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election 2026
We Crisscrossed America to Tell Republicans: Stop Taking Our Healthcare
In over 35 events across the US, patients, healthcare workers, and advocates came together to highlight the pain that Republicans are inflicting on their own constituents.
May 09, 2026
Republicans voted to slash $1 trillion from Medicaid. They ended Affordable Care Act subsidies, putting healthcare out of reach for millions of Americans. All to give massive tax handouts to the Epstein class, so they can buy another yacht.
Now, America’s already rotten healthcare system is spiraling into crisis. Hospitals across the country are at risk of closing, with those in rural areas most at risk. Those that remain will have longer waits and fewer resources. Even those with private insurance are not spared the consequences of Republicans removing $1 trillion in resources from the healthcare system. If you aren’t a billionaire, your healthcare is about to get worse and more expensive—if it hasn’t already.
This spring, Americans are fighting back. The Stop Taking Our Healthcare campaign included over 35 events across the country, concentrated in congressional districts with vulnerable Republicans. Many of these events took place in front of hospitals at risk of closure.
I want to share the stories of just a few of these events, where patients, healthcare workers, and advocates came together to highlight the pain that Republicans are inflicting on their own constituents.
Everywhere I go, Americans are worried about losing their healthcare and the threats to their local hospitals.
Rahway, New Jersey is located in New Jersey’s 7th District, currently represented by Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. At our protest across the street from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, resident Theresa Luoni worried about her children’s future: “Human beings with real needs are dropped off at homeless shelters when Medicaid runs out. As I watch this happen, I can’t help but see my children’s future. I’m the mother of two autistic boys. Without the right therapies, their needs escalate. My children are not statistics. They are not just autistic. They are human. They deserve safety. They deserve dignity. We go to bed every night and wonder if the care we depend on will go away.”
When healthcare is cut, when Medicaid is reduced, when services disappear, the impact is not theoretical. It's a child losing access to therapy that helps them communicate. - Theresa Luoni, #NJ07 resident
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— Social Security Works (@socialsecurityworks.org) April 28, 2026 at 9:42 AM
Sadly, Theresa is far from alone in needing to worry about her family’s healthcare: 16.5% of the residents of Rahway rely on Medicaid and 400,000 patients across New Jersey are projected to lose their healthcare as a result of the $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid thanks to the law passed by Rep. Tom Kean Jr. and his fellow Republicans.
In New York’s 17th District, currently represented by Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, Hudson Valley community members gathered at Northern Westchester Hospital to raise awareness of the dangers to their hospitals and healthcare posed by the $1 trillion in healthcare cuts Rep. Lawler and other Republicans passed into law.
Karen, a family caregiver who lives in NY-17, spoke about her efforts to take care of her parents, who are 88 and 94. One of them has dementia. Her parents need full-time support, and rely on Medicaid for round-the-clock care. Rep. Lawler recklessly voted for a law that will cut $128 billion from New York’s Medicaid program over the next decade, putting 45 hospitals in New York at risk of closing, including two hospitals in his own district. Like Karen’s parents, 211,500 people in New York’s 17th District rely on Medicaid. Rep. Lawler is willing to put the health of his constituents at risk to give massive tax breaks to billionaires.
When I hear about cuts to Medicaid, I know exactly what that means for families here in #NY17. Fewer services, overwhelmed providers, and people going without the care they need.But despite what families like mine are going through, Rep. Mike Lawler voted to cut Medicaid. - Karen Rubinson
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— Social Security Works (@socialsecurityworks.org) April 29, 2026 at 11:58 AM
In Bakersfield, California, residents gathered at Kern Medical College to demand healthcare, not warfare. Jon “Bowzer” Bauman, president of Social Security Works PAC, raised alarms about the impact of Republican healthcare cuts on local residents in nearby communities, including the people living in Republican Rep. David Valadao’s district. Sam Hardman, a local resident and US Army veteran, expressed his feelings that congressional Republicans like Reps. David Valadao and Vince Fong “have no idea what it is to care for another person” while speaking about how his family’s healthcare needs.
In Montana, our protests in Missoula and Polson focused on the concerns of local community members worried about losing their healthcare. In front of Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula and Providence St. Joseph Medical Clinic in Polson, several local elected officials and candidates, including MT-01 Congressional candidate Sam Forstag, joined me in bringing attention to the eight hospitals around Montana in danger of closing.
Over 218,000 Montanans have healthcare coverage through Medicaid, but Republican cuts are putting the health of Montanans at risk and leaving vulnerable communities without access to affordable care.
In Colorado’s 8th District, currently represented by Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, neighbors gathered outside the Clinica Family Health clinic in Westminster. At least nine hospitals in Colorado are at risk of closing or reducing services. In Colorado’s 8th District, 1 in 4 people are covered by Medicaid. Yet Rep. Gabe Evans supported $1 trillion in healthcare cuts, so the richest of the rich don’t have to pay their fair share.
Alex Lawson: Let's remind ourselves WHY they cut $1 trillion out of Medicaid. Why 56K people are going to die every year.To give TRILLIONS in tax handouts to the richest people the world has ever known so they can buy another golden yacht to sail to Epstein's Island or whatever it is that they do.
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— Social Security Works (@socialsecurityworks.org) May 5, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Donna Smith, a local resident, attended the protest, and described standing in the freezing rain to deliver a message of defiance. Joining Donna in demanding that those who take away healthcare be held accountable, Dr. Vince Markovchick spoke about his experience running the emergency medicine department at Denver Health for 26 years, and what happens when patients cannot afford the care they need.
To conclude our Stop Taking Our Healthcare campaign, Michigan’s Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell and other lawmakers joined us as part of a national virtual town hall to discuss the effects of the $1 trillion in Republican healthcare cuts. Rep. Dingell declared: “Across this country, people are feeling the continued attacks on their healthcare.” Rep. Dingell mentioned hearing from parents, seniors, and workers who are all worried about losing their healthcare and what could happen to them next.
While the Stop Taking Our Healthcare campaign has finished, the fight for our healthcare must continue. Everywhere I go, Americans are worried about losing their healthcare and the threats to their local hospitals. The Republicans who decided to cut $1 trillion from our healthcare to hand out massive tax giveaways to the richest of the rich will face the consequences this November.
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California's Tom Steyer Proposes Jobs Guarantee for Workers Displaced by AI
"Most politicians still fail to recognize or downplay the threat of AI to workers, at the behest of Silicon Valley," said one veteran labor organizer.
May 08, 2026
In a first for a statewide candidate, California gubernatorial contender Tom Steyer on Friday proposed the creation of a wealth fund that would be paid into by artificial intelligence companies, with the money being used to fund jobs in key sectors of the economy.
The billionaire hedge fund founder-turned-environmental advocate, who has come out in support of a proposed tax on billioionaires' wealth and a single-payer healthcare system for the state and has described himself as a "class traitor," told Wired about his proposal to use a "token tax" to fund what he called the Golden State Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Big Tech companies would be taxed “a fraction of a cent for every unit of data processed” for AI uses, and some of the money directed to the fund through the taxation plan would be earmarked for jobs for people who lost employment due to the expansion of AI.
Jobs in healthcare, housing construction, and modernizing the state's energy infrastructure would be prioritized in the fund.
Steyer told Wired the plan would make California "the first major economy in the world" to guarantee jobs to people who have been displaced by AI.
“People all over this state are terrified that AI is going to hollow out this whole economy and they’re going to lose their jobs. Young people are worried they’ll never get a job,” Steyer told Wired. “We believe this can be an amazing transformational technology in many ways, but we’re not in the business of leaving people in California behind.”
The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas released a report Thursday showing that for the second straight month, AI was the leading reason companies cited for laying off workers. AI-related job cuts accounted for 26% of the 88,387 layoffs the firm recorded, with 21,490 people losing their jobs due to AI.
“Technology companies continue to announce large-scale cuts and are leading all industries in layoff announcements. They are also often citing AI spend and innovation. Regardless of whether individual jobs are being replaced by AI, the money for those roles is,” said Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray, and Christmas.
Last October, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released an analysis showing that AI and automation could eliminate nearly 100 million jobs in a decade—yet President Donald Trump and the Republican Party are aggressively pushing to stop states from regulating the industry.
Trump signed an executive order late last year calling on the Department of Justice to create an AI Litigation Task Force, which would target laws and proposals to require studies on the impact of AI on jobs, protect people from AI companion chatbots, and regulate the technology in other ways.
“Not regulating AI doesn’t seem remotely reasonable,” Steyer said Friday.
At a debate earlier this week, Steyer said AI cannot be allowed to "create 12 trillionaires and millions of people who lose their jobs."
"The number-one thing that we have to do is make sure AI is a tool for workers and not a replacement of workers," he said. "And we absolutely need to own part of it."
We can't let AI create 12 trillionaires and millions of people who lose their jobs. The people of California need to share in the wealth AI creates. pic.twitter.com/ts2Ru1J5IX
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) May 6, 2026
Charles Idelson, former communications director for National Nurses United, applauded Steyer for "addressing a growing danger for California's working class."
"Most politicians still fail to recognize or downplay the threat of AI to workers, at the behest of Silicon Valley," said Idelson.
Steyer said in a memo that in addition to protecting Californians from job loss, the fund created by the token tax would "strengthen the foundation of the state’s economy, invest in our communities, and create beautiful, vibrant public spaces."
“To support these efforts," said the campaign, "Tom will also invest heavily in training and apprenticeship programs across the state.”
Steyer's plan for AI also includes an expansion of unemployment insurance and the creation of the AI Worker Protection Administration that would adopt new rules to protect workers' rights as AI continues to develop.
Devin Murphy, director for digital mobilization for Steyer's campaign, said the state faces a "defining question" after its tech industry helped build the AI economy: "Who benefits from it?"
"Tom Steyer is putting forward one of the first serious plans to ensure AI strengthens the middle class," said Murphy, "instead of hollowing it out."
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Platner Calls to 'Take Back American Power' With Rate Freeze, National Infrastructure Fund in Energy Plan
"It is long past time to hearken back to the legacy of the New Deal, to unlock American ingenuity and work ethic to rise to our energy challenges."
May 08, 2026
In his energy policy unveiled Friday, Democratic US Senate candidate Graham Platner in Maine emphasized that political choices over the last several decades undid the robust New Deal-era framework that helped keep household bills down and financed electricity across his state and the country—and that lawmakers can and must shift their priorities in order to help working families afford energy once again.
"What was done by political choice can be undone by political choice," said Platner in the plan. "If we approach our energy challenges with the resources currently reserved for the Pentagon and for billionaire tax breaks, we can meet our energy needs."
The oyster farmer and combat veteran, a political newcomer who is the presumptive Democratic nominee and is running to unseat five-term Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), unveiled a plan under which the US can "Take Back American Power" by replacing "regressive gas and diesel taxes" with his billionaire wealth tax proposal, introduced last month; take aim at Big Oil windfall profits; and prioritize clean energy development instead of "overpriced, dead-end Pentagon pet projects."
The plan is divided into four sections, with the first focusing on slashing energy prices for households across the country and in Maine—where the average family paid $900 more this past winter compared to the previous year to heat and light their home and power their car.
While the federal gas tax is meant to fund the Highway Trust Fund for infrastructure projects, Platner noted that $275 billion general fund have been needed to supplement the trust fund since 2008. Instead of funding projects with taxes that "hit working-class Mainers that hardest," said Platner, "public goods should be financed by progressive, general revenues" like his proposed 5% tax on wealth over $1 billion.
He expressed support for the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act, introduced by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), with a national fund to lower or freeze electricity rates supported by a per-barrel tax equal to 50% of the price difference between current oil prices and those from last year.
"We can cut Wall Street speculators out of the equation, build at scale with union jobs, and lower costs for everyone."
A rate freeze would also be funded by "repurposed federal fossil fuel subsidies and federal energy leases... so that states can support utilities making long-overdue upgrades that create a stronger, better-utilized, and cleaner grid that lowers power bills."
The second section of the plan focuses on funding clean energy projects and replacing the model of "financing energy investments with expensive private equity and high-yield debt" with a National Energy Infrastructure Fund. The fund would issue debt backed by the federal government, working with state agencies to provide "cheap capital directly to utilities, rural electric co-operatives, public energy authorities, and other developers of low-risk clean energy projects."
Combined with permitting reform for clean energy projects, the National Energy Infrastructure Fund would allow for an efficient build-out of transmission lines and offshore wind projects while passing tens of billions of dollars in savings on to ratepayers.
"We can cut Wall Street speculators out of the equation, build at scale with union jobs, and lower costs for everyone," said Platner.
The Senate candidate also proposed strategic fuel reserves for fisheries and farms, modeled on a reserve that hold approximately 1 billion barrels of oil for households across the Northeast in case of a fuel disruption.
Releases from a marine fuel reserve would "be triggered by verified price spikes during fishing seasons," while the stock for farmers, who bear "the brunt of our energy crisis," would be used to insulate the nation's food supply "from price shocks, particularly those caused by arbitrary wars."
The policy proposal was released as President Donald Trump issued his latest violent threat against Iran despite a ceasefire that was reached a month ago in the war the US and Israel started in late February. The average gas price is now above $4.50 per gallon, while 70% of US farmers told the American Farm Bureau Federation last month that the price of fertilizer has gotten so high due to Iran's closing of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the attacks, that they will not be able to afford all they need for the 2026 planting season.
Platner has taken aim at Collins for her votes against war powers resolutions that would give Congress a check on Trump's authority to attack Iran.
"Mainers can no longer afford Susan Collins, her party, or the crony capitalism that has handed over our essential public infrastructure to oil companies, private equity, and foreign-owned utilities," said Platner. "The solutions are straightforward. They simply require the political will: to end Big Oil’s stranglehold on our energy policy, to slash prices for consumers, and to build the energy of the future."
The Democrat's energy plan also calls for a National Whole Home Repair Program, modeled on a Pennsylvania initiative and scaled to the federal level. The program would partner "with public housing authorities, county-level programs, and local building and construction trades unions to cover the full range of work that would bring old housing into the present."
"Weatherization, electrification, and heat pumps can lower bills by thousands of dollars a year," reads the plan. "The technology exists. The skilled trades exist. What does not exist, for most Mainers, is the upfront capital."
It concludes that "it is long past time to hearken back to the legacy of the New Deal, to unlock American ingenuity and work ethic to rise to our energy challenges."
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