Former Dallas Sheriff Lupe Valdez, the Democratic Nominee for Governor challenging GOP incumbent Gregg Abbott is determined to change that!. She sees affordable health care as a necessity for all Texans. Unlike Abbott, and the majority of the Texas Legislature, Valdez says that uninsured Texans is not cost-saving measure but a cruel, inhumane economic blight on the state's economy.
Debt from mounting health care cost buries families under debt. Sick people cannot work. Absenteeism from work and default on debt hurts the uninsured and the business community. There is no win win to Texas having the highest percent of uninsured adults in the nation.
There are a lot of issues in this campaign. One clear-cut black and white point of delineation between the positions of the GOP incumbent and Valdez, who served four terms as Sheriff of Dallas County is the necessity for Texans to have access to affordable health care.
Valdez has a reputation for facing the tough questions and finding solutions to challenges which defied her predecessors. She is noted for making decisions based on the necessity for positive outcomes for the people served by the office she headed. Unlike Abbott who is noted for creating photo ops which create the appearance of addressing important issues while not actually acting on those issues, Valdez rarely "played to the camera's" for sound bites.
Another issue that the former Sheriff and current Governor disagree on is how to address Gun Violence. Abbott receives the highest rating by the NRA and their PACs campaign donations. After mounting public outcry following the school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, Abbott convened session with parents teachers to discuss school shooting. Sheriff Valdez, also someone who favors licensed concealed carry, favors legislation to strengthen gun background checks and to remove firearms from those who are charged with domestic violence and other violent crimes. Abbott opposes the legislation. He proposes arming teachers with rifles and says that these arms should not be kept in lock cases but handy in the classroom. Valdez and most teachers strongly oppose having unlocked firearms around children except in the hands of licensed law enforcement /trained security personnel.
More children and teachers have been killed in school shootings in the USA in the past year than in military service at home or in combat zones around the world. The health of children and teachers is at risk and Greg Abbott is not willing to examine any proposed solution which may displease the NRA. He has used anti-health care rhetoric for several election cycles and now the state, under his administration has the highest percentage of uninsured adults in the nation.
Teacher in Texas pay very high premiums for health insurance which requires each covered member of their family to meet a $1500 a year deduction before the insurance pays one cent of their health care cost. These teachers are now in a high risk profession where they have a greater risk of being shot or killed than most active duty military personnel. Greg Abbott fails at leading the state in finding solutions which work for all Texans.
To donate to the Lupe Valdez for Governor campaign: https://bit.ly/helpLupe
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