I am sick and tired of Republicans such as Legislator David Hann of Eden Prairie (Eden Prairie!) claiming that the proposed cuts to Health and Human Services is what any family would do when adjusting their budgets.

Really? Not the families I know.

The families I know would not have Dad go on his annual trip to the Bahamas while his son, little Johnny, is told he will have to do without lunch for a year. Or if Johnny has an ear infection or is suffering from a fall, are we then to believe that the family decides no doctor care for Johnny?

Families where the person most able to make a sacrifice refuses, and the one least able to do without is forced to sacrifice life’s necessities, is a dysfunctional family controlled by an abuser.

So, Republicans, if you want to slash and burn government programs because that is your small-government philosophy, please have the courage to tell the truth that you just don’t care. And drop the “that’s what a family would do” metaphor. It doesn’t wash.

Ted Hinnenkamp

Albert Lea