Late tonight, in a straight party-line vote, the Senate Republicans voted to start the process of repealing the ACA. Not only is a repeal unimaginably cruel–Republicans are voting for people to die from lack of healthcare–but it’s fiscally irresponsible. If your senator is a Republican, call them IMMEDIATELY to voice your horror at their cruel, callous, foolish plan. I have made a script for you, full of pointy yes/no questions that cannot be easily weaseled away from. If your senator and their staff provide unsatisfactory answers, please share that information with your local newspapers, via a letter to the editor. (Update: note that Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, voted no. He will not vote to repeal the ACA without a replacement.)
“Hi, I am [name] from [city, state] . I am deeply alarmed by Senator [senator’s name]’s vote in the middle of the night to begin the ACA repeal process. Does [senator] want Americans to die? Already, 45,000 Americans die a year because of lack of access to healthcare. Is that a number that [senator] wants to increase?
If [senator] is unmoved by the fact that repealing the ACA will directly result in deaths among [senator’s] constituents, perhaps they will be convinced by the utter fiscal irresponsibility of this plan. Repealing the ACA will gut the economy–as many as 3 million jobs could be lost. Repealing the ACA will add 353 billion dollars to the federal deficit! Does [senator] really care about our economy if they are willing to accept those disastrous economic consequences?
The ACA’s high premium problems primarily resulted from the Republican’s refusal to accept a single-payer option and the subsequent obstructionism during which the Republicans refused to reimburse insurance companies as they had previously promised those companies. The ACA’s failures, then, are on [senator] and the rest of the Republican caucus.
Will [senator] continue to try to repeal the ACA, given all of that? What steps will [senator] take to prevent the repeal of the ACA and ensure healthcare for all Americans?
If [senator] insists on continuing with this foolish, cruel endeavor, I will be forced to look for a new Republican senator who is the compassionate, economically responsible conservative that [senator] claims to be.”
Don’t know who your senator is? Find out here: http://whoismyrepresentative.com/
If you want to customize your script with numbers for your state, you can find the estimated ACA repeal death toll for your state here.
Being Shadoan 