Op-Ed
Americans want quality, affordable health insurance and have found it within the Affordable Care Act. Indeed, new enrollment numbers offer the firmest evidence yet that the health care law is working.
As Congress heads home to celebrate the Fourth of July, it leaves with two critical issues unaddressed.
Our economy is facing a long-term unemployment crisis, which new evidence suggests is made worse by the five-month expiration of federal unemployment benefits.
The president has not given up and Speaker John A. Boehner hasn't closed the door. They and Congress owe it to three million unemployed workers and their families, the health of the economy and the future of the workforce to find a way to re-start the federal emergency unemployment insurance program.
When I consider issues in Washington, I regularly call on the wisdom and advice my mother gave Carl, my sister and me over the years. She taught us of hard work and persistence, she taught us of the sacrifices that mothers make for children and for our country, and she taught us of fairness.
Our mother's basic creed was that no one was any better than we were, and we were no better than anyone else. Equality and fairness were values she instilled in us from an early age.
Richard of Springfield, Oregon, told me of how he lost his job the same day as his wife.
Danielle of Lexington, Kentucky, said she has cashed out her 401(k) to get by after getting laid off.
Aaron of Escondido, California, wrote that he has a single $100 bill left to his name, with two children -- ages 4 and 10 -- to care for. "The specter of them being homeless rips at my insides on a nightly basis," he said.
Richard of Springfield, Oregon, told me of how he lost his job the same day as his wife.
Danielle of Lexington, Kentucky, said she has cashed out her 401(k) to get by after getting laid off.
Aaron of Escondido, California, wrote that he has a single $100 bill left to his name, with two children -- ages 4 and 10 -- to care for. "The specter of them being homeless rips at my insides on a nightly basis," he said.
There's a saying that "nothing is more admirable in politics than a short memory." But we are amazed by the audacity of the latest attack by Republican leaders on the Affordable Care Act.
For all the progress the American economy has made since its near collapse, today it employs 1.3 million fewer people than it did at the start of the recession. The depth of the economic hole we found ourselves in was so severe that the jobs deficit today – six years later – is almost on par with the deepest point of the early 1990s recession.
By Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI)
Even as Republicans in Congress continue their endless effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, today the law's marketplaces open for business, helping to address a problem that has stressed families and hindered our economy for decades: the cost of health care and the difficulty finding adequate insurance coverage.
A one-stop-shop awaits individuals and families purchasing insurance on their own, where Michiganians will have an average of 43 plans, through private insurers, to choose from.