To the editor:

Is it me, or was the op-ed I just read totally wacky? I refer to the essay by Star Parker “Dear senators, pass ‘One Big Beautiful Bill'” in Thursday’s paper.

She starts praising the “masterful leadership” of Speaker Mike Johnson, then goes on to criticize Congress and the bill. She then throws in a jumble of tax cuts, unemployment, consumer sentiment yada yada and ends with endorsing the tax cuts for the rich. There are provisions to cut funding for Planned Parenthood for providing abortions on the “public dole.” Then, “the unraveling of our culture of family and children has profound economic implications on our economy.”

She “implores” the Senate to pass the bill. I sat here trying to figure out what I just read.

Seriously, if she actually knows what is in the bill, she would realize it is very harmful to families, pregnant women and babies and the most vulnerable among us, with the $880 billion cuts in Medicaid that also triggers an automatic $490 billion cuts in Medicare. It would be most harmful to our healthcare in rural areas, causing possible closing of hospitals, such as here. Hello, Rep. Stefanik, who voted for this horror.

To enact these cuts in order to give the wealthiest in our society money they don’t need, and borrowing in order to do it, is the very definition of crazy. If the wealthy actually paid their fair share, we wouldn’t have these deficits. Right now, it is manageable, but this bill would add several trillions more.

We should not do this. I implore the Senate to rewrite it, for the sake of sanity and moral decency.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Zahn

Saranac Lake