Last night, constituents from Michigan’s 10th Congressional District gathered for a town hall, hoping to get answers from Congressman John James. Their main concerns of the evening regarded the future of health care and food assistance following the $6 billion cut to Michigan’s Medicaid program and the $900 million cut to Michigan’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) passed to fund tax breaks for the wealthy. Despite repeated pushback from his own constituents, John James voted in favor of the bill that would slash funding for these critical programs despite soaring levels of income inequality and rising costs of health care and groceries.
This country just celebrated the 60th anniversary of Medicaid, and now 89,000 people on the life-saving program are at risk of losing it. Tens of thousands of school-age children will also go without SNAP, which raises concerns from educators about their wellbeing in the classroom.
“[The people of MI-10] are not being represented by John James because you have not seen him in I don’t know how long. All you saw was him run to Washington to vote for this bill that guts Medicaid.” said Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist. “There are 182,000 people in this district that are living with Medicaid. 41,000 veterans in the state of Michigan are getting services from Medicaid. These are the people he voted to strip and rip health care from. These are people who he has voted to kill faster than they otherwise would have passed away.”
Currently, 2.6 million Michiganders rely on Medicaid for access to affordable health care services, and nearly 183,000 of which live in Representative James’ district alone. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities predict that the GOP Tax Scam will devastate Michigan families. This town hall was Rep. John James’ chance to answer his voters’ concerns, but he instead gave false reassurance in the face of facts and fear.
“Rep. John James has now voted twice to take away nutritional assistance for thousands of people in our district. As someone who depended on SNAP programs to make ends meet, I'm terrified about what comes next,” says Ebony Manuel, a MI-10 constituent. “This isn't just about policy - this is about real people who will suffer because of his votes when this bill becomes law. He's abandoned the very people who sent him to Washington."
“People’s fear about the future of Medicaid and SNAP requires truthful reassurance and a plan of action from our incumbents. Instead, John James continues to ignore his constituents and push an unfair agenda,” said Steve Lawson, Executive Director for Michigan Families for Fair Care. “We cannot sweep the real impacts of this bill under the rug and we must continue to hold John James accountable for his voting record and demand that he start fighting for the working class.”
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