I’m grateful that Sen. Susan Collins is staying to fight another day in the Senate, because her Republican colleagues are continuing their attacks on critical anti-poverty programs.

This week, the Senate is expected to vote on a budget resolution that includes more than $5 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, tuition grants, rental assistance, Head Start and a slew of other programs that help working families, kids, seniors and people with disabilities. Even Medicare stands to lose more than $470 billion.

Why on earth would Republican leaders propose a budget that potentially harms so many people? Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi came right out and said why: The budget “is first and foremost about reforming the tax code.”

Translation: Congressional Republicans are desperate for ways to pay for the huge tax cuts they want to give corporations and the wealthiest Americans, so this budget resolution includes two: Let the deficit grow by $1.5 trillion and let low- and moderate-income constituents foot the rest of the bill.

We need Sen. Collins to do what’s right yet again. I ask her to please continue to support programs that work for the working poor, not tax cuts that enrich the richest.

Alison Hall

Greenville


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