Thanks Obamacare; ditch it, GOP

Obamacare just came home to me in a very direct way. I've been informed that my monthly health care premiums will jump from $750 to $1175 in 2017. That's around 55-60% if my math is on.

As I'd been told that it was coming, it's not a complete shock. And I will certainly be looking around for better insurance at a better price, if, and I think that's a big if, there's actually something out there in that category.

Don't start about looking into government helping me pay for it. I don't qualify, and I'm philosophically opposed to that anyway. As with so many other things, food, clothes, housing, even education, if you can pay for it yourself, you should. What I want is a market system in health care which forces true competition among insurers and will drive prices down.

That's why I don't like rumblings from both President-elect Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan about not completely scuttling Obamacare but, rather, tweaking or streamlining it. That's not why I voted Republican, folks. I have to deal with the jibes and grief which some of my more liberal friends are throwing at me for less than I expected from the deal with you? I believe I speak for many conservatives to point out and reinforce that point. Don't toss us aside for the sake of playing politics.

If you want me to be self-reliant (and you should) then give me the tools to do that. But if you're just going to be Democrat lite, don't look for my vote in 2020.