While Democrats sat uniformly silent, Republicans gave a rousing cheer when Donald Trump declared the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate "gone!" during Tuesday's State of the Union address. Here's what that amounts to:
Yep. Good thing Republicans are getting their kicks now, because that’s gonna be the anvil around their necks this November. Not only are an historic number of Democratic women running for Congress this year, their issue of choice again and again appears to be health care access and affordability—the very things Republicans have been eagerly working to destroy.
In fact, MSNBC’s Katy Tur on Tuesday interviewed three Democratic women aiming to unseat GOP incumbents and guess what their No. 1 issue was across the board? Health care.
Abigail Spanberger, VA-07, said, “When I've traversed our district from top to bottom, the number one issue that people are talking about is really health care [...] across the board, the thing that troubles our constituents most is really the future of our health care system.
Gina Ortiz Jones, TX-23, observed, “It's not lost on people that this Republican, [Rep. Will Hurd], voted for a tax plan that would cut medicare by $25 billion.”
Lauren Underwood, IL-14, added, “In our district, we have 37,000 people who are currently insured through the Obamacare marketplaces. So they're looking for some stability, like Abigail mentioned, but also to make sure it's affordable for middle class families.”
Guess who else made health care a centerpiece in her election bid: Wisconsin Democrat Patty Schachtner, who just flipped a state senate seat in a deep red district to blue and sent the GOP reeling.
Schachtner said once she joins the Senate she hopes to focus on improving access to health care and helping drug addicts get treatment.
So keep on clapping Republicans cuz you’re literally making people sick. Good luck with that.