Now that the Senate rammed through its tax bill, everyone is wondering how it will affect our own pockets. Out the window went the GOP’s concern about our country’s deficit. (The Joint Committee on Taxation calculates the Senate tax plan will add $1 trillion to the deficit.) The GOP keeps saying it is a tax break for the middle class, but why are the rich and big corporations getting the bulk of (and permanent) tax breaks, while we little people get a few hundred dollars tax relief and only for a few years?

Sen. Pat Toomey proudly claims he is hard at work giving us tax relief. In truth, he is giving massive tax relief to the super rich and big corporations. If my mother tells me she is baking a cake for me, but she gives most of the cake to someone else, and in a short while I end up having to pay for that cake for that someone else, something does not smell right.

On top of that, the GOP tax bill will mean our health insurance premiums will go up. That is not “tax relief” to me.

The GOP tax bill will allow more drilling in national parks. That is not “tax relief” to me.

If Pennsylvania’s Medicare funding will be cut by $1.2 billion by this tax bill and there are plenty of seniors who depend on Medicare, how is that “tax relief”?

If students cannot write off their student loan interest, homeowners will not be able to deduct their property taxes or mortgage interest, how is that “tax relief”?

Also, the stock market is higher than it has ever been. American corporations have more cash in their pockets than ever before. Why is it necessary for the GOP to take money out of my pocket to give a tax break to these corporations?

While the GOP busily shovels money into the pockets of the wealthy, they have not funded our government past this month, renewed the CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) to take care of nine million American children, addressed billions of federal aid dollars to help victims of Western wildfires and hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, given any funding to fight the opioid epidemic that kills hundreds of Americans every week.

Thank you, Sen. Toomey. When it comes time to pay my taxes next year and I find I have to pay more instead of less, I will remember how hard you worked for me.

[Reggie Cheong-Leen is a resident of Milford, PA.]