There Is No Obligation to Replace ObamaCare 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 a piece of legislation that would kill his prize possession. However, they owed the vote to the people that showed their displeasure in 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healthcare reform but there is no mandate for republicans to have something ready to replace ObamaCare if it were to be repealed.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 prompt 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 which I cannot recall for what the purpose it was called. But either way, 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 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. But Nancy Pelosi had a plan. She 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 between the parties, democrats arguing that despite the fact that the bill created 18 new taxes to pay for itself, the ObamaCare bill was NOT a tax! The debate finally ended, the House adopted the Senate bill and the 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 so that it would 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 as as it turns out the Supreme Court ruled that the law was a tax thus requiring the origin of the bill to start 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 the 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.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 21:15:16 +0000
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