Letter to the Editor: Miller-Meeks is hurting Iowans

Trump’s “big, beautiful, bill” passed the House by just one vote. Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks had an opportunity to be the deciding vote that protects her constituents, but instead sold Iowa out to the top 1 percent. This bill provides tax cuts to billionaires on the backs of working-class people and the essential programs that they depend on to survive.

For all her grandstanding about this bill tackling “waste, fraud, and abuse”, it adds $3.8 trillion to our national deficit. For all her trumpeting that this bill benefits low-income families, the Penn Wharton Budget Model found that including tax cuts, the bottom 20 percent of earners will in fact pay an additional $1,035 in 2026. For all her boasting that this bill supports small businesses, reports show that job losses may be in the millions.

These things make this bill no different than a marketing scheme where the flashy selling point of “Tax Cuts!” reels desperate people in with the promise of savings, overshadowing the confusing fine print that has them paying with their bank accounts. As businesses shut down, parents will pay with the indignity of losing their livelihood. As funds to food banks are cut, children will pay with the pangs of hunger. As Medicaid is cut, patients will pay with their lives. The issue is, Miller-Meeks understands the fine print. She understands the legalese. So when she sells something that she knows is harmful to people so desperate they don’t realize it, that kind of exploitation is, by definition, predatory.

Eric Kusiak

Iowa City