The Philistines Are at Base Gates

* The unanimous decision of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission to add the Point Mugu Naval Air Station to the nationwide list of installations being considered for closure is not “kind of a sneak attack.” Last November, many in Ventura County and throughout the nation gave their support and votes to politicians who now are dismantling the federal government while carrying out the “Contract on America.”

Only now do Ventura business leaders, their employees and families realize that as the Congressional Visigoths dismember federal and military agencies, programs and policies while slashing federal budgets, the fallout inevitably will be increased local unemployment, business dislocations and failures and depression of our local economy. Remember, the federal government and its agencies are part of the economy, too.

Our Simi Valley congressman disingenuously opines that the Pentagon’s inspector-general report is “full of holes and bad information.” This is the same response he gave to supporters for continued federal support to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts and other federal programs now being butchered on the Potomac.

Apparently, he and others of his ilk are more offended by red ink than the national bloodletting that will happen as Medicare, Social Security and other federal programs are hacked up. Devolving the federal government is a sure way to turn our economy back the the Dark Ages.

To those who empowered these Philistines, be careful what you wish for, because you (your family, your neighbors and your employer) might get it.

NEIL A. MOYER

Ventura