Rep. Ro Khanna will be a long way from his California district on Sunday evening when he hosts a town hall at Heritage Hall in Levittown. But the Council Rock High School graduate whose parents still live in in Bucks County is actually coming “home.”
Why? He doesn’t want to see the social programs and benefits that helped him as kid growing up in Bensalem and then Northampton to be taken away for other local kids.
“I wanted to go back to Bucks County to say look, I want to have for the next generation the investments that helped me have a shot at the American dream. I don’t want those to be taken away,” said Khanna.
That’s why Khanna is bringing his “Benefits over Billionaires’ tour to Pennsylvania’s first congressional district. And he is hoping his Republican colleague Brian Fitzpatrick, who notably doesn’t ever give public in-person town halls, might just be open to listening about how the GOP budget which will gut programs like Medicaid and SNAP will really hurt families that Fitzpatrick represents.
Fitzpatrick has said that he will protect Medicaid. Never mind that he has voted for the GOP budget resolution that looks to pay for $5 trillion in tax cuts which will disproportionately reward billionaires and millionaires – and pay for it by gutting health care programs, food assistance, and other social programs.
Fitzpatrick also says the word “Medicaid” doesn’t actually appear in the budget. Never mind, as The Associated Press reports, that the the budget package looks to reduce spending by more than $900 billion, most of that at the expense of Medicaid. And never mind that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says this budget will take health care away from more than 7.6 million Americans.
Nevertheless, Khanna hopes that Republican members of Congress like Fitzpatrick will see that the budget, if passed, is really going to hurt the people they serve. He is traveling to Republican-held swing districts across the country to stand up to wealthy and and powerful pushing economic policies that put billionaires and corporations over working class families.
“We’re facing real cuts in the [Medicaid] program. And my hope is we’ll have five members of Congress stand up against it,” said Khanna.
Khanna pointed to his GOP House colleague from California David Valadao, who along with 11 other “moderate Republcians” (not including Fitzpatrick), signed a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson stating clearly that they will not support a budget that cuts Medicaid.
“Balancing the federal budget must not come at the expense of those who depend on these benefits for their health and economic security,” the lawmakers wrote.
However, actions speak louder than words.
Khanna said he just wants everyone to have a fair shot.
“I want other kids like me … a son of immigrants, who came from families who didn’t have any connections or wealth or economic security, but just through hard work and education, can make it in this country. And that’s what I believe about America,” said Khanna. “Bucks County represented that for me growing up.”
If you go:
What: “Benefits over Billionaires” Town Hall
Where: Heritage Hall, 2445 New Falls Rd, Levittown, PA 19056
When: Sunday, May 18 from 5:30 – 7p.m.
Who: Rep. Ro Khanna, State Rep. Jim Prokopiak, State Senator Sharif Street, Indivisible Bucks County representative
Update: The space is already at capacity, so they can’t accept new event registrants.
