Through Dec. 31, oil companies were assessed a special tax of 9 cents per barrel of oil, generating hundreds of millions of dollars a year, which were set aside to fund oil spill cleanups. The GOP decided to allow that tax to lapse on Jan. 1 to please their corporate oil masters. Who of you, Democrat, Republican or Independent, believes that was a good idea? Who will pay for oil spill cleanups now? Under GOP leadership, offshore drilling is not only being allowed but encouraged in every state that has a “shore,” so it is not unlikely that oil spills such as the BP disaster will become even more common. Especially since Trump, in his zeal to undo all Obama did, rolled back regulations Obama put in effect after the Deepwater Horizon incident, designed to help prevent more such horrible accidents. Florida, California, Maine, etc., are all in line to ramp up off-shore drilling, although none of those states’ governors or senators — not even the Republican ones ­— are in favor of drilling off their own shores. Obama also deep-sixed the Keystone pipeline, which we all know generates almost no permanent jobs for Americans and has already been responsible for massive oil leaks in America’s agricultural heartland. But, Trump resurrected that horror as well. He is selling out our public lands, including for Utahans, the Bear’s Ears Monument, and for Minnesotans, renewing the mining lease for the copper and nickel mining operation near the Minnesota Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness — a company with a terrible environmental record — owned by Jared and Ivanka Trump’s Washington, D.C. landlord, Chilean billionaire Andronico Luksic. Can anyone say conflict of interest?

When I wrote about the tragedy that was Donald Trump’s victory in 2016, I said the environment would be the biggest loser, and that the people he hurt the most would be his “low information voters” the kind definition of whom is “poor” rather than “stupid,” but, whichever shoe fits. We know Ryan wants to redo entitlement programs — meaning disability and Medicaid, as well as Medicare. McConnell is not so gung-ho to do that yet because he seems to be more aware that if he cuts programs benefitting Trump’s base of poor, rural voters, Republicans will be even more likely to lose seats in the 2018 elections. Nonetheless, food stamps for some of his poorest voters will be among the first entitlements to be cut.

We already know that after the massive tax cuts that mainly benefit Trump and his very rich friends, Sen. Hatch said there was no longer any money to fund CHIP — a bipartisan program providing health care for poor children. Compassionate conservatism in action.

Lonna Gooden Van Horn

Northwood