job of a legislator

 Respond one of your colleagues’ posts by offering a possible resolution to their  questions/concerns with supporting documentation.

at least 2 references in each peer responses! 

According to Feldstein (2006), the number one job of a legislator is to get reelected. With this in mind, we can see that the driving force of how legislators vote on policies is greatly affected by the opinions of the people that are voting for them. According to Joel Teitelbaum in Laureat Education (2018), the ACA, Affordable Care Act, that was put in place by the Obama administration, barely passed legislation with no votes from Republicans in office. With the shift now from Obama, a democratic president to now President Trump, a republican president and administration, we can understand how legislators may vote differently in order to win or gain the voting support of Americans who voted a republican president into office. According to Brodie, Dean & Cho (2011), the opinions of Americans regarding the ACA was dependent on the geographical location and the political influence in that region which supports the statement that an elected legislator from an area is “paid” in votes. It is to the benefit of the legislator to vote according to the likelihood that their opinion on the issue is going to get them reelected.

The same theory stands in place for other political issues such as Medicaid and Medicare issues. Legislators will support or push through a law that they feel will gain the favor of the majority of their voting area in order to secure their career. This supports the idea that nurses have a large impact on health care policies in the United States and the obligation to voice our opinions. Many legislators though intelligent, may just not have the information or know what medical professionals know about issues that are affecting people (Laureate Education, 2018 b). There are 2.82 million nurses in the United States (Registered nurses number U.S. 2001-2016, 2018) and when we learn how to assess the needs of our communities, create a policy and learn how to present and communicate these policies to legislators, we can make a difference for our community and the health of our country.

According to Feldstein (2006), the number one job of a legislator is to get reelected. With this in mind, we can see that the driving force of how legislators vote on policies is greatly affected by the opinions of the people that are voting for them. According to Joel Teitelbaum in Laureat Education (2018), the ACA, Affordable Care Act, that was put in place by the Obama administration, barely passed legislation with no votes from Republicans in office. With the shift now from Obama, a democratic president to now President Trump, a republican president and administration, we can understand how legislators may vote differently in order to win or gain the voting support of Americans who voted a republican president into office. According to Brodie, Dean & Cho (2011), the opinions of Americans regarding the ACA was dependent on the geographical location and the political influence in that region which supports the statement that an elected legislator from an area is “paid” in votes. It is to the benefit of the legislator to vote according to the likelihood that their opinion on the issue is going to get them reelected.

The same theory stands in place for other political issues such as Medicaid and Medicare issues. Legislators will support or push through a law that they feel will gain the favor of the majority of their voting area in order to secure their career. This supports the idea that nurses have a large impact on health care policies in the United States and the obligation to voice our opinions. Many legislators though intelligent, may just not have the information or know what medical professionals know about issues that are affecting people (Laureate Education, 2018 b). There are 2.82 million nurses in the United States (Registered nurses number U.S. 2001-2016, 2018) and when we learn how to assess the needs of our communities, create a policy and learn how to present and communicate these policies to legislators, we can make a difference for our community and the health of our country.