Glenn Mollette's preference? Rob Peter to pay Paul

Dear editor,

In his recent column, Mr. Mollette crowed over President Trump's proposed tax cuts. He pointed out how much everyone, be they low income or high income, would now be enjoying more spending cash — which, in his view, is a good thing.

And, yes, it should be a good thing — but flip over that rock and let us see where all those savings are coming from.

Everyone knows that cash does not magically appear, unless you borrow or steal. Republicans hate deficit spending, so let's move on to the second choice: steal. And where would that be? Let's explore the newest scam, the American Health Care Act, which was just passed by the House. Its focus is on cutting taxes on this and that (eight taxes from individual mandate tax to prescription drug tax), totaling close to $1 trillion. Which makes the recently House-passed AHCA more of a tax restructuring than an improvement on the existing ACA (Affordable Care Act, often referred to as "ObamaCare").

And that is the pot from which the tax reform will be drawn. The one Mr. Mollette fails to mention.

Yes, taxes will go down if both the AHCA and the new tax brackets are put in place. But at what costs to one's health insurance? The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 14 million people would have lost their Medicaid coverage in the first AHCA attempt. The newest AHCA bill just passed was so bad, even the Republicans voting on it realized that and rushed it through without hearings and without a CBO report. It will impact the average American (House members excluded themselves from it — preferring the older ACA or "Obamacare") in ways yet to be determined.

Yes, Mr. Mollette, a few extra dollars are nice. If the latest AHCA is passed and the tax "reform" is passed, I would recommend one put those dollars in a health savings account for those days ahead in everyone's lives.

DAN TOMCHAY

Milton

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Glenn Mollette's preference? Rob Peter to pay Paul