Elected Officials and Advocates Condemn Republican Push to Gut Essential Services While Protecting the Ultra-Wealthy
(Ithaca, NY) – Today, Citizen Action of New York joined Assemblywoman Anna Kelles (D-125), Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo, local leaders, and community advocates in a forceful stand against Republican-backed tax cuts for billionaires—cuts that come at the direct expense of working families.
While everyday New Yorkers struggle to afford housing, health care, food, and basic necessities, Republicans are slashing critical programs to hand out tax breaks to the ultra-rich. Instead of prioritizing the needs of veterans, seniors, and working people, Republican lawmakers are rigging the system for their billionaire donors—leaving our communities to suffer the consequences.
“For too long in this country, the deck has been stacked against working people, and it’s been stacked in favor of the wealthy, the powerful, and the big corporations,” said Congressman Josh Riley (NY-19). “Make no mistake: that’s what Elon Musk and DOGE are all about. They want more giveaways for his big corporations and more tax breaks for Elon and his billionaire buddies, and they want all of us to pay for it. We’re not going to let it happen.”
“Donald Trump promised to bring grocery prices down, but instead he’s obsessed with grabbing Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal and now even the Gaza Strip in true dictator fashion,” said Assemblywoman Anna Kelles (D-125). “American working families are hurting while his cabinet – the wealthiest group in our country’s history – opposes raising the minimum wage, is cutting funding to community services, education, healthcare, and infrastructure and trying to purge the federal government of tens of thousands of good paying union jobs. Trump is proving every single day that the only reason he wants to tear the government apart is to ensure the rich take everything we are as a nation and pocket it for profit.”
“Our schools are the lifeblood of our communities, the future of our families, but Donald Trump would rather destroy the Department of Education than support our schools,” said Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo. “We need Congressman Josh Riley to stand up to the outrageous, unconstitutional actions of Trump and Musk and safeguard Congress’ power of the purse.”
“Federal support for housing is absolutely necessary to increase the supply and bring costs down but President Trump has no plan to help Americans with the high cost of housing, invest in critical infrastructure and train and grow a strong labor force,” said Greg Mezey, Vice Chair, Tompkins County Legislature. “The cuts he’s pushing will starve the very programs working families desperately need.”
“Time and again, Republicans have sold out working and middle-class people,” said Ravo Root, Lead Organizer at Citizen Action of New York. “While the wealthy get richer, our paychecks fall further behind. We need to tax the rich and ensure they pay their fair share to fund and expand essential services. Slashing vital programs while millionaires and billionaires amass even more wealth is not just unjust—it’s a direct attack on everyday Americans.”
“Working class Americans are starting to see who’s on their side, and it’s not Elon Musk or Donald Trump,” said Melissa Blake, Indivisible Tompkins Steering Committee. “Indivisible is leading the charge for working families around the country, and we’re excited to start a new chapter right here. The first public meeting for Indivisible Tompkins will be on February 23 at 4:00 in the Community Arts Partnership meeting space in the History Center Building on the Commons.”