STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

A Hands Off! Rally addressing cuts to Social Security, Veterans services, Medicare and Medicaid and other services will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at Ketchum Town Square.

The rally is one of hundreds planned across the United States on Saturday calling for an end to corruption, corporate greed and attacks on essential public services.

Rally-goers are demanding that those in power keep their hands off Democracy, Healthcare, Social Security, Public Schools, Workers’ Rights, Public Lands, Medicaid and Medicare, the Veterans Administration, Civil Liberties, Biomedical and Agricultural Research, Voting Rights, Paychecks, the Environment and “Our Children’s Futures,” said the Idaho Democratic Women’s Caucus and Blaine County Democrats, which are hosting the rally.

“America is at a crossroads. Since taking office, Donald Trump has pushed an aggressive power grab that has led to skyrocketing costs, cuts to vital programs and growing instability across the country,” said Deborah Silver, chairperson of the Blaine County Democrats.

“With billionaires and complicit lawmakers backing his agenda, working Americans are paying the price while the wealthy continue to prosper. Trump and his billionaire allies are dismantling our safety nets—Social Security, healthcare, public education. We refuse to stay silent.”

Congress has moved to slash Medicaid, Social Security, public education, cancer research, veterans’ services, the U.S. Forest Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and more—just to fund additional tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, added Silver.

“These programs belong to the people, not politicians or billionaires. The ‘Hands Off’ movement is a clear message to the Trump administration: Stop targeting veterans, seniors, children, workers, immigrants, healthcare providers, and public servants. Enough is enough.”