Letter to the Editor

Costello should oppose drilling in ANWR

To the Editor:

On Nov. 20, a group of Rep. Ryan Costello’s constituents joined the PennEnvironment organization to urge Rep. Costello to defend our environment against the latest slew of attacks. My topic of interest was the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which the Senate just voted to open up for drilling. While Rep. Costello has publicly defended the ANWR, he could not make any commitment as to how he would vote.

As I stated to Rep. Costello, “We need to put the economic issues aside and acknowledge that we need to move away from oil and embrace sustainable energy such as solar and wind. On so many fronts it is wrong: despoiling the landscape with a network of pipes that will leak in the future (witness the Keystone Pipeline), the effect on the wildlife, the rights of the native people residing there whose lifestyle will be disrupted. As John McCain said, “This is one of the most pristine and beautiful parts of the world.”

Let’s ensure Rep. Costello stands behind his public defense of ANWR. Send him a message to oppose any bill that would al-

low drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. — Mary AnnMack, Phoenixville

Tax bill shows our nation’s moral priorities

To the Editor:

We write as faith leaders concerned by the moral priorities of our nation and as parents concerned for the health of our daughter.

Rep. Costello voted for a tax bill that pays for huge tax cuts for corporations with cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. Over 70 percent of the tax breaks in this bill go to the wealthiest 1 percent and multinational corporations already making record profits. The tax bill

gives people with incomes over $1 million an annual tax cut of about $14,890 and those with incomes of over $3.1 million an annual cut of about $94,540. These tax cuts will be paid for with our children’s futures and our families’ health care; if this tax bill passes, huge cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and education are next. The federal budget resolution passed last month allows Republicans to cut $1.5 trillion from Medicaid and Medicare next year to pay for these massive tax breaks.

Our daughter, Lindsay, is 29 years old, has intellectual and physical disabilities and relies on Medicaid for her health care needs.

If Medicaid is cut, Lindsay will be out of medication and out of care. How is our daughter supposed to get the support she needs to survive and thrive without this critical program? Lindsay is just one of the 2.5 million Pennsylvanians who depend on Medicaid whose care will be jeopardized. This tax bill forces us to ask — what do we hold sacred? The profits of massive corporations or the lives and health of our families?

Congressman Costello can do better. Earlier this year, he voted against ACA repeal efforts that would have endangered coverage for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians, yet now he is voting for this tax bill,

which also includes a repeal of the ACA Individual Mandate. According to the CBO, this will leave 13 million more people uninsured and cause premiums to rise by 10 percent.

Congressman Costello voted against constituents like Lindsay when he voted in support of this federal budget and tax bill. Now that the Senate has passed its version of the tax bill, the House will vote on it again — Costello has another chance to do the right thing and vote against this bill. — the Rev. James F. McIntire, Royersford United Methodist Church, and the Rev. Lydia E. Muñoz, Church of the Open Door