Phoebe Nguyen (888613221)
Professor Spitzer
POSC 100 Tues./Thurs. 4-5:15pm
06 November 2018
Election Paper
The upcoming 2018 midterm election is considered extremely important because all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 seats in the Senate will be contested. The results will determine if the Democratic or Republican party will once again take over the House, and whether or not they will continue or kill the current legislative agenda. Democrats stand for equality amongst all. The main goal on their agenda is to build up an economy that benefits all Americans and not just those already on the top. They also believe that we are better as a union because it’ll build up our country’s foundations to succeed. Republicans stand on the basis of our Constitution and how it is a non flexible document. They believe in a limited government and that the rights of the people should remain uncompromised for many generations to come.
There are many issues to be discussed in this upcoming election, but a few are more important to me than others. For example, the issue regarding health care is something I consider important. The reason being is because ever since the Trump/Pence administration had been put into place, our health care has been majorly jeopardized. Their attacks on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid have made it extremely difficult for not only families, but ⅕ women to access things such a basic care, birth control without copay, potential life saving cancer screenings, and maternity care. On that note, the topic of abortion is also important to me and many other women. Within the past year, Congress has attempted to pass multiple bills, and state legislatures have passed more than 60 measures. This has made it almost impossible for women to access what we consider a safe and legal abortion. Another issue I find important is California’s tax on gas. We as Californian consumers pay up to $0.71 in taxes for every gallon of gas we buy to fill up our tanks, which is considered the highest out of all the states in the country. As a full time student who commutes 30 minutes to school 4/7 days a week, this issue is important to me because gas is always the reason as to why there is a dent in my wallet.
Now that we know which issues I consider as the most important, we will move on to discuss the candidates from the 47th district, Democrats, and Republicans position regarding them. U.S. representative Alan Lowenthal is a democrat of the 47th district and is the candidate that strongly represents my family’s home. He believes that health care is a right, not a just a privilege and supports legislations that allow hard working American families to be healthy, living long lives. Lowenthal also believes that instead of getting rid of the ACA, we should work harder to ensure that even more Americans are covered. The overall Democratic party has the same views as Lowenthal of all Americans having some form of basic healthcare. They are also committed to keeping the ACA around regardless of what Trump’s Republican administration may do. With that being said, Republicans’ views on health care is completely different. They believe government involvement with healthcare will affect efficiency and compromise the relationship between a patient and their physician. As for their view on abortion, Republicans are strongly against the funding of it because they do not condone the “destruction” of a life. Moving onto the issue of gas taxes in California, John Briscoe, a republican candidate of the 47th district wants to stop the ridiculous taxes and have California spend that money on auto related expenditures such as highways.
Based of previous voting patterns, I predict that the Democratic party will regain majority in the House of Representatives, but Republicans will retain majority within the Senate. The reason as to why I believe that Republicans will retain majority in the Senate is because Democrats only narrowly won some seats in the last election. If the Democrats were to win both, then they would be able to put a halt to the current legislative agenda, but because I predict they will only regain the House, it would only make it more difficult for Republicans to pass laws and president Trump may be faced with impeachment. The predicted results will affect the issues I care about in more of a positive way rather than negative. Because bills introduced are first presented to the chamber, then the Senate, and president, any bill they may disapprove of such as the repeal of the ACA or unreasonable abortion regulations will not be passed. This will ensure that families and women all have the basic access to healthcare.
Overall, the 2018 midterm election will be one of the most important elections to go down in United States history not only because there are 35 seats in the Senate are being contested, but so are all 435 seats in the House of Representatives. With the many arising issues, it is important for everyone eligible to vote to do so because it may determine whether or not a women is able to have a safe and legal abortion or a family is able to gain basic access to healthcare.