Obama Blasts Republicans For Wasting 40+ Votes On Repealing The ACA Instead of Creating Jobs

President Obama dropped the gloves today in LA, and blasted Republicans for wasting time on 40+ votes to repeal the ACA instead of creating jobs.

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The president said,

My top priority is making sure that this country remains a country where everybody who’s willing to work hard can get ahead, and we’d be a lot further along without some of the dysfunction and obstruction we’ve seen in Washington. We’d be a lot further along if we could just get folks to act with some sense.

If we didn’t have one wing of one party that was a little less obsessed with repealing healthcare for 40 million people. More concerned with making sure the law works. If they hadn’t spent 40 votes trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they might have actually taken some votes on rebuilding our infrastructure, or instituting early childhood education for young people across this country, or investing in basic research that helps to create the amazing technologies that many of you utilize.

Any of the serious proposals I’ve put forward that would be creating jobs right now, they could have taken votes on that. Instead of rooting for failure or fighting old battles, Republicans in Congress need to work with us to improve those things about the Affordable Care Act that aren’t working as well as they should, and implement policies to strengthen the middle class and create jobs.

A couple of weeks ago House Republicans leaders handed out a piece of paper to their members and on the top of it. It said Agenda 2014, and I’m not making this up, below that it was blank. It was a blank sheet of paper. Nothing to create jobs, or grow the economy, or strengthen the middle class.

And I put forward my plans to create new jobs and even the odds for the middle class, and I put forward plans that give the Republicans some of what they want in exchange for ideas that will create good jobs right now. So far, they won’t consider them. You know, some people have heard me say my list of top five movies. The Godfather one and two has to be on it, but it turns out Marlon Brando had it easy because when it comes to Congress, there’s no such thing as an offer that they can’t refuse.

It is good to see President Obama back on the road and speaking the truth about income inequality and Republican obstruction. Republicans need to be called out on this again, and again, and again before the 2014 election. The GOP desperately wants to run on the ACA, and not on their record of screwing over the middle class.

The president was correct that Republicans could be voting on his jobs plans or infrastructure spending, but they choose to continue to waste time on meaningless votes to repeal the ACA. The president made an important point when he said that Republicans are obsessed with taking health insurance away from 40 million people.

It would be nice if the mainstream media would stop obsessing about a website that is performing much better, and start asking Republicans why they want tens of millions of Americans to not have access to affordable healthcare.

President Obama is fighting back, and he is asking questions that Republicans can’t answer.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association