all 220,000 of these employees go to the Treasury and benefit all of us. Meanwhile, the employee I’m suggesting you fire takes most of his income in untaxable perks that benefit him and nobody else.

You should know that probationary workers typically work hard to convince their employers that they should keep their jobs. They put in long hours during the week, come in to work most Saturdays, and are occasionally found in the office on Sundays as well. You called these people “low performers.” What do you call an employee who takes nine days of vacation in the first 30 days of his employment? The lowest of the low comes to my mind.

On Sundays, when your so-called low performers don’t have to go to work, they do house cleaning and the laundry and take their kids to the park. None of this costs us taxpayers anything. Contrast this with a staggering $3.4 million cost we taxpayers have to pay for each weekend…

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This America
This America

Published in This America

Shining the light of democracy in the storm

Katharine Valentino
Katharine Valentino

Written by Katharine Valentino

Still trying for the words to help us do & feel good things. Owner of Reviews for Medium Featured Books. I write life stories & about politics / social issues.

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