Options for preventing the implementation of Obamacare are diminishing as Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans appear to have given up on a full repeal of the health care law. Boehner is now considering gutting particular aspects of the law by applying pressure on Obama and working with moderate Democrats.
But, the failure of Boehner and House Republicans to defund Obamacare back in In April 2011, during the first budget battle, leaves some to doubt their dedication to continuing the fight against Obamacare.
According to Sen. John Thune (R-SD), chairman of the Republican Conference, the components of the law targeted for dissolution include a tax on medical devices, the Independent Payment Advisory Board and the individual mandate requiring people to buy insurance.
At the same time, House Republicans have been attempting to put their stamp on the law. The Oversight and Government Reform and Ways and Means committees have sent subpoenas to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, over the past few weeks, demanding information that committee leaders say she has refused to provide.
Far from being an easy endeavor, Randy Barnett, the Georgetown University law professor who assisted in constructing the Supreme Court argument against Obamacare earlier this year, said that, “it’s going to become increasingly difficult because courts are much less willing to overturn something that’s already entrenched.”
So, time is of the essence because though some court challenges remain, as parts of the law are implemented, the harder it will be to fight it. “There’s no question that one of the reasons why we had as much room to run as we did is we had a two-year delay in implementing most of the law,” Barnett said. “That opening is closing.”
One of the pending court cases is an Oklahoma lawsuit which maintains that insurance can be subsidized only through state-run exchanges and not by the federally-backed ones that Obamacare enacts.
At the same time, Paul Howard, director of the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Medical Progress and Stephen Parente, director of the Medical Industry Leadership Institute at the University of Minnesota, explain on Real Clear Politics that Obamacare faces a number of obstacles:
“‘Delaying implementation [of Obamacare] until 2014 helped the president win re-election, but now the bill is coming due,’ the duo says. ‘The administration can’t forestall Obamacare’s massive regulatory impact any longer, and the result will keep Congress and the media occupied for months and years to come.’”
Boehner has also pointed to governors who may be able to thwart the establishment of insurance exchanges in their respective states.
Republicans should continue to work diligently towards this effort because fully implemented Obamacare will represent over 1/6 of our economy. The Heritage Foundation has compiled an Obamacare guide, demonstrating how it will affect specific groups of individuals:
Great article, keep em coming.
Only thing I’d like to add is for all to remember that it took 12 years to repeal Prohibition. That message needs to be front and center with EVERY Obamacare debate.
Prohibition is something a vast majority of America sees as a colossal mistake eventually corrected but left in its wake much damage and unintended consequences.
The ADD populace of today can’t understand “unintended consequences” but they can sure understand the over reach of Prohibition into the private lives of their ancestors.
Paint Obamacare in THAT light AND remind that the fight against it started the minute it was passed and you frame the fight in a way that the average Jane/Joe understand.
We either control the message or we lose the country
Unfortunately Republicans are just as steeped in the good ol boy system of seniority over sense that the Dems are.
What we need is for Boehner and McConnell to do the honorable thing and step aside for younger, more articulate leadership to step in front of the cameras and actually HELP the cause rather than hinder it.
But expecting Boehner or McConnell to give up their perks for the sake of the country is as realistic as expecting Obama to ever get serious about entitlement reform.
So in the end, it’s up to “us”: you, me, we, them, they, and anyone who remembers “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction” and refuses to let that generation be “us”.
Posted by Geoff Caldwell | November 28, 2012, 1:11 pmThanks
Excellent point, regarding prohibition. I agree wholeheartedly that we must control the message – something we really need to work on, in addition to other tweaks within the party.
Posted by Candice Lanier | November 29, 2012, 7:31 pm