linnposts.com

The November 6 mid-term elections are important for so many reasons, but two practical ones stand out.

(1) Healthcare
(2) Medicare

Thanks to Mitch McConnell and the Republicans, healthcare is once again the top issue for most Americans.

That’s because McConnell has promised yet another effort to repeal Obamacare if Republicans retain control of Congress.

If they succeed, say good-bye to coverage for pre-existing conditions. You will either be denied insurance or have to pay a ransom in order to get it.

That is what would have happened had their last effort to repeal Obamacare succeeded.

And get this. Every House Republican running for re-election – all of them – voted for the repeal. It took John McCain to defeat it in the Senate, and he is now gone.

So beware of Republicans who are now saying they support healthcare that protects coverage for pre-existing conditions.

It’s a lie. They don’t, and they will prove it if they keep control of Congress.

The same is true regarding Medicare (and Social Security).

Republicans plan to use the ballooning federal deficit because of the 2017 tax cuts for the rich and corporations as an excuse for cutting Medicare. They have said so openly.

Mitch McConnell also said last week that he would not support raising the debt ceiling to cover the ballooning deficit the Republicans tax cut is causing unless Medicare and Social Security are cut (he calls it “reformed”).

Weeks ago Steve Stivers, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, was asked by CNBC’s John Harwood if he agreed with Speaker Paul Ryan that Social Security and Medicare are “the biggest spending issues” the government faces. He said he did and that something had to be done about it.

What he was talking about is what McConnell was talking about – cutting both.

Stopping them is what the mid-terms are all about.

We know, of course that Trump Republicans will continue to vote against their own self-interests, which is why the rest of us must out vote them.

And things are looking good so far despite the fact that a few political analysts and commentators (and Fix News) are saying Republican chances in the mid-terms are improving.

They aren’t. They are in fact getting worse according to the analysis of numbers genius Nate Silver. Silver has been right on the money in every recent election when everyone else was wrong.

While Trump has gained a percentage point in his approval rating (still the fourth lowest in history), he says Republican chances of keeping the House have moved in the opposite direction, as he explains in detail at FiveThirtyEight.com.

In fact, at the moment he rates the chances of Democrats winning the House at 85.1%. If new voter turnout is as large as early signs suggest, taking control of the Senate is not out of reach, though the odds favor Republicans.

But taking control of the House will be a huge victory and will change the American political landscape dramatically, which is precisely what our country desperately needs.

Add to that the fact that Democrats are looking strong in gubernatorial races and the sighting of a “blue wave” coming on November 6 may not be a mirage at all.

Because Republicans have controlled the White House and the Congress, the damage they have done to our nation is enormous and will not be undone quickly.

But the task must begin, and in less than two weeks all of us can vote to ensure that it does.