Alan Howe is running for PA11. He's a friend of mine.
Here's his latest release:
"Standard Republican fare is tax cuts for the wealthy and pain and suffering for the rest of us. Over the past several months, that approach has built to a crescendo with Republicans in the House and Senate doing their very best to trade away health care access for tens of millions of Americans (!) to pay for hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest in our country. Obviously, the GOP's priorities are exactly backwards.
There has been a flood of comments since 2 am this morning commending Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and John McCain for standing up to Republican leadership and voting "no" on the GOP's last effort to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. They do deserve some credit for their votes.
However, let us expand on that some. This bill failed because Democrats in the House and Senate worked tirelessly to oppose the Republicans' efforts. This bill failed because citizen leaders across the country rallied supporters to oppose it. This bill failed to harm Americans because Americans took notice and raised their voices in their defense and in the defense of others.
I have been telling people that political participation and voting are no longer merely civic duties; they are survival skills. While this was exemplified clearly by the assault on health care access, it is also present in GOP attacks on clean water and clean air and on women's rights, including the right to make their own, unfettered health care decisions. It is present today in our energy policies and our education policies. It is especially present in a Presidential panel investigating voter fraud, a panel more accurately described as working on voter suppression.
Republicans have said for decades that government cannot and will not help you, that it can bring you only harm. When Republicans are in charge, do not expect them to show you a well functioning government that helps Americans. Rather, they are going to do all they can to show government is a threat to you. And, in their hands, it is.
Defend yourself. Get involved. Stay involved. In a Democracy, the majority cannot be assured of getting what it wants, only what it demands. Demand. Your very survival depends upon it."
