Congressional Republicans said on Sunday they plan a full-scale assault against President Barack Obama‘s healthcare overhaul next year but acknowledged it could take until after the 2012 presidential election to repeal it.
Representative Paul Ryan, expected to become chairman of the House Budget Committee chairman, said his fellow Republicans will try to deny funding for implementation of the healthcare legislation and hold hearings to point out its shortcomings when the new Congress convenes in January.
But full repeal of the law and replacing it may have to await the results of next election cycle, when control of Congress will again be up for grabs as well as Obama’s bid for a second four-year term.
“This bill is such a fiscal and economic train wreck for our country and for the health care system itself,” Ryan said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”
“We’re going to do everything we can to try and repeal and replace this thing. And ultimately, I think 2013 is when it will be done the right way,” he added.
The healthcare law is a signature achievement for Obama’s first term in office and he would most certainly veto any legislation that attempts to repeal it.
Fresh from their mid-term congressional election victory on November 2 that gave them control of the House of Representatives and reduced the Democratic majority in the Senate, Republican leaders said on Sunday that they would do whatever they could to disrupt implementation of the law.
REPUBLICANS EYE FUNDING
The landmark measure aims to extend health coverage to 33 million uninsured people and make it easier for individuals and small businesses to buy medical coverage. But critics say it creates too big a role for government in healthcare while failing to reduce soaring costs.
“What we’re doing in my office is looking for the various parts of it that are subject to funding,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“We will be revisiting this issue time after time. The American people expect us to,” McConnell said.
The bill enacted in March requires most Americans to obtain health insurance and provides federal subsidies to help middle- and low-income families afford it. It also includes penalties for large companies that do not provide insurance and have employees obtaining federally subsidized coverage.
Republicans campaigned against the bill as well as Democrats’ handling of the weak economy. They won a sizable majority in the House and took six Senate seats from the Democratic majority. Democrats defended the health legislation arguing it puts an end to insurance companies discriminating against pre-existing conditions and charging higher premiums for women.
Most of the bill’s provisions will not go into effect until 2014, including the coverage mandate and state-run insurance exchanges that will provide one-stop shopping for coverage.
But some of the more popular provisions, such as allowing young adults to stay on their parent’s health policies until they turn 26, are already in effect.
Republicans are considering denying funds to the Internal Revenue Service that would be needed to enforce the coverage mandate.
They also are talking about denying money to the Health and Human Services Department that will play a major role in establishing coverage requirements and setting up the insurance exchanges.
Republican Senator James DeMint, a staunch supporter of the conservative Tea Party movement, said denying funds for implementation is the first step toward ultimate repeal.
“Most aspects of this new Obamacare are not implemented for two more years so it’s very realistic to think we can slow the implementation of it or delay it and then replace it in 2012,” DeMint told NBC’s “Meet the Press.
Copyright © 2010 Reuters
7 thoughts on “Republicans plan early assault on health care law”
Scrap it, and then go back to the seventies and scrap the law that established HMO’s in the first place.
Before that we had inexpensive coverage for 97% of Americans. Of course, that was also before high fructose corn syrup, aspertame, MSG, etc, was killing us all.
The door has already been opened on the health care legislation and the best the Republicans can do with assistance from some pliable Democrats is to pare it down a bit like Carl (AKA – Chauncey Gardiner) and his pruning. Some would prune to make a healthier tree and others would prune so you would need stump removal. This legislation is so filled up there must be mountains of crap that can be removed without destroying the basic coverage for all, pre-existing and portability.
Why is anyone suprised that they are attempting this. The good ol boy party has no compassion and are hypocrites. Why can none of them explain why its ok to blow up the debt for tax cuts for the rich to the tune of 700 billion dollars , while they beat up democrats for the deficit? They have no answer to this because they are just saying what it takes to get the votes of ignorant voters.
This attitude of “we’ll just not fund the laws we don’t like” is utter bullshit. In legal terms I call that obstruction. You don’t like it? Then get on to either repealing it or changing it to make it better. As for now, it’s the law that our government made and should be fully funded as is the right of all existing laws.
Laws have rights? Do tell…
My apologies for the multiple typos and a few syntax errors in my rant concerning healthcare. To put it simply I’m a bit fatigued after a long day pruning tree limbs aloft under the supervision of my wife. Tired eyes along with being somewhat sleepy is the cause. Not an excuse, but simply a fact. Peace… : )
It’s too bad this forum doesn’t have an edit function as on ReaderRant so errors can be expunged after posting to the board.
Carl Nemo **==
It’s “junk legislation” and needs to go the way of all junk; ie., the ‘legislative’ landfill which for the most part is unused and empty. Most bills which which have beomce law are never repealed. It modified, then it generally becomes worse than before. Let’s hope not. It’s byzantine and convoluted with so much of it having little to do with healthcare, but control of citizens allowing the government to snoop further into every aspect of our lives.
For example reporting all transactions $600 or more between retailers, suppliers and private citizens. Even the IRS is sucking wind over this numbing add-on in the bill to take effect in January 2012. It’s going to create a blizzard of 1099’s with little utility other than for the government to snoop on the most routine details of commerce while costing taxpayers even more to administer.
https://money.cnn.com/2010/05/05/smallbusiness/1099_health_care_tax_change/
There’s also a gray area about sanctions against those who don’t want this stinkin’ healthcare hatched in legislative hell. Will non-participation for whatever reason include “jailtime” in addition to fines? / : |
My blood turns to that of icey seawater when I read parts of the this gargantuan piece of legislation hatched by our resident crimpols in Congress. It’s shameful and it needs to be ash canned…period!
If they want healthcare for all those folks that don’t have such, then let them sign up for Medicare and to pay a reasonable, affordable premium that’s commensurate and tailored to their family’s needs and not a one size fits all mentality. Notice I said for those that don’t have healthcare because they can’t afford it and leave those of us alone that can afford such.
They also need to clamp down mightily on Medicare and Medicaid fraud which is now estimated at 80 “billion” dollars per annum! Evidently the punishment for doing so is too soft on the miscreants that engage in such. How about 25 years to life with no chance of parole for starters. If they pulled this crap in the PRC they’d no doubt get a bullet to the base of the brain or a 20 year sentence in a Chinese slammer which is tantamount to a death penalty. Crooked politicians/politburo members even billionaires end up the same too China. That’s about the only good thing I can think about their governent; ie., swift and summary justice for miscreants regardless of social status.
Like most Americans I’m tired of being hammered by endless tales of corruption the behalf of system administrators, politicians, bankers, Wall Street types, mega insurers etc. If we had daily examples of such scum being hung from an old fashioned yard arm leaving them as crow bait then these ugly society draining situations might abate or cease completely. We’re too solt on white collar crime in this country. They continually skate since they can afford to by the best legal aid their stolen largesse can buy.
Carl Nemo **==
Comments are closed.