Letters to the editor for June 4

The Courier Press welcomes opinion letters up to 500 words from readers. Writers are limited to one letter, per topic, per month. Concise letters and those that offer a new perspective or add depth to the discussion of an issue are more likely to be printed. We reserve the right to reject letters at our discretion or edit for grammar, punctuation, length and clarity. Personal attacks, form letters or letter-writing campaigns are not accepted, and self-promoting letters from candidates for public office will not be published. If we receive numerous letters on one topic from various authors, we may select only one to be printed. Any congratulatory letters must be matters of public interest and will be tightly edited.

Please include the author’s full name, address and daytime phone number in case clarification is needed. Emailed letters are encouraged and mailed submissions must be signed. Letters to the editor are not a reflection of the Courier Press’ or its staff’s stance on matters of opinion.

Dear Editor,

After weeks of political gamesmanship and infighting, the Republican conference in the U.S. House of Representatives passed on May 24^th its “Big, Beautiful Bill” – Donald Trump’s budget and tax bill – by a vote of 215-214-1.  Our member of Congress, Derrick Van Orden, provided the vote that pushed this bill over the finish line to victory.

You might ask, what does this bill do?  According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the nonpartisan office used by Republicans and Democrats for many decades to score the cost of proposed legislation, this bill would add $3.8 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade; cut $698 billion from Medicaid; cut $267 billion from SNAP (food assistance); cut $64 billion from other federal programs; and cause cuts to Medicare of $535 billion due to automatic PAYGO-triggered reductions (which could happen soon if Congress does not act to stop these reductions).  In addition, the bill includes increased student loan payments, slashes the child tax credit for children without two parents who have social security numbers, and makes it harder for courts to enforce contempt proceedings against federal government officials (so much for law and order).

What does this mean for Wisconsin and those of us living in the 3^rd Congressional district?  Well, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (one of the premier health policy organizations in the country) there are a total of 1,278,000 children and adults enrolled in Wisconsin Medicaid.  Of these, 37 percent are children, 29 percent live in a rural area (hello, Crawford County), and 14 percent have three or more chronic conditions.  Significantly, Wisconsin Medicaid covers 35 percent of all births, 46 percent of working-age adults with disabilities, and 55 percent of all nursing home residents.

If you bring this all down to the level of the 3^rd congressional district, there are 152,000 total Medicaid enrollees, including 61,300 adults, 21,600 seniors, 50,000 children, and 20,100 individuals with disabilities.  There are also 16,000 residents receiving food assistance through SNAP.  Many Crawford County residents fit into one of these categories, and the proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP will harm these individuals — our neighbors, friends and family members who rely on Medicaid and SNAP for their survival.

And the real kicker?  Derrick Van Orden voted for this.  While he previously promised us that these benefits would not be cut, he turned around and voted for them to help give billionaires a bigger tax break.  He sold out our farmers, the elderly, families and children in his district, and he was happy to do so.

I realize there are an awful lot of numbers in this letter, so let’s boil it all down to the fundamental aspect of this “Big, Beautiful Bill”: many of you are going to be severely hurt if the bill is passed in the Senate and signed into law by President Trump.  You are going to go hungry or lose your health insurance while undergoing treatment for cancer, or diabetes, or heart disease.  You or a loved one are going to be unable to continue to receive long-term care, meaning that grandma or grandpa or mom or dad will probably have to move into that spare bedroom you’ve been using as a craft room.  Your children will go without regular meals because you won’t have the money to buy them food.  And without a steady revenue stream from Medicaid, our local rural hospitals will undoubtedly need to close, leaving us all having to scramble for health care a considerable distance away from where we live.

Not so beautiful after all, is it?

Jon Sutton

Prairie du Chien

***

Dear Editor,

Scroll Senator Marklein’s Facebook feed and you’ll see dozens of photos of wide-eyed students grinning up from the rotunda, holding a “Senator Marklein and Representative Novak (or Tranel) welcomes ____ school” banner. This shameless self-promotion is hypocritical, particularly when the good Senator consistently votes against adequately funding public schools.

As co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance Committee, Senator Marklein has listened to hours of public hearings; public school supporters begging for fair funding for their beloved schools, yet he turns his back on our students at the whim of the voucher/choice lobby. He’s OK sending our tax dollars across the state for choice/voucher student tuition, despite voucher schools not having the same mandates, accountability, or transparency as public schools. All while 10 of the 13 school districts in his Senate District were forced to referendum in 2024/25. Senator Marklein and his colleagues actually hold the purse strings, yet it’s our schools getting blamed for continual referenda.

Now, under his leadership, the JFC seems poised to sneak “decoupling” through during the budgeting process, without a constituent vote, and give private schools a separate tax dollar funding stream off the top of the GPR, while public schools are still forced to beg for crumbs.

It should be more than a photo-op, Senator. We’re all counting on you to say no to decoupling, fix the antiquated school funding formulas, reimburse public schools for special education at the same rate as private schools and end the statewide voucher program that siphons resources away from our public schools.

Kristina Reser-Jaynes

Readstown

***

Dear Editor,

Last week, Congressman Derrick Van Orden voted to pass the Republican-backed “Big, Beautiful” tax bill, which includes massive cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and other successful programs giving new tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. 
This bill  cuts critical programs that help children, veterans, and seniors access food, medical care, and other basic necessities.  The bill creates new challenges as Wisconsinites continue to deal with rising costs and economic uncertainty because of tariffs. This terrible  bill will be  a disaster for lower-income families who will be forced to pay more out-of-pocket as programs are reduced or eliminated.

Is there not one Republican that doesn’t treat Democrats, and most Republicans like dirt under their feet?

This is being done as Project 2025 advances with Trump’s direction.

Ted Finn

Prairie du Chien