Is Fred Upton Still Fit To Represent Ordinary Working Families In Southwest Michigan?

Michigan could be a very fertile hunting ground for the DCCC. All that stands in the way is its own chairman, former Center Aisle Caucus big-shot and founder who refuses to allow the DCCC to target any of his former frat brothers, no matter how detestable they are. And in Michigan that means free passes for some very vulnerable Republicans: Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee; Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee; Mike Rogers, chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence. Aside from being powerful committee chairs-- and pals of Steve Israel's-- all three represent congressional districts where Democrats can win. In fact, then-Senator Barack Obama beat John McCain in each of these districts in 2008. Instead of seeking to build on that, Israel ignored-- and continues to ignore-- all 3 districts for the sake of his cronies.

Obama beat McCain 50-49 in Camp's district, MI-04, the toughest of the three nuts to crack. Obama beat McCain by a pretty convincing 53-45% in Upton's district, MI-06, and he beat McCain in Rogers' MI-08 soundly as well-- 52-46%. Since then the DCCC has ignored or sabotaged Democrats running against the incumbents, dooming their chances to win. A source in the DCCC claims that staffers are trying to go around Israel in the new cycle and defeat Upton. I'll believe it when I see it but Upton has drawn an extraordinarily good opponent this cycle, Paul Clements.

Upton has moved further and further right-- in fear of the Tea Party-- and no longer represents the interests and values of mainstream voters in southwest Michigan. Last year, with no help whatsoever from the DCCC, Mike O'Brien wrestled him to a tie in the district's biggest county, Kalamazoo-- 58,619 to 58,608. Upton outspent him $4,724,798 to $292,383-- a startling 15 to 1! Imagine if the DCCC had even made the most modest of efforts there! This hasn't gone unnoticed among some congressional Democrats and DCCC professional staffers who are sick of Israel's defeatist attitude.

Upton has voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act-- entirely and in pieces-- 39 times. That could be inconvenient for him if voters in Kalamazoo, Portage, Niles, Benton Harbor, Berrien Springs, and Plainwell start finding out how well "Obamacare" is already working for them and their neighbors. Singling out the 6th district only, among the results so far:

• 6,700 young adults in the district now have health insurance through their parents’ plan.

• More than 9,100 seniors in the district received prescription drug discounts worth $11.4 million, an average discount of $590 per person in 2011, $740 in 2012, and $850 thus far in 2013.

• 131,000 seniors in the district are now eligible for Medicare preventive services without paying any co-pays, coinsurance, or deductible.

• 197,000 individuals in the district-- including 43,000 children and 80,000 women-- now have health insurance that covers preventive services without any co-pays, coinsurance, or deductible.

• 163,000 individuals in the district are saving money due to ACA provisions that prevent insurance companies from spending more than 20% of their premiums on profits and administrative overhead. Because of these protections, over 16,000 consumers in the district received approximately $2.3 million in insurance company rebates in 2012 and 2011-- an average rebate of $138 per family in 2012 and $214 per family in 2011.

• Up to 41,000 children in the district with preexisting health conditions can no longer be denied coverage by health insurers.

• 223,000 individuals in the district now have insurance that cannot place lifetime limits on their coverage and will not face annual limits on coverage starting in 2014.

• Up to 84,000 individuals in the district who lack health insurance will have access to quality, affordable coverage without fear of discrimination or higher rates because of a preexisting health condition. In addition, the 36,000 individuals who currently purchase private health insurance on the individual or small group market will have access to more secure, higher quality coverage and many will be eligible for financial assistance.

Does Fred Upton have something he wants to replace this with? He hasn't suggested anything except turning people's health back over to predatory insurance companies hoping to squeeze every nickel and dime they can from anyone in need of healthcare. Paul Clements comes at the problem from a different perspective. Unlike Upton, his first priority is not making sure the wealthiest one percent of Americans pay the lowest taxes in history. He's no knee-jerk ObamaCare supporter but he recognizes it as a first step that needs a lot of work. On his website, Clements points out that "America has the most expensive health care system in the world, but many health outcomes are worse than in countries with less costly systems. As our population ages, the strength of our economy depends on cutting health care cost inflation and improving health standards. If we fail to contain health care costs, Medicare and Medicaid will drive up the national debt and/or crowd out other important government programs." Yesterday he expanded on that in an interview for DWT:

As a significant move towards all Americans having health insurance, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is a step in the right direction. But it doesn't do enough to reduce health care costs; getting health care inflation under control is key to controlling the federal deficit. Today we spend too much on paperwork, advertising, and profits for insurance and advertising, and we have not done enough to base health procedures on evidence about results. The best way forward is to move towards a single payer system while protecting the doctor-patient relationship.

Please consider giving Paul a hand putting together an effective campaign. Unlike Upton, he wasn't born into the plutocracy and, unlike Upton, he isn't accepting bribes from special interests. You can contribute on the DownWithTyranny Act Blue page.