Maryland Democrats fanned out over the weekend to try to rally people to oppose the federal budget cuts being made by the Trump administration.
At one protest in Catonsville, some said they are concerned that the party has not figured out how to effectively oppose the president’s actions.
They were getting people to honk their horns in solidarity as they held signs at a busy intersection decrying cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
They heard elected officials like State Senate President Bill Ferguson let loose on the Trump administration.
“I’m hot because I’m pissed,” Ferguson said. “This is not ok.”
Corinne Bowmaker of Owings Mills, who was waving a “resist” flag along Baltimore National Pike, said she fears her party is using bygone tactics, and that perhaps Democrats should have a shadow government “that’s going out and saying what they would be doing.”
Bowmaker said, “I think that the older Democrats in the party are not stepping up to the moment.”
Jackie Adamson said Democrats need to make it about the issues.
Adamson said, “If they make it about Trump, then the MAGA will say ‘what are you doing picking on Trump? What are you doing picking on Trump?”
U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who has been an outspoken critic of the president and his policies, assured the crowd that Democrats will attack the Trump administration on multiple fronts.
“We will fight them in the courts,” Van Hollen said. “We will fight them in the Congress and we will fight them in communities like this, all over America.”
Carolyn Colvin, who once led the Social Security Administration, said elected officials need help from their constituents.
“I want you to go back and organize,” Colvin said. “I want you to have rallies. If you do these things your elected officials will come.”
The Catonsville rally was held at the intersection of Rolling Road and Baltimore National Pike, about three miles from the Social Security Administration’s headquarters in Woodlawn.
Janice Washington made a sign that read “Trump, Musk, don’t mess with my Social Security,” followed by three exclamation points.
“Because that is my money,” Washington said. “I worked 40 years in the workforce. And that money was taken from my paycheck.”
Colvin said the Trump administration is slashing and burning social security.
“And the ultimate plan would be then to privatize social security,” Colvin said. “That’s what it’s about.”
Judy Hammett was there with her adult daughter Mya Hammett-Aron, who has cerebral palsy. Hammett-Aron was holding a sign that read “Don’t Cut My Medicaid.”
“I’m just very worried about her future,” Hammett said. “Some day I’m not going to able to take care of her and she’ll need to have some kind of group home situation. Medicaid pays for that.”
Van Hollen cited a study released this week by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that found it is not possible for Republicans in Congress to meet their goal of cutting at least $1.5 trillion from the budget over the next 10 years without cutting Medicaid and Medicare.
“Mathematically it does not add up,” Van Hollen said.
Democrats held rallies throughout the state Saturday on the Trump cuts, including one in Frederick and in Bethesda near the National Institutes of Health.
