As I write, the Senate still cannot get Trump’s budget bill past the finish line due to a variety of (insane) measures in it, notably stripping away health care coverage for millions of Americans—no doubt including many in and about The Villages and central Florida—that seek healthcare through Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, even impacting us seniors on Medicare. Even hospitals serving rural areas of the country, no doubt including our Sunshine State, will have to close due to lack of healthcare funding from government programs. After all, without our health, we are not worth a damn to ourselves, our friends, our loved ones, our employers, and our communities.
And then there is the cost that Trump wants to see spent, raising the debt of our country by $TRILLIONS! This president cares not a whit about those of us that put him in office; only his wealthy cronies that deserve more tax breaks in order to become even wealthier, and to do that requires taking away from Americans the ability to obtain, maintain, or regain their health via healthcare programs that will be sliced and diced away by this budget bill.
But so far, our state’s two U.S. senators, Scott and Moody, are “dining” at Trump’s table and backing this bill in the Senate. We need to contact them TODAY, before the Senate takes a final vote and tell them our well-being is as great for us and their health is for them. And after that, that is, after the bill passes the Senate (IF it does), it must return to the House, which has deep divisions within its Republican ranks for this bill already. Which means our local U.S. House representative there, Daniel Webster, will have to vote on it again after he already voted for it the first time in May. Calls to his office must be made for him to vote it down as well. We put him in office, NOT Trump, and so Webster owes his allegiance to us, not his “false idol” who sits in the Oval Office.
Miles Zaremski is a resident of the Village of Dunedin.