Letter to the Editor: Responding to a letter from Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn in the Feb. 27, 2025, p. 1B Dresden Enterprise-The Martin Post, "Here's How DOGE is Holding Government Accountable."
This letter was an example of lack of accountability and lack of truth on the part of the author/s. We are writing this response because that article was full of untruths, and the tone was one of insincerity "in action, character, and utterance" (Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/truth): readers do not have time to waste, and it is an insult to one's intelligence - and an affront to one's feelings - to be 'fed' such lies and mean-spiritedness.
The word "accountability" should mean, according to Merriam-Webster's 2025 entry in their website (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accountability): "the quality or state of being accountable, [especially] an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions."
This also should apply to the lies that many politicians spew out - it is not responsible to dispense false information.
"Truth," according to Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/truth) should mean: "the body of real things, events, and facts (actuality); the state of being the case (fact); the property (as of a statement) of being in accord with fact or reality." And there is a further definition: "sincerity in action, character, and utterance."
Specifically, just to point out a few of the lies in this article, "after four years of reckless spending and decades-high inflation..." is a lie. Where is the evidence? In fact, the figures go up and down constantly! The US Inflation Calculator actually shows inflation in 2023 - 2025 actually going down (https://www.usinflationcalculator.com).
"DOGE has found a lot of waste..." - How exactly is this known? No reports have been issued, and any responses to requests for information and transparency have been found to be erroneous. In fact, "A WSJ analysis of government data found that many claims of savings were overstated and ‘woke’ cuts were only a tiny fraction of the total" ("DOGE Claims It Has Saved Billions. See Where" - https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/elon-musk-doge-federal-savings-claims-783b9507).
How is throwing out the baby with the bathwater, as the multitude of firings and department slashings by DOGE certainly constitute, justifiable? There is nothing defensible about the goings-on that DOGE, staffed by inexperienced, unelected, and unknowledgeable know-nothings, has initiated. How does throwing many thousands of people out a job "restore government accountability"? ("Veterans are caught up in Trump’s and Musk’s work force overhaul" - https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03/04/us/trump-news-doge-ukraine#veteran-firings-trump-musk-democrats)
How does throwing the entire global charity scene into chaos "rein in the federal bureaucracy"? The US Agency for International Development, fondly known as "USAID," is a decades-old symbol of American goodness and caring. Among the many resulting horrors of USAID's closure is the thousands of inevitable DEATHS of people whose lives depended on USAID help. ("The Human Toll of Freezing USAID Funding" - https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-human-toll-of-freezing-usaid-funding-children-disease-farming-7efa5683?mod=Searchresults_pos2&page=1)
The plain "truth" is that as a result of the irresponsible, catastrophic and regrettably stupid actions of DOGE, we are, as a society, not just dismayed, but less secure, as key departments and offices are cut. ("Inside DOGE's Campaign of Secrecy - https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/the-journal/inside-doge-campaign-of-secrecy/b61b1abf-9223-48ea-8ba2-5b0051bc6d33?mod=Searchresults_pos3&page=1)
We urge citizens to question such extreme, mean-spirited, and certainly 'insincere utterances.' We should expect truthful information from our elected officials, not fear-mongering and ugliness.
Weakley County Democratic Party
Sources:
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/elon-musk-doge-federal-savings-claims-783b9507
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03/04/us/trump-news-doge-ukraine#veteran-firings-trump-musk-democrats
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-human-toll-of-freezing-usaid-funding-children-disease-farming-7efa5683?mod=Searchresults_pos2&page=
https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/the-journal/inside-doge-campaign-of-secrecy/b61b1abf-9223-48ea-8ba2-5b0051bc6d33?mod=Searchresults_pos3&page=1
