Social Safety Net Cuts Passionately Opposed at Mount Kisco Rally

By Mike Gold

Ken Burr, born with cerebral palsy, gets around in a wheelchair. 

He took a train from White Plains. 

He came because he wants President Trump “to keep hands off Medicaid and Social Security,” which he relies on because of his disability.

Carrie Brockman and Heather Bryant came because they have kids in first grade, in Mt Kisco. They’re afraid their children’s bilingual English/Spanish class is at risk of being eliminated because it will be classified as “DEI.” 

Peter Feigenbaum came from Croton, to say, “I’m here to protest the direction of our government.” 

Referring to local Congressman Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River) Feigenbaum said, “He’s voting to cut the very programs that protect us, the loss of Medicaid funding, funding for science research. Lawler’s making horrible decisions. He’s supporting the needs of the ultra-wealthy and not working people.”

Mary Ann Feller, from Cortlandt Manor, came because of her father and grandfather. 

Her dad was an Air Force veteran, and her grandfather an Army vet who survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. 

At the age of 57, this was the first time Feller had ever attended a political demonstration.

“What they gave their lives to is being destroyed,” she said. ‘I can’t just watch.”

All of these area residents were joined by an estimated 400 to 500 other people, a sea of demonstrators filling Kirby Plaza at the Mount Kisco train station on a cloudy Saturday, on Apr. 5, to protest President Trump’s policies and what they view as Lawler’s tacit alignment with the dominant elements of that agenda, as part of the national “Hands Off!” protests held throughout Westchester, New York City, and across the country.

The impact of cuts to veterans was also a major source of concern.

A VA reorganization was announced last month that includes slashing more than 80,000 jobs. The agency provides healthcare to millions of veterans.

A series of speakers on Saturday in Mount Kisco warned that Trump’s proposed cuts would harm children’s education, libraries, hospitals, veterans’ health care, and water and sewer infrastructure across Westchester and New York State — all, they said, to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.

State Senator Peter Harckham explained that the planned cuts will be “inflicting pain on New Yorkers,” with a “$300 million cut in mental health services and 200 layoffs at the New York State Department of Health.”

The proposed cut of $880 billion from Medicaid will devastate the health care system, Harckham said. 

“Medicaid supports our entire health care network. I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore,” said the local lawmaker, quoting the famously angry line from the 1976 film Network.

“They will cut $1.5 billion for the kids, the neediest kids, the kids who need the most help,” said Pat Puleo, a former teacher, now a teacher’s union delegate of the local retiree council and a Thornwood resident. 

An estimated 300,000 students could be affected who won’t “have access to the services they need,” Puleo said. “Ten thousand teachers in New York State could be cut, including reading and speech.”

“We don’t want our money to go to billionaires,” Puleo emphasized.

“Not a dime, not a dollar,” the crowd shouted, referring to Trump’s proposed tax cuts for the wealthy. 

“Those who provide comfort and care are under attack,” said Joe Mayhew, secretary/treasurer of local 1103 of the Communications Workers of America union, which represents employees in telecommunications, healthcare, education, public service, manufacturing, and technology and other fields. 

He denounced “drastic cuts to the social safety net.”

Mayhew said in an interview after the rally that the administration’s proposed Medicaid cuts will be “devastating to local hospitals,” with the specter of layoffs of numerous X-Ray technicians, respiratory therapists, nurses and other staff.

“Hospitals will raise prices for people with regular health insurance. Hospitals will shut down in rural areas,” Mayhew said.

“They cut FEMA the other day,” said Edward Berry, political co-chair of the Lower Hudson chapter of the Sierra Club and former high school teacher for more than 40 years. “They cut Westchester water and sewer infrastructure and libraries. They cut all clean energy programs. Our environment, our future, are not for sale.”

White Plains Common Council member Jeremiah Frei-Pearson told the story of the closing of the White Plains Social Security office. 

Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins, Congressman George Latimer and other local officials scrambled to find an office they could give to the federal government, with no rent required, to enable the local Social Security operation to stay open. 

“We said we’ll give you (the federal government) free office space, free rent. We said don’t close the office,” Frie-Pearson explained. “Trump said no.”

New York State District 37 Senator Shelley Mayer also addressed the social safety net.

“Social Security belongs to all of us,” she said. 

Of Trump and Elon Musk, Mayer exclaimed: “We are not afraid of you.”

“We believe in the principles of America, the promise of what America’s about,” she also asserted. “We’re taking our country back.”

Assemblyman Chris Burdick, for his part, linked Trump’s agenda with Lawler.

“I truly believe that democracy is at stake,” Burdick told a reporter in an interview during the rally. 

Burdick condemned the “aggressive, illegal actions” of the Trump White House.

“So much of what has been going on in our democracy is at risk,” Burdick said. “Due process has been suspended. The degree and lawlessness is beyond comprehension.”

Westchester County Legislator Erika Pierce said that “Republicans know this is a sham,” referring to proposed federal cuts.

“We will all pay more in state and local taxes,” she said. “This is not a tax cut. This is a tax shove.”

Pierce decried the Trump Administration’s proposed cuts to seniors, food programs for the elderly, special needs kids, tutoring programs, home energy assistance, veteran benefits, as well as attacks on disease research, due process and press freedom.

She called Lawler “The Gaslighter-in-Chief.” The crowd then called out “Liar Lawler.”

Cassandra Chen, a Hudson Valley healthcare advocate with the Healthcare Education Project, and representative of local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union, asked, “Why should anyone pay for tax cuts for billionaires?”

After the rally, Harckham reiterated in an email the depth of the cuts and what they mean for veterans.

“Cutting 80,000 staffers from the VA will decimate veterans’ healthcare in the US,” Harckham wrote. “It means fewer doctors, nurses and therapists for veterans and their loved ones, plus longer waits for important medical attention. The dedication and sacrifice of our armed service members deserve our commitment to their care. Trump’s cuts betray this sacred promise, all to fund tax breaks for billionaires. Disgraceful.”

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement last month that Trump “refuses to accept the VA bureaucracy and bloat that has hindered veterans’ ability to receive timely and quality care,” the Associated Press reported.