Letters: ‘Big beautiful bill’ harms hardworking Americans; Who is GT Thompson representing?

‘Big beautiful bill’ harms hardworking Americans

Many Americans make hard budgeting decisions every day understanding that living on credit while spending more than you earn is simply not sustainable.

So why are Congressional Republicans OK with a spending bill that explodes our nation’s already staggering $32.2 trillion national debt? Taxpayers are currently spending more each year on interest than for our national defense.

Economists warn that increasing the national debt at this time will jeopardize our nation’s ability to respond to real future crises such as wars, pandemics and natural disasters. We should be getting our fiscal house in order not adding another $2.4 trillion to our deficit to extend Republican tax breaks for billionaires.

Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” which has been accurately described as “the largest upward transfer of wealth in American history,” steals from the poorest Americans in order to provide massive tax cuts for the wealthy. This bill contains $1.1 trillion in tax cuts for people who make more than $500,000 a year along with $1.1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and SNAP food assistance. Fifteen million Americans stand to lose their health insurance.

Increasing our national debt will also fuel inflation as the government raises interest rates to attract investment necessary to cover the deficit. Subsequently, interest rates on mortgages, car loans, and credit cards will also increase.

Enough is enough! Call Senators Fetterman, McCormick, and your Republican Congressman to demand that they reject this harmful spending bill and start putting the needs and well-being of average hardworking Americans first.

Who is GT Thompson representing?

Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District, our district, is one very large and very rural district. Its elected representative is Glenn “GT” Thompson.

Over 200,000 of his constituents are currently receiving Medicaid benefits in this district. That appeared to be of little concern to Rep. Thompson, however, when he voted for Trump’s billionaire tax cut bill. The bill is expected to cause over 10 million people to lose their Medicaid coverage. How many of our family members, friends and neighbors will be among them?

To add insult to injury, the bill will also make Affordable Care Act health coverage more expensive and harder to obtain.This is expected to make health insurance unaffordable for an additional 7 million people. More of our family members, friends and neighbors?

Coupled together, Medicaid cuts and health insurance unaffordability is projected to affect those who live in rural areas the most. This is because:

(1) the number of older residents who rely on government funded insurance (Medicaid recipients) is high in rural counties; and

(2) rural hospital and community health centers are already strapped financially. Losing even a portion of Medicaid and health insurance reimbursement funding could force them to slash services, even close. This will leave those who live in rural areas with vastly reduced local health services, an already significant concern.

Given the likely harm to so many of his constituents, why would Thompson ever help Republicans in the House pass this bill?

Perhaps because representing us is not his highest priority?

Strawberry Festival a success

On behalf of the Lemont Village Association, and Granary Committee, I would like to thank the Centre Daily Times for excellent coverage of our 43rd Annual Strawberry Festival. Thanks to the great publicity, we had a crowd of over 750 strawberry lovers who enjoyed a beautiful afternoon, consumed 264 quarts of strawberries, 75 cakes, 54 gallons of delicious Meyer Dairy ice cream, and lemonade. The event will help fund the final work on our historic building renovations.

Too many helped to name, but thank you to 25 people who washed and hulled strawberries from Mark and Marla Kurtz’s Belleville farm. Sixty provided cakes, and many more helped to set up, clean up and serve refreshments. We had a “waste free” event, composting nine large bags full. Giant and Weis Market, Hills Plaza, and Weis Market, Westerly Parkway subsidized the supplies, Culligan provided water, and W.R. Hickey’s supplied ice. College Township officials and State College police also helped, and neighbors were friendly and tolerant of traffic and disruptions. Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society volunteers provided “speeder” rides, and music was provided all afternoon by Richard Sleigh and Kevin Briggs. The Art Alliance and Centre Pointe Church volunteers brought activities for children.

Summer fun on the Village Green continues with free concerts every Friday evening, 7:30-9 p.m. Please bring your own chair or blanket. Check our website for details, www.lemontvillage.org.