In my column two weeks ago, I wrote on the inadequacies of the United States Congress — its slow pace, its arrogance and its interesting work schedule. After reading an article this week, I have realized that the U.S. House of Representatives, specifically the Republican leadership, is again wasting our taxpayer dollars.
As of Thursday, Sept. 12, House Republicans voted for the 41st time to repeal “Obamacare.” Can someone please tell me what good this does? If House Republicans were successful, such a repeal would never get past the Democratically controlled Senate. President Obama would certainly never sign such a repeal of his political baby. So, all logical reasoning points to these votes as being a waste of time. If Republicans were truly concerned about health care law, they would work to create new reforms, or they would work to fully understand and study the costs and benefits of Obamacare. Furthermore, if they were truly concerned with the well-being of Americans, they would be more willing to have a civil discourse with the president instead of attacking him through media outlets and uncalled-for congressional votes.
The Affordable Care Act is set to defend many women who can be denied insurance for “pre-existing conditions,” such as breast cancer, cervical cancer, pregnancy, diabetes and more. If you’re a woman, you have no reason to dislike Obamacare. On average, insurance companies charge women 50 percent more than they do men for the same insurance. Obamacare fights that. These are just a couple of the many benefits of Obamacare. These are benefits that opponents like to ignore.
The United States is the only industrialized nation without some form of universal health care. Furthermore, the United States spends the most money per capita on health care in the world, yet the resulting care is not nearly exceptional. Obamacare is a stab in the right direction. Sure, there are some parts of the legislation that aren’t great; every major piece of legislation has imperfections. President Obama and the Democratic Party spent all of their political capital in 2009 and 2010 passing legislation to truly help working Americans. Now, Republican leadership wastes time daily trying to dismantle this historic work.
Republican leadership spends its time on futile endeavors, instead of taking up the fight to create more jobs, to help our environment and support human rights. House Republicans dramatically slowed the reauthorization process of the Violence Against Women Act. For what? To play political games.
The American people are tired of political games. From both sides. However, in my opinion, Americans should be more concerned about who stalls progress and who wastes taxpayer funds on fruitless efforts. The Republican Party continues to be a polarizing force that seeks to politicize and dramatize the issues, instead of working to create effective change. The Republican Party is the party creating a deep divide between the American people. It is the party that is rapidly moving away from the center. The Republican Party is the party that refuses to reach across the aisle. The Republican Party is the party that refuses to move into the 21st century.
If you haven’t guessed by now, these are a few of the reasons I’m a Democrat.
Adam Blackwell is a senior public policy leadership major from Natchez.
