Guest Post From Paul Clements, The Progressive Democrat Opposing Fred Upton In Western Michigan

Fred Upton's "monkey court"

Today Congressman Fred Upton grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sabelius over the error-plagued launch of HealthCare.gov, the federal government’s enrollment website for mandatory health insurance. Would that he were so assiduous in his support for Americans’ access to high quality, affordable health care!

This is the same Upton who voted 40 times to defund the Affordable Care Act. The same one who required healthcare navigators to fill out arduously voluminous paperwork before they could help people figure out how to get new health insurance. The same one who blocked Americans’ access to cheaper generic drugs from Canada, and who tried and failed to block a measure to reduce prescription drug abuse with pain pills (requiring patients to get new prescriptions after 90 days for widely abused drugs). The same Upton who has often blocked the Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from applying normal health and safety regulations.

The Affordable Care Act will prevent denials of insurance to millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions. It is already allowing millions of young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance. Millions of life threatening conditions will be identified by primary care physicians rather than in emergency rooms. Yet Upton has been a constant obstructionist.

Congressman Upton routinely and repeatedly puts corporate profits before citizens’ health. He routinely and repeatedly puts narrow partisan advantage before compromise to solve problems.

The good news is that citizens in Upton’s district are tired of him. He now gets the lowest approval ratings of his career-- 34% in an early October PPP poll, versus 53% disapproval. Even his Tea Party challenger accuses him of crony capitalism.

I am building the strongest Democratic challenge Upton has ever faced. I have degrees from Harvard and Princeton, and I have devoted my career to increasing the impacts and enhancing accountability of government programs.

Please take a look at my website: ClementsforCongress.com, and consider a contribution.