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Repeal of health bill to be GOP battle cry
September 21, 2010
WASHINGTON — Republicans are serious. Hopeful of picking up substantial numbers of seats in the congressional elections, they are developing plans to try to repeal or roll back President Obama’s new health care law.
This goal, although not fleshed out in a detailed legislative proposal, is much more than a campaign slogan. That conclusion emerged from interviews with a range of Republican lawmakers, who said they are determined to chip away at the law if they cannot dismantle it.
House Republicans are expected to include some specifics in an election agenda they intend to issue Thursday. Although they face tremendous political and practical hurdles to undoing a law whose provisions are rapidly going into effect, they are laying the groundwork for trying.
For starters, Republicans say they will try to withhold money that federal officials need to administer and enforce the law. They know that even if they managed to pass a wholesale repeal, Obama would veto it.
“They’ll get not one dime from us,’’ the House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, told The Cincinnati Enquirer recently.
“Not a dime. There is no fixing this.’’
Republicans also intend to go after specific provisions. Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, a senior Republican on the Finance Committee, has introduced a bill that would eliminate a linchpin of the new law: a requirement for many employers to offer insurance to employees or pay a tax penalty. Many Republicans also want to repeal the law’s requirement for most Americans to obtain health insurance.
Between the Republicans' vow to dismantle the health care bill and the
Tea Party's usurping the scenery, this election season is proving to be
excitable. Can't wait to see what disasters might be forthcoming!
Repeal of health bill to be GOP battle cry
September 21, 2010
WASHINGTON — Republicans are serious. Hopeful of picking up substantial numbers of seats in the congressional elections, they are developing plans to try to repeal or roll back President Obama’s new health care law.
This goal, although not fleshed out in a detailed legislative proposal, is much more than a campaign slogan. That conclusion emerged from interviews with a range of Republican lawmakers, who said they are determined to chip away at the law if they cannot dismantle it.
House Republicans are expected to include some specifics in an election agenda they intend to issue Thursday. Although they face tremendous political and practical hurdles to undoing a law whose provisions are rapidly going into effect, they are laying the groundwork for trying.
For starters, Republicans say they will try to withhold money that federal officials need to administer and enforce the law. They know that even if they managed to pass a wholesale repeal, Obama would veto it.
“They’ll get not one dime from us,’’ the House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, told The Cincinnati Enquirer recently.
“Not a dime. There is no fixing this.’’
Republicans also intend to go after specific provisions. Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, a senior Republican on the Finance Committee, has introduced a bill that would eliminate a linchpin of the new law: a requirement for many employers to offer insurance to employees or pay a tax penalty. Many Republicans also want to repeal the law’s requirement for most Americans to obtain health insurance.
Between the Republicans' vow to dismantle the health care bill and the
Tea Party's usurping the scenery, this election season is proving to be
excitable. Can't wait to see what disasters might be forthcoming!
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