It’s time now to clear the air, and despite the appearance of dysfunction and a complete disinterest in constructive legislation, the Republican Party has in fact found a reason to exist, and it all centers on their opposition to the Affordable Care Act.
Everything from today’s hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee to the government shutdown and even the debt ceiling is allowing Republicans to rally around a unifying cause. And today we learned that 32 Republican congressmen have sent a letter to the president demanding the immediate resignation of Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary at Health and Human Services.
“The scope of the problem is so great,” they write, “that were this a private company or military command, the CEO or general would have been fired.”
The 32 Republicans who sent the ltter include Rep. Paul Broun, who believes the Darwinian Theorem of Evolution is a lie that came to us direct from the pit of hell; Rep. Steve Stockman, who once had a campaign sticker that read, “If babies had guns they wouldn’t be aborted;” and Rep. Michele Bachmann, who believes that providing affordable health care is in fact a clear sign of the end of times, and a direct fulfilment of biblical prophecy.
Interestingly, all three of those members of Congress speak frequently about their Christian faith at the same time as railing against the provision of affordable health care to some of this nation’s most vulnerable people.
And so, before they run off to their next committee hearing or fire off yet another letter demanding a government resignation, maybe they should listen to the words of a fellow Republican—John Kasich, the governor of Ohio—a governor who has accepted federal funds under the Affordable Care Act, which means than additional 300,000 of his constituents will now be covered.
“Now, when you die and get to the meeting with St. Peter, he’s probably not gonna ask you much about what you did about keeping government small,” Kasich is recorded as saying, “but he’s going to ask you what you did for the poor…and you better have a good answer.”
Spoken like a true Christian.
Martin Bashir