Employees’ fault? Fox news says it’s so

Employees’ fault? Fox news says it’s so

Imagine my surprise to learn that it’s the fault of federal employees for the government shutdown. Fox News and Republicans in Congress said so.

A Tea Party Republican congressman from Texas blamed a female park service ranger for denying veterans access to the World War II Memorial in DC — and then made her apologize for the shutdown.

“How do you look at them and ... deny them access?” Rep. Randy Neugebauer asked the ranger. And I thought it was her job to do just that, in light of the government being shut down. I would have thought the Republican congressman would have attended the Republican caucus meetings and had a vote when House Republicans decided that the government should be shut down.

When asked whether federal employees deserved back pay when on furlough, Fox Business’ Stuart Varney said, “I’m sick and tired of a massive, bloated federal bureaucracy living on our backs, and taking money out of us, a lot more money than most of us earn in the private sector, then getting a furlough, and then getting their money back at the end of it. I want to punish these people.”

Mr. Varney seems to think a furlough was a gift that federal employees demanded. Punish them?

In response to Mr. Varney, I’m pretty sure federal employees don’t make a lot more money than he does at Fox. Second, it’s a fact that the federal government employs fewer government workers today than in the 1960s and 1970s, when the U.S. population was just more than half of what it is today. And a high percentage of these employees are veterans.

I’d also like to remind John Boehner that never before has America been at war and had a government shutdown at the same time. Our troops should have our full support.

Barry Fredrick

Hampshire