Rep. Venkat: “I’ve never seen an administration that has purposely tried to hurt people as much as this one.”
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Defend America Action hosted a press call with Pennsylvania State Representatives Arvind Venkat, MD and Napoleon Nelson, along with Protect Our Care Pennsylvania’s Michael Berman, to discuss Donald Trump’s affordability crisis and its consequences for Pennsylvanians.
The speakers highlighted how Trump’s tariffs, trade war with Canada, and war with Iran are driving up costs across the Commonwealth. The average Pennsylvania family has had to spend an estimated $4,700 more on everyday essentials under Trump, and another 310,000 Pennsylvanians could lose their health care when new Medicaid requirements begin January 1.
“We have an inflation rate of 3.7 percent, well above what incomes are rising at, so people are falling behind every single day,” said Representatives Arvind Venkat, MD. “We are seeing job growth that is not keeping up with our population. We are seeing a war in Iran, which is unconstitutional, purposefully raising energy prices, and burying us in a quagmire in the Middle East. And we are seeing that every day this cruelty is affecting people’s lives. I’ve never seen an administration that has purposely tried to hurt people as much as this one.”
“It would be one thing to get us into this quagmire that we’re in. It would be bad enough if that was a mistake. It would be bad enough if the higher prices that we’re paying, at the fuel pump, at the health care facilities, at the grocery store, if those were happening as a mistake. That would be bad because it would reflect their inability to face the moment head-on and bring real solutions. But what we’re actually facing right now is the intentionality of this administration,” said Representative Napoleon Nelson.
“The untold story is that this trillion dollars in cuts that Trump and the Republicans in Congress, including our Republican delegation here in Pennsylvania, have forced on us are going to raise rates for everybody else,” said Protect Our Care Pennsylvania’s Michael Berman. “You can’t take a trillion dollars out of the system and not have it come from somewhere. People still have to get paid. Medicines still have to get bought. It’s just going to be more emergency room visits, and those of us who have insurance are just going to pay more for it.”
A recording of the press call is available here.
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