On March 6, I attended a Town Hall meeting held by 7th District Congressman David Rouzer, a Republican. I am a resident of the 9th District, but Rep. Robert Pittenger was not holding any meetings of this kind and I wanted to personally experience what I had seen in news reports.

Most of the questions and comments from the public were about the Affordable Care Act, and not one person spoke in favor of repealing it. Well, except for Congressman Rouzer of course. He was very critical of the ACA, although he did admit that he and all of his staff members as well as nearly all members of Congress and their staffs, are covered by the ACA. Mr. Rouzer made it clear that getting rid of “Obamacare” was a Republican priority.

So imagine my surprise to read news coverage this morning that the latest version of the Republican plan to repeal and replace the ACA’s most important components will have one notable exemption- Congressional members and their staffs. Yes, the ACA that Republicans claim to be desperate to get rid because it is so bad for America is so good for Republican Congressional members and their staffs they will be keeping its provisions for themselves even if it is repealed the states where they reside.

Hypocrisy is defined by the New Oxford American Dictionary as “the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform; a pretense.” In this case, hypocrisy is all too clearly a synonym for Republican.

Patricia Sheppard

Tar Heel