SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN

18 July, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Your Senator McCain

I’m sure you’ll join me in sending good thoughts to Senator John McCain for a speedy recovery from his surgery. I had been worried about him since his strange and rambling questioning of James Comey a few weeks ago—it seemed almost like the onset of dementia. I have always admired the man, though I have generally disagreed with his positions; and truthfully my respect for him began to wane at the time of his run for the Presidency. His choice of Sarah Palin was, in my view, a serious lapse in judgment.

But I surely wish him well. He had not yet clarified his position on the cruelly misnamed Better Care Reconciliation Act, but his yes vote would surely have been the sharpest of ironies. The cost of his recent surgery and post-operative care has amounted, I read, to nearly $80,000. He was fortunate, indeed, to be protected by the kind of insurance his party and his president seem intent on putting beyond the reach of millions of Americans.

I am glad that zombie bill has been finally (???) pronounced dead. Now it seems the Republican effort will be to repeal Obamacare without replacing it. Good luck with that! The ire of the American people has been aroused, and will not easily be pacified—especially not by an even more brazen attack on something they now recognize to be a right.

A modest suggestion: Obamacare is now popular. It works. It can be made to work better with good faith and a willingness to compromise on either side. So get to it!

(And of course, the obvious choice is still for a single payer system that dumps the whole “free market”, profit-motivated approach to health care for all. Will we ever get what every other advanced nation already has?)

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.