Congresswoman Maxine Waters brought political fire to attendees at the Georgia Democratic State Dinner 2017. Waters, affectionately known as “Auntie Maxine,” spoke for close to an hour and her voice grew hoarse as she expounded on the dangers facing America today under President Trump.
Waters has served 13 terms in Congress, this includes representing the California’s 35th District (1993–2013), 29th District (1991–1993) and currently the 43rd District. She was the fifth child of a family of 13 siblings all raised by a single mother. When Waters was 13 she started working at a garment factory to bring in much-needed income to her large family and that undoubtedly gave her a drive and determination to achieve great things, which she did. In 1970, she graduated from California State University in Los Angeles and started her professional career as a teacher and later served 14 years in the California State Assembly before eventually being elected to Congress.
At the recent Georgia Democratic State Dinner 2017, she spoke to the rapt audience at length about what the Democratic party has done for America from Woodrow Wilson giving women the right to vote, to the passage of the Affordable Care Act under former President Barack Obama. But Waters had a warning for everyone: “Our democracy is in danger, we have to save our democracy,” she said.
According to Waters, there is an attack on the very fabric of economic and literally physical survival for the lower and middle class. Starting with the attack on Obamacare, which Republican members of Congress have tried to destroy at least 50 times. All these votes have resulted in a failure to repeal Obamacare and resulted in embarrassment for President Trump. The most recent action, titled the American Healthcare Act, failed miserably and Waters noted that Trump wanted nothing to do with the legislation. Waters stated that Trump did not want to claim it and called it “RyanCare,” named for Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, which once again shows Trump’s willingness to shift blame and throw the political careers of fellow Republicans under the bus.
Waters went on to state the harsh realities of the Trump’s proposed “skinny budget” that will change the lives of thousands if not millions in America. She noted that Trump has called for a 31 percent cut in funding to the EPA, which will eliminate approximately 3,200 federal jobs. In addition, the administration has called for a 13.2 percent cut in funding, almost $6 billion, to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This includes rental assistance programs like Section 8 housing and means that 200K people face eviction or being homeless if Trump’s budget passes. A sobering reminder of what is a stake in America today.
