Letters

I have some questions I would like to ask our congressman, Nick Lalota. I had hoped to ask these questions in person, but the congressman seems to be a bit shy when it comes to meeting his constituents. So I ask, in this letter, some questions that I hope Mr. LaLota will answer in a reply.

Congressman, you voted for the so-called Big, Beautiful Bill, which by most estimates will add trillions of dollars to our national debt. The Congressional Budget Office estimated an increase in the deficit of $3.8 trillion; the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated $3.1 trillion, including interest; and the Tax Foundation estimated $1.7 trillion when factoring in economic growth.

What are we getting for all this debt? Repairs to our crumbling roads and bridges? Improved mass transit? A more robust health care system? No. We are getting tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.

Congressman, how can you justify this?

This bill, which you, Congressman LaLota, could have stopped, also will impact the health care of thousands of your constituents. Edwin Park, a professor at Georgetown University, whose research focuses on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, has stated that these cuts will take away coverage and access from many millions of low-income Medicaid beneficiaries. “One cannot credibly claim that these provisions involve curbing fraud, waste and abuse,” he said.

Adding employment requirements to Medicaid, as this bill would require, has been shown in pilot programs to have done little to encourage employment, and instead created impediments for those who already work or have qualifying exemptions, like a disability, but struggle to meet the new reporting requirements.

What say you, Congressman, to District 1 voters who will be impacted by these cutbacks? Or to the nursing homes in your district, which will lose millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements?

Our president has fired thousands of Veterans Administration employees, the majority of whom supply health care to our veterans. He has canceled VA contracts that have already been paid for. And he has walked back the provisions in the law that would have expedited care to soldiers whose health has been impacted by their exposure to toxic burn pits in Iraq. Please tell us your thoughts on these issues, Congressman.

Lastly, I would like you to comment on the cutbacks to health and safety regulations by your predecessor and present EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin. Apparently, he thinks our exposure to so-called forever chemicals is no big deal, and that polluters’ profits trump our rights to clean air and water.

I look forward, Congressman, to reading your responses to these questions.

John Neely

Westhampton Beach