March Against Trump's Budget Plan attracts Big Crowd
May 31, 2017 Massachusetts People's Budget Campaign, along with many more organizations, led an exhilarating rally and march yesterday that began at the Tip O’Neill Federal Building and ended in front of the JFK Federal Building.
People of all ages gathered at 11:00 to hear a number of speakers denounce President Trump’s budget and enthusiastically support the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ alternative, The People’s Budget.
According to Cole Harrison, executive director of Massachusetts Peace Action, Trump’s budget cuts “climate protection, housing, food security, worker safety, and cancer research, transferring all these funds towards our grossly inflated military budget.” Furthermore, “food assistance [would be] cut by nearly $200 billion,” which is, “on top of the over $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid.” It’s easy to see why so many attendees and speakers alike referred to it as a “death budget.”
In stark contrast, Michael Kane of the Massachusetts Alliance of HUD Tenants notes that, “The People’s Budget invests $2 trillion in modernizing our energy system, improving mass transit, education, and infrastructure [and] funds universal childcare, increases access to health care, provides for humane immigration reform, and expands Social Security.” Finally, it also helps veterans by ensuring “they receive the care and benefits they were promised while making sure Veterans Affairs will not be privatized,” and “closes tax loopholes that lead to losing jobs overseas, and it stops CEOs from awarding themselves millions in tax-free bonuses.
Speakers included State Sen. Jamie Elridge; Dr. Patricia Downs Berger, Mass-Care Co-Chair; Steve Tolman, President of the MA AFL-CIO; Barbara Madeloni, president of the Massachusetts Teacher Association,” State Rep. Mike Connolly, Chuck Collins of the Institute for Policy Studies; Jessica Tang, president-elect of the Boston Teachers Union,” and many, many more.
Members of Jobs with Justice were thrilled to be standing alongside the working people who made this event such a success and show our support for The People’s Budget’s humane alternatives to the disastrous Trump budget proposal.
More information on The People’s Budget can be found here. And if you would like to contact the Budget for All Massachusetts Coalition, they can be reached at info@budget4allmass.org.
In Solidarity,
Mass. Jobs with Justice
[embed]http://https://youtu.be/F5WUCizOMR8[/embed]