Nothing beautiful about Senate bill
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) arrives as House Republicans work to pass President Donald Trump's signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts by a self-imposed Fourth of July deadline, at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday. Credit: AP
Now that the “Big, Beautiful Bill” has passed its Senate hurdle, the likelihood is that it will eventually be enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump [“Spending cuts bill gets narrow Senate approval,” News, July 2]. If that happens, it will cut a huge hole in America’s social safety net.
Millions of Americans will lose their health insurance. Food programs for the poor will be curtailed. Food banks, mental health clinics, and domestic violence shelters will struggle to survive, and some will not make it. Most alarmingly, Medicaid assistance to the poor will be seriously undercut.
How insensitive to needy Americans are the Republicans who are voting for the bill? Sen. Mitch McConnell, talking about the Medicaid cuts to his Kentucky constituents, said, “They’ll get over it.” Sen. Joni Ernst dismissively said, “Well, we’re all going to die,” when asked if the Medicaid cuts would hurt her home state Iowans.
Will the parents who lose Medicaid support to care for their child with disabilities get over it? Will a sick person kept alive through soon-to-disappear Medicaid assistance think, “Well, I’m eventually going to die anyway”?
A government that lacks empathy and compassion for its citizens is evil.
— Martin Skrocki, Wading River
Many constituents knew, whenelected, that our Long Island Reps. Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino would usually be rubber stamps for anything Donald Trump wants [“NY GOP urged to vote against tax bill,” News, July 2].
When the House votes on the Senate bill, I’ll bet they both vote for it despite it dismantling the social safety net, blocking any resources for renewable energy — which Long Island sorely needs — and stalling scientific and medical research while allowing China to increase its lead in technology and electric vehicles.
— Brian Davey, Huntington
WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO JOIN OUR DAILY CONVERSATION. Just go to newsday.com/submitaletter and follow the prompts. Or email your opinion to letters@newsday.com. Submissions should be no more than 200 words. Please provide your full name, hometown, phone number and any relevant expertise or affiliation. Include the headline and date of the article you are responding to. Letters become the property of Newsday and are edited for all media. Due to volume, readers are limited to one letter in print every 45 days. Published letters reflect the ratio received on each topic.
