Republicans in the House of Representatives plan to hold a vote in January to repeal President Barack Obama‘s healthcare overhaul and say they have nearly enough support to override a presidential veto of the repeal, a top lawmaker said on Sunday.
“Unpopularity numbers are as high as 60 percent across the country,” Fred Upton, the incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said of the healthcare law.
“I don’t think we’re going to be that far off from having the votes to actually override a veto,” Upton said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Democrats contend Republicans are wasting Congress’ time by staging a healthcare repeal vote, saying it will die in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
But Upton said a big House vote for repeal could sway votes in the Senate “to perhaps do the same thing. But then, after that, we’re going to go after this bill piece by piece,” he said, by trying to block various parts of the law including an individual mandate for insurance coverage.
“We will look at these individual pieces to see if we can’t have the thing crumble,” Upton said.
But Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” people are learning more about benefits of the healthcare law, diminishing chances it will be defeated.
“A constituent in my district came up to me a few weeks ago and thanked me for saving her $3,000 a year because she could put her two adult children back on her insurance. That’s what the Republicans are going to be proposing to repeal this week. It’s not going to happen,” she said.
“I think you’re going to see the fight on Obamacare across the board in the House and the Senate to try to defund the Obamacare bill and to start over,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Graham said he would work “to allow states to opt out of the individual mandate, employer mandate and expansion of Medicaid.”
Copyright © 2011 Reuters
4 thoughts on “Republicans plan to move quickly on healh care repeal”
I think that if they think it’s so bad as written they should come up with some ideas to fix it, not just jump on the easy politics bandwagon to junk it.
I think we’re past the day and age where “you’re sick but you’re poor, so it’s okay for you to die” is acceptable.
My employer offers health insurance as an option. A mere $600/month for the family plan. If I could convince my family to stop eating we could change the grocery bill into insurance.
Oh yes: No drinking, no smoking, no drugs, no cellphone, my computer was cutting edge about six years and I’ve never owned a car less than nine years old.
I’m not holding my breath but I’d be glad to see it go. How free are we if they can force you to purchase a product?
And those adult children should learn to pay their own way and quit leeching off their parents. When I was at Ohio State they offered discount health insurance and free visits to the university clinic with paid tuition. Talk about a marketing scam. Talk about spoiled children. What’s wrong with 18-26 year-old “kids” that they can’t pay their own way in the world?
Quit the drinking, the drugs, the cigarettes, and don’t buy the latest cellphone, game system, or car and I bet they can find the money for insurance.
Well then, the House and Senate will have to put money aside for the emergency hospitals where the uninsured will be heading for their sick kids and injuries. The expansion of Medicare was unfunded and brought billions of dollars to our debt. Everyone of my Congresscritters voted for it except Jeff Flake. That young man has a fiscally conserrvate attitude but it is tied up with his LDS Church which forces him to overlook women and gays.
Sandy
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