A lot of citizens are in the mood to call law maker’s bluffs these days.
Last week our new Congress tried to pass a bill that would have gutted their ethics oversight committee and put them in charge of watching their behavior. As if they would report themselves for doing unethical or illegal things. No one does that. A massive outpouring of public outrage was a major factor in them withdrawing that bill.
Today, Wednesday January 11, Republicans in Congress will attempt to carry out a threat they’ve been making for years – repealing "ObamaCare".
Maybe a lot of folks agreed with the idea that this bill was akin to a pact with Satan because it was a convenient way to hate President Obama. Maybe they bought into propaganda that was funded by billionaires like the Koch brothers about how "ObamaCare" would require you to kill your grandmother - a statement I actually read in a handout at a health care meeting in Woodbury in 2009.
Now that the rubber is about to hit the road, a lot of people are realizing that the "ObamaCare" they hate is actually the health insurance they can't live without, and its real name is the Affordable Care Act. Most Republicans in Congress want to repeal the ACA now, yet they don’t have a replacement plan. They say they’ll repeal it, but delay the repeal actually happening for a few years so they have time to come up with something else.
Popular government programs like Social Security took years to fine tune. It is a waste of time, money, and a threat to people’s lives to repeal the ACA instead of improving it and everyone knows it. Why put American lives at risk because of your dislike of President Obama? It’s shameful.
In addition, Republicans hope to completely defund Planned Parenthood.
I know that propaganda campaigns have falsely made that name synonymous with abortion. What they don’t tell you is that 97% of the services that Planned Parenthood provides are things like cancer screenings, contraception, STI/STD screening and treatment, and other women’s health services. They also don’t tell you that by law, no money from the federal government can be used to fund abortions. Defunding Planned Parenthood with no alternative is taking away lifesaving health services from millions of people.
Our voices do make a difference! Please call Congressman Diane Black (202-225-4231), and Senators Lamar Alexander (202-224-4944) and Bob Corker (202-224-3344) and let them know that you, their constituent, want to keep the ACA and Planned Parenthood.
