In spite of majorities in both houses of Congress, the republican leadership failed-again-to wipe out the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka “Obamacare;” all they had to replace it with was either tax breaks for billionaires, or nothing at all, just straight repeal.

Fortunately there were Republicans who paid more attention to their constituents that to their leaders, Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan; as short as “Obamacare” falls in covering all Americans with health insurance, it was a great improvement over  how it used to be, when fifty-five million Americans had no coverage at all. Still, we must continue to  work towards a single-payer health insurance system, as in Canada-“Medicare for all.”

Public activism-people demonstrating in the streets, in town halls, and in congressional offices, phoning or e-mailing Congress-members-definitely turned the tide against the republican “plan,” showing that people power can override Washington power brokers and lobbyists.

It’s something to keep up; we can no longer count on the Democratic National Committee leadership to fight the republican onslaught, they being all to willing to try to make a deal-with people who don’t believe in compromise, and with a party dominated by the most extreme and violent elements of American politics. we the American people are the real opposition party; let’s keep fighting, and we’ll keep winning.