In wake of health care vote, crowd protests outside Faso’s office
A crowd estimated at nearly 200 protested Friday afternoon outside the district office of U.S. Rep. John Faso.
The weekly Friday protest was unusually large, following this week’s U.S. House of Representatives vote by Faso to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
The crowd was undaunted by chilly weather and rain squalls. Two Kingston police officers maintained order by directing automobile traffic and steering protesters back onto the sidewalk.
Inside the building, staff members from Faso’s office maintained a pop-up concierge desk in the lobby to quickly process citizen feedback.
The protests have been going on weekly since January, according to Callie Jayne, an organizer from Citizen Action’s Hudson Valley chapter.
“We have anywhere from 50 to 100 people most weeks; it’s been very consistent, different age groups, lots of different people coming out, rain or shine,” she observed.
“We’re standing here; people driving by are now aware of what’s going on,” Jayne added. She said the picket line is punctuated by phone calls, letters, and office visits to the district office, with a focus on affordable health care and reproductive rights.
“As you can see, the constituents here today are outraged; they do not feel that they have been heard,” agreed Frances Fox-Pizzonia, director of Community Education and Outreach at Planned Parenthood of MidHudson Valley.
“People are not backing down; they are in it for the long haul,” Fox-Pizzonia said.
Faso, in a news release, explained his vote: “The responsible path forward includes keeping what works and fixing what doesn’t. The (Affordable Care Act), as it stands now will collapse under its own weight if nothing is done, imperiling millions of Americans through higher premiums and fewer choices,” he said in a Thursday statement.
He said, “Representatives were faced with a choice: do nothing and watch millions of our citizens continue to be forced to buy insurance they cannot afford, or work together to improve a broken system. Unfortunately, Democrats offered not a single alternative. They simply obstructed any changes to the (Affordable Care Act),” Faso said.