The tax bill and the current deficit budget have added about $3 trillion to the national debt. Republicans in Congress want to cover that debt with major cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs. The Republican proposed budget for the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1, 2018, includes a $537 billion cut to Medicare; a $1.5 trillion cut to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act; $157 billion cut to SNAP (food for families); $59 billion cut to veterans’ benefits; $317 billion cut to transportation and infrastructure; and $25 billion cut in Social Security.

All the cuts noted above are designed to pay for the tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations previously passed by Congress, while placing additional, wide-ranging burdens on the working and middle-class people to finance those tax breaks.

Can we afford this? We are already the meat in the sandwich. Increases in care for the older members of the family and educating the younger members of the family, may be too much for most people to bear.

It’s time to speak up for the middle and working class in America.