We now have a Republican controlled Congress and I want to know if that landslide victory for the Republicans is really a mandate for the Republican platform or was it just a matter of, “The Democrats had their chance and things are not going well for me so…” Are the majority of voters really in favor of repealing the Affordable Care Act? According to the Gallop poll published November 17, 2014:
Americans have never been overly positive toward the ACA, at best showing a roughly equal division between approval and disapproval early on in the law’s implementation.
According to that same poll, the current approval rating is 37%. So, why did we vote for him? He campaigned on this plan from the beginning.
OBAMA’S PLAN
National Health Insurance Exchange:
The Obama plan will create a National Health Insurance Exchange to help individuals who wish to purchase a private insurance plan. The Exchange will act as a watchdog group and help reform the private insurance market by creating rules and standards for participating insurance plans to ensure fairness and to make individual coverage more affordable and accessible…
Source: Campaign booklet, “Blueprint for Change”, p. 6-9 Feb 2, 2008
When Barack Obama took office in 2009, he proceeded to do exactly what he said he was going to do. Around Election Day 2014, his approval /disapproval rating was 43% / 51%. As of January 7, 2015 it is 46% / 47%, only 1% difference between approval and disapproval, according to Gallop. Voters wanted a change in 2008. We got a change. In 2014, voters didn’t like that change and voted for a change again. Does it matter what the change is? It should.
I’m picking on the current president because he is the current president. My point is vote FOR a candidate. Know the issues. Know the state questions.
BE AN INFORMED VOTER.
Do a little research. Look into how a candidate has voted when in Congress or what their stance was as a governor. I know that it would be impossible to keep up with what all politicians do on a daily basis but there are websites that do that for you and you can take some time out every once in a while to look up your legislators at the local and national level. When primaries and national elections come around, research the contenders.
Here are a couple of sites that I have found helpful.
On The Issues This site also has the booklets that candidates write about their platforms.
Both of these sites have a map where you can click on your state and find out about local issues.
Also, play the devil’s advocate with yourself. Try to understand the other side or try to understand issues that are not currently affecting you personally. Don’t be one of those people that thinks, I don’t have that problem so it’s not a problem.
Be a part of an informed and civil electorate.
