Letters from politicians are disingenuous

Letters appeared in my inbox. Courteous letters. Quite polite. And … what’s the word Disingenuous.

Well, that’s disappointing.

Maybe I’m wrong. I look up the word and see that disingenuous means “not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating.”

Yes, that seems to fit. It’s what comes to mind when reading letters from Senators Grassley and Ernest, and Rep. Miller-Meeks.

They sent these to those who are worried that the proposed budget bill would cut health care for millions of citizens (in order to fund tax breaks for the wealthy). They say they are cutting waste, fraud, and abuse.

But the numbers don’t seem to add up. We hear that 16 million of our friends and neighbors will likely lose their health care. That seems like an awful lot of fraud going on.

And nobody noticed? So, maybe not fraud.

Abuse. They seem to think abuse is when “able-bodied” people receive health care they aren’t working for. Ernst says these folk like to watch TV and play video games. No insulin for you, basement dwellers!

Or, to scapegoat a different group, she suggests it’s the “illegal immigrants” who are abusing our health care system. This is the hoariest of red herrings (if you can imagine such a creature).

She says that 1.4 million “illegal immigrants” are receiving Medicaid. But when we check with the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, we find there is “no federal funding to cover undocumented immigrants, except for payment for limited emergency services.”

Ernst is apparently referring to some States’ programs (not federal Medicaid) that do fund health care for immigrants. The budget bill would prevent states, like California, from doing so. No antibiotics for you, farmworkers!

While undocumented immigrants don’t qualify for Medicaid, they do, by law, have access to our emergency rooms, which will have 16 million more visitors if the budget passes.

And the rest of us will pay for this most-expensive care by increased insurance premiums, higher state taxes or the bankrupting of hospitals.

In return for this “windfall,” we get to experience the anguish of our friends and neighbors.

Disingenuous can also mean "unaware or uninformed; naive.” That is what our Republicans in Congress think we are. I’m hoping they’re wrong.

Curt Johnson,

Williamsburg