Planning Ahead
by digby
I recall being scolded by some very smart people for saying that the health care bill was not like other “entitlements” because it was going to be subject to repeal in ways that could throw the whole rube goldberg contraption out of sync and result in health care costs going through the roof and bringing it down of its own weight. The long lag time before implementation and the possibility of pulling out specific items either for court review or outright repeal always spelled trouble to me. I was informed that there was no chance the Republicans would ever be able to do it because … it just never happens.
I continue to wonder if they will be able to accomplish this but the idea that Republicans don’t have the will to do it is foolish. Indeed, they are getting started already. This is from John Boehner’s web site:
House Republicans plan to force a vote as soon as today on a measure that would repeal the job-killing, unconstitutional ‘individual mandate’ at the heart of ObamaCare. This proposal, to be offered by House Ways & Means Committee Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI), will be offered as the Republican motion-to-recommit on H.R. 5486, the so-called Small Business Jobs Tax Relief Act of 2010.
Rep. Camp’s idea has been posted here on the America Speaking Out website, and Americans are urged to visit, read about the proposal, and share their ideas. House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) voiced strong support for this effort to strike at the heart of ObamaCare:
“House Republicans will force a vote to end the job-killing ‘individual mandate’ at the heart of ObamaCare during the debate on the small business deficit spending bill. We’ll highlight our effort using the ‘America Speaking Out’ website to call attention to what will be, literally, the biggest vote on the new health care law since it passed. This is a first step in Republicans’ efforts to repeal ObamaCare and replace it with commonsense, step-by-step reforms to lower costs.”
This move comes one day after the new health care law experienced its latest setback, this time in the form of new job-killing mandates that flatly contradict President Obama’s now-infamous ‘if you like it, you can keep it’ pledge. The coverage controversy is the latest in a growing list of broken promises that have solidified the American people’s opposition to this job-killing health care law:
“If You Like Your Health Care Plan” … Too Bad. In stark contrast to President Obama’s oft-stated pledge that, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan,” his administration yesterday issued new job-killing mandates that will force a majority of the nation’s employers – including as many as four out of every five small businesses – to change or drop their coverage as the government sees fit. Even the Administration acknowledged its reversal, allowing “that some people, especially those who work at smaller businesses, might face significant changes in the terms of their coverage.”
ObamaCare Will Increase Costs, Not Lower Them As Promised. Despite President Obama’s claim that his health care plan would “slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government,” analyses by both the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office and the Obama Administration’s Medicare actuary have confirmed that the new health care law will actually raise health care costs by $311 billion over 10 years.
ObamaCare Forces Millions of Seniors Off Medicare Coverage. Last week, President Obama re-launched his health care plan by promoting Medicare rebate checks that more than nine in 10 Medicare beneficiaries will never receive. An analysis conducted by the President’s own Medicare actuary indicates that the new health care law includes roughly $575 billion in Medicare cuts, which will be used to fund the creation of a massive new entitlement program. As a result of these cuts, enrollment in the popular Medicare Advantage program will be slashed in half.
ObamaCare Is Anti-Small Business. In April, Obama sought to reassure “jittery” small business owners by touting a health care tax credit in the ObamaCare bill that he claimed was “pro-jobs” and “pro-business.” But according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) – which joined 20 states in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of ObamaCare – the tax credit the Administration cites “will do little to nothing to make purchasing insurance more affordable for small firms.” According to the NFIB, only 12 percent of small businesses would benefit in any way, and the credit goes away after a short period of time.
President Obama has tried to deflect attention away from these broken promises with another tireless taxpayer-funded PR campaign, but the American people have spoken – again. Republicans are listening, and advancing this effort to repeal ObamaCare and replace it with commonsense, step-by-step reforms to lower costs and protect American jobs.
I’m sure Boehner has no delusions that this will pass and obviously even if it did, the president wouldn’t sign it. (Update: It didn’t.) But that’s not the point. They are building support and trying out the rhetoric they hope to use if they get lucky enough to take over the congress and the presidency by 2012. Indeed, it could even work in 2016 if the implementation of the health care reforms goes badly in a continued bad economy. Anything could happen.
My personal feeling is that the mandate will be challenged in court and that the Roberts court is highly likely to find a way to deem it unconstitutional (something which the presence of a public option in the mix might have mitigated.) The Right understands the full effect of political action and they build conventional wisdom and public pressure to affect congress, the press — and the Supreme Court.This move is designed to help that effort as much as lead to outright repeal.
I don’t know if the Democrats are similarly planning for adjustments to the health care reforms as a contingency or if they’ve just checked that off the agenda and are moving on to the next item but the Republicans certainly haven’t.
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