“When you are on the side of the people, you win.” - Rep. Pat Ryan

WATCH THE BRIEFING

Washington, DC – On Monday, Fair Share America and Protect Our Care convened a press briefing with Representative Pat Ryan (NY-18), who spoke about the budget priorities of everyday Americans, like his constituents, who want to see him fighting for affordable healthcare and cost of living over tax cuts for the rich and corporations. Also joining the call was small business owner Kyle LaFond, who explained how the ACA marketplace for health insurance has been a game changer for his manufacturing business.

“[C]ost is what is just absolutely crushing folks right now…I think it's so important at this moment, especially while we're back home and both listening to but being held held accountable by our constituents, that folks across the country understand, if action is not taken, tens of millions of Americans will see their costs for healthcare skyrocket because of the direction set by President Trump, by the Republican majority in both the House and the Senate,” said Representative Ryan. “In a democracy, when you are with the people, on the side of the people, you win,” We are on the side of the people. If we fight strongly on this point, on the point of healthcare affordability, specifically…we can win this battle and send a broader message of all the harms and overreach of the Trump administration.”

“As a small business owner, the passage of the ACA really leveled the playing field in terms of being able to keep employees that otherwise would have to look for jobs with larger employers, said Main Street Alliance member and small business owner Kyle LaFond. “With the end of the subsidies, there's a lot of things around the line, a lot of disastrous consequences for myself and my employees…To ask the American worker to absorb one more substantial payment every single month… it's just unconscionable. Everything that this administration has done, they've said they're trying to bring back American manufacturing, make America great – there hasn't been a single policy or executive order that has helped American employers or the American worker.”

“We're here today because American healthcare is in crisis, again – a crisis created entirely by Donald Trump and congressional Republicans and their ongoing all-out assaults on our healthcare system,” said Protect Our Care’s National Organizing Director Adam Hoyer. “If Republicans continue to insist on taking away these tax credits, 4 million Americans are going to lose their healthcare altogether. Over 20 million Americans are going to see their premiums skyrocket by 75% or more…Republicans have decided that this is a good time to force working folks to pay even more for their healthcare than they already are.”

Fair Share America Executive Director Kristen Crowell spent 10 weeks on a bus this summer hearing from people directly about their concerns. She concluded today’s call by reiterating the point that Republicans are putting the rich and corporations over their own constituents with the decisions in Washington:

“If they were out in their districts, if they were listening to their constituents, they would fully understand that the American public is demanding a fair share, they are demanding quality healthcare,” she said. “This is another assault on the quality care that our families and our communities rely on. The American public is with us and [Republicans] make this choice at their own peril.”

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Fair Share America supports the movement in the states and nationally to make wealthy individuals and the most profitable corporations pay what they owe so that all of us can thrive. We are a groundbreaking, federal and multistate initiative focused on building long-term civic engagement and political power to deliver lasting tax justice.

Protect Our Care is dedicated to making high-quality, affordable and equitable health care a right, and not a privilege, for everyone in America. We educate the public, influence policy, support health care champions and hold politicians accountable.