Act now to influence Senate on budget

16,600 additional, preventable deaths could happen each year because of the Republican House budget proposal, according to an analysis by researchers in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The Senate version could make this even worse.

Encouraged by Donald Trump, $1 trillion of SNAP (food stamp) assistance and Medicaid including rural hospital support would be slashed, affecting 80,000,000 poor families, seniors, veterans and disabled. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates this could strip health coverage from 7.6 million and SNAP from 3 million Americans.

Republicans are rushing this budget through before the public knows the details. Polls averaged from Fox News, Washington Post, Quinnipiac University and KFF show when people are aware, 55% oppose it and only 31% support it.

Additional things eliminated are:

•LIHEAP, providing the poor with heat in winter.

•Burn pit and Agent Orange veterans’ benefits.

•988 toll-free national suicide hotline

•Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, which investigates chemical disasters, fires and explosions

•SBA’s SCORE and Women’s Business Centers, which help startups and existing small businesses, the top drivers of job creation.

The Senate will be voting soon. We can make a difference. Democrats are united against these cuts. A few Republican senators are sensitive to Medicaid and SNAP issues, including Senators Jerry Moran of Kansas, Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Tell them the pain their constituents can expect and ask that funding be restored. Unable to reach a person? Leave a voicemail, as these are tallied. Tell a friend.

Please support a free press.

Albert “Bo” Smith

Geneva