Print“So we’ll also have to work, in the House, on denying funds for implementation, and, in the Senate, on votes against its most egregious provisions.”
Republican leaders began laying out a roadmap for how they will seek to undo healthcare reform passed this year. Despite winning a majority in the House, Republicans acknowledge repeal of the legislation will be unlikely, but instead will use other tactics to cripple it.
In a speech delivered before the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think-tank, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has said his party’s top political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term in office, said Republicans should propose and vote on a straight repeal of the legislation “repeatedly.”
“But we can’t expect the president to sign it,” McConnell said, “So we’ll also have to work, in the House, on denying funds for implementation, and, in the Senate, on votes against its most egregious provisions. At the same time, we’ll need to continue educating the public about the ill-effects of this bill on individuals young and old, families, and small businesses.”
McConnell indicated that Congress will use its oversight role to keep administration officials on the defensive on healthcare reform and will rely on conservative groups such as the Heritage Foundation to hammer home messages aimed to convince the public of its negative effects. “We also need groups like Heritage to continue studying the ill-effects of the health care bill, and to show how its implementation is hurting families, seniors, and small businesses, limiting choices and making us less competitive,” he said.
McConnell’s comments echoed those of House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, the presumptive Speaker of the House when the Republicans take control of the House in 2011. "I think it is important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity," he said at a press conference the day after the election, “and replace with it commonsense reforms that will bring down the cost of healthcare in America,"
Election exit polls showed voters were split on the issue of healthcare with half wanting to repeal it and half saying it should be expanded or left as is. While Republicans rail on the “Europeanization” of America, “big-government policies,” and “out-of-control spending” they will also have a hard time repealing certain measures of healthcare reform that are widely supported by the American public, including provisions that prohibit insurance companies from rejecting people with pre-existing conditions and improve access and affordability.
November 05, 2010
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-gutting_healthcare_reform.html
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