Opposing DOGE cuts
Feb. 17
In four short weeks, an unelected private citizen with no government experience and no vetting, with the President’s blessing and Congress’s acquiescence, has fired tens of thousands of federal employees, many with irreplaceable expertise, who accepted their positions with an assurance that their employment would be based on performance, not a whim.
Musk and Trump have eliminated research programs, removed formerly publicly available information about disease, slashed education funding to states, and denied federal relief to victims of natural disasters.
The new roads and bridges we thought Congress had funded? Canceled. Programs to revitalize rural communities most impacted by a changed economy? Eliminated.
Laws passed to prevent corruption and protect consumers? Ignored.
And on the international front, a blistering attack on our multi-decades allies, on the soil where half a million of our finest gave the ultimate in opposition to tyranny, while turning our backs on the brave citizens of Ukraine, who gave up their rights to nuclear weapons after we assured them their sovereignty would be respected.
Not my definition of “greatness.”
Cathy Murphree
We must support medical research
Feb. 20
I am writing to express my disbelief at the massive cuts to research budgets and personnel. One of my adult children spent several weeks at William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital at UT Southwestern Medical Center, some years ago with a raging, out of control disease.
His professional team in this finest of research hospitals included physicians and scientists from literally all over the world. We marveled as we met with different teams and learned of various approaches. The turning point was when the team proposed a novel treatment, which we were told had only been done once before. We’ve since been told it’s the “standard of care” for a patient as sick as our child. We support UTSW every year, and we also support the non-profit that provides research funding for his disease.
Many years later, his disease remains in remission, and he lives a full life. My child had the best of the best, but do we think the world’s most esteemed researchers and specialists will be attracted to and stay in a country that does not welcome them and in fact dismisses their work as unimportant?
The rest of the world knows better — we rightfully look like fools.
Cathy Murphree
Editor’s response: Thank you for your letter, your point of view is greatly valued.
