The Republican Party’s incessant calls for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) have been extreme by any measure. The Republican-controlled House has been so consumed with getting rid of it that it has voted over 60 times for repeal.

Even allowing for the inescapable fact that the Republicans can’t bear the thought of a Barack Obama-Democratic program meeting with success, the hue and cry of “Repeal! Repeal! Repeal!” has been something to behold.

You would think it would be concerning to them that over 20 million of our fellow citizens are now covered under Obamacare. And I’m sure it’s disappointing that the dire warnings of economic distress that the ACA would surely bring about never materialized.

“Never mind all that,” the Republicans say, “Obamacare has to go – repeal it!” They have not told us why it has to go. “Just repeal it!” But why? Why are they so obsessed with repealing what looks to be a program that actually improves people’s lives?

The Press Herald gave us the answer in an Associated Press story published Dec. 15: “Repealing Obamacare would mean huge tax cuts for wealthy, study finds.”

It turns out that one of the funding mechanisms for the ACA included modest tax hikes on wealthy Americans. (The story’s author reports that a household earning over $3 million per year would receive a nearly $200,000 tax cut if the ACA were repealed.)

So, that’s what it’s all about for America – what it’s always about for the Republicans – helping their wealthy patrons protect their wealth!

Phil Coupe Sr.

Scarborough

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