House Republicans vote to gut vital programs

On Thursday, May 22nd, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives passed their budget reconciliation bill, by a vote of 215-214. This bill proposes deep and damaging cuts to Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Initial estimates by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office indicate that if passed into law, this bill would remove health insurance from more than 10 million individuals and it would reduce nutrition assistance by almost 300 billion dollars, which would be the largest cut to the SNAP program in history.

At the same time that the Republican bill would gut health insurance and nutrition assistance for low to moderate income children and adults, it would provide huge tax cuts for wealthy individuals.

I do not recognize this America. How did we get here? The answers lie in a complex analysis that is too long for this letter. I urge people to read the daily online column “Letters from an American” by Heather Cox Richardson and the book “On Tyranny” by Timothy Snyder.

I also urge people to talk to your elected officials and demand to know their rationales for votes like these. If you do not like their answers, please learn about candidates who will be opposing them in the next election. One such candidate is Jessica Swartz, who is running a strong campaign to replace Republican representative Bill Huizenga, who voted in favor of the destructive Republican budget bill.

Even if you do not live in the district of candidates who stand for the principles and ideals you do, please support those candidates. Tell your friends about them, send a donation and/or volunteer for their campaign.

We need to take back America.

Audrey Lester

St. Joseph