From: Pam Clark
Columbus
Cuts in funding for the Department of Health and Human Services, such as Meals on Wheels, before- and after-school care, adoption and foster care, etc.; cuts in funding to the Departments of Transportation, Education, Agriculture, Justice and other federally funded programs and services; the possible elimination of the Office of National Drug Policy, at a time when the U.S. is experiencing an historic opioid and other drug epidemic — is all this putting America first?
These losses in federal funding and support will affect millions of our most vulnerable Americans — the aging, the disabled, low and middle-income children and families, those struggling with drug addiction, etc. Cuts in funding to the Department of Transportation will adversely affect everyone who uses our various systems of transportation.
And then there is the proposed American Health Care Act, another example of putting America first? The resulting loss of health insurance coverage to millions of Americans will negatively affect all of us in more ways than can be enumerated here and will literally lead to the death of some due to lack of access to health care.
The moral blueprint of America, as defined by the Trump administration, is one grounded in fear and survival of the fittest. If you are not part of the top echelon in this country, you are apparently not “entitled” to anything other than what might be leftover after heavily funding the military, the Department of Homeland Security and “the wall.” At the expense of keeping everyone “safe” from those we fear, we will experience losses in support for the arts and science, in which this administration has no faith; for public education available to all children, which is needed to ensure a strong workforce and our economic future; and for the maintenance of our infrastructure, which is critical to our system of commerce.
If this is the result of “America first,” don’t we need to ask ourselves, “Is this really where I want to live?”
