Dear America,
Don’t blame Trump.
I’m talking about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (formerly nicknamed Obamacare for propaganda reasons) which seems to be sliding down the hill to finality with sickening speed.
I’m also talking about the growing number of Trump supporters who, by the looks of Twitter and recent poll numbers, appear to be having buyer’s remorse.
I mean it is his fault. He’s the one who campaigned so rigorously on this idea. And he’s the one who approved its appearance in the GOP platform.
But please, please understand. He is not the one who voted on measures at 1:30 am that will make it easier to yank your health insurance coverage out from under you without providing you with a replacement. He’s far too busy tweeting to be sitting in those drafty chambers at that ungodly hour.
So who is responsible?
Your Republican officials. The ones you elected. Or the ones who got elected when you were too busy/distracted/tired to go vote.
That’s right. If you live in any of the following states: Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, West Virginia, or Wyoming, you probably have at least one Senator who voted to uninsure or underinsure you, your loved ones or friends. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote against the measure. (So, yay Kentucky!)
But here’s the thing. Trump doesn’t have a vote in the Senate. Like not ever. So although he is guilty of setting the scene and approving of the crime, his finger was not actually on the trigger.
Trump also doesn’t have a vote in the House of Representatives. But 435 Representatives do. And they also voted by a margin of 227-198 to pave the way to leave you uninsured or underinsured. The good news for you, if your Republican Representative is Amash (MI), Dent (PA), Fitzpatrick (PA), Jones (NC), Katko (NY), Labrador (ID), MacArthur (NJ), Massie (KY), or McClintock (CA), is that they voted in favor of their constituents who have come to rely on the ACA for quality insurance that doesn’t require them to choose between healthcare and feeding their children. The rest of you are out of luck. Soon also to be out-of-pocket.
So, all you folks who have been sending dismayed tweets in the direction of @realDonaldTrump, you should stop. He didn’t do this to you. I mean he did, but not directly. It’s like he was the devil on the shoulder of every one of those elected officials who just chose to make your life more difficult and more expensive.
But what can you do now? Is it too late?
Maybe.
Probably.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Your Senators and Representatives are elected by you. They are there to preserve and protect your best interests to the best of their ability. If you feel like they have willfully ignored your needs, you are allowed, in fact, you are encouraged (by them, not me) to contact them.
But how do you do that? Especially since you’re working two jobs just to cover the cost of the insurance you do (at least for now) have?
Well, most Representatives have local offices. You can probably google their address. Stop by and talk to their staffers about your experiences with the Affordable Care Act. Bring your kids.
Or call. You can find their numbers here:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
Senate contacts are here:
http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
And if you live in the district of Jason Chaffetz (R-UT 3rd District) or Randy Weber (R-TX 14th District) you might want to also ask them to keep their eye on the ball instead of inserting themselves into the workings of corporations or beating a dead horse. You’d think they’d have more important things to do, like look out for you and your neighbors, than what they seem to be spending their time on.
There’s one more thing you can do. But not for a few years, unfortunately. You can vote for a Senator or Representative who truly represents your needs. And then, because he’s the guy who started all of this, you can repeat Trump’s favorite phrase back at him when you tell him, “You’re fired.”