The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
America is a great nation, but Trump and the GOP-led Congress want to make it a cruel one. However, Wisconsin Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin and Wisconsin Catholic bishops oppose the cruel cuts in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Act”, narrowly passed by the GOP-led House. It’s now being considered by the GOP-led Senate. All Democratic senators oppose the bill; only 4 GOP senators are needed to defeat this mean and senseless legislation.
Senator Baldwin posted: “There’s nothing beautiful about a bill that kicks 16 Million Americans (258,396 Wisconsinites) off their health care insurance, takes away food assistance from 3 Million hungry families (90,000 Wisconsinites), and adds $2.4 trillion to the national debt” (Congressional Budget Office). Baldwin isn’t alone.
Wisconsin Catholic bishops have spoken out prophetically against the health care and food assistance cuts: “Weakening SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) or Medicaid through structural changes to the programs will act as cuts to these critical supports. Reduced funding, increased burdens for states, eligibility limitations, and work requirements will all result in loss of benefits and reduced access to life-affirming health care and proper nutrition for those in need.”
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The Center on Budget and Policy priorities said: “The bill would cut SNAP by nearly $300 billion … . 11 million people, including 4 million children and more than half a million adults who are 65 or older or have a disability, live in households that would be at risk of losing their food assistance … . The bill walks away from a 50-year commitment to ensure that low-income children in every community … have access to the food assistance they need to grow and thrive.” The cuts will result in farmers losing an important market and grocery stores losing customers, forcing layoffs and loss of tax revenue.
Concurrently the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services fired top experts who determine eligibility for Medicaid, SNAP and other programs. UW-Madison Professor Timothy Smeeding said it made no sense to fire the experts who determine poverty guidelines and resultant eligibility for life-saving programs, saying it was a “no-brainer” to rehire them immediately. It gets worse.
Trump and congressional Republicans are determined to eliminate food assistance programs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has cut over $1.5 billion that buys food from U.S. farmers for schools and food banks around the nation, including Wisconsin. About 300 Wisconsin family farms lost an important market. Meanwhile, the Agency for International Development has been dismantled; U.S farmers lost a $2.1 billion market to reduce world hunger. Food already purchased has been left to rot. Shameful! Moreover, Trump has proposed eliminating the Food for Peace and McGovern-Dole programs that address world hunger and support U.S. farmers.
Republicans should instead heed West Virginia GOP Senator Jim Justice: “If we don’t watch out, people are going to get hurt … upset. It’s going to be the No. 1 thing on the nightly news all over the place. And then, we will awaken to a situation in this country where the majority quickly becomes the minority.”
Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.
