Reprinted on 11/18/2014 for your convenience

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was controversial and created political battles between Republicans and Democrats when it was a bill and continues to do so since it has become law.  Republicans fought relentlessly to prevent the ACA from becoming law and since it has become law, voted at least 40 times to repeal it.

In the meantime, in conjunction with continuously working to repeal the ACA, they have made efforts to sabotage it in any way possible in the hope that they will gain additional support from stakeholders – both inside and outside of congress, who will join them in their efforts to repeal it.  Their latest effort to sabotage the ACA via Republican Fred Upton’s bill has garnered some success and has the GOP all but visibly salivating at the prospect that this victory will be the edge that they need to finally derail the ACA.  Some GOP lawmakers were even giddy about this victory while spouting that even 39 Democrats voted for the Upton bill.

I was deeply saddened to see that 39 Democrats voted for this bill but I was especially surprised to see that Representative Tammy Duckworth was among those 39 Democrats listed.  I was surprised because I have been aware of her position on various issues and this vote did not fit that profile.

It is important for anyone who is of voting age – whether they are Democrat, Republican, or Independent – to remember that there are things in the ACA that are beneficial to them.  Some of these things are already in effect.  For instance, insurance companies can no longer deny insurance to anyone due to a preexisting condition.  And, children can remain on their parents’ insurance policy until they are 26 years old.  If the ACA is not successful, these things along with other requirements in the ACA that make insurance companies more accountable will be lost.

Under the circumstances, those who want to keep these benefits and are represented by elected officials who are working to repeal this law should let them know that they do not want it repealed.  It is also important for young voters, especially college students attending colleges and universities outside of their home state, to know that some of the same lawmakers who are working to repeal the ACA are also working to make it harder for them to vote.

The world knows that the Republicans outrage at the ACA rollout debacle and deep concern that some Americans lost their insurance coverage and now cannot access the ACA website to get insurance is disingenuous.  That means that the 39 Democrats who abandoned President Obama and voted for the Upton bill are aware of this too.

I can understand that some Democrats might feel pressure to take the safe political road because they are up for reelection in 2014.  What I can’t understand is why after weighing what is at stake for all of the American people versus accumulating points toward their reelection they would choose the latter; especially when the 2014 election is so far away.  In every walk of life that I am aware of, leaders are expected to be strong and do the right thing.  So even if the election were tomorrow I expect our leaders to do the right thing.  They should circle the wagons around President Obama and do the right thing: thank you President Obama for doing the right thing.  Stay strong!

I am a proud Democrat and I believe that the leaders that we choose must have more faith in those who put them in office.  Although too many of us do not follow politics and too often fail to see the big picture, those leaders that we select to represent us must have confidence in their own ability to ultimately explain to us why they made the decisions that they made.  Many decisions have been made by our leaders at one time or another that some of us agreed with while others didn’t.  But that is the nature of things; common ground is the common denominator of life.

In school I was taught that there are large and small common denominators and there are the largest and the smallest common denominators.  I was also taught that when you reach the smallest common denominator, that is as far as you can go.

My admonition to those 39 Democrats who voted for Representative Upton’s bill is for them to reflect on their vote and in conjunction with their responsibilities as our elected leaders, truly determine if they had reached their smallest common denominator.  If they had reached it, then they had a charge to vote like they did.  If they had not reached it, then they should put that vote behind them and make sure that as they move forward they always assure in advance of their decisions at what point they are on the common denominator spectrum.

Eulus Dennis