In 2010, Democrats paid a huge electoral price for having passed a law giving tens of millions of people access to health care, with few of its benefits being felt by the time of the elections. In 2017, House Republicans have passed a bill that would strip that health care from tens of millions of people. The question is, how much of a price will Republicans pay? Part of that depends on whether it passes the Senate and becomes law—will Republicans be facing voters who have lost their health care, or just ones who know that House Republicans wanted them to? But either way, Democrats believe the price will be high:
“Republicans kicked a hornet’s nest, and it is not too soon to begin saying goodbye to some of my Republican colleagues from moderate districts, because this will cost them dearly,” said Representative Luis V. Gutiérrez, Democrat of Illinois. [...]
Democrats point out that Republicans will have to defend a reduction in federal help for people who have come to rely on it. That is a most unusual position for politicians since federal benefit programs are rarely scaled back once they are established — certainly not a program with the reach of the health care law.
“It is a pretty big mistake,” said Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat, about the Republican bill. “They are taking something away.”
The challenge is to ensure that the price is higher for Republicans than for Americans in need of health care. That means first and foremost fighting to keep any Obamacare repeal bill from passing the Senate. And it means making House Republicans pay on Election Day 2018—we hope they’re paying for having tried to take health coverage from tens of millions of Americans, not for having succeeded, but they must pay.
You can start making House Republicans pay and send a message to Senate Republicans by donating $1 right now to each of the Democratic nominee funds targeting vulnerable Republicans who voted to destroy access to health care.