Posted on 09/16/2018 4:03:52 PM PDT by TBP
Republican lawmakers have made it clear they have no intention of repealing Obamacare in the current Congress.
Republicans in the nation’s top lawmaking body have never really wanted to get rid of Obamacare. They would prefer to present the program, which David Horowitz correctly describes as “the greatest assault on individual freedom and individual choice in our lifetimes,” as a villain and whip up sentiment against it and run against it every election. They view Obamacare as good for the business of politics. They may chip away at it from time to time or tinker with it at the margins, but make no mistake: these creatures of Washington want to keep it in place. This is the Republicans’ dirty secret.
Republicans have been promising to rip Obamacare out root and branch ever since it was enacted. They ramped up their rhetoric after the allegedly conservative-dominated Supreme Court declared the blatantly unconstitutional Obamacare law constitutional in the incoherent NFIB v. Sebelius ruling of 2012. Americans responded to this government takeover of a huge chunk of the economy by electing GOP-controlled congresses in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016, and by electing Donald Trump as president.
Unintimidated by the Left and sneering hack journalists, Trump began the push to bury the misnamed Affordable Care Act and as a result the individual mandate will die at the end of this year. But the bulk of the statute and related rules such as the economically suicidal pre-existing medical conditions mandate remain in place, complete with federal insurance-purchasing subsidies for people who don’t need the help, as well as the sclerotic administrative apparatus, and the odious rule that prevents health insurers from competing across state lines.
The top vote-counters in both chambers say repeal is a no-go for the rest of the year. This ought to worry conservatives because there is a good chance that when the new 116th Congress convenes Jan. 3, 2019, one or both of its chambers will be in the hands of the government healthcare-loving Democrats.
So it’s now or quite possibly never.
“I’m not going to be asking for another vote on that this year,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas reportedly said last week when asked about Obamacare repeal. His counterpart in the House, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, offered excuses for his party’s inaction. “We need to win this election and then get more seats next year.”
This is a non-issue. They didn’t do a budget this session of the Congress, so they couldn’t pass it with just 50 votes anyway.
“GOP gives up”.....their mantra.
GOP .... worthless pups.
Repeal it? How about lifetime elected-service name for anyone who for it? Confiscation of their worldly goods? Expungement of their names from the lexicon?
GOP = Gutless Other Party!
They gave up on border and interior enforcement 30 years ago.
The GOP is not on the side of the citizens and the rule of law.
Some Republicans are, but the GOP is not.
You have to try to give up.
Yes, point taken.
This column and so many others simply confirm the necessity of an Article V Convention of States.
What do you expect from the “BACKSTABBER” of the House??
Sorry for being a wise-ass. I guess they did try. But it’s amazing how often they came up short. So many D’s in R jerseys...
They never had a plan. They had three months after election win to the inauguration and had nada nothing...Just throw the ten million on Obamacare into Medicaid and go back...
The GOPe never wanted to repeal it.
GOPe = RAT = UniParty = Deep State = Communist
They are ALL the same. It’s all about control and the money....especially the money.
They should have passed Mo Brooks’s bill.
The individual mandate is gone, that is all that matters
The rest of it will just die out over time
The two things that will kill the middle class in this country is 0bamacare (it’s actually designed to destroy the middle class) and failing to stop the illegal invasion.
On top of this we have a two-tier rule of law that rivals your average Banana Republic.
Tax cuts, tariffs, relaxing regulations, etc. are good, but will never offset the damage being done in other areas.
Many of its onerous rules remain in place.
They lied from day one when they kept saying: "Elect us and we'll repeal Obamacare!" Then, they changed it to "repeal & replace". Now, it's "never mind"!
Not exactly. The key was this session.
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