60 Years of Medicaid: A Promise Worth Fighting For
Anderson County Democratic Party Statement on the 60th Anniversary of Medicaid
Sixty years ago today, Medicaid became law — a promise that no one would be left behind in a moment of need simply because they were sick, poor, or aging. It was a bipartisan commitment to dignity, decency, and care.
Today, that promise is under attack.
Donald Trump’s budget will slash more than $1 trillion from Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act — including the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. That is a direct assault on working families, rural communities, seniors, and people with disabilities.
And Anderson County is not exempt.
Cuts of this scale will be devastating across East Tennessee. In rural areas like ours, Medicaid is often the only thing keeping hospitals open. It funds the care that keeps families afloat — from prenatal visits to hospice, from insulin to long-term nursing.
When that funding disappears, so do services. So do staff. So do hospitals.
This is a calculated choice by the Republican Party. A choice to rip health care away from people who need it most — so that billionaires and corporate donors can cash another check.
We won’t mince words: This is a class war, disguised as fiscal policy.
Line by line, it punishes the vulnerable to reward the powerful — and voters see it for exactly what it is.
National polling shows six in ten Americans oppose these cuts. Medicaid remains one of the most popular programs in the country, with support from 78% of Americans — including 70% of Republicans and 67% of independents.
But instead of listening to their voters, Republicans are taking orders from their donors — trading rural hospitals and nursing homes for campaign checks and corporate applause.
We’re listening. The Anderson County Democratic Party answers to the people who live here — not the ones buying elections from boardrooms and beach houses.
We’re fighting these cuts because we know what they’ll cost.
We stand with the nurses pulling double shifts.
With the parents praying the clinic stays open.
With the neighbors who can’t afford to lose a hospital.Health care is not a luxury. It’s a lifeline. And it’s worth defending.
Sixty years later, the mission remains the same: Care for those who need it, not just those who can afford it.
We’re fighting to keep that promise alive — Because your zip code, your income, or your party should never decide whether you get to see a doctor.
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From Project Battleground: The Gospel According to Justice
Let’s be honest about what this is.
It’s not policy. It’s not tough choices.
And it isn’t about the budget.It’s a class war.
Waged in spreadsheets. Fought in silence.
Dressed up in patriotism and blessed by folks who pray over the wrong things.We’ve been lied to for so long, some folks started thinking the heat was normal.
Started blaming their neighbors. Started pointing fingers at the sick, the poor, the immigrant, the disabled. At anybody but the men behind the curtain, counting cash while cutting care.But this ain’t about fraud. It ain’t about laziness.
And it sure isn’t about “waste.”It’s about punishing people who are just trying to live.
Hospitals are closing in counties that barely had them to begin with.
People are skipping treatments. Rationing insulin.
Praying that lump isn’t what they think it is — because finding out might bankrupt the whole family.All while billionaires laugh into their steaks, flying private, writing checks to the same politicians who said, “We just don’t have the money.”
We had the money. We just gave it to the wrong damn people.
Read the full Project Battleground piece. “The Gospel According to Justice” was originally published on July 30, 2025 on Substack.
