Roskam actually protecting Obamacare haters

My congressman Peter Roskam's constituent email titled 'Protecting our firefighters' would be better titled 'Protecting our Obamacare haters'. It is a typical Roskam non-story furthering his six year crusade to defeat, overturn, defund and now, finally, demonize the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This successful, indeed, transformational law is assisting tens of millions avoid bankruptcy, diminished health, even death. But in Roskam's warped world of governance, he feels compelled to give his anti-government Illinois 6th District base more anti-government red meat hate; and he never disappoints.

Some background. The ACA mandates organizations employing 50 or more full time people provide employer health insurance or face penalties. They must include anyone working 30 or more hours weekly as full time employees. These provisions are designed to keep employers from 'gaming the system' by dropping 40 hour per week employees to 30 hours in order to avoid ACA compliance. That is good. But since many fire department volunteer firefighters are already otherwise covered for healthcare, the IRS has wisely issued a rule exempting them from the 30 hour rule. But the GOP House Republicans, citing their endless fear of government, proposed a law in the last Congress and now this one, to codify that rule into law. It's strictly window dressing. There is no debate or issue involved. The current version, H.R. 33, passed 410 to 0. This is the basis for Roskam's inflammatory email. But since it's just window dressing, the Senate last year said "Fine, we'll pass it if you extend unemployment insurance extension to the two million long term unemployed." The House GOP said "No way", resulting in an unneeded bill having no chance of becoming law. But a typical Roskam 'low information' supporter simply reads Roskam's email as a principled attack on the ACA which he endlessly trumpets as horrible, big government overreach.

Those millions of folks being helped, even saved by the ACA, would be sacrificed in a heartbeat if Peter Roskam had the power to do so. That is not good governance. That is reprehensible.