Blevins letter: Obamacare
On Jan. 6, the Republican-controlled Congress passed another repeal of the Affordable Care Act, mostly along party lines. This repeal marks the 62nd time the Republicans have sought to dismantle Obamacare, and this attempt will end up in the same place as the others: nowhere. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., considered this vote a victory because it forced President Obama to veto the proposed legislation. Ryan commented “he took the speaker’s job because the Republicans need to offer a bold agenda ... and the people of this country who do not like the direction America is heading ... which [he doesn’t] ... and [he] owes them an alternative.” I couldn’t agree more. The alternative ought not to be policy choices but rather voting Ryan and those like him who consider the recent attempt to repeal Obamacare to be a victory out of office. Ryan’s kind of thinking is nonsense and thrives within the Washington, D.C., Beltway but does Americans little good. We need representatives and senators who are willing to compromise to pass bipartisan legislation that promotes the general welfare of us all.
Robert Blevins, Garden City
This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Blevins letter: Obamacare."