Meet Lehigh Valley Congressional Candidate Mark Pinsley, A Real Fighter Who Uses Every Lever Of Power

This weekend, Leigh County controller Mark Pinsley declared his candidacy for a congressional seat in one of Pennslyvania’s most purple (PVI is R+1) districts, PA-07— all of Lehigh and Northampton counties and some of Carbon and Monroe counties. The current congressman, Ryan Mackenzie is a freshman who hasn’t made much of an impression except as someone who does whatever Trump likes. So the folks in the district who are just looking for a Trump puppet, have their man already. The others are watching a tight primary race forming between a quartet of corporate-aligned New Dem types on the one hand— recent Republican, Ryan Crosswell (the kind of stooge the DCCC likes), Northampton County executive Lamont McClure, EMILY’s List candidate Carol Obando-Derstine and the Josh Shapiro pick, Bob Brooks— and unabashed let’s-get-things-done New Deal Democrat Mark Pinsley.

Pinsley draws the most contrast between himself and Mackenzie and we think he’d be the best candidate to beat him, rather than a bunch of “moderates” fighting it out for the mythical center. We were most impressed with Pinsley’s dedication to the idea about taxing wealth rather than work and we asked him to introduce himself with this guest post below. If it impresses you as much as it impressed us, please consider contributing to his campaign here.

The Bill That Gave Billionaires A Bonus & Took Healthcare From The Disabled

-by Mark Pinsley

On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill into law. Supporters celebrated it as a triumph of conservative reform. But for millions of Americans, especially the most vulnerable, this was not a celebration. It was a funeral.

The bill includes nearly a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid over ten years. Not by outright slashing enrollment but by designing a labyrinth that only the well-supported can navigate. It burdens recipients with endless eligibility verifications, work requirements, co-pays, and punishing re-enrollment rules. If you are a person with mental or intellectual disabilities, you now face an obstacle course just to remain covered. For those without a parent, sibling, or caregiver nearby and able to help, the paperwork alone will become an eviction notice from the healthcare system.

Imagine an adult with autism living alone. Or someone with an intellectual disability whose only caregiver passed away last year. Then, a government form arrives. It's confusing, or it gets filled out wrong, or it's never sent back at all. And what happens next? Nothing. No warning. No help. Just silence. Then coverage ends. The medications stop. Doctor visits disappear. You're no longer insured. And climbing out of that hole, without help, without support, might be impossible. Because if the paperwork to stay in the system is hard, the paperwork to get back in is even worse.

This isn't a mistake waiting to be fixed. It is a plan waiting to be carried out. The bill has been signed, but the changes won't take effect until after the election. That timing is no coincidence. They knew cutting healthcare before people vote would cost them too many seats. So they delayed it. But make no mistake, the plan is coming.

The federal government is preparing to create more paperwork than ever before to stay on Medicaid. And it will not be easy. It won't be very clear. It will trip people up. That is the point. Because the goal was never to improve the system. The goal was to give a trillion-dollar tax break to the rich. They knew there was not enough waste in the system to pay for that. There wasn't a trillion dollars that could be saved due to fraud, waste, or abuse; there probably wasn't even a billion dollars. So they decided to save money by making it harder for people to stay covered.

They are not building support staff that can help people fill out the paperwork. They are not funding paper brigades. They are not hiring staff to guide people through. They will send a form. Then they will wait. And for millions of people, that silence will be the sound of their healthcare ending.

In rural America, the impact is immediate. In Curtis, Nebraska, a small clinic has already announced its closure. The official reason cited inflation and staffing shortages, but the unspoken cause was Medicaid disenrollment. That clinic served hundreds. In its absence, residents will drive over an hour to seek care or not go at all. Multiply that by hundreds of small towns, and the picture becomes clear. The system is collapsing from the bottom up. And Pennsylvania is no exception. In counties like Schuylkill, Juniata and Clarion, many residents rely on just one hospital or clinic for their basic healthcare needs. These are places where losing Medicaid coverage doesn’t just mean skipping a checkup. It means a parent drives 40 miles for their child’s asthma inhaler, or an elderly man ignores chest pain because the closest ER is now out of reach. If closures start here, as they have in other states, entire communities will be left with no safety net at all. Rural Pennsylvania is already stretched thin. 

We should mourn the loss of Medicaid as we knew it. But we must also confront political reality. Even if Democrats regain control of the House, Senate and White House, there will be no appetite to pour a trillion dollars back into one program. The path ahead does not lead back. It leads forward.

And that path is Medicare for All.

I do not want to hear again that we cannot afford it. Just weeks ago, this Congress gave away a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the wealthy. The deficit is projected to swell by more than three trillion dollars, and no one blinked. There were no hearings on fiscal responsibility. No budgetary panic. There is no earnest search for a better way. When their donors desire, the treasury bends with ease. It is not the price that stirs their fear. What unsettles them, what keeps them pacing, is not debt but the presence of LGBTQ people living openly and immigrants daring to belong. It is not arithmetic that troubles the Republican leadership. It is humanity.

As the County Controller, my office demonstrated what an honest government can accomplish. In Lehigh County, we saved 40 percent on pharmacy costs without denying a single prescription. We didn't cut corners. We cut grift. No one lost medicine. We just stopped overpaying for it. The money is already in the system. It is simply flowing to the wrong places.

Republicans keep saying they want smaller government. But that's not true. They don't want less government. They want a different kind of government. One that bans books but won't ban medical bankruptcy. One that tells you who you can marry but won't tell insulin manufacturers to stop price-gouging. One that protects billionaires and punishes bus drivers. This isn't about freedom. It's about control and who gets protected. 

This is the same party that is excited that Pam Bondi, the  Attorney General, and a longtime Trump ally, announced that the Department of Justice had dropped charges against Utah physician Michael Kirk Moore Jr., who was accused of destroying over $28,000 worth of COVID-19 vaccines and issuing fake vaccination cards. 

Moore and his associates were indicted for orchestrating a fraud scheme during the pandemic, throwing away government-supplied vaccines while distributing falsified proof of immunization. Bondi did not condemn the doctor's actions. Instead, she presented the dismissal as a vindication. This is the government they want, not one that protects the public, but one that shields ideological allies from accountability while punishing the poor for missing paperwork.

We can build Medicare for All. And we can do it in a way that does not waste a dollar. But we must stop pretending that there is no money. There is money. We need elected officials that have the will and the ability to fight. 

To the bus driver, the janitor, the cashier, the teacher, the person with a disability sitting alone at the kitchen table staring at a form they do not understand, we owe you more than words. We owe protection. We owe a system that does not require a lawyer, a relative, or a miracle to survive.

We can create it. We need individuals in office who work for the people, not the powerful.