For Immediate Release
Monday, July 22, 2013
Republicans refuse to end Obamacare now
“Delaying Obamacare is simply a stay of execution for struggling small businesses and health care consumers in America,” said Carla Howell, director for the Libertarian Party. “Defund and repeal it now.”
When President Obama announced on July 2 that the employer mandate for Obamacare would be postponed for another year, he opened the door for one more Republican opportunity to repeal this destructive and costly program.
Will they seize this opportunity? No. Big Government Republicans posture, pose, and pretend to cut destructive programs and harmful laws, but almost never vote to simply end them.
Why won’t they repeal Obamacare? Because they’re in the pocket of the medical-industrial complex, which includes pharmaceuticals, insurance companies, large incorporated hospital chains, government employees, and the American Medical Association.
How do we know Republicans won’t repeal it? Because they have had a majority in the House since 2010, with more than enough votes to defund any Big Government program. Their refusal to defund Obamacare shows they want to keep it — or a replacement for it — on the books.
“When they talk about repealing Obamacare, they say that we need to ‘start over’ or ‘start from scratch’ — signaling that they’ll replace Obamacare with Republicare — their version of centrally planned government medicine,” said Carla Howell, director for the Libertarian Party. “There’s only one way to pressure Republicans to stop this country’s fast march to a complete government takeover of medicine: Vote Libertarian.”
Both Republicans and Democrats have voted to massively expand government-run medical care. Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee, championed Romneycare, the model for Obamacare. In 2003, President George W. Bush and Republicans in Congress championed the largest expansion of Medicare since its inception.
Big Government health care programs have been disastrous. They balloon medical care costs, create longer waits for doctor visits and procedures, drive up insurance premiums, regularly deny insurance coverage for needed services, kill small businesses, destroy jobs, and cause immeasurable human pain and suffering.
“The only path to high-quality, convenient, dignified, and affordable health care is through private charities and businesses,” said Geoffrey J. Neale, chair of the Libertarian Party. “It’s time to strike a fatal blow against Obamacare and unleash the private sector to resolve our health care problems quickly, cheaply, and effectively.”
The Libertarian Party is the only political party in America that has consistently called for ending government central planning of health care.
There’s now talk of delaying the individual mandate portion of Obamacare along with delay of the employer mandate.
“Delaying Obamacare is a stay of execution for struggling small businesses and health care consumers in America,” said Howell. “Defund and repeal it now.”
I voted for Tom McClintock when he ran for Governor of California during the Gray Davis Recall election
I voted to abolish the office.
gp: Calling the ACA “Obamacare” is a Republican talking point.
rc: Perhaps it started out that way, but it appears you missed this part of the narrative below. It’s from NPR, which I wouldn’t think anyone would find to be R, even you, yes?
NPR: Yet while Democrats in tough races in 2010 shied away from touting the just-passed health law, known by its detractors as Obamacare, the president has embraced both the name and the law on the campaign trail this year.
“We passed health reform — yes, I like the name ‘Obamacare’ — so your insurance companies can’t jerk you around anymore,” he told a cheering crowd in Manchester, N.H., last week.
Thus proving my long held theory that Obama is actually a secret Republican!
for governor of California in 2003, versus your own party’s nominee
The “cheap cigarettes” guy? That campaign was a bad joke.
“Gene Berkman // Jul 25, 2013 at 2:47 pm
TK @ 8 – I did not criticize Libertarians who did not agree with me to support Tom McClintock, except to criticize the concept of party loyalty.
FYI – Tom McClintock is now in Congress, and he voted Yes on the Amash amendment to defund NSA.”
I voted for Tom McClintock when he ran for Governor of California during the Gray Davis Recall election (the LP came up with a lackluster candidate who ran a joke of a campaign), and I also voted for him when he ran to Lieutenant Governor, but I lost some respect for him a few years later when he did not endorse Ron Paul for President in the Republican primaries in 2008.
RC @ 23,
Your failure to understand is not necessarily evidence of someone else’s failure to communicate.
It’s been explained to you many times and in many ways, from the ultra-simple to the fairy complicated. If you still can’t get your brain around it, the problem may be with your brain, not with others’ communication skills.
GP is right – Republicans did give us the Medicare Prescription Drug bill. I certainly blogged in opposition to it at the time.
And, of course, Ron Paul and 24 other Republican Congressmen voted against it. If you are going to rightly criticize some Republicans for voting for Medicare Part D, you can also rightly praise Ron Paul etc for voting against it.
Of course, perhaps the best way to end Obamacare is to make sure it is fully implemented.
jp, we can talk about whatever you’d like, but that incident was illustrative of a profound failure to communicate. Personal attacks and pointless pseudo-legal machinations are all of a piece, springing from disrespect and fear.
I see we are back to talking about the FEC again which is almost as an important of a topic as PLAS or a fake Parliament are.
13 gb: Additionally, Tom, I think it is ok to criticize Libertarians, but some people spend much more time criticizing other Libertarians than opposing statism. That is the issue.
me: Yes, the obstacles to filing a complaint with the FEC are incredibly low from a technical perspective. Attacking someone personally, too, is easier than addressing a substantive disagreement.
The funny thing is, when tempers flair and personal attacks are made, it SHOULD be the easiest thing in the world to apologize. I don’t understand the reticence about apologizing and admitting to mistakes, esp. since we all make them and we all know that we do. Somehow, people think they are saving face by denying mistakes, but ain’t it obvious that they’re just making it worse?
Gene,
I think it’s pretty safe to predict that Republicans will continue to act like Republicans.
But I also agree with you that this particular statement from the LNC was silly, insofar as it took Republicans to task for not doing something they have in fact formally attempted to do, and are powerless to do.
Come to think of it, not a single Libertarian congresscritter voted against, or has voted to repeal, ObamaCare. What’s up with that?
@8 The Republicans gave us Medicare Part D.
Tom – when they do what you predict, attack them.
Predicting they will do something bad – when their rhetoric indicates that they might not – seems like “precrime” or a political version of the Bush doctrine of pre-emption.
It is easier to predict that the Republicans will bankrupt America through military spending and interventionism. Arguing that they will vote for a bigger social welfare budget than the Democrats seems like a risky prediction.
Gene,
I agree with you that most Republicans will vote against funding ObamaCare whenever it comes up for a vote in any specific kind of way.
But they’ll also almost certainly eventually vote for a larger appropriation or budget that includes ObamaCare.
It’s sort of a reverse Ron Paul. He sticks all kinds of pork in the budget so that he can bring home the bacon to his district, then votes against the budget, knowing it will comfortably pass without his support.
Dfs @ 15 – I don’t know who has made a claim about Republicans shutting down the federal government. ACA is a much more narrow issue, and the record, whether you like it or not, is that not a single Republican in the House or Senate voted to pass it, and House Republicans have voted numerous times in favor of repeal.
Responding to fact based arguments by bringing up reduction ad absurdum can be fun sometimes, or sometimes it is annoying.
Gene @14. Republicans will never allow the Fed Gov’t to shut down…they fear the Liberal media and white house public relations nightmare of “Republicans are letting your grandma die” horsepoop. Let’s be honest, if any GOP members would let the gov’t shut down…the Establishment and Karl Rove would primary them, or Boehner would take them off committees.
On the issue of funding ACA, mentioned in the press release and by Tom Knapp in a comment – as I understand it (feel free to correct me) most of the ACA will not be implemented til 2014, and I am not aware of any votes on funding ACA that have been taken.
As I have mentioned, there are many reasons to attack Republicans, but I will bet that every Republican in the House will vote against funding ACA when it comes up for a vote.
Additionally, Tom, I think it is ok to criticize Libertarians, but some people spend much more time criticizing other Libertarians than opposing statism. That is the issue.
TK @ 8 – I did not criticize Libertarians who did not agree with me to support Tom McClintock, except to criticize the concept of party loyalty.
FYI – Tom McClintock is now in Congress, and he voted Yes on the Amash amendment to defund NSA.
Gene is right. The Republicans can’t “repeal” ObamaCare. They don’t have a majority in the Senate, nor is their majority in the House veto-proof.
On the other hand, the Republicans can refuse to fund Obamacare. They have a majority in the House. If they don’t approve a budget appropriation, the money can’t be spent.
This extends to other issues, and belies the Republicans’ claims that they can’t undo all kinds of bad things because of them damn Democrats. The Republicans may not be able to get the spending they want, but they have the absolute, complete and total ability to nix any spending they DON’T want. Therefore, any and all federal spending that occurs is in fact endorsed and approved of by the Republican Party.
I can’t imagine the ACA will make it to the finish line. Obama still needs to manufacture a viable succession. If ACA does destroy as it has been forecast, the next Democrat nominee will be defined by it’s failure.
It will be delayed as much as possible until the elections near.
And also, a Republican held House funds all programs. The ACA can remain law, but its funding can be removed.
The insurance companies don’t want it removed. That is why the Republicans haven’t defunded the program.
4 gp: Calling the ACA “Obamacare” is a Republican talking point.
me: Perhaps it started out that way, but it appears you missed this part of the narrative below. It’s from NPR, which I wouldn’t think anyone would find to be R, even you, yes?
NPR: Yet while Democrats in tough races in 2010 shied away from touting the just-passed health law, known by its detractors as Obamacare, the president has embraced both the name and the law on the campaign trail this year.
“We passed health reform — yes, I like the name ‘Obamacare’ — so your insurance companies can’t jerk you around anymore,” he told a cheering crowd in Manchester, N.H., last week.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/10/26/163414134/president-embraces-obamacare-what-would-romney-do
GB @ 5,
“if you spend more time attacking Libertarians than you spend attacking pro-government politicians, one has a right to wonder where your real loyalties are.”
Hear hear! Nice to see we finally agree that your decision to support “Libertarians for [a Republican]” for governor of California in 2003, versus your own party’s nominee, reasonably brought your loyalties into question.
Hi Warren – can you tell me how they can defund it? The House can unilaterally, without input from the Senate or the President, pass a bill to defund anything they wish and it immediately becomes law?
The point is that the House can defund the ACA. They don’t have to repeal it.
GP @ 4 – Libertarians oppose both the ACA and the NSA. Opposing one oppressive government policy does not mean approving a different oppressive government policy.
You certainly have a right to decide what your priority issues are. But if you spend more time attacking Libertarians than you spend attacking pro-government politicians, one has a right to wonder where your real loyalties are.
Calling the ACA “Obamacare” is a Republican talking point. Going on about Obamacare rather than the antiAmerican NSA spying operations, the systematic murder by drones of small children and several American citizens, a totally irrational defense budget, et tedious cetera, says that libertarians need to separate their party from the LINOs and the fraudulators.
A second question – does anyone know what size of business Ms. Howell refers to when she talks about small businesses? It’s a pretty elastic term – I think Wayne Root once used it to define Google!
Thanks, Gene – I was going to say something similar, but you beat me to it. Ideologically I stand outside either of the two major parties, but one of the things I ask myself when I consider a third party candidate is, “What if they win? Do they appear to be prepared to govern? Do they demonstrate an understanding of the process, or of the implications of their statements or their proposed actions?” I guess another way to ask the question is if they strike me as serious or not. This particular release fails that test for me.
As I pointed out in an email yesterday to the Executive Director of the LNC:
“There are many reasons to attack the Republicans in Congress, but this is clearly not one of them.
Not a single Republican in either house of Congress voted in favor of the Affordable Care Act, and 37 times the House has voted to repeal ACA.
Democrats still have a majority in the Senate and they have refused to schedule a vote on any of these 37 house motions.
Why would anyone want to make it seem that the Libertarian Party is totally unaware of current political news. It just makes us sound stupid.”
If trying to maintain an attachment to reality causes people to question my loyalty to the Libertarian Party, that’s life.