TUNKHANNOCK, WYOMING COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — On Monday, Action Together NEPA hosted a rally with dozens showing up to participate.
The budget resolution that narrowly passed in the House of Representatives in February calls for the Energy and Commerce Committee to cut $880,000,000,000 in spending over 10 years.
Many are afraid those cuts will hit programs like Medicaid and they want local congress members to know they are worried.
"I deal with a lot of health issues which if he gets his way, first of all, I would never get out of medical debt. I've survived cancer three times. I'd be gone," Tunkhannock resident Ruth Gorski.
Gorski says she's a recipient of Medicaid and Medicare.
She's one of many who showed up to voice their concerns Congress could target programs like Medicaid.
"I don't know what people would do without social security, and Medicare, and Medicaid," said Marilyn Stark from Tunkhannock.
Bresnahan, Meuser respond to claims of federal benefit cuts
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with members consisting of former Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
According to the committee, the recent resolution does not cut Medicaid but adds future goals could be hard to meet without some Medicaid reductions.
Attendees and organizers at Monday's rally called on their Representative Dan Meuser to host a town hall to address their fears.
"We've been calling and leaving messages but he's not, he's not doing the job for us. So that's a big problem we have," Pat Bernet from Tunkhannock said.
"It's past time for him to show up for his own constituents," Action Together NEPA Communications Director Jessica Brittain stated.
We reached out to Representative Dan Meuser, as well as some other republican congress members who represent people in NEPA, about the budget resolution.
Representative Meuser issued the following statement:
As we've seen with similar protests across the country, these demonstrations are often orchestrated by outside groups with the sole purpose of creating chaos and spreading misleading claims. One of their latest falsehoods is that we are cutting Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, which is simply not true--no matter how many times they say it, it doesn't make it factual.We remain focused on serving the hardworking people of our district by addressing real concerns, rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in government, and advancing policies that strengthen our economy.
Republican Representative of Pennsylvania's Ninth District Dan Meuser
