“You’re seeing a lot more bald heads and gray heads,” organizer Gene Lantz said. “We’re coming out because they’re hitting us.”
DALLAS — Scores of retirees rallied in Dallas Saturday against proposed cuts to Medicaid and social services.
The Texas Alliance for Retired Americans and the Dallas AFL-CIO organized the march across from the Earle Cabell Federal Building. Representatives from other organizations, including dozens of union workers, also attended.
The group fears that President Donald Trump, in an attempt to downsize government, will slash programs the nation’s most vulnerable people depend on.
“They’re going to get the shaft while Mr. Musk gets the gold mine,” Texas Alliance for Retired Americans President Gene Lantz said, making reference to Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk.
Trump has charged Musk with identifying wasteful government spending. The White House said its goal is to save taxpayers’ money.
“The people voted for major government reform,” Musk told reporters in the Oval Office last week.
The White House has since accelerated federal layoffs in the Departments of Interior, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture and Health and Human Services. So far, Trump has fired more than 9,500 federal employees, according to Reuters.
The administration has promised to make further cuts and extend Trump’s 2017 tax break that is slated to expire this year.
Republicans’ latest budget proposal would reduce funding for Medicaid, food assistance programs, and other public services.
Lantz and other protesters said they fear the White House’s moves will transfer wealth from millions of working-class Americans to billionaires, including Musk.
“Musk and Trump are gobbling up the government,” Lantz said. “This is just the beginning.”
Other protesters are concerned that Musk’s team gained access to Treasury Department data, including payment systems and social security numbers.
Attorneys general from 19 states have sued to block the Musk team from collecting the data.
Several protests are scheduled this weekend across Dallas-Fort Worth. Groups opposing Trump’s policies will also protest nationwide on Monday, President’s Day.
