Where It Hurts, and Where We Begin

This weekend, at a community event in Dawson, Georgia, a participant asked a simple question: what’s being done for people like them—those who depend on Medicaid, especially those who served in uniform—who now feel abandoned by the very country they fought to protect?

The room applauded. But the neighbor wasn’t looking for applause. They were looking for answers.

There’s nothing wrong with clapping for a good question. It’s how we signal to our leaders: This matters. Answer it.

(Photo Credit: Taylor Gilchrist/41NBC)

But here is the test: can our leaders respond before more damage is done? Can they meet people where they are—not with platitudes, but with policies that actually help?

First, we need to understand why there’s a question. Most folks believe if you’ve served your country, you are automatically covered by the Veterans Health Administration. Not so. In fact, research shows an estimated 1 out of every 10 non-elderly vets rely on Medicaid, plus more than 3 million children who are in military families. This means that the threatened cuts in the Republican budget bill will have devastating effects in states like Georgia with large military populations, particularly because the GOP refuses to raise basic eligibility or expand Medicaid for more comprehensive coverage.

When our leaders fail to respond, the consequences are dire. Rural hospitals shut down and veterans and their neighbors can’t access care. Trust in our system and in our system of government erodes, and more people fall into the trap of giving up - even those who fought for all of us.

Medicaid is a proxy for the broader challenge of social contract programs that have atrophied or been undermined. Democrats have rightly defended the revolutionary advent of Medicaid and Medicaid expansion, Medicare and SNAP. We have been champions for public schools that face the ignominy of relying on property taxes that determine the value of a child’s education. Yet, the good people of Dawson cared less about what had gone wrong and more about who could put it right.

Because when health care fails, when hunger rages and when parents have to fight for their kids to be fed and taught—those aren’t policy debates. They’re emergencies. And they’re happening every day.

I spent time this past weekend in Southwest Georgia, in Macon County and Terrell County, alongside community leaders like Georgia State Representatives Patty James-Bentley and Teddy Reese, and Georgia’s House Democratic Leader, Carolyn Hugley. The message from folks on the ground was unmistakable: people are stretched thin—and they are hard-pressed to believe help is on the way. So, like millions across the country, they cling to a scrap of hope that showing up at a community meeting might make a difference. We’ve seen the same in Iowa and Alabama, in Oregon and Ohio, all across the country.

We have what we need to fix it—but only if we act. Citizens will have to put pressure on those in power. Doing so will take repetition. It’ll take insistence. And it’ll take all of us refusing to be placated by vague promises or outright lies.

When people ask, “What should I do?”—start by calling your members of Congress. But don’t stop there. Call your state legislators—even the ones who don’t agree with you. They decide who gets health care. They can expand Medicaid and bring home billions in federal funds. They can fund summer meals and food banks instead of directing money toward things that don’t actually help families.

Here in Georgia, it means showing up for the Public Service Commission (PSC) elections later this year. The PSC is the authority that sets utility rates - so those bills on your kitchen table are being decided by people most voters haven’t even heard of. While you’re at it, check and see when judicial elections are taking place and if a mayoral race is happening in your area. Everyone with power should know your name. 

Once you’ve made your rounds, talk to your family and friends in other counties and states—even when the conversations are hard—because this fight isn’t confined to one district or one person.

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Our problems didn’t show up overnight, and they won’t disappear on their own. But we’ve been here before. Each and every time, we’ve found a way through—not by waiting, but by working. Not by staying quiet, but by standing up. Not by clinging to what is broken, but imagining what can put it right…or building it ourselves.

We don’t need perfect conditions to begin. We just need to begin. Let’s remind those in power—and ourselves—that progress is still possible, but only if we make it real.