Thanks So Much, Fellow Americans

I want to thank all those Americans who voted for Donald Trump in last November's presidential election, as well as those who voted to give Republicans a majority in both houses of Congress.

Thanks to you, more than 20 million Americans are about to lose their medical insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Thanks to you, those who were forced to pay into Social Security and Medicare through decades of payroll taxes are at great risk of having their benefits slashed. 

Despite Trump's campaign promise to leave Social Security and Medicare alone, and to 'repeal and replace' the ACA with something 'better', he and his colleagues in Congress have already taken steps to gut or cancel these life-saving programs. This pledge, like everything else that comes out of his mouth, is nothing more than a lie. The Republicans have had the past six years to come up with a replacement for the ACA, and of course they have nothing.

These so-called representatives, who represent only themselves and their wealthy benefactors, are in such a hurry to kill the ACA that they have resorted to meeting in the middle of the night to avoid public scrutiny of their underhanded actions. 

Apparently these selfish, greedy, self-entitled 'representatives' don't care that without medical insurance, people will go bankrupt trying to pay for medical care, and possibly die without treatment. And I suppose they feel that the senior citizens living on their $9,000/year Social Security checks are living it up on their so-called 'entitlements.'

Medicare pays for my twice yearly injections to treat osteoporosis, each of which costs $2,520. When I was first diagnosed, my doctor prescribed a much cheaper pill because that's what the insurance company required. Unfortunately, I developed a severe allergic reaction to this medication. She referred me to a specialist, who gave me a choice of two equally expensive treatments. Would I die if I could no longer afford these injections? No, but my risk of broken bones and the required treatment, possibly including surgery, hospitalization and physical therapy, would far exceed the cost of the preventive injections, not to mention the impact to my quality of life. 

Never in my more than 60 years on this planet have I been more disgusted by and angry at the members of Congress. They seem to see their positions of power as nothing more than a way to enrich themselves and their wealthy friends. I would love to know how much it cost the insurance industry lobbyists to buy off the members of Congress dead set on removing health insurance from people who otherwise would have none.

Did those who blindly swallowed Trump's promises think that he -- a self-entitled, narcissistic multibillionaire sexual predator -- would actually care about the working class of America? And according to Sen. Bernie Sanders, "If the ACA is repealed, the wealthiest 400 families would receive a tax cut worth an average of $7 million each." Now there's a real surprise ... NOT.

I'm really disappointed that so many Americans were willing to ignore Trump's misogyny, his attacks on Muslims and Hispanics, his mockery of the disabled, his history of refusing to pay individuals and businesses he hired and who performed the agreed-upon work for him, only to be stiffed. His supporters may claim they are not racist or misogynists or any other despicable kind of person, but he showed very clearly during the campaign what kind of person he is. And they chose to vote for him.

Regardless of why they voted for Trump and his cronies, the bottom line is, they supported this vile person and put him, with the collaboration of the electoral college, into the most powerful position on the planet. And let it be known that I was not a fan of Hillary Clinton or of the other candidates for the presidency. I have never voted a 'straight ticket' in any election. My choice of candidates depends solely on their position on issues of importance to me.

So thanks a lot. I'd like to think that only those who voted for this reprobate will suffer the damage his administration will inflict, but sadly, all Americans will pay the price as well. Well done, fellow Americans. I hope you are proud of yourselves.