Here’s a comment from a reader—nominally edited–on the piece I wrote on Senate candidate Dan Sullivan’s seeming lack of knowledge of healthcare. I found it particularly interesting because the writer, like me, is insured under ObamaCare. And although this person has realized the benefits of the program, he/she still remains opposed:

I appreciate your analysis and personal touch in this article. I somewhat ironically remain opposed to the ACA despite being on the exchange for the better part of a year. I can appreciate the benefits the ACA brings to the under-served and marginalized portions of the population–especially in terms of the relativity cost effective Medicaid expansion and emphasis on preventative care. My experience on the exchange was not terrible. It was difficult to navigate, but I didn’t really experience any of the horrible glitches. Going on the exchange allowed me to work as a private contractor and cut my hours from 45 a week to 38 and I appreciated having that flexibly.

My problems with the ACA stem less from the practical merits and more from principle. I disagree with how the bill was rammed through Congress and I believe the individual mandate is ultimately unconstitutional. While I believe access to affordable healthcare is important, I also don’t believe in subsidizing irresponsible behavior. There are definite benefits in terms of uninsured numbers and drop in expensive emergency room visits, however, I am very much the type of person who thinks “the ends justify the means” mentality is a slippery slope and threatens other constitutional freedoms. In this election, health care has quite honestly faded as an important issue to me as a voter.

I truly worry about the future of the state if Senator Reid continues to block access to Alaska’s natural resources. Natural resources are the life blood of the state for better or worse. We can debate the merits of diversifying the economy all we want, but in the near term natural resources remain the state’s best economic driver–meaning we need offshore revenue sharing, access to oil on federal lands, and a less militant EPA. Health care is defiantly an issue, but reversing oil decline and providing robust economic opportunity to Alaskans is the driving issue of 2014.