Representative “GT” Thompson doesn’t represent his constituents. He doesn’t even respect us — as revealed in his highly selective and partisan newsletter and his stance on the recently passed budget bill.

While he claims the bill benefits his district and calls it a “game-changer” for rural America, key parts of the bill are a gut-punch to rural Pennsylvanians.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the richest households will gain $12,000 annually while the poorest will lose $1,600. Notably, middle-income taxpayers are likely to find their small tax cuts offset by cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Thompson, as head of the House Agriculture Committee, said in March that he’d expand SNAP benefits in the next Farm Bill. Instead, he voted for a bill that CUTS about $186 billion in SNAP funding over the next decade!

Contrary to Thompson’s claim that the bill strengthens healthcare, the Pennsylvania Hospital Association warns about rural hospital closures resulting from about $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade.

In Thompson’s district alone, nearly 7,000 people could lose SNAP benefits and more than 15,000 could lose Medicaid coverage.

Thompson’s wrong that there’s no tax on Social Security benefits. He’s correct that there’s an added deduction for seniors, but fails to mention that it expires in two years and isn’t worth much considering that most seniors make so little money they already pay no taxes.

Finally, the education tax credit Thompson praises siphons money from public schools, where most of our children are educated, to pay for mostly rich families to send their kids to private schools.

PA-15 residents are smart enough to know that Thompson’s words don’t just reflect partisan politics; they represent a lack of moral action.

DEBBIE MEDER

Lock Haven

Submitted by Virtual Newsroom