The United States House of Representatives has voted
dozens of times (at least 54) to overturn some or all of the health care
initiative known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or more familiarly,
Obamacare. In past instances, the action
was moot, virtually from the start, since Democrats controlled the Senate, and
the measure stood absolutely no chance of passing in that Chamber. In fact, it would likely never even be put to
a vote while the Senate was under the leadership of Nevada Senator Harry Reid.
However, those dynamics changed, effective last
November when Republicans gained control of the Senate due to the outcome of
the 2014 General Election. Now, there is
every reason to believe the Senate will not only entertain the bill, but will
probably try to join the House in passing it.
To be sure where politics are involved, there
will be parsing. Technically, it is
true, the GOP has voted to repeal Obamacare…in its entirety, only six times. One could argue that the first five were
enough, but oh well, nothing beats a failure but a try, or six tries, or in the
case of elements of Obamacare 54 tries.
Yes, depending upon your perspective, perhaps
you prefer to ignore the assaults on the program that were intended only to
undo portions of the program, or forget about those efforts that would have
delayed portions of the healthcare law.
Of course if you did that, you would be choosing to ignore the point
that each and every measure, whether proportional or nuclear, was intended, in
the end, to erase eradicate, and destroy the President’s health care law. In that spirit, 54 times sounds about right.
So yesterday, by a vote of 239-186, the House
voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, in its entirety. Thus, the GOP fired the first salvo at
Obamacare, under the aegis of the newly constructed 114th Congress. Some suggest yesterday’s vote was a mere
meaningless gesture, an act to welcome the newbies to the party.
One writer, the Atlantic’s Russell Berman
framed it thusly:
They’re
doing it for the freshmen — that is, the 47 House Republicans who just took
office a month ago and have never had the high honor and privilege of voting to
repeal Obamacare. By holding the vote, these lawmakers can head back to their
districts and tell their constituents that yes; they did everything they could
to get rid of the reviled law.
Added
one GOP aide: “We’re just getting it out of the way.”
The larger reality is it is clear this is just
the beginning of a new series of assaults on the program, launched by the
Republican-controlled Congress. While the
Senate is likely to consider the bill soon, in all probability, it will be
filibustered there. However, in the
unlikely event that lawmakers in the Senate broker a bill to totally repeal
Obamacare that clears the Senate, an all but certain veto waits when it reaches
the President’s desk.
And then, there is the Supreme Court, which
will in the next six months consider elements of the law when it weighs in on the
King v. Burwell case, in which some subsidies offered by the ACA are being
challenged. If the High Court upholds
the verdict reached in a lower court, it would severely undermine Obamacare,
and strengthen the GOP’s efforts to squash the law. To that end, there is increasing pressure on
the GOP to move into a proactive phase, and actually devise a substitute for
the current law. In fact, yesterday’s
measure directed a House Committee to begin work on an alternative to the ACA.
For their part, Democrats are skeptical the GOP
can or will actually be able to craft compromise legislation that surgically
excises the parts of the legislation they don’t like, while in effect holding
harmless the elements they find acceptable.
Representative Jim Himes (Democrat –
Connecticut) put it this way:
"Make no
mistake, the replacement plan is a total red herring. They would have you
believe that you can get rid of all the stuff that makes you uncomfortable —
the mandate, the subsidies — but keep all the good stuff. And that's just
fairytale. ... It's just dishonesty. They've had years and years and years to
come up with a replacement plan and haven't done so, so this is a little too
cute for school."
Yesterday’s
vote was significant in that three Republicans resisted the powerful allure of
Party Leadership and voted against the effort to fully repeal Obamacare. This is the first time any Republican in
Congress ever voted against total repeal.
John Katko,
New York, Bruce Poliquin, Maine, and Robert Dold, Illinois, all who hold seats
held in the previous term by Democrats, and likely to be contested in 2016,
voted against the measure. Democrats
cited votes by Dold, who served in the House in the 2011-2013 term, to repeal
the law, as well as statements by freshman Poliquin, vowing to do the same.
According to
Josh Schwerin, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee:
“Congressmen Dold and Poliquin appear to
be hoping voters will forget their original pandering on health care. As we get
closer to Election Day, we will see more and more of these chameleon votes.”
No Democrat crossed party lines to support
yesterday’s bill.
If you are a
student of history, or politics, or perhaps a movie buff, it’s time to stock up
on popcorn and your beverage of choice.
The action is just getting started, and it looks as though it may come
fast and furious.
The hyperbole
associated with the ACA has been pervasive.
Despite it, there is clear evidence that tens of millions more people
are insured, children get to spend more time on their parents policies,
pre-existing conditions do not result in disqualifying individuals for
coverage, and the rate/pace at which the cost of health insurance premiums
increase has slowed. When these pints
are taken into consideration, we are left with…”HouseRepublicans Vote to Repeal the Affordable Care Act: A Prime Example of PublicOfficials Taking Action Not in the Best Interests of the Citizenry!”
I’m done; holla back!
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