Letters to the Editor
The Poor Shall Pay
President Trump’s proposed budget, to begin in 2018, would result in extreme cuts, $3.6 trillion, for the millions of poor and disabled people who are barely able to get by without these cuts.
His proposal would put the poorest Americans in a dire survival mode while at the same time spending billions of dollars on the military and $1.6 billion for ‘the wall’. In other words, the poorest of Americans will be paying for a border wall that Trump had repeatedly claimed Mexico would pay for. If during his presidential campaign, he had shouted, “America’s poor shall pay for a Wall”, he would have lost by a landslide.
He now promises big time food stamp cuts and Medicaid cuts. These Medicaid cuts would deny nursing care for millions of elderly poor people, also forcing many disabled people on Social Security to try to find employment. As GOP Rep. Harold Rogers, of Kentucky, said, “These cuts are draconian. They are not shavings, they are deep cuts.”
The budget would also reduce pension benefits for federal workers, affecting millions of middle class retirees. It would also limit farmer subsidies, such as crop insurance, and would leave the Great Lakes in serious danger of becoming undrinkable by eliminating nearly all clean-up efforts.
As Sen. Dick Durbin, of Illinois, said, “Children, working families, seniors and people with disabilities will be ‘fined’ while the wealthiest Americans will get a ‘bonus.’ What’s so great about that America?”
This bill, if passed would be a horrible travesty for all of humanity.
Rick Webb
Munson Township
