Following news reports of how federal cuts will affect Tennessee are enough to have one popping antacids. (Art: Steven Errico/Getty Images)
This grandmother is a news junkie but for the last couple of months I have wanted to bury my head in the sand of oblivion.
I was sort of successful in avoiding the news because of my love of sports. So far in 2025 I have escaped the news with the college and professional football playoffs, the Super Bowl, the WNBA and the NBA. We are entering March Madness for college basketball, one of my favorite times of the year, y’all.
My doctor told me recently not to read or watch the news when he increased the dosage of my blood pressure meds. When I am stressed, my stomach churns and I reach for an antacid. I am selective about what I read and limit the amount of time I watch the news or talking heads on television.
I have to prepare myself emotionally before another government program is slashed, another group of people attacked or longstanding foreign policy for the U.S. does a 180 degree turn. Therefore, I am ranking my anxiety by the number of tablets or liquid of antacids that I swallow based on the political actions taken so far this year.
Any action taken by our federal, state or local government that I think takes away our programs to immediately feed children anywhere makes me want to immediately swallow an entire bottle of Maalox, Pepto Bismol, Mylanta, or Tums.
Federal programs that were set up during the recent pandemic have stopped and I am unsure of how states like Tennessee will respond because many of our children will go to bed hungry if our government does not help. Last March, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center News reported, “This year’s Vanderbilt Child Health Poll shows that over 40% of Tennessee families report they are food insecure. Most families (71%) say they have continued to change food spending habits due to high prices.”
The most likely Medicaid cuts would hit rural areas the hardest
How can we have hungry children in the year 2025 and how can some of our leaders sleep without fixing it? Hungry children mean at least half an antacid bottle a day.I have upped my supply of chewable antacids with the proposal of cutting Medicaid. What are we going to do for those in nursing homes who rely on this funding? How will they be cared for?
TennCare, Tennessee’s version of Medicaid, provides health care to mostly low-income pregnant women, parents or caretakers of a minor child, children, and individuals who are elderly or have a disability. The Tennessee Legislature has rejected billions of federal dollars to help with TennCare expansion which means the most vulnerable in our state risk not getting the health care they need. Since 2010, when the Affordable Care Act created a Medicaid expansion, 16 Tennessee hospitals have closed, 13 of them in rural areas. Consider the connection. Medicaid slashes mean a full bottle of antacids a day for me.
I qualify for Medicare. What will I do if Medicare funding is cut? How will members of Congress explain this decision to their constituents? Will any reduction in Medicare spending affect any current and former elected official? Another half a bottle.
Already, the Trump administration has proposed massive cuts to staff of the Department of Veterans Affairs and with Fort Campbell — home of the legendary 101st Airborne Division — in Clarksville, I am concerned about the impact to Tennessee’s many veterans.
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It is hard for me to understand why our country does not provide as much support as possible to help and support members of our military and their families. They continue to put their lives on the line for all of us and we should never take them for granted. Keep the antacids on hand if we stop our support for the military service because military cutbacks, especially for Ukraine, mean a full bottle a day.
Scientific research is on the chopping block and I wonder if jobs will be lost if the Oak Ridge National Laboratory gets cuts. Will our medical teaching universities continue to explore a cure for diseases? If any of them stop their work, it could be devastating for the Tennessee economy.
There are not enough antacids available for me when I wonder if we will even have access to vaccinations in the near future.
My family has vacationed in many of our national parks and I fear the consequences if we reduce the number of employees who work in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Such a cut will hurt the economy of East Tennessee towns who rely on tourism for the dollars spent by those who visit the parks and a reduction in tourists means a loss of jobs also in area businesses — including those in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
I enjoy every hike I take in a park. Time spent out in nature means a reduction in my need for antacids and better health in general and it is a great way for anyone to escape from the anxiety of current events.
I played basketball so I have opinions and talk back to the television during March Madness. I will not admit how many antacids I go through when my teams do not advance.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.