To the editor:

It has happened. Congressman Tracy Mann of Kansas 1st District and our U.S. senators, Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran, have voted for the horrid “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which extends large tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations at the expense of programs like Medicaid, SNAP (federal food aid to the poor) and other programs that benefit people in lower income brackets.

In addition to the cuts and layoffs that have occurred or are proposed for various federal agencies like FEMA, life will be harsher for many people in our community, across the state and throughout the country.

Mann, Marshall and Moran, and certainly President Trump, will go to great lengths to tell you that everything is just fine and we should celebrate the passage of this monstrous legislation, while ignoring those who will be adversely affected by it. This is the world that the United States opted for last fall. It took no prescience to figure this out. The Republicans are acting on their usual instincts, just with more intensity when led by a president of striking cruelty and vindictiveness who calls his political opponents “scum.” It is striking to see how much damage the Republicans are willing to do to their own supporters in this new bill but, again, we could have seen it coming.

Please think about this moment and how it affects people around you. In the future, consider voting for people who care about all Americans and not just the wealthiest among us.

Paul Laird,

Lawrence