BROOKVILLE, PA — While Washington, D.C., was largely filled with pomp and circumstance Friday as 45th president Donald Trump took the oath of office on Saturday, its streets gushed with dissent.
Among the 200,000 men and women from across the country who descended on the Capitol in peaceful protest yesterday was Kerith Strano Taylor, of Brookville.
A local delegate for Sen. Bernie Sanders and two time Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional District, Strano made the trip with her 9-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter.
“I don’t think we’re going to change the world by going but to me that’s not the point,” Strano Taylor said.
“I hope to show my kids that there’s power in numbers and there’s some things that we just can’t do alone. I want them to see what it looks like for thousands of people to get together to say ‘we expect more’ from our government and our leaders.”
The march’s official website said the event “aims to send a message to all levels of government, including but not limited to the incoming Presidential administration, that we stand together in solidarity and we expect elected leaders to act to protect the rights of women, their families and their communities.”
Of the event, Strano Taylor said, “I think it’s going to be good for my soul to stand amongst all those people who care. To me this is the awakening for us to start standing firm. We think it’s enough to show up twice a year to vote – and it’s not.”
Taylor divulged that once Sanders was out of the race, she contemplated a Trump vote. That is, until the viral moment when he mocked the disabled reporter.
“That would never be a forgiven action in my house, so the idea of casting a vote for someone who thinks that’s appropriate was unacceptable,” Strano Taylor said.
Her concerns for the next four years are many.
Naming a few, she said she is troubled by the ties Trump and some of his cabinet members have to Russia and that they are looking to drop sanctions despite the country’s interference with the presidential election. She is also shaken by the general attitude of “profit over principle,” particularly citing that he hasn’t divested from his businesses.
“My biggest fear is for the integrity of our democracy at large,” Strano Taylor said.
A more personal red flag for the mom of two is the uncertain fate of the Affordable Care Act and that no solid plan has been proposed to replace it. All three of them are currently covered by the ACA.
Hours after taking the oath of office, the new president’s first executive order “to ease the burden of Obamacare as we transition from repeal and replace,” according to CNN reports.
Strano Taylor readily admits the ACA website is a mess and that there have been bumps in the road, but she said the rates to cover her children before there were healthy people in the market were astronomical.
“I don’t know how I’m going to insure my kids if the Affordable Care Act goes away. And I don’t get any subsidies, I just get access to the healthcare market,” Strano Taylor said. “Before the ACA I had to go out to a broker and try to get health insurance. And they might cover you or they might not.”
But despite those concerns, she is ready to get to work.
She has been mobilizing candidates to get on the ballot for the upcoming municipal election in her home in Jefferson County. And is hoping to see a trend of people becoming less complacent in politics going forward.
“It’s not enough for us to turn inward and say I’m not going to do anything because my life is good today,” Strano Taylor said.
