In an op-ed at AL.com, Danner Kline is throwing his hat in the congressional race for the 6th District of Alabama. Danner Kline is the founder of the Free The Hops movement that successfully changed state laws regarding craft beer and breweries in Alabama.
Because of the Free The Hops campaign, you can buy craft beer in any grocery store in Alabama. You can also visit dozens of craft breweries across the state, because of Free The Hops.
Now Kline is ready to make some more change in Washington.
AL.com's op-ed by Kline begins as such:
On Friday, March 24th, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan cancelled the planned vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the bill he had proposed to repeal and replace Obamacare. Ryan admitted: Obamacare remains the law of the land for the foreseeable future. He plainly stated House leaders were abandoning their attempt.
This is the most stunning violation of a promise in the modern history of American politics.
The repeal and replacement of Obamacare has been the centerpiece of Congressional Republicans' message to voters for seven years and after only a few weeks of working they just gave up - on the bill and on improving your health care.
He letter writes:
Fixing the problems with our health care system is not a hopeless task. It's possible to create more competition for insurers. It's possible to make premiums more affordable for you. It's possible to improve health care for everyone.
Improving subsidies or lowering the eligibility age for Medicare alone would improve the system, but the folks we elected to Congress couldn't agree on either of them.
I do not believe there is only one possible path forward and there is no shortage of ideas that could work. I intend to listen to consumers, doctors, hospital administrators, and other stakeholders to find the most practical ways to improve the system. Doing that requires a person to prioritize pragmatism over ideology, something the current representative in this district is unwilling or unable to do.
The Alabama 6th district he will run in is composed of portions of Birmingham: nearly all of Jefferson County outside of Birmingham, and the entirety of Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Coosa, and Shelby counties. It is currently represented by Republican Gary Palmer.
So what is your response to Kline's candidacy? Will you vote for him? Do you think he can help make change with health care?
See the AL.com op-ed in full, by Kline, here.
Photo credit: Danner Kline Twitter