On the 14th of May, disability group ADAPT swarmed into DC’s Rayburn House Office Building in opposition to the Trump/GOP plans to cut off over $880 billion in Medicaid funds. During the protests 26 people were reportedly arrested.
Here’s a quote from one of the protesters as published by TV7 (TV7’s words removed):
“Cuts to Medicaid will mean I lose services, or have them cut” “If I lose services, my attendants, I who have families to support, don’t get paid. If my services get cut, it will mean I can’t work because there is no one to help me bathe and dress for work. If I can’t work, I won’t be able to support my son or pay my rent and I will be evicted and forced into a nursing home where I will lose my freedom and the control over my life. I am here fighting for my life!”
Of all the groups that protest inside the Capitol or its related buildings, the cops regard ADAPT as the hardest of all the peaceful groups to remove. Powered wheelchairs with people in them are so heavy that cops can’t simply pick them up. Dumping people out of them looks incredibly nasty on video. No easy options for the cops.
Trump’s “Big Ugly Bill” with itd proposals to carve the gut out of Medicaid has pushed folks fighting disabilities to the brink. Few would be able to continue medical treatment for long term issues if this passes. The billionaires and corporations whose tax cuts this is to fund do NOT care. Even if they get their legs smashed by a drunk driver (which can and does happen!) they have their own docs whose services they can easily afford.
A note on the video: it is enemy-published footage, but they were too stupid to realize its publication benefits us not them. This is ADAPT not the Democrats of course