To the editor:
At whose cost does the tax cut come?
The frenzied rush to pass the $1.6 trillion tax cut will come at someone's expense. The questions are at whose expense and when?
Recent cuts have been at the expense of programs to serve the poor, the disabled, the elderly and education. Ending welfare as we know it eliminated the safety net of programs that had supported the valiant efforts of those in poverty trying to make life better for themselves and their children. Closing the doors of mental health institutions to save states and the federal government money disenfranchised the mentally ill to a life of sporadic and limited services in the land of homelessness. The response to predators who sucked their profits from prescription drug, medical care and skilled nursing care programs was to reduce funding, increase rules and limit the eligibility of seniors for care and service at the most vulnerable time of their lives. We are dealing with inadequate funding throughout the educational system resulting from tax breaks combined with decreased federal and state funding. For whom does the bell toll now?
Safety net programs currently in place for meeting basic human needs resulted from the 1920s stock market crash when individuals lost their entire savings and investments, not to mention jobs. New Deal programs sought to stabilize the nation when it became clear that churches and charities could not handle the demands of a nation in economic and social crisis.
The pooled resources of our nation have enabled us to respond to a range of needs that ensure those without wealth have equal access to health care, education, housing, jobs and retirement. Those who face natural, economic or social disasters have had a basic level of help available since these programs were passed. In exchange, upon the backs and from the labor of ordinary people, we have built a democracy worth risking one's life to reach. Perhaps the tax cuts have a bigger price than America is willing to pay.
Venida Chenault,
Lawrence
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