House Republicans passed a budget that would make huge cuts to Medicaid and Obamacare. The Congressional Budget Office said this would cause about 14 million Americans to lose their health coverage. A recent report by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform revealed that 742 rural hospitals are at risk of closing, with more than 300 classified as “immediate risk.” If this Republican bill becomes law, many rural hospitals would close.
The CBO predicts this budget would result in the wealthiest 10% of American families becoming even wealthier, while the poorest 10% would fall further behind. The CBO estimates this budget would also add $3.8 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
The Republican bill also makes enormous cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that nearly 11 million people, including 4 million children, would be at risk of losing their food assistance because of this.
While House Republicans were busy taking away people’s food and health care, President Donald Trump was having a private dinner with the largest buyers of his “meme coin,” which will line the pockets of Trump and his family. Trump has refused to provide a list of those who attended, which raises all kinds of ethical concerns. Trump’s company is signing business deals with other nations, which creates huge conflicts of interest.
Trump accepted a free plane from Qatar, which could cost $1 billion or more to refurbish before it could be used as Air Force One.
Trump campaigned as a populist who would “drain the swamp.” Instead, he’s ruling as an oligarch and building his own gold-plated cesspool.
— Mike Mosser, Chicago
Cartoon about Medicaid
I understand that exaggeration is one of the tools of comedy, including in political cartoons. But exaggeration must start with a kernel of truth. Michael Ramirez’s cartoon on the Tribune’s May 23 editorial page, which shows an apparently able-bodied Medicaid recipient resisting the idea of working, doesn’t exaggerate anything, because it has no basis in truth. It’s just plain mean.
According to independent research by KFF (formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation), “data show most Medicaid adults are working or face barriers to work.” My experience of more than a decade as a licensed volunteer assister to individuals and families seeking to enroll in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (known as Obamacare) bears this out. The vast majority of individuals I help who qualify for Medicaid are employed. They are “the working poor”: Their jobs pay less than 133% of federally defined poverty level income. The rare exceptions include people between jobs, full-time students and single parents caring for young children.
The Ramirez cartoon demeans these hardworking Americans whose earnings leave them unable to afford private health insurance and perpetuates the fiction that Medicaid recipients are freeloaders. It offers no insight or humor.
I would hope that in the future the Tribune Editorial Board is more discriminating in its choice of cartoons to feature on its editorial page.
— Barbara Altman, Highland Park
What kind of leader is he?
What kind of leader defies orders, makes baseless claims, embarrasses world leaders, says Medicaid and Medicare are safe from cuts, and accepts illegal gifts from foreign dictators (one equaling $400 million)?
How many lies does it take until one can no longer discern the truth? That threshold long ago has been crossed.
When will this president be held accountable for his lies and illegal actions? Who can we count on to hold him to account? The Republican Congress? The Supreme Court?
I fear this dilemma will continue to grow unabated. All Americans must take a stand for truth and justice.
— Teri Pehta, Glen Ellyn
Self-interested politicians
Shame on all of us. We are too easy on our elected politicians. We have made these jobs so desirable by providing ample compensation, travel, staffing and power that once elected, their only purpose becomes keeping their position.
As voters, we should be demanding better performance from our elected officials, but we don’t. Everyone complains about a do-nothing Congress, but then we elect the same mopes again and again into office. Hence, you have people in their seats for life.
Given today’s level of partisanship, we don’t need 535 elected officials in Congress, if they all just fall into feeding at the party line trough. They always say that they are representing our interest, but in reality, their primary goal is to keep their entitled positions.
The Department of Government Efficiency would have a field day with finding cost savings, if we made our elected officials account for their accomplishments each week. Heck, we never make our elected officials account for anything. Stop and think about what your member of Congress has done for you over the last two years. Six years? Ever? Do you even know their name?
We need to be tougher bosses. If the average voter failed again and again to get things accomplished in their jobs and could not get along with their co-workers, they would find themselves looking for new employment. No private company would put up with the poor performance and poorer attitudes that we see coming out of Washington every day. I’m sick of seeing politicians acting tough by fighting each other. Fight for me!
Since we as a society are incapable of weeding out the self-interested status-quo sloths through the electoral process, the only solution is to impose term limits for all public offices. We need to take away this insatiable need to keep their jobs and not their promises.
Seeing that we are currently living in an environment of taking actions under the guise of “emergency powers,” I’d like the president to put his signature on an executive order that would cap any elected office at three terms. Maybe if the current politicians knew they had a finish line, they would actually stand up for their constituents and not cave under pressures applied by outside interests.
— Steven Fortuna, Naperville
Joe Biden’s health status
To my dismay and, I’m sure, that of many others, the public was not informed regarding Joe Biden when he was president. It is beyond unfortunate that our country has to suffer the consequences of information held back about Biden’s health status.
I find it difficult to understand how a so-called journalist, Jake Tapper, could be writing a book regarding the many difficulties Biden was dealing with as president and not acknowledge those things during his broadcasts. Many people tune into CNN to get their news.
Now Tapper will reap the financial benefits of the information he held back. Although I have never written a book, I’m going to assume it would take at least six months to create a well-written book. I’m also disappointed I didn’t read in the Tribune about this complex, unsettling situation.
Our voting population at the very least deserves to be hear the truth.
— Myrna Siver, Coral Gables, Florida
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