To the editor:

I am no fan of Kathy Hochul. When one of her first acts in office was to use my tax money to build a professional football stadium in Buffalo, she lost my support pretty much for good. But that is nothing compared to what Elise Stefanik has just done. According To Ballotpedia, Stefanik’s base salary is $174,000 (and since her husband works for the gun lobby, we can assume he makes at least that). This means “Representative” Stefanik just voted herself a significant tax break — stolen right out of the mouths of the 40,000 households in her district who get SNAP and food aid from the government.

Not only are children going to go hungry to pay for Elise Stefanik’s tax break and those of the rest of the top 20% of earners, but those hungry families are also going to have to do without health care. According to the July 5 Enterprise, the Healthcare Coalition of the North Country “estimates that about 215,000 people in NY-21, or 28% of the population, use Medicaid in some way. In the North Country, 50% of all childbirths and 34.5% of the children are covered by Medicaid. More than 60% of nursing home residents in New York are covered by Medicaid.”

And if that weren’t bad enough, the Medicaid cuts could force some local hospitals to reduce services or maybe even close. All of us, even those with higher incomes, will have fewer options for health care as more and more doctors leave the area and fewer are willing to come here.

Maybe if she’s elected governor, Stefanik will be too ashamed to keep stealing from us when she can’t hide behind the other 267 Republican thieves in Congress (House and Senate) and is the sole star on the state stage, but I wouldn’t count on it.

If you want Wall Street millionaires to put more of your money in their fur-lined pockets, vote for Elise for governor. On the other hand, while the alternative may not be great, at least it isn’t complete highway robbery.

Shir Filler

Vermontville