Introduction

For years I have had problems with my back, but the pain has always gone away. My jobs have always required me to stand for 8 hours or longer a day. My last job, a casino dealer in Pittsburgh, provided generous health care benefits. All of the coverage was exactly the same as what the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates including maternity care for men, drug rehabilitation. etc.

One day I noticed numbness in my fingers and my toes. I also had excruciating pain in my neck and headaches so I went to my doctor and he ordered an MRI of both my neck and brain figuring it could be a pinched nerve. A day after the MRI, in February 2012, I had to leave work early due to, again, severe headaches and pain in my neck so I visited my doctor. The front desk told me that he wasn't in the office so they setup an appointment for the next day before work. What I expected from the visit was a prescription to help with my headaches. I wasn't supposed to receive my MRI results until 2 and a half weeks later so I wasn't expecting to know what was causing all of my symptoms. However, what I got was the news that changed my life and my family's life forever. I was diagnosed with an inoperable and incurable brain tumor.

I was just like you and your children -- going to work each day and paying for my insurance on my own.  I did everything what the conservative ideology asks for from the general populace--work hard and you will be rewarded. Even though I thought nothing bad would happen to me because I was young and invincible I still purchased insurance since it was the responsible thing to do so the rest of society wouldn't have to pick up the costs if I ever went to the ER. Despite all of this if the ACA was not the law I would be punished for having cancer. This is what the conservative ideology considers to be fair--punish those who are sick and dying.

In the fall of 2013 I wrote to U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly to share how the ACA will benefit me. I told him that I would be protected from discriminatory practices of the insurance industry that would punish me just for being born with a condition that would guarantee that I would get cancer. We all are now protected now from this type of discrimination. Unfortunately, Kelly wasn't interested in my story or that many of his own constituents will have their life saved because the ACA is now law of the land. He was unable to clarify how he could do philanthropic work for cancer research, but then make it impossible for one of his constituents to benefit from this research by attempting to take away their health insurance.

Worse, Kelly didn't acknowledge or care about my illness or the devastating reality that my parents may lose their youngest child. Instead, Kelly's response was a template that he uses for any political opponent whom he feels needs lecturing about the issue. His main concern was to politicize my illness and to just talk about taxes that only effect the top 1% of his constituency, not  the tragic event of death. 

Kelly constantly goes onto the House Of Representative's floor to tell so-called horror stories in order to portray himself as a compassionate conservative. However, I will show at a later time how Kelly misled the people affected to push his political agenda at their expense. What Kelly refuses to do is to tell real-life stories about how the ACA actually benefits people (such as myself) and allows them to receive the health care they need to stay alive so their family members can enjoy a little more time with their loved one who is sick. If one is actually concerned with the health care law Kelly wouldn't ignore this important reality or mislead people about the law. He wants to play politics with people's lives who happen to be sick and/or dying. This is not the quality or values that the 3rd district in PA or the United States in general deserve.

Throughout this blog I will document the policies of Kelly and other politicians that affect NW PA and their constituents. It is important to key an eye on the politicians who believe that they have safe seats and are tempted to implement extreme policies. The main focal point will be the ACA, but I will also touch upon economic issues, social issues, and what is occurring in local communities.