Shortly after dawn on Thursday, May 22, the Republican-held House of Representatives approved, strictly along party lines and by a single vote, a budget bill that is cruel, anti-democratic, and dangerous for our economy. Every person in this country must be aware of how, exactly, this group of legislators turned against America.

If approved by the Senate in anything close to its current form, the bill will do economic harm to virtually every person reading this letter while further enriching the richest people and corporations in the country. It will cause immense suffering to the most vulnerable people in America. It will expand our national debt tremendously. And it will undermine the only remnant of checks and balances that seems to still be working in our federal government.

A few facts and figures, drawn from the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the bill:

■It contains about $7 trillion (yes, trillion) in tax cuts to the 1% wealthiest Americans.

■The lowest 10% of wage-earners will be worse off economically at least through 2033.

■At least $715 billion will be cut from health care spending, most of that from Medicaid (causing 8.6 million people to get kicked off Medicaid).

■The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will be reduced by almost $300 billion, causing more than 2.7 million households to lose that benefit.

■The national debt will skyrocket by $3.8 trillion.

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■Although the bill doesn’t mention Medicare by name, the effect of the enormous increase in debt is that, by law, about $500 billion will have to be cut from Medicare.

And the bill contains a provision that, in effect, would make it impossible for officials in the administration to be held in contempt of court for failing to follow a court ruling, even a ruling from the Supreme Court — doing away with that crucial check on presidential power.

Who among us doesn’t have a family member, neighbor, or friend, even ourselves, who will suffer if this bill becomes law? We should all be outraged.

Teresa Amabile

Amherst