Recently, our community conducted a survey of 47 residents \u2013 mostly seniors, working families and people who depend on essential federal programs. The results paint a stark picture: More than 8 out of 10 respondents said they have been personally impacted by recent government cutbacks.<\/p>\n
Health care, social services and access to public lands \u2013 services many of us take for granted \u2013 are being eroded by policies that put billionaires first and the rest of us last.<\/p>\n
Here are just a few of the stories that neighbors shared:<\/p>\n
These aren\u2019t isolated incidents. They reflect a broader pattern: politicians in Washington balancing the budget on the backs of those least able to bear it.<\/p>\n
Our survey found that the most affected services are the ones that hold communities together. Nearly half of respondents reported losing access to health care. Another large share said public lands and social services have been undermined.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, 70% of respondents rely on Social Security or Medicare, programs that are now threatened by budget proposals that call for even deeper cuts.<\/p>\n
We also asked our neighbors what they would say directly to Congress. Their messages were clear and urgent:<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease vote against Medicaid cuts. Please.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember you serve the people, not just one man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo your job! Represent us, not billionaires.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some would like to pretend these impacts are exaggerated or that the pain is necessary. But when a senior loses the ability to pay for lifesaving medications, when a family can\u2019t find affordable care for a child with disabilities, when public lands are neglected \u2013 that is not abstract policy. That is real harm to real people.<\/p>\n
In 2025, our district also suffered the closure of West Springs Hospital in Grand Junction \u2013 the only inpatient psychiatric hospital serving the entire Western Slope. This vital facility shut down in February, laying off nearly 200 workers and leaving countless residents without access to crisis mental health care.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Montezuma County\u2019s crisis intervention program was going to be out of funding June 30 and forced to stop its operations. Around the same time as the West Springs closure, the Johnstown Heights Behavioral Health Hospital also closed its doors.<\/p>\n
And in La Junta, the hospital\u2019s labor and delivery unit was shuttered, forcing expectant mothers to drive hours to give birth safely. These closures are not accidents; they are the predictable outcome of relentless budget cuts and policy decisions that prioritize tax breaks over community health.<\/p>\n
When mental health and maternity services disappear, families are left to fend for themselves \u2013 and too often, they pay with their well-being or even their lives.<\/p>\n
Elected leaders must remember who they work for. They must reject efforts to dismantle the basic supports that make our communities safe, healthy and vibrant.<\/p>\n
If you are reading this and feel the same frustration and fear, you are not alone. Speak up. Share your story. Call your representatives. Because if we stay silent, these cuts will only get deeper \u2013 and the people we love will keep paying the price.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time for Congress to put people before politics and restore the funding and services that allow us to thrive as a community.<\/p>\n
And now, with the passage of the so-called \u201cbig beautiful bill,\u201d we are fated to even deeper, crueler cuts \u2013 proof that when politicians congratulate themselves on their victories, it\u2019s ordinary people who are left to pick up the pieces.<\/p>\n
Concetta C. DiRusso, Ph. D., is the George Holmes University professor of Biochemistry (Emeritus) at the University of Nebraska and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" policymakers in Washington talk about \u201cefficiency,\u201d \u201creforms\u201d or \u201ccost savings,\u201d it\u2019s easy to forget who pays the price. But here in Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, the price is becoming painfully clear. Concetta C. DiRusso, PhDcca Recently, our community conducted a survey of 47 residents \u2013 mostly seniors, working families and people who depend on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[125],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-21441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-newsletter-opinion"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21441"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=21441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}