Alan: Obamacare was modeled on Romneycare, the only "universal" healthcare plan ever devised by Republicans.
They have no other plan; certainly no other plan that approximates universal care.
Their aim is to obfuscate and procrastinate, trusting that Americans are more enamored of anger and grievance than anything approximating progress.
They have no other plan; certainly no other plan that approximates universal care.
Their aim is to obfuscate and procrastinate, trusting that Americans are more enamored of anger and grievance than anything approximating progress.
"Do Republicans Do Anything But Piss, Moan, Whine, Bitch?"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/11/do-republicans-only-piss-moan-whine.htm
"Obamacare: Where's The Train Wreck?"
"Obamacare: Where's The Train Wreck?"
Senate downplays Obamacare repeal
‘No deadline,’ says Sen. John Barrasso, as House conservatives cry foul.
July was supposed to be the big month for Obamacare repeal in Congress.
But Senate Republicans are downplaying expectations that they’ll use a powerful budget tool called reconciliation to undo Obamacare through a simple majority vote this summer — and conservatives are none too pleased.
But persistent divisions among Republicans, along with the reelection concerns of some GOP senators in liberal or swing states, are again slowing things down.
The chairmen of the key Senate committees overseeing Obamacare — Orrin Hatch of Finance, and Lamar Alexander of Health, Education, Labor and Pensions — say they haven’t drawn up reconciliation plans, saying doing so is up to leadership.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a member of the Senate leadership and a point person on health policy, said there’s no rush to do reconciliation immediately — and that Senate leaders haven’t decided on how to use the fast-track budget tool.
“There’s no timeline on the reconciliation bill, so it can be used at any point,” Barrasso said, even though the GOP’s own budget resolution had instructed five health care committees — two in the Senate and three in the House — to come up with a repeal plan by July 24.
Those instructions were precisely why many conservatives agreed to vote for the budget in the first place. Reconciliation lets the Senate pass legislation on a simple majority vote, which would eliminate any need to bring Democrats on board, or worry about a filibuster by Obamacare supporters. It would be a one-shot opportunity to get a partial repeal of Obamacare to Obama’s desk — even if it would almost certainly be vetoed.
Delays might not sit well with House conservatives, who have voted to dismantle Obamacare dozens of times and were eager for the Senate, under Republican control for the first time in Barack Obama’s presidency, to do the same.
“Reconciliation instructions should be very narrow and focused exclusively on Obamacare,” said Rep. Bill Flores of Texas, chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee.
“No one thinks Obama’s going to sign a repeal of his own bill … but I’m still for doing it,” said Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), another House conservative. “It’s what I pledged to do in my campaign.”
Senate Republicans are well aware that they’d have some convincing to do on their right flank.
“My view is there will be some effort here to be sure that members who voted for the budget with the reconciliation capability in the budget feel like it’s used in the way that they expected that to be used,” said Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of the Republican leadership.
In the House, conservatives like Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) supported the budget on the condition that it set the stage for Obamacare action.
Republican lawmakers and staffers say that the July 24 deadline doesn’t really mean anything. The Senate could still pass a reconciliation bill even if none of the committees report legislation, and they have until the end of this session of Congress — the end of 2016 — to do so.
But in the House, an aide to Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Ryan had planned to report out legislation by the original deadline of July 24. House staff members also said that no decision has been made on what it will cover, but it will likely be Obamacare-related.
The Senate’s reasons for a potential delay are partly practical. The July schedule is jampacked: Education, cybersecurity and highway bills are all stealing much of the energy. Should negotiators reach an Iran nuclear deal, that would also take a big chunk of time.
If the Supreme Court had eliminated federal subsidies under Obamacare in two-thirds of the states, the GOP would have moved quickly to use reconciliation to deal with the fallout.
“Had the King decision gone the other way … there would have been an immediacy to use reconciliation,” Barrasso said. “But since the decision went the other way, that immediacy isn’t there.”
But timing is only a sliver of the issue. The caucus is split into several camps on how to approach reconciliation.
Conservatives want to try to repeal as much of Obamacare as possible under Senate rules.
Members up for reelection in 2016, and some Republicans from purple states, are leery of launching a repeal without offering any sort of replacement. They’re reluctant to take away Obamacare subsidies for the lower-income and middle class without providing an alternative path to health coverage.
Other lawmakers are floating the idea of mixing repeal of part of Obamacare, such as the medical device tax, which is loathed by members of both parties, with non-health care items such as broader tax reform. Another idea circulating is to use reconciliation to raise caps on federal spending, a sequel to the deal struck by Ryan and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) several years ago.
“I would prefer that [spending deal] to a dead-on-arrival repeal of Obamacare,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.). “I think we need to find some way to arrive at something like a Ryan-Murray II, and if that’s one of the mechanisms that gets us there, I’m all for it.”
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