The Public Is Not Taking This Quietly
Good government groups, lawmakers, and people who would be affected by the Trump budget gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol Building May 24 to condemn the reckless cuts.
Martha Conner showed up with a big poster picture of her 7-year-old daughter Caroline who has Rett syndrome, a childhood neurodevelopmental disorder. She told the crowd that her daughter can’t walk, can’t talk, can’t use her hands, can’t even chew her own food. She also suffered from seizures and is susceptible to respiratory failure and pneumonia, which nearly took her life two years ago. Every single day, Caroline undergoes hours of lung treatment just so that she can breathe and stay alive.
“Medicaid provides skilled nurses and services, which enables us to raise Caroline in our home, instead of a hospital or an institution,” Marth said. “Medicaid allows us to function as a family, and it also allows my husband and me to hold jobs and continue to be productive, taxpaying members of society. So President Trump, you promised us that you wouldn’t cut Medicaid, but your budget included cuts that would put my daughter’s life at risk.”
This budget “is a sin in every form,” said Pacific Institute for Community Organization National Network Political Director Bishop Dwayne Royster. It’s simply “a transfer of wealth from the poor to the richest.”
House Budget Committee Ranking Member John Yarmuth said it’s also a slap in the face to American families.
“In America, we have responsibility for each other. That’s what the government is for,” he added.
“Get your hands off our communities,” yelled Rep. Barbara Lee of California.
We Need to Stop this Madness
Visit www.afge.org/win and find out what you can do. Call (844) 669-5146 and tell your lawmaker to oppose reckless budget cuts. Tell your lawmaker that one-third of the federal workforce is made up of veterans. Cuts to the EPA, Education, SSA and other agencies hurt everyone in the country. Ask your lawmaker to pledge to reject a budget that only benefits millionaires and billionaires and to fight for one that works for all Americans.
