Free Republic

But since an Obama veto is guaranteed, what's the point? It’s a first in two ways: The House has passed ObamaCare repeals before, but this is the first one to pass both the House and the Senate and land on Obama’s desk. Oh, and the defunding of Planned Parenthood is in there too. It’s the first time the Senate has used reconciliation to bypass the filibuster and pass the ObamaCare repeal with more than 50 votes but fewer than 60. So sure, it’s more than has been done before. Then again, you’d expect more when you’ve finally got control of...

House and Senate leaders deserve a lot of credit for putting together a bill that repeals much of Obamacare and skillfully navigating it through both chambers using the budget-reconciliation process. That's no small achievement, though President Obama is sure to veto the bill as soon as it reaches his desk. But it's likely to be only a partial preview of what could happen in 2017 -- if a Republican wins the White House. It is telling that the bill Congress is poised to send to President Obama delays repeal of Obamacare's Medicaid expansion and health-insurance subsidies for two years....

The President, congressional Democrats, and their media allies have attempted to portray the partial Obamacare repeal passed by the Senate last Thursday as cynical GOP posturing. As MSNBC phrased it, “Its not exactly a secret that when congressional Republicans vote to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act its not because they intend to succeed.” The President wants to convince the electorate that the Senate bill is just another symbolic GOP repeal effort. But it is not. This measure will actually reach his desk, which will force him to once again tell the voters to go to Hell....

WASHINGTON (MEDIA GENERAL) - Five years after Obamacare became federal law, the U.S. Senate is on track to pass a major repeal this week, following dozens of previous attempts in the House. **SNIP** To achieve that, Thune and other conservative leaders will give the Affordable Care Act its biggest gut punch to date - an official repeal vote. In a twist of legislative fate, GOP Senate leaders will pass their Obamacare repeal package through reconciliation, the same technical procedure Democrats used to pass it in 2010. Reconciliation is a parliamentary maneuver only allowed on budget-related bills. It's a useful tool...

WASHINGTON – Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the following statement Thursday in anticipation of Friday’s House vote on H.R. 3762:“On Friday the House of Representatives is set to vote on a reconciliation bill that repeals only parts of Obamacare. This simply isn’t good enough. Each of us campaigned on a promise to fully repeal Obamacare and a reconciliation bill is the best way to send such legislation to President Obama’s desk. If this bill cannot be amended so that it fully repeals Obamacare pursuant to Senate rules, we cannot support this bill. With...

Can Obamacare be repealed, in its entirety, through the budget reconciliation process? Some Republican leaders were hopeful that they would not be forced to answer that question. With a decision in King v. Burwell looming, it became increasingly clear that they planned not to keep the promise they had made in their budget to use reconciliation to repeal Obamacare. Instead, they would use it for some kind of response to the expected decision. In that environment, questions about the feasibility of repealing Obamacare using reconciliation were put on the back burner. But with the Supreme Court’s unexpected and indefensible ruling...

Media analyst Mark Dice tells beachgoers in San Diego, California that Beyonce has launched a new campaign to repeal the First Amendment in order to "help fight racism" to get people's reactions. Their blind support of this insane idea is absolutely shocking. Must see!

Hillary Rodham Clinton is warning New Hampshire voters that if the country elects a Republican president, the next administration will repeal President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. The Democratic presidential front-runner says she will offer continuity on the policies under Obama that have worked for the vast majority of Americans. And she says the federal budget was in order under her husband’s administration until it was “rudely interrupted” by Republicans. …

So the Supreme Court has upheld the subsidies and taxes under Obamacare in states that did not establish exchanges, despite the text of the law requiring that those subsidies and taxes apply to states that established exchanges. This is not very surprising. We have not been publishing or writing much about the King v. Burwell because I was confident – I thought it was a 1 in 5 shot, and I believe Michael Cannon thought the same – that SCOTUS would uphold the law no matter the facts of the case. In the short run conservatives may feel depressed about...

A nonpartisan government study says repealing President Barack Obama’s signature health care law would modestly increase the budget deficit and the number of uninsured Americans would rise by more than 20 million. The report from the Congressional Budget Office comes ahead of a highly anticipated Supreme Court ruling that could have a major impact on the Affordable Care Act, nullifying health insurance subsidies for some 6 million people in more than 30 states. The budget analysts said that would add a host of new uncertainties to their estimates. Republicans now in control of both chambers of Congress say they are...

With the U.S. Supreme Court set to rule on a key element of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated the financial impact of repealing the health law on the economy. Striking down Obamacare, as the federal insurance program is called, would increase the nation's budget deficit by a net $137 billion over a 10-year period, according to the nonpartisan CBO, which analyzes budgetary and economic issues on behalf of lawmakers. The total budget gap between 2016 and 2025 would rise by $353 billion as a result of eliminating Obamacare, according to the CBO, which...

The House voted Thursday to repeal an ObamaCare tax on medical devices that is intended to generate billions of dollars for the law. The final vote was 280-140, with 46 Democrats voting in favor. Supporters of the bill say the 2.3 percent tax, which affects about 7,000 manufacturers nationwide, is holding back innovation on important devices like X-ray machines and ventilators. “Only in Washington would you impose a tax on life-saving medical technology and think you will actually reduce healthcare costs," said Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), the bill’s lead sponsor. The House first voted to repeal the tax passed in...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Under threat of trade retaliation from Canada and Mexico, the House has voted to to repeal a law requiring country-of-origin labels on packages of beef, pork and poultry. The World Trade Organization rejected a U.S. appeal last month, ruling the labels that say where animals were born, raised and slaughtered are discriminatory against the two U.S. border countries. Both have said they plan to ask the WTO for permission to impose billions of dollars in tariffs on American goods. The House voted 300-131 to repeal labels that tell consumers what countries the meat is from — for...

Plastic bags will soon be free again in Dallas. In a vote of 10 to 4, Dallas City Council members voted to repeal the bag fee passed in 2014. Grocery Bag Makers File Lawsuit Over Dallas Fee Last year's resolution added a $.05 fee for each single-use plastic bag used by shoppers to encourage people to use reusable bags and to reduce litter. The ban went into effect Jan. 1. "We're gonna take this nick on the chin," said Dallas City Councilman Dwaine Caraway, who originally pushed for the ban, after Wednesday's vote. "Y'all celebrate. Just celebrate. But when it's...

AUBURN, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage pitched his plan to reform Maine’s tax system and realign the state’s spending priorities in a “town hall” forum at Edward Little High School on Wednesday. LePage announced he intends to put a statewide ballot measure before voters in 2016 that would ask them to amend the Maine Constitution to eliminate the state’s income tax for good. He told Eileen Heidrich of Turner that that way he would be sure his goal to end the state’s income tax completely could not be undone by politicians in Augusta. “We are working on the language; we’ve...

IRVINE – The City Council late Tuesday voted 4-1 to repeal the city’s living wage ordinance, which requires some contractors that do business with Irvine to pay its employees a slightly higher rate than the state’s $9 per hour minimum. The ordinance has been in place since 2007 when a 3-2 vote signed into law the requirement that companies that have contracts with the city worth at least $100,000 in a 12-month period pay more per hour.

OathKeepers went to the Bundy Ranch and peacefully achieved justice OathKeepers Coming to Albany on June 9th From OathKeepers' John W. Wallace: “Thank you for all you do to repeal the SAFE Act. The New York Oath Keepers fully support your June 9th call to action. I will be sending out a statewide message to all Oath Keeper Chapters in New York requesting that the membership support this event by showing up in person.” For the Republic, John Wallace The momentum is growing dramatically. Good leaders are lining up in favor of the June 9th mission. In just one day...

fter five years and more than 50 votes in Congress, the Republican campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act is essentially over. GOP congressional leaders, unable to roll back the law while President Obama remains in office and unwilling to again threaten a government shutdown to pressure him, are focused on other issues, including trade and tax reform. Less noted, senior Republican lawmakers have quietly incorporated many of the law's key protections into their own proposals, including guaranteeing coverage and providing government assistance to help consumers purchase insurance. And although the law remains very unpopular with GOP voters, more than...

Last week, the GOP-led Congress passed a budget resolution which, Republicans claim, will balance the budget in 10 years. The resolution is a policy document, intended to guide the appropriations process, and doesn’t itself have the force of law. More important than the details of the budget document, the action sets up the GOP to finally match its action to its rhetoric and undo the worst aspects of Obama’s fiscal policies. Over the next two weeks, while Congress is in recess, the House and Senate will begin to hammer out small differences between the budget resolutions that passed each chamber....

The Republicans are facing a 16 million person problem. With the Obama administration announcing this month that some 16 million people have obtained health insurance since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the Republicans' intense focus on completely repealing the law is increasingly looking unrealistic.