One of the first
actions republican lawmakers took after winning back the House in 2010 was to
call for a full repeal of ObamaCare. The
vote was symbolic in nature as republicans knew that they did not have the
votes in the Senate to push legislation forward much less think for a moment
that the president would put a signature on a piece of legislation that would
kill his prize possession. However, they
owed the vote to the people who showed their displeasure of the law and who were
responsible for republicans regaining control of the House.
And the people spoke loud of their displeasure in the new law that was forced
upon them through a Harry Reid orchestrated, midnight hour, Christmas Eve vote
that fostered zero republican support. The
2010 ouster of democrats from control of the House came by a net gain of 64
seats for Republicans, the single largest gain in the House since 1938. The people were PISSED! But the historic vote that shifted the power
of the House back to republicans was more than just the people venting their frustrations
with congress, it was them sending a mandate to republicans to repeal ObamaCare.
So it started, republican lawmakers and political pundits began the painstaking
campaign of demonstrating the countless shortfalls of ObamaCare to a logic deaf
liberal left whom of which were more interested in the possibility that the
highly controversial federal healthcare insurance regulation might bring
healthcare to a few million uninsured than they were that the facts clearly indicated
that ObamaCare was going to cost jobs, stifle business growth and burden the
entire middle class.
In a pseudo admission that the law was flawed, each time the subject
of repeal was raised, democrats would respond by saying “Tell us what you will
replace it with?”
Some republican lawmakers have taken the bait but in large, most stand on the
premise that you do not need to replace ObamaCare to repeal it. Certainly repealing ObamaCare would not end
the need for healthcare reform but there is no mandate for republicans to have
something ready to replace ObamaCare if it were to be repealed. Keep in mind, there was no reform measure or
legislation in place before ObamaCare, a repeal of the law simply removes a
failed attempt and prompts legislators to get back to work on a better and hopefully
bi-partisan solution.
ObamaCare has inflicted far more damage to the economy and middle class than
any good it has brought to the small number of individuals. That is not meant to minimize the relief ObamaCare
has brought to some but the intent of healthcare reform is not to damage a
nation’s economy and punish the entire middle class for the better good of a
few. Tweaking the law here and there
will not remove the fundamental flaw of ObamaCare being a One Size Fits All
federal mandate that does not suite the particular needs of the 50 states and
DC which make up our Republic.
Get Ready for the
Repeal Rhetoric
Yes, we are going to hear it again, democrats repeating over and over how many
times republicans have attempted to repeal ObamaCare. I believe at last count, democrats had it at
50. But as is often the case, the
rhetoric coming from the democrats is false.
It is true, Republicans have call for a number of full repeal votes for ObamaCare
but the count is in the single digits.
The first full repeal vote was called right after Republicans took
control of the House in 2010 and as previously stated, it was purely
symbolic. There have been three full
repeal votes which took place as part of the annual budget process, another
symbolic full repeal vote just after the Supreme Court decision came down on
the individual mandate and one other of which the symbolism behind the repeal
vote escapes me at the moment. No
matter, this adds up to only six times that republicans have voted for a full
repeal on ObamaCare, not the 50 plus times that democrats love to post all over
mainstream and social media in an effort to demonize republicans and mislead their
minions.
There have however been a number of other repeal votes relating to ObamaCare,
eight of these repeal votes were targeted at small pieces of the law, carried
bi-partisan support and were signed by the president. The balance of the repeal attempts targeted
pieces of the law that republicans have found to be unfair. While there was likely agreement on many of
these repeal efforts from the other side of the isle, each of these repeals
would have damaged the overall health of the law and therefore did not receive the
support of any democrats.
Remember How ObamaCare Was Passed
I believe it was Jefferson that said something on the lines of - no great
legislation should be passed by a slight majority.
Closing the conference room doors on Republicans, the versions of the ObamaCare
bills that were eventually brought to vote were crafted in a pure partisan
manner. Additionally the final senate
bill was manipulated to secure just enough Senate Democrat votes to avoid filibuster,
another go around to ensure that republican lawmakers had absolutely no input
to the outcome of the law. In a final
act of dishonesty, Harry Reid called the vote on the Senate bill late on New
Year’s Eve.
All that was left to do was to consolidate the House and Senate bills, take a
final vote and send the legislation off to be signed by the president. But an unexpected bump in the road emerged
when democrats lost one member that made the 60th vote they needed
to pass the final bill. They were, for
lack of a better term, screwed as they knew they could not bring over one more
vote without having to start over and gut even more out of the legislation, it
looked like all might be lost.
Enter Nancy Pelosi with her go around plan.
Pelosi proposed that instead of consolidating the House and Senate
bills, that instead the House adopt the Senate bill that had already been
passed thus avoiding the need for another vote in the Senate. The problem with this idea was that, as the
United States Constitution clearly states, all revenue bills much originate in the
House. A contentious debate ensued yet despite
the fact that the bill created 18 new taxes to pay for itself, the ObamaCare
bill was deemed NOT to be a tax! With the
debate ended, the House adopted the Senate bill and in what is without question
the most blatant abuse of executive power and unconstitutional act performed by
the president, Obama signed the ACA bill into law. But the story gets better, or worse actually.
Two years later the constitutionality of the Individual Mandate provision of
the law was challenge, republicans arguing that the government does not have
the constitutional authority to “fine” an individual for not purchasing a
healthcare plan. Without the Individual
Mandate, the ObamaCare law would fail.
Now, after arguing in 2010 that the bill was NOT A TAX to pass constitutional
muster, democratic lawmakers were now arguing that the Individual Mandate, a
key provision of ObamaCare was in fact a tax.
Democrats won the Supreme Court battle again, the court ruling that the
Individual Mandate was in fact a tax.
But wait, doesn’t this make the passage of the original bill fraudulent? With the Supreme Court ruling that the
Individual Mandate was in fact a tax, does this not require that the bill originate
in the House instead of the Senate? It
most certainly does but democrats turned their nose on the constitution and cheered
their own hypocrisy.
So no, there is no obligation for republicans to have a replacement for
ObamaCare. They were not invited to help
craft it, they were prohibited from debating it and they provided not a single
vote in favor of it. Most important,
republicans have been mandated by the people, not once but twice, to repeal the
law.
No comments:
Post a Comment