Archived Opinion

I will be voting for Cal Cunningham

I will be voting for Cal Cunningham

To the Editor:

I received several campaign ads for Thom Tillis over the past several weeks. The ads say “I’ve cut your taxes before — and I’ll cut your taxes again, and again, because you deserve to keep more of your hard-earned money.”

First, my federal taxes (Jobs Act of 2017) were barely cut because I am not in that wealthy group that actually benefitted from those tax cuts. 

Second, our current U.S. debt exceeds $23 trillion. I am not sure what Thom is smoking, but how will we ever recover from the current astronomical debt by cutting taxes again?

Third, Majority Forward, a nonprofit organization reminded us that Tillis, “bragged” about thwarting Medicaid expansion in North Carolina when he was Speaker of the N.C. House. North Carolina is one of only 14 states that did not expand Medicaid. By not expanding Medicaid in North Carolina, hundreds of thousands of people go without health insurance. Most do not have enough money to cover treatment at hospitals. Several rural NC hospitals have had to close because Thom would not expand Medicaid. 

As a senator, Thom voted to abolish ACA. So obviously he is not concerned about the middle class and below to provide healthcare coverage. We need healthcare coverage now, more than ever, with COVID 19 pandemic (which Trump says will magically disappear). This pandemic has killed over 200,000 people in the last six months and is rapidly killing more people. 

My vote will be for Cal Cunningham, a military veteran who will fight for all North Carolinians, not just the wealthy.

Please exercise your right to vote in this election. Your vote counts. But only vote once (not twice as Trump suggests).

Ron Rokstool

Maggie Valley

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.