The Cost Of Mounting An Obamacare Repeal Bill
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Joan McCarter
Once again, House Republicans have voted to repeal Obamacare, 240-181. This time they added in defunding Planned Parenthood, just to make sure the first big vote of the year was as wingnutty as possible. This time, unlike the other 60 times they've had this vote, it will go to President Obama's desk.
You might remember that the Senate passed this resolution back in December. In order to talk their extremists out of trying to shutdown government again over Planned Parenthood and Obamacare, Republican leadership promised them they get this vote, and that they would really stick it to Obama by making him veto it. They did that under special budgetary rules known as reconciliation which allows a bill to pass with a simple majority vote—Democrats in the Senate couldn't filibuster it. So, here we are.
"With this bill, we will force President Obama to show the American people where he stands," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in a blog post on Monday. He said the vote would "immediately set a tone that represents a better path for our country."
As if it wasn't clear where President Obama stands. On Obamacare.
The effort is a promise as to what Republicans would do in 2017 if they keep the Senate and win the White House: throw millions of people off of their health insurance plans. They would take private health insurance away from people with Obamacare plans by ending the subsidies and they would completely repeal Medicaid expansion.
And while they've managed to vote to repeal Obamacare 60 times, what they haven't managed to do is hold one vote on an actual plan to replace Obamacare, despite five years of promises to come up with one.
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