Donald Trump said that, unlike other Republicans, he would not cut Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. He promised a great health care plan at a fraction of the cost of Obamacare, and said that under his plan everyone would be taken care of. He held a party in the Rose Garden when the House bill (which he lobbied for, although he later called it “mean”) was passed.

The Senate bill, which he supports, is in many ways even worse than the House bill. It cuts Medicaid by nearly $900 billion dollars while giving the already too wealthy nearly a trillion dollars in tax cuts.

His older supporters may not care that Medicaid helps pay for 49 percent of births in this country or that 40 percent of Medicaid pays for health care for children. However, 64 percent of people in nursing homes are helped by Medicaid, which should elicit their concern!

Under Obamacare, 70 percent of money paid to insurance companies was required to be used for patient health care. Under the Senate bill, that number shrinks to 57 percent. The missing 13 percent will go for bribes to insurance and pharmaceutical companies and future campaign contributions? Millions of people will lose coverage, and deductibles for those who can afford to pay for insurance are predicted to double, while older people may pay five times as much for their insurance as younger people.

I am willing to believe that in the abstract Trump would like everyone to have good health insurance at an affordable cost. He would; that is, unless providing health care for all interfered with his highest and only real priority — that of becoming ever more wealthy and using his office to accomplish that goal.

Obamacare was funded in part by raising taxes on the campaign “donor” class. Donald’s class. Not only does the new health care bill end that funding, it restores the money to the wealthy that they paid in prior years! It is not a health care bill. It is a massive tax cut for the wealthy posing as a health care bill — the largest transfer of wealth from the working poor to the already too rich in American history! And the health care bill must be passed as part of budget reconciliation, which will then allow Republicans to move on and to justify their upcoming actual tax cut measures for the wealthy, which will hugely cut their taxes — which they will sell as an economic stimulus.

We have been down this road before, under Reagan, which was and is credited for economic growth during his presidency; although, even Bruce Bartlett said any economic growth at that time was due to interest rates being reduced from 19 percent to 9 percent along with the massive amounts of money spent on Reagan’s military build-up.

Just as it did under Reagan, this tax cut will explode the deficit. When this happens, rather than raising taxes on their “donors,” Republicans will try to raid your Social Security and Medicare funds.

Lonna Gooden-Van Horn

Northwood