Musk must be stopped

I am writing to express my outrage at the dismantling of our federal government while thousands of government workers are losing their jobs. Along with the jobs lost are the departments that employ them and the programs they provide. I am all for efficiency and against fraud, but what is happening here is neither. To put the richest man in the world in charge of seeking out inefficiencies and fraud, who has his own agenda of going to Mars and getting us to pay for it, is outrageous and a conflict of interest. No one voted for Elon Musk and I don't think anyone voted to end cancer research or Head Start programs, but we have an unelected billionaire slashing through departments that Americans depend on because he thinks they are unnecessary. Meanwhile this particular billionaire has multiple contracts with the American government worth $20 billion for his several businesses. His contracts are unaffected by the sledgehammer. The money saved by slashing our government will be used to help pay for a new tax cut for the wealthiest Americans and corporations. The money we are spending on safe air traffic, bridges, highways, clean air and water, health care, education, consumer protections, Veterans, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security all will be adversely affected, if they continue to exist at all. The people most affected will be the most vulnerable. Is this what voters wanted? Some people say the federal government is too big, or wasteful, or broken. Long before President Ronald Reagan said the words "Government is not the solution, government is the problem" our government has taken a bad rap. This line of thought has gone so far that government workers are being treated as the enemy rather than hard working civil servants. Between 1981 when Reagan took office and 2021 when Biden did, $50 trillion has moved from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1%. Congress is currently preparing a budget that calls for adding $4.5 trillion to the budget deficit to extend the Trump 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. It calls for $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, including cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and supplemental nutrition programs. In 2024, we spent $882 billion on the interest alone on our national debt. It's impossible to reconcile. Our government works for all of us. It has a role to play in countless ways. And we all have a say in our government. While it seems cumbersome, it is the envy of the less free around the world. We are 330 million people. How big or small should it be? All of us will be affected by what is happening today. Even if you think you do not need our government, I am certain you know and love someone who does. Julie DivelyHuron