Sen. Cory Booker tales selfie with fans at Morristown’s Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen, Jan. 23, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
By Kevin Coughlin
The America described in President Trump’s inaugural address “was not my country,” said Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who vowed on Monday to fight the new administration’s efforts to repeal Obamacare.
“My strategy as a senator is to really work to defend against a lot of the negative things that Donald Trump is trying to do, starting with repealing the Affordable Care Act with no viable plan to replace it,” Booker said in Morristown.
One of Trump’s first acts as President was signing an executive order authorizing federal officials to start undoing Obamacare.
Booker, considered by some as a potential presidential contender in 2020, was in town to kick off Mayor Tim Dougherty’s campaign for a third term.
The Senator contrasted Dougherty, “a source of light,” with Trump, who “stood up on Friday and cast a shadow over this country.”
At the inauguration, Trump lamented the “rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation …[and] The crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.
“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” the President declared.
Booker called it a “dark description” of a country he does not recognize. He also took exception to what he perceived as the President’s “broad brush” disparagement of elected officials.
If the speech broke with tradition, so did Booker, when he opposed the cabinet nomination of a colleague, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-ALA), Trump’s choice for Attorney General. Booker was critical of Sessions’ Civil Rights record during a confirmation hearing last week.
Many of Trump’s cabinet picks have drawn fire in the media for potential conflicts of interest and a lack of government experience. Booker would not predict whether any will be rejected by the Republican-controlled Senate.
As for the Democrats, “we’re going to fight to preserve the ACA,” Booker said, referring to Obamacare. “Recklessly pulling out without replacing it would put millions, if not tens of millions, of Americans’ insurance in jeopardy.”
In an interview with MorristownGreen.com, Booker also expressed concerns that the Trump administration will roll back environmental protections, oppose minimum wage laws and cut education funding for job training.
Yet despite pledges by Trump and the GOP to dismantle many of President Obama’s signature programs, Booker said he is confident Obama’s legacy will endure.
“I think a lot of it will survive,” he said. “Like FDR’s great legacy of pulling us out of the Depression, [Obama] pulled us out of the Great Recession, that’s something extraordinary. In terms of saving the auto industry…he did so many positive things for a country that was in financial free-fall, stabilizing us, lowering the unemployment rate dramatically. There are so many things he did for our economy that should be celebrated.”
Asked if civility can be restored to politics, Booker said it begins at home.
“I think first it has to start with who you are, and manifesting that civility in your own lives. All of us have a responsibility to do that, whether we’re posting on social media or engaging everyday. Before we expect other people to do it, we’ve got to be better agents of civility ourselves.”
Burn Obamacare to the ground! It’s gotta go!