Letter to the Editor: For heaven’s sake, what was Ernst thinking?

By Bruce Butterworth, Floyd

Sen. Joni Ernst’s recent comments on Medicaid cuts, following the blunt reminder of their effects by India May in a town hall, reveal much about what she and the MAGA movement need for re-election.

Dismissing May’s concern (“we’re all going to die“) and then subsequently mentioning Jesus Christ and the tooth fairy in a video, she shows how some Republicans in Congress view the swath of executive orders and actions reducing funding for Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), veterans’ care, and life-saving foreign food and medical assistance programs in Africa.

An honest Republican campaign 2026 slogan might be “Better Off Without Them” – better off without the sick, the poor, the wounded, the elderly, those dying from starvation and disease – the people this government has been helping.

While Sen. Ernst exhorts people to embrace “Jesus Christ” and “eternal life,” she apparently forgets other scriptural adjurations: “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.” (Psalm 71:9); “He who oppresses the poor to make much for himself or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty,” (Proverbs 22:16); and in Jesus’ own words, “I tell you the truth, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40).

It makes one wonder if Sen. Ernst has come under the sway of a different Lord. It is certainly not a part of any religion I want any part of.