Once upon a time STP would sponsor very fast and innovative Indy race cars. STP stood for “Specially Treated Petroleum” and was basically a long molecular chained oil thickening agent for older and worn out cars. Of course us rural kids at the time thought it stood for “Super Tractor Power”.

Nowadays you cannot find a small tractor that is manufactured in the USA. Rural America was built with tractors designed built and manufactured in the good old USA. Sure the largest corporate tractors are built here, but not everybody is a corporate farmer. They are still many rural homesteads in America. Unable to find a suitable domestically produced tractor, these people voted for Donald Trump.

If the CBO is correct the healthcare premiums for these same rural Americans would go up by $10,000 a year. Obviously this is a no go. Unable to afford any sort of tractor, let alone a USA tractor, we will vote the incumbents out. We may also grab our pitchforks.

We spend more on healthcare than any other country. Hire a couple of Cuban doctors and figure out how to reduce costs. Let the Unions negotiate the costs, then make them responsible for universal care. They are essentially paying for it anyway because the are overcharged to make up the deficit of the uninsured.

Rural America needs more small tractors, not more healthcare costs.