Hello, chickens coming home to roost! Long-time readers of C&L should be pretty familiar with Richard Mack, crazy Arizona sheriff who was last seen in public visiting the White House, while supporters outside called for President Obama's lynching.
Mack ought to be shaking the President's hand and thanking him for the Affordable Care Act, but he's not. Instead, he's raising money online to cover medical expenses incurred after he suffered a heart attack in January and his wife fell ill in late 2014.
Former Arizona county sheriff Richard Mack, a fierce opponent of Obamacare and a leader in the "constitutional sheriff" movement, is struggling to pay his medical bills after he and his wife each faced serious illnesses. The former sheriff and his wife do not have health insurance and started a GoFundMe campaign to solicit donations from family and friends to cover the costs of their medical care.
"Because they are self-employed, they have no medical insurance and are in desperate need of our assistance," reads a note on Mack's personal website.
Mack, the founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, suffered a heart attack in January and is in recovery. His wife fell ill late last year. Mack is on the board of Oath Keepers, a right-wing fringe group made up of police and military veterans, and is known for supporting Cliven Bundy in his standoff against the federal government. He is also an ardent opponent of Obamacare.
"The States do not have to take or support or pay for Obamacare or anything else from Washington DC. The States are not subject to federal direction," he wrote on his website, outlining how state governments can block President Obama.
The CSPOA lauded South Carolina for using Mack's 1992 lawsuit against gun control legislation to attempt to nullify the Affordable Care Act in the state.
I'm not one to take any form of pleasure at someone else's health issues, but come on, people. If Mack and his wife had signed up for policies on the federal exchange they wouldn't be asking supporters for money and worrying about it. They'd be focused on their health instead.
This is why the ACA is such an important piece of the safety net. This right here. It's not tyrannical; it's responsible. Do these people really believe you can go out and do Internet fundraisers for everyone who opts out of affordable health care because they've got some twisted idea of what government is doing? Obviously they can't.
Mack may raise the funds he needs to cover his medical bills, and he might even buy insurance for any future needs. But he can still thank the ACA for being able to buy insurance. Without it, he and his wife would have pre-existing conditions that wouldn't be covered by any pre-ACA policy. And annual limits. And lifetime limits.
But you'll never hear him acknowledge that.
