Here’s the text of the message I sent to Ted Cruz and John Cornyn. Their stances are basically the same, so they got the same one, with a few minor variations based on how my fury surged while I was on the phone.
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The Constitution grants citizens a right to LIFE. The Senate has just voted to eliminate that right for people who cannot afford the arbitrary, unnegotiated prices insurance companies place on chronic treatments. Life was, before the ACA, and will again be the privilege of the rich in this country. Failure to provide basic medical care to citizens is unconstitutional.
I believe the right to life is most affordable when negotiated on a large scale by the government. I want a single payer system in the US that follows the model established by the rest of the developed world.
In the absence of a more efficient single payer system, the ACA meets the bare minimum of the constitutional right to life by preventing insurance companies from placing lifetime limits on care and refusing to insure chronic conditions, however minor.
Because of the ACA, I have been able to start my own business and even employ other people. I make more money and pay a great deal more in taxes than I did while working for someone else. In purely mercenary terms, I am a more productive citizen than I was without the ACA.
Moreover, starting my own business has made me a happier person and given me the flexibility to schedule time with my young son. The ACA has therefore doubly served me by granting my right to pursue happiness.
I do not believe that the value of people’s lives is solely mercenary, or that a monetary limit can be placed on the amount of care required to keep people alive. Republicans seem to believe that their government fulfills its duty by defending us from outside threats, and that they have no obligation to take care of citizens within our borders. They are wrong. I will never vote for a representative who thinks it’s more important to arm ourselves to the teeth rather than provide basic medical services at home, but the Senator ha shown exactly that in his budget priorities.
The Senator’s pro-life stance appears to apply only to fetuses, not his constituents. Repealing this law will kill people. I am disgusted by the vote that was taken last night.
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Here are the phone numbers for Ted Cruz’s regional offices: https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=general&id=23 and D.C.: 202-224-5922
Here are John Cornyn’s regional office phone numbers: https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/contact and D.C.: 202-224-2934
Give ‘em hell.
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