On revenge and redemption: an open letter to the GOP
May 4, 2017
To members of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives
I was born in Racine, WI just a few miles from the the Speaker’s hometown of Janesville. I sent the short story below to Mr Ryan in a letter of opposition to the American Health Care Act. I never received a response. I’m hoping you will take this story into consideration as you vote today.
My father was a Goldwater Republican, my mother an undercover Democrat, because back then men still ruled the roost. I went to parochial school, including St. Catherine’s High School, but it was my mother who instilled in me a deep sense of the values shared by Christians and all other faiths. I was raised to care for others, to be compassionate, and, to the best of my ability, watch out for those with less money, less power, and less access.
Growing up we knew a family who had 13 children. Poor, devout Catholics whose kids all attended St Judith’s on scholarship due to their financial need. They wore thin white socks and Keds sneakers year round, even in the winter snow. One Christmas my mom swore me to secrecy and we went to the store and bought presents for their children, simple things like slippers or a nightgown. Necessary things. We wrapped them and delivered them to their house under cover of darkness on Christmas eve. We rang the bell and hightailed it back to the station wagon before we were seen. At school after the holiday break I saw one of the daughters, who was in my grade. She told me with awestruck, twinkling eyes about the gifts that arrived Christmas Eve — how it was a miracle from God. Who could imagine such deeply felt belief in the miracle of a pair of slippers and a terry cloth robe? Sometimes when you are struggling even the simplest things seem like a gift from on high.
I tell you this story because the GOP is filled with people who remind us often of their deep and abiding faith, and how it guides their lives and their work. I tell you this because despite your faith you are well aware that miracles here on Earth are more likely to come from caring people than from the invisible hand of the Creator, and it is the poorest among us who need these miracles most.
Finally, I tell you this because you have the power to perform such a miracle: ending the campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
You are canny enough to understand the complexities of policy-making. Given that I must assume you know the toll this bill will take on the elderly, women, and the poor, on those with less money, less power, and less access — many of whom are your constituents. I also assume that deep down most of you know that what you are doing is wrong. You are politicizing the serious issue of how Americans will find and afford care and maintain their health, which is central to the well being of our nation.
I won’t go on to layout the pros and cons of the GOP’s proposed American Health Care Act as plenty of other writers and journalists have done a fine job of that already. However I will note that every serious publication in this country has concluded that the ACHA replacement bill will hurt the American people. So lets just call it what it is: a ‘revenge bill’.
The proposed American Health Care Act is a ‘revenge bill’ crafted by Speaker Ryan to demean the legacy of President Obama. With a Commander in Chief who shares your loathing many of you feel emboldened to double down on your hatred of our former president, however, I feel compelled to ask the $10,000 question: Should your dislike of Mr. Obama translate into a health care proposal that will hurt millions of people? Are you willing to deny Americans coverage just to get your pound of flesh?
I ask that you vote your conscious on ACHA. It is not too late to redeem yourself. Let us see who you stand with, and what you stand for, when the going gets tough. Do you stand with the Speaker and President Trump? Or with your constituents? Do you stand for the pettiness of revenge or the expansiveness of caring for the health of our nation?
This administration’s brand of pettiness, greed and narcissism is likely infectious, but I hope you have not succumb. I implore the members of the Republican Party not to place the pursuit of spite and power over the moral imperatives inherent in governing our democracy and caring for our people.
Regards,
Camille J. Gage
Note: This is a revised version of an earlier article published before the first vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The name of the school was changed for privacy purposes.
