Hearing from Vermonters

Dear Fellow Vermonter,

Last week, Senator Peter Welch, Congresswoman Becca Balint and I held a Telephone Town Meeting, and we were overwhelmed by the response from Vermonters.

More than 34,000 households tuned in – an extraordinary turnout for a state of 650,000 people. Though we could not get to every one of the thousands of questions you submitted, below are my responses to some of your most frequently asked questions.

Needless to say, the people of Vermont understand that we are living in an unprecedented and dangerous moment in American history. They are deeply concerned about what’s going on in DC right now – the growth of oligarchy, the movement toward authoritarianism and the dismantling of government agencies, among many other issues.

Let me thank everybody who was on the phone, those who submitted questions and the many others who joined us on Facebook. Let us go forward together.

Sincerely,

(The questions and responses below have been edited for clarity.)

Access to Health Care for Seniors

Stephan, Brattleboro: If Mr. Trump slashes Medicaid funding, what health care options will remain for retired fixed-income seniors on Medicare?

A: The most important thing is to rally the American people to make sure that he does not slash Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security.

When we talk about Medicaid, people think that's a program that covers poor kids, and that's certainly true. But there are 160,000 Vermonters who are enrolled in Medicaid. It's not just children, and it's not even just lower income people.

Two out of three people who are in a nursing home get their support from Medicaid. If you are utilizing a community health center in the state of Vermont – and one third of Vermonters do that – a significant part of their revenue comes from Medicaid. Hospitals depend upon Medicaid, too. Slashing Medicaid will impact us all.

Within a health care system that is already broken, outrageously expensive and too bureaucratic, the kinds of cuts that Trump wants from Medicaid would be an absolute disaster. So, the immediate fight is to make that clear to Trump and his friends.

Bottom line is: Cuts to Medicaid or Medicare would be a disaster for every single aspect of the health care system. I am going to do everything I can to prevent that from happening.

Veterans’ Benefits 

David, Bennington: My family and I fear that the Department of Veterans Affairs will be gutted and my eligibility for benefits will be rescinded. What are you hearing about what's ahead for the VA?

A: What I know is that some 2,400 VA employees have been forced out of their jobs. And that obviously means a deterioration in quality of health care, and in making sure the benefits for veterans get to them in a timely manner.

As the former chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and as somebody who passionately believes that people who put their lives on the line should get the health care and benefits that they deserve, I will be working with the VFW, American Legion, DAV, Vietnam Vets and other veterans’ organizations to protect the VA and those who use it.

How to Fight Back

William, Danby: We're so concerned about losing our democracy. What is it that we can do to make a difference? 

A: What we cannot do is allow ourselves to fall into despair and be overwhelmed.

I say this from the bottom of my heart: I think we're going to win this thing. I think Trump and Elon Musk are overreaching. I think they underestimate the feelings that the American people have for democracy.

In order to help rally the American people, I was in Omaha, Nebraska, and Iowa City, Iowa two weekends ago. This weekend, I will be in Warren, Michigan;, Kenosha, Wisconsin;, and Altoona, Wisconsin. My strong impression is that Americans – Republicans, Democrats and Independents – feel strongly about the need to protect our democracy.

Further, the overwhelming majority of Americans do not believe that we should be making massive cuts to Medicaid in order to give tax breaks to billionaires.

I will be doing my best to rally the American people against these disastrous policies.

Rising Cost of Health Care

Jeff, Rutland: What can be done about the rising cost of health care that’s gone off the rails?

A: It is a disgrace that we remain the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people as a human right. Meanwhile, we're spending twice as much per person on health care as other major countries so that insurance companies and drug companies can make huge profits.

We have to bring our people together to say that health care is a human right, not just a toy for the big money interests to make billions every year.

Protecting Social Security 

J., Underhill Center: What is being done to secure the funding and sustainability of Social Security?

A: Trump has said over and over again that he's not going to cut Social Security. Between you and me, I don't believe him.

Anybody who has called a Social Security office in Vermont or any place else understands that Social Security now is grossly understaffed. They are not responding in a timely manner to the concerns that people have.

Meanwhile, Musk and Trump are planning to lay off 7,000 Social Security employees and close at least ten offices across the country. This will make a bad situation even worse.

Further, when over 20 percent of seniors are living on $15,000 a year or less, and over half of seniors are trying to get by on $30,000 or less, we shouldn’t be talking about cutting social security. We should be talking about expanding it.

I’ve just introduced legislation with ten cosponsors that would do just that – all while extending its solvency for another 75 years.

Making Government More Efficient

Josh, Richford: Why are you not more concerned about the waste, fraud and abuse that DOGE is finding?

A: I believe we should do everything possible to eliminate waste, fraud and misused money in the federal government. And if anyone wants to cut down on bureaucracy and make government more efficient, I’m all for it.

If you were to ask me what agency has the most waste, fraud and abuse, it is an agency which got some $900 billion in funding last year – more than any other agency. That is the Department of Defense. And year after year, this department has been unable to respond to an independent audit. There are hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions, that the Department of Defense cannot account for. 

Should we take a hard look at the DoD? Absolutely. And that is true for other government agencies, as well.

But, you don’t do that by arbitrarily and hastily firing tens of thousands of federal employees – many of whom are working hard and doing important work. You don’t do it by arbitrarily laying off workers at the VA or Social Security, or agencies that protect the most vulnerable people in our country and around the world.

Lastly, we don’t do it in ways that are illegal and unconstitutional. Musk cannot simply dismember agencies that the Congress created.