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I know where Republicans stand. They have voted 47 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, so their stance is clear. If you get sick, you’re on your own. If you can’t pay for your medical expenses, declare bankruptcy. If you have a pre-existing condition, they’ll send you a get well card when you’re on your death-bed. Whatever President Obama stands for, they stand for the opposite. Even if it goes against every principle they have advocated for in the past, they would rather destroy our country, than see President Obama pass policy that is good for ALL Americans.

I thought I knew where most Democrats stood. I thought they stood on the side of the poor, the elderly, the students, the young people, the disenfranchised, the women, the middle class, the working class and all of those struggling to stay afloat during some very difficult economic times. But, then came a website. And the website had a lot of problems (that is probably an understatement). And some Democrats, 39 of them to be exact, couldn’t handle the hate, I mean heat, coming from the other side. So, their knees wobbled. Their brows glistened with sweat. Their stomachs growled. Their fear of losing their job over a website took over their every move. And please don’t tell me this about people whose healthcare was canceled…because that healthcare is predatory and it is unconscionable that we would allow anyone in this country to own such policies.

I run websites. I have built websites. I certainly understand the complications of servers and load times and 404 errors. THIS CAN ALL BE FIXED! And it will be fixed. But what cannot be fixed, is the fact that for over 100 years we have tried to reform our healthcare system, and EVERY President before Barack Obama FAILED! Yes, we initially wanted single payer, and we had to compromise back in 2009 for the Affordable Care Act. But, it is a damn good piece of legislation that has already saved hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives. So, let us not give up now.  (**addendum: After getting attacked by the right wing blogs yesterday for my comments, let me remind them that Obamacare did not start with the website on October 1st.  It started when it was passed in 2009.  And since that time, 2.5 MILLION more young people have health insurance because they can stay on their parent’s plan until they are 26.  And since 2010, health insurance companies could no longer deny health insurance to children because of a pre-existing condition. That has been the law before the website even launched.)

I can certainly understand anyone who is frustrated with the roll-out of the website, but I cannot understand nor can I respect anyone, Republican, Democrat or Independent, who wants the Affordable Care Act to fail. Call those people the “death panel,” because that is exactly what they will do to all of those Americans who are in desperate need of good medical treatment. They have NO other alternative to take care of the 40 million+ Americans who currently do not have healthcare. I know I’m a yogi, and I probably should have meditated before I published this blog…but if you are a Democrat who no longer supports the Affordable Care Act because of the complications with the website, then you deserve to join the unemployment lines with your friends on the other side come next November.

So if you want to keep your job…buckle up, stand with the people who got you elected, and protect our President from the vicious attacks coming from those who are more interested in a failing America, than a healthy and prosperous America.

-Russell Simmons