1. United States
2. Kan.
3. Letter

Thank you for pledging to refuse to be paid during the shutdown. While I appreciate your show of support for the common people, refusing to be paid is not enough. Now, more than ever, we need you to do your jobs. While some of you have called the House CR a “clean, bipartisan” bill, it is obvious from the current shutdown that this is false. Were it either clean or bipartisan, we would not be in this situation. The fact is that it is simple to read the CR itself and see that the cost of healthcare would skyrocket under its provisions (or lack thereof). You are required to purchase healthcare coverage from the same marketplace as small businesses, but you also receive money from the government to help pay those premiums. This is a privilege not every American has. Reject that subsidy and live under the current House CR and I might begin to believe the “clean, bipartisan” rhetoric. But I’d much prefer we stop pretending that the CR wouldn’t spike costs for common Americans and get to work fixing it. Unfortunately, I also have to say that I am well aware and know that all of you are well aware that no proposal includes giving benefits to immigrants (beyond the already existing policies of treating people at the emergency room first and worrying about insurance and payment only once they are stable, which is really just basic humanity). Please stop pushing or allowing this harmful, patently false rhetoric that “Democrats want to give free healthcare to illegals.” It is an intentional lie, but even if it were true, I can think of worse things a country could do than offer anyone within its borders reasonable access to healthcare. Thank you for what you have done. Now, please act with basic human decency and do your jobs.