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ronyxfic · 7 years

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Educating the Victim: Act V, Chapter XXVII

Pairing: Pearl/Rose, Lapis/Jasper/Peridot, Ruby/Sapphire, Rose/Greg

Rating: Teens and up

Warnings/Tags: none for this chapter!

Read it on AO3!

Educating the Victim Masterpost

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CHAPTER 27: Gems

Dear colleagues, friends, and sympathisers:

I've just received news that I am suspended until the end of the exam season. This move comes after a certain someone has apparently gone to the Principal and told her about our alleged relationship.

There is no proof for this, and I feel I've been treated unfairly by the Principal for months. I'm emailing you because we have spoken about this before and I believe you will be sympathetic to my cause.

I'm arranging a meeting with everyone receiving this message to discuss our strategy moving on from here. As much as I wish I could, I cannot do this alone.

I've attached a poll where you can check your availabilities so I can plan this meeting. If you don't want to be involved, please let me know.

Love,

Rose Quartz.

It was a cool morning, Lapis had awoken a few hours in advance to cover the covert bruises on her body with makeup.

She felt uncomfortable by the time she slid the shirt on. But this would be worth it. Rose Quartz finally giving her a good scoop? She wouldn't miss it. She couldn't.

She'd prepared herself and Jasper bacon and egg sandwiches that she'd wrapped up for consumption as they car pooled with Peridot.

She dragged her aching body outside, food in hand.

Jasper had, remorsefully and diligently, helped Lapis with her makeup - she was better than anyone she knew with covering up irregularly coloured patches on the skin. It was okay, but people would be able to notice if they were close to Lapis.

It didn't help that Lapis winced every time someone touched her back.

Guilt sat deep in Jasper's stomach. She barely said a word while they were waiting for Peridot.

Lapis couldn't take the silence for too long. She was currently rather wrapped up in pretending nothing had happened. Putting on makeup was agonising. A reminder. But it had been necessary- to cover for the others and for herself. The silence, the new awkwardness, too, only served to remind her fragile psyche that it was real.

"Like your sandwich, hun?" She forced a smile behind black lipstick. A look that would distract from her body. "I put barbecue and mayo in it. It's your favorite."

Jasper forced a smile.

"It's great," she said. "Thanks."

She could feel that Lapis just wanted to pretend everything was okay. But everything was not okay. They were going to see Peridot soon. Other people too. They'd notice.

"Sorry," she said softly.

"It's okay." Lapis gripped Jasper's hand. "We'll get through this. We'll have Peridot there, too."

"She doesn't know." Jasper clenched her jaw. "What's she going to think? Are we just... not going to tell her?"

"She doesn't need to know. It isn't necessary. It won't happen again so it's not a problem."

Jasper looked down.

"Okay," she said, almost inaudibly.

It won't happen again.

Lapis didn't have a chance to reply as the car drove up in front of them. She gave Peridot a smile and a wave to her mother. "Peridot! Hi!"

"Lapis!" She pulled the window down. "You should sit next to me since Jasper can have more leg room if she shotguns since I don't need that much. How're ya guys?"

Jasper gratefully accepted the offer and slid into the front seat. She kept her head down.

"I'm fine," she said. "You?"

"I'm good!" Peridot replied, watching them enter the car. "Seat belts buckled, crew!"

Lapis got in next to Peridot and pressed a kiss onto her cheek.

If I act normal, it's all going to be okay. She doesn't have to know.

"Are you excited?" she asked. "I'm excited."

Peridot blinked, her cheeks reddening. She pulled Lapis into a quick hug. "Yes! I really don't get to talk to Quartz enough. I do hope she's alright."

"It's just a suspension," Lapis said, trying very hard to stop from wincing when Peridot's arms touched her back. "Diamond can't fire her unless she's got proof, which it sounds like she doesn't."

Peridot frowned at the wince but then shrugged. "I guess. I've got a weird feeling about all this."

"Oh?" Lapis looked at Peridot. "How come?"

She'd seen Peridot's frown and was determined to distract her. It would be easier if Jasper was talking too... but, as Lapis realised, that wasn't going to happen.

"It's just unusual. I hope she's dealing with it all okay."

"It's not the first time Diamond's threatened her," Jasper finally piped up. "She can deal with it."

"But she's been suspended. That's... pretty big." Peridot wondered why it suddenly felt all too tense. She couldn't pry with her mother in the car, however, and simply chose to hold Lapis' hand for the ride.

Lapis sighed and squeezed Peridot's hand.

"Well, I guess that's why we're all on our way to hers," she said. "I wonder if all the people she invited are actually going to come."

"The mailing list was pretty big. I hope it's not too crowded."

"She lives in one of those rich people homes at the edge of the city," Jasper said. "She probably wouldn't be inviting all of us there if she didn't have space for us."

"Yeah," Lapis said, "I'm sure it'll be okay."

It didn't take long to drive to Rose's side of town. Outside, a beaten up, parked car with approximately twenty queer bumper stickers sat in the driveway.

"Oh. This looks. Interesting." Peridot blinked.

Lapis frowned. "Ruby and Sapphire," she guessed. "I don't think you ever met them? They graduated last year."

"No, I had no idea students would be coming, really. But I guess ex students are a different deal."

“Well, students are at the receiving end of Diamond’s homophobia just as much as staff,” Lapis said. “Ruby and Sapphire were very much affected last year. They were voted inofficial prom queens and Diamond just got… bitter.”

She opened the door and climbed out. “Thank you for driving us, Ms Spearmint!” she said, smiling at Peridot’s mum.

Peridot's mother nodded. "I'll be back to pick you up later. Text me, Peri."

Peridot nodded. "Alright! Let's go, then."

Jasper led the way, still unusually quiet. She rang the doorbell.

Rose opened, her face slightly red. “Oh, hi! Hello, everyone. Do come in – do you want drinks? Ruby and Sapphire are here, we’re only expecting, er, two more people.” Though whether those two would actually show up was still a little questionable.

"Thanks!" Peridot walked in. "You got apple juice?"

“Sure!” Rose stepped aside. Greg was in the kitchen, providing refreshments; he was happy to help out, but didn’t want to get involved too much.

“The kitchen is on your right, and the living room is straight ahead,” Rose said, pointing. “Do make yourself at home.”

She exchanged a respectful nod with Jasper, and smiled at Lapis.

Ruby sat open legged in a pair of shorts, sipping at a cola. The second the trio walked in, her face brightened up. "Whoa, shit! I didn't think the coach was coming."

“Didn’t you even have a look at all the people the email was addressed to?” Lapis said. Her and Ruby had never mixed all that well, back when Ruby had still attended. “Nice to see you again,” she said anyway.

“Nice to see you too,” Sapphire said, her voice only a little cooler than usual.

“Hey, you two,” Jasper said, brightly. Finally able to tear her thoughts away from Lapis and how she’d hurt her. “How are you doing?”

Ruby didn't have much time to react to Lapis and chose to ignore her in favour of beaming at her old coach. "Made the football team at uni!"

“Good, good,” Jasper said. “Do you still dance at all?”

"Nah. Don't have the time for it anymore."

Peridot sat on the other couch, examining the pillows. "These are some very environmentally motivated cross stitches."

Rose smiled at her. “Well, I try to be as conscious as possible,” she said, “I cycle to work most mornings, and I try to buy organic whenever I can. Please, make yourself at home!”

She found her chair, checked the clock. If Aurora and Amethyst were coming, they were already almost ten minutes late.

Give them a few more minutes. At least until Greg is done making drinks for everyone.

Almost on cue, Greg walked in with a wide tray, stocked up with various drinks. "Alright, who ordered the bloody Mary?"

As eyes scattered around the room, Ruby shrugged. "Rose did say I could ask for anything."

Rose frowned, but said nothing. She waited until everyone had their drinks, then sighed as everyone’s attention started to focus on her.

“Well, I suppose you all know each other,” she said, “and I don’t know if anyone else is going to come, so…”

She took a deep breath.

“Well. You all read the email. I’m suspended until the end of exams, and Diamond has no proof but the word of a… student.”

She tried not to let her bitterness show in her voice. From the faces she got, she suspected she was failing. The only one who did not look surprised was Sapphire.

“She’s still being very serious… recorded our conversation after the fair, and everything. I have reason to believe that she is singling me out because I’m queer – not because of an alleged relationship wi-“

The doorbell rung.

Rose stopped, frowned. “Hang on, I’ll get that.”

Lapis watched her leave before clearing her throat. "Just saying, there's nothing alleged about that relationship. She's just trying to damage control."

Rose opened the door to Aurora and Amethyst.

“Oh, hello!” she said. “Do come in, I’m so glad you could make it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Amy said, “I’m not here for you, just to bring down Diamond.”

Aurora gave Rose a nod. Rose stepped aside to let them in.

Amy didn’t bother taking off her shoes, and instead made her way to the living room. Huh, so this was where Quartz lived. Pearl had been here.

She sighed and then realised she was the only student in the room.

“Ruby! Sapphire!” Aurora recognised them and crossed the room. “This is Amy – Amy, Ruby, Sapphire. They danced with Pearl last year.”

“Oh! You’re the infamous gays,” Amy said, a lot more comfortable as she settled down next to them. Casting an awkward smile at her teachers.

“That we are,” Sapphire said. “And you’re Pearl’s... friend.”

Amy grimaced. “Yeah, I guess you could call it that,” she said.

Sapphire frowned. “I can tell it’s a complicated relationship. She’ll probably try to make amends soon.”

Rose came over, having overheard some of their conversation. “Well, it’s not like she can count on me anymore,” she said, her voice bitter. “Not after this.”

Amy cowered a little under her gaze.

“It’s okay, Amethyst,” Rose said with a smile. “We’ve only had the same goals from the start, haven’t we? And I’m determined to protect everyone in this room.”

She gave a smile to Aurora before settling down again.

“Well, now that we’re complete,” she said, “let me start again. The short version is that... someone told the Principal about my closeness to a student, and now I’m suspended.”

“Right,” Lapis chimed in. “Cards on the table, Quartz. If we’re going to help you, we need you to be honest. How much is true, how far did you go?”

Rose blushed, avoided Lapis’s questing gaze.

“Most of it is true,” she said, “I did have a relationship with a student. I... there’s no point keeping it from you, since all of you already know. Pearl and I... were in a relationship, I – I have to admit I let my feelings get the better of me... and it didn’t work out. So she...” She pressed her lips together. Determined to stay strong in front of these people.

“So she decided to rat you out to Diamond,” Aurora said softly. “I was there. I – I knew you’d be suspended even before the fair.”

Rose closed her eyes, breathed a sigh.

“Her suspending me is justified,” she said, “I did something I shouldn’t have. However... I’m still very narrowly within the bounds of the legal. Pearl and I were never intimate. The furthest we’ve gone is kissing.”

Amethyst felt her eyes burn. That... the fact that Quartz said it that way made jealousy boil in her stomach.

“So, if your suspension is justified, what are we doing here?” Lapis said again, apparently eager to play devil’s advocate.

“Oh. Yeah,” Rose said. “Well, like I said before, I’m fairly sure she’s singling out people who are queer. Including trans kids – I know Buck’s had his name change form denied for months, for no particular reason. This is the latest symptom and I feel she’d turn a blind eye if it was a male teacher with a female student.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case,” Jasper said. Ruby and Sapphire nodded.

“So I wanted to ask you if you wanted to help me form a plan,” Rose said. “Get Diamond out... or at least expose her. I have no concrete evidence, but any testimonials would be very helpful.” She nodded at Ruby and Sapphire. “Does anyone have any ideas?”

Jasper, who’d been quiet at first, spoke up.

“Code names,” she said.

Lapis threw her a look.

“We had code names,” Jasper said again, “you remember, back when we first discussed it with you? Most of us work at the school. Or go to it. We’ll be discussing things there. We need code.”

Peridot sat up.

“I’m good with code!” she said, sounding excited. “What code do you have in mind?”

Jasper swallowed. “Uh,” she said, “didn’t we say the Principal was Yellow Diamond...?”

“Big Yellow,” Lapis corrected her, a small smile on her face.

“Big Yellow, yeah, that was it. Her secretary was Yellow Pearl-“

Aurora cleared her throat, frowning.

“Oh, sorry.” Jasper blushed. “Uh. If you don’t like it we can think of something else.”

“No, it’s... oddly fitting.” Aurora shifted, her frown not completely gone. “Go ahead.”

“Um,” Jasper said. “Lapis, can you remember them? Or Rose? You were there too, after all.”

“I think that was all we had,” Lapis said.

“Okay,” Rose said. “Code names are a good idea. Just so she doesn’t catch wind of what’s going on. Does anyone have any other suggestions?”

Sapphire spoke. “We need a name for this group of ours,” she said, “for the same reason. You won’t be able to call it the anti-Diamond-club.”

Rose nodded, thoughtful. Silence fell.

“Anti-Yellow-club?” Amethyst suggested.

Aurora shot her a dark look. “There’s nothing wrong with the colour yellow.”

Amy blushed. “Sorry.”

Silence fell once more.

“I got it!” Peridot said. “How about the Gem Alliance? Cus, ya know, Diamond is a gem. So is...” She had a look around the room, turned a little red. “Ah, well. Um.”

“Most of us,” Ruby said.

Rose frowned. “It still sounds too much like an organisation,” she said, “and anything that’ll raise suspicion even slightly is not good enough.”

“She’s got a point, though,” Amethyst said. “Hasn’t anyone else noticed how we’re all called after gems? How weird is that? I mean, cool, but... weird.”

“Speak for yourself,” Aurora muttered.

Amy nudged her. “Hey, I’m sure there’s some kind of weird gem out there called Aurora.”

“Thanks.”

“Let’s not get off track,” Rose cautioned. “I feel like we might be onto something with the gems. Are there any other ideas apart from the Gem alliance?”

Everyone went silent again. A good minute passed without anyone saying a word.

“Uh,” Greg walked in. “Does anyone want any more drinks? I got sent some Crystal Pepsi from the states.”

Eight pairs of eyes turned to stare at him.

“I got it,” Amethyst said.

“That’s a brilliant idea,” Sapphire said.

“Yeah,” Lapis and Jasper said in unison.

“Definitely.” Rose nodded.

Greg looked back and forth between all of them.

“What the hell just happened?” he asked.

Rose smiled at him. “Something amazing,” she said. “Bring some of the Crystal Pepsi and we’ll mix it with some drinks. I’ll tell you about it later, or you can join in, if you want.”

Greg nodded and left.

“He’s an outsider, Rose,” Lapis said immediately after the door closed behind him. “We should try to keep this as small as possible.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t have a cool gem name!” Amethyst chimed in.

“Speaking of,” Ruby said, “did we not just find the perfect name for our little group?”

“The Crystal Gems,” Rose said, “yes.”

“I like it,” Peridot said.

“Yeah, me too.” Aurora risked a small smile.

“As for Greg,” Rose said, “well, I’ll likely tell him everything anyway, so he might as well sit in.” She shrugged. “Okay, so we have a name. Now we need an agenda.”

The door opened and Greg came in.

“Oh, thank you!” Rose took the Crystal Pepsi from him. “Feel free to join us, if you’d like. We have a name now.”

“Yeah, we’re the Crystal Gems!” Ruby exclaimed.

“Oh, that’s a great name!” Greg said, sitting down. “What’re you going to do?”

Rose blushed. “We were getting to that.”

“Diamond,” Jasper said softly.

“Yeah.” Rose gave a soft sigh. “She needs to be taken down. The question is... how.”

“I got plenty of evidence,” Ruby said, cracking their knuckles. “Dunno if it’s enough to fire her, but it’s a start.”

“Yes, it is,” Rose said. “Do we have anything else to go on?”

She shot a hopeful look at Aurora, who pointedly avoided her gaze. Amethyst looked like she was about to say something, but then looked at Aurora and stopped.

“We got a few instances of her being annoying, but nothing you can prove,” Jasper said, “and anyway, you’re the best person for finding irrefutable evidence, aren’t you, Rose?”

It was a jab about Roxy, and it hit its mark. It stung. Rose gave a non-committal shrug.

“Well, the aim is to find something that will discredit her, maybe damage her reputation, and in the best case, remove her in her position of power,” she said. “She’s done so much damage. It’s the least we can do to protect our students.”

“Agreed,” Lapis said.

“But we don’t have much proof. We should try and find more.”

A few of the others nodded.

“Well, there’s not all that much we can do just now,” Rose said. “We have a name, and a mission. We should reconvene at some other point and discuss the evidence then, as well as plans of action.”

More nods.

“Feel free to stay and have some more drinks,” Rose said, “but for now, this meeting is adjourned.”

> Act V, Chapter XXVIII

#pearlrose #jaspis #jaspisdot #jaspidot #lapidot #rupphire #gregrose #steven universe #su fanfic #educating the victim #etv act 5 #illustrated

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deniscollins · 6 years

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Did You Vote? Now Your Friends May Know (and Nag You)

Political science research has shown that people turn out to vote in higher numbers when they think their family and neighbors are observing their civic behavior. If you were a manager, what would you do, send a remember to vote email to: (1) nobody, (2) all employees, or (3) employees who haven’t voted in previous elections? Why? What are the ethics underlying your decision?

My dentist, a registered Republican, did not vote in the last midterm elections, in 2014.

But the owner of my local bookstore, a registered Democrat, did vote then. So did my accountant, who is not registered with either party.

I know these details not because the dentist, the bookseller and the accountant volunteered to share their voting histories with me. I found out from VoteWithMe and OutVote, two new political apps that are trying to use peer pressure to get people to vote Tuesday.

The apps are to elections what Zillow is to real estate — services that pull public information from government records, repackage it for consumer viewing and make it available at the touch of a smartphone button. But instead of giving you a peek at house prices, VoteWithMe and OutVote let you snoop on which of your friends voted in past elections and their party affiliations — and then prod them to go to the polls by sending them scripted messages like “You gonna vote?”

“I don’t want this to come off like we’re shaming our friends into voting,” said Naseem Makiya, the chief executive of OutVote, a start-up in Boston. But, he said, “I think a lot of people might vote just because they’re frankly worried that their friends will find out if they didn’t.”

Whom Americans vote for is private. But other information in their state voter files is public information; depending on the state, it can include details like their name, address, phone number and party affiliation and when they voted. The apps try to match the people in a smartphone’s contacts to their voter files, then display some of those details.

The data’s increasing availability may surprise people receiving messages nudging them to vote — or even trouble them, by exposing personal politics they might have preferred to keep to themselves. Political campaigns have for years purchased voter files from states or bought national voter databases from data brokers, but the information has otherwise had little public exposure outside of campaign use. Now any app user can easily harness such data to make inferences about, and try to influence, their contacts’ voting behavior.

“You want to use that gentle social pressure around voting,” said Amanda Coulombe, general manager of organizing at NGP VAN, a campaign technology company for Democrats, “but really making sure you are balancing that with not freaking people out.”

The apps could also have unintended consequences, said Ira Rubinstein, a senior fellow at the Information Law Institute at New York University School of Law who studies voter privacy.

For one thing, he said, people could use the apps to create contact lists of acquaintances, strangers or public figures they do not like and maliciously publicize their voting histories. As a hypothetical example, he said, religious leaders might be outed for registering with a political party whose platform runs counter to their institution’s doctrine.

“I don’t think there are any particular safeguards to prevent people from just assembling a contact list for more malicious purposes, acquiring this information and using it to harass or coerce people,” Mr. Rubinstein said.

The apps’ developers say they are simply democratizing access to these public records.

The apps are free for consumers to use. But OutVote, which received seed funding last summer from Y Combinator, a well-known start-up accelerator, also works with political candidates and groups that pay fees to use the app as part of their campaigns. VoteWithMe was developed by the New Data Project, a nonprofit founded by Obama administration appointees.

Anyone can use the apps, but executives say they hope to improve voter turnout particularly among young Democrats. The VoteWithMe app, for instance, is preset to show likely Democrats among a user’s contacts. Users must change the app’s settings to see the voting histories of all of their contacts. Some Republican political apps also enable consumers to send scripted messages, but do not show their contacts’ voting history.

Political science research has shown that people turn out to vote in higher numbers when they think their family and neighbors are observing their civic behavior. The VoteWithMe and OutVote apps simply automate that surveillance and social pressure.

“The message is going to be coming from someone that not only knows who you are but knows that you didn’t vote last time,” said Mikey Dickerson, the executive director of the New Data Project, who served as chief of the United States Digital Service under President Barack Obama. “We are trying to engineer a situation where there is a social expectation that they do vote.”

Lily Jampol, a diversity and inclusion consultant in San Francisco, downloaded the VoteWithMe app last Monday. By Tuesday afternoon, she said, she had sent dozens of text messages to people in her contacts.

“I’ve been optimizing, trying to wrangle for people who I think will be most affected,” said Ms. Jampol, a behavioral scientist.

The apps also distinguish engaged voters from wayward ones.

If someone in your contacts list has a perfect voting record, OutVote identifies him or her as a “super voter” and displays an emoji of a smiley face with red hearts for eyes next to the name. For those “woke friends who vote,” it suggests sending a message saying: “I know you’re gonna vote on November 6 DUH, but make sure to remind your friends too!”

Both apps display election years that people have skipped with a big red slash next to their names. OutVote marks voters who missed elections with a sad-faced emoji dripping a tear.

To test the apps, reporters at The New York Times created a mock contact list of politicians and celebrities with their names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and workplaces and other data about them. The results suggest how easy it can be to use the information to pry into someone’s personal life.

Among other things, the apps indicated that Senator John Thune, the South Dakota Republican who recently led hearings on consumer privacy, and Senator Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat, each faithfully voted in every general, primary and municipal election dating back to 2004.

They also reported that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat running for the House, did not vote in the last midterm elections in 2014. Nor did Alyssa Milano, an actress and activist who recently posted a video on Twitter urging her followers to vote.

A spokesman for Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said that she was purged from the New York voter rolls in 2016 and that he was looking into 2014. Ms. Milano said, in a message sent via her publicist, that she was dealing at the time with severe postpartum depression after the premature birth of her daughter.

By inspecting data that the apps harvested from our contacts, The Times also found that they took more personal data than required to match voters — such as the workplace and email address of Senator Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican.

After queries from The Times, VoteWithMe and OutVote each said they had eliminated some types of data that their apps were harvesting. In subsequent testing last week, The Times found that VoteWithMe no longer collected email addresses, street names and numbers, or company names. But OutVote continued to do so. Mr. Makiya of OutVote said the app had stopped collecting social profile data but needed the email addresses to match voter files.

For the midterm elections, OutVote is also working with Vote.org, a nonprofit organization that tries to increase voter participation, on a nonpartisan app.

That app allows users to send messages asking contacts to vote — without displaying those contacts’ voting histories. It also collects data on users’ contacts and matches them to voter files to help Vote.org track whether people who received messages were more likely to vote than people who did not.

Debra Cleaver, chief executive of Vote.org, said the app was part of an experiment to determine the efficacy of such digital social pressure tools. It might turn out, she said, that it takes messages from several friends to get someone to vote.

The app’s news release, however, did not disclose that users would be part of an experiment, nor did the descriptions of Vote.org’s app in the Google Play and Apple app stores. A Vote.org spokeswoman said the app’s privacy policy informed users that the group may use their data to measure the effectiveness of its programs.

“No one really knows whether peer-to-peer technology has been successful this year,” Ms. Cleaver said. “I think we should be cautiously optimistic but realistic.”

#Voting

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learnprogress · 7 years

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RESIST: Nearly 1 Million Join Movement to Strip Congress of Their Healthcare. Do You Support Them?

A petition to take away healthcare subsidies from Congress is circulating and it has already garnered nearly one million signatures. The anti-Trumpcare movement is gaining traction.

Daniel Jimenez is proving that one person can change the world. His personal story prompted him to start a petition that has elicited a huge supportive response. The petition advocates stripping Congress of its health-care subsidies.

The petition advocates stripping Congress of its healthcare subsidies. After all, if they don’t think the American people need healthcare, why should they have any?

His rationale is based on the principle of fairness. Jimenez said, “An interesting fact is that people from both sides of the political spectrum seem to agree with me about Congress not receiving any special treatment that regular people do not have.”

The AHCA would put many people in jeopardy of losing health care. Unable to afford exorbitant premiums, those with preexisting conditions will face an impossible life and death situation.

Unlike the millions of Americans who are fearful of the consequences of the AHCA, Congress rests comfortably on the knowledge that its members will be unaffected. Jimenez is making a valiant effort to balance the scales.

His heartfelt petition states:

“Several years ago, my dad got the news that he had cancer. Sadly, he passed away. My dad had a job at the time, but his employer did not cover him, and without coverage, he avoided going to the doctor until it was too late. As Congress and President Trump try to pass a new healthcare law, I’m reminded of my father and whether he would have made it if he had early access to cost-effective health care.

Affordable health care is in decline as premiums and health costs increase at exponential rates. Some politicians cannot relate to the cost burden experienced by families across the nation because they’ve historically received health benefits that most Americans have not.

Like millions of people who are panicking about possible changes to their health insurance, I’m concerned the people elected to represent us won’t have to live with the consequences or expenses that the rest of us may have to face soon. I want lawmakers to commit to treating themselves just like those who will be impacted by ACA repeal or replacement.

A lot of Members of Congress promote choice as an American value, which is all the more reason for them to have to continue to choose their own health coverage from the free marketplace. If private health care is good for the American citizen, it should also be good for the people that defend it.

If Congress is willing to drastically cut healthcare subsidies for most people, are they willing to have the same rules apply to them and their families?”

Under the AHCA, Congress may be able to seek refuge under the Federal Employees Health benefits Program. This program would allow them to choose from a multitude of low-cost, high-quality health plans. It’s just not right.

POLL: Should Congress lose their healthcare?

If they are willing to pry healthcare from the hands of everyday Americans, why should they keep theirs?

If you believe Congress should lose their healthcare just like millions of Americans will with the passing of the AHCA, vote in the poll. Our voices WILL be heard!

This inequity hearkens back to Congress’ plan to destroy American seniors’ 401K retirement savings while they sit back and enjoy their taxpayer-contributed retirement funds. They’re at it again; this time they plan to destroy health care.

“There are also some really sad and scary comments about people needing health insurance because of pre-existing conditions and are fearing for their lives if they lose their health care plan,” said Jimenez.

It’s easy for Congress to make decisions from the sidelines knowing that the legislation they impose will have no negative repercussions for them. If they face the possibility of losing their healthcare alongside the masses, maybe they will reconsider their stance on the issue.

Support Jimenez in his cause. Share this post on Facebook to help raise the number of signatures on his petition to over one million!

The post RESIST: Nearly 1 Million Join Movement to Strip Congress of Their Healthcare. Do You Support Them? appeared first on Learn Progress.

from RESIST: Nearly 1 Million Join Movement to Strip Congress of Their Healthcare. Do You Support Them?

#Congress #Healthcare #congress #healthcare #Trumpcare

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