Last week, Republicans in Congress faced pushback from Americans nationwide for their ongoing attempts to cut Medicaid. One clip that received significant attention over the weekend featured a woman from Youngstown, Ohio confronting U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) on these proposed cuts. Congressman Palmer insisted that the GOP budget would ensure Medicaid continued to deliver critical services for struggling Americans across the country. Yet there is one major problem with this claim: the GOP budget plan would clearly cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid.

Before getting into the details, some of the most damning evidence comes from inside the GOP itself. U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) has perhaps been the loudest voice in opposing these cuts.1 Hawley has sounded the alarm over how such action would betray working-class and low-income Americans, significantly damaging the Republican Party’s credibility. Hawley had the following remarks to share with his colleagues in an op-ed published last week:

“Mr. Trump has promised working-class tax cuts and protection for working-class social insurance, such as Medicaid. But now a noisy contingent of corporatist Republicans — call it the party’s Wall Street wing — is urging Congress to ignore all that and get back to the old-time religion: corporate giveaways, preferences for capital and deep cuts to social insurance.”2

President Trump has called the budget “big and beautiful” and the GOP House Budget Committee is in strong agreement, considering they advanced the bill in a late-night vote on Sunday.3 Hawley, clearly frustrated with his party, understands how deeply unpopular such a move will ultimately be. Other Republicans have voiced concern over this as well, with U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) (who ended up voting for the cuts anyway) and several other Congressional Republicans sending a letter to House leadership last month voicing opposition to potential Medicaid cuts.4 These concerns are also supported by an independent analysis of the bill from the Wharton School of Business, which estimated “…$880 billion in cuts from the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid and other federal health programs.”5

As such, it is no surprise that Americans across the country do not trust Republicans in Congress to preserve their Medicaid benefits, considering independent analysis of the bill and concerns being expressed directly by GOP officials. This of course includes the woman from Ohio, who claimed that such cuts could put her own life at risk. Olga, a woman from Youngstown who is HIV-positive and disabled, explained in the clip above that she has survived on medication that typically costs $10,000 a month, thanks to vital programs such as Medicaid.

Youngstown, Ohio is no stranger to severe economic pain. It is one of many communities in this country that has far too often been sold out by both the Democratic and Republican establishment. After elites in both parties pushed for the emergence of unchecked free trade, Youngstown would experience significant economic decline. Marilyn Geewax, a journalist originally from Youngstown, expressed frustration with how presidential campaigns come every four years with false promises of prosperity and revitalization in one 2016 piece:

“Every presidential election year, candidates flock to Youngstown, Ohio, to use my hometown as a political backdrop. It's a great place to talk about job losses. Steel mills used to line the Mahoning River for miles, churning out tens of thousands of jobs. One mill after another would shut down. Within five years, the industry was effectively gone from the ‘Steel Valley.’”6

One 2021 study even ranked Youngstown “…the poorest city in Ohio”7 with a poverty rate “…pegged at 35.2 percent.”8 And now, after President Trump himself campaigned heavily on returning towns such as Youngstown to economic greatness, he and his Republican allies are ignoring their concerns. In some cases, Trump allies have even resorted to straight-up mocking the very residents of Youngstown. Take self-proclaimed “investor” and conservative influencer Collin Rugg, a strong Trump ally, who took to social media over the weekend to poke fun at the concerns of Olga. In sharing the clip, Rugg reacted with a “Yikes.” Others then joined in on the mocking, as seen in the comments below:

To a guy like Rugg, left-behind Americans in communities across Ohio and the United States are not worth fighting for. If anything, they feel such Americans are only to be looked down upon and abandoned. Even if that means letting them die. All this, while he takes home a big juicy tax cut that should actually be going to the people of Youngstown. Though, this shouldn’t be surprising, considering Rugg is an out-of-touch elitist.

Of course, Olga isn’t the only Ohioan whose Medicaid is at risk. The Muscular Dystrophy Association recently featured individuals on its social media whose economic independence depends on critical health programs. One of these individuals is Bryce from Dayton, Ohio, who voiced concerns about how the proposed cuts will impact his life:

“Medicaid means everything to me and my family. Medicaid cuts would dramatically change my life if cuts were to happen. I would no longer be a productive person to society and get the care that I need to get out of bed, get a shower. It would also cut my housing. I live in a low-income apartment complex that is suited to my needs with a disability… I live right by my work. If this were to happen and cuts were to take place, I wouldn’t be able to live that independent American Dream.”9

Dayton, Ohio, is another part of the state that has experienced significant economic decline over the years due to deindustrialization. PBS documented Dayton’s history of economic hardship in a 2018 episode of Frontline. Just like Bryce, the people of Dayton are hungry for opportunity and independence. Another woman from Ohio, Shelly Johnson of Columbus, also voiced concerns regarding how Medicaid cuts could disrupt her independence:

“Many think Medicaid is simply government-subsidized health insurance, but for me, and millions of others like me, it is so much more. It allows me to live independently in a home that I own. It pays for modifications like a ramp and roll-in shower that make life’s routines easier. Most importantly, Medicaid pays the wages of my caregivers who support my personal care needs and household tasks. As a 59-year old, it enables me to stay employed, leave the house, and live a fulfilling life. Without it, these things would be impossible because I would be stuck in bed with no one to care for me.”10

They’re not asking for a free ride, they simply want a fair shot to achieve their American Dream. Both Bryce’s and Shelly’s stories deeply resonated with me, as my late father had Muscular Dystrophy and relied on vital health programs to cover the immense cost of care, allowing him to continue working as an attorney despite his disability. Similar health programs helped cover his respiratory machine, which typically costs thousands of dollars our family did not have at the time. This allowed him to continue running his small New York law firm, which primarily served working-class clients and local construction companies. Unfortunately, though, the elites label such programs as “waste.”

What I would like to ask whoever runs Meme The Left, how does taking away key programs that allow the disabled community to be economically independent count as waste? I bet the many truck drivers that my father represented throughout his decades-long career would sure as hell disagree it was “money wasted.” He fought for them, and he could only do so because key health programs helped cover necessary breathing equipment for him to survive and continue working. He damn well generated more value to society in his legal career than someone posting nonsense on social media all day. The same goes for Olga, Bryce, and Sally in Ohio. Their lives all have value, and they rely on Medicaid to not only stay alive but to be productive members of society. More productive than a certain self-proclaimed investor and a guy running some random political meme account. They create actual value for society and our economy.

This behavior is clear proof that the elites backing Trump never gave a damn about the people of Dayton or Youngstown, or really, anyone in Ohio and the rest of the United States. Trump and his corporate allies campaigned in the past three presidential elections about how establishment figures in both parties abandoned the working American. Yet, they are no different than the establishment politicians on both sides who also offered false promises to restore prosperity in these communities. They are just the latest flavor of the month who are finally comfortable revealing it was all for show. It was all to score cheap political points and not about delivering actual results. Trump will no longer face an election, so he doesn’t need the support of Youngstown and Dayton anymore. Now, his elitist allies can laugh while the current administration guts economic programs that promote independence. And, if you look at social media, you’ll see they are already doing that. The mask is finally off.

For the people who will continue to laugh and punch down, I will leave you with these words from Johnny Cash: