The House schedule is all about chipping away at Obamacare. But today, on the anniversary of the Tea Party that is destroying the GOP, Republicans brought the chamber to a new low.
Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) introduced a bill called “the Simple Fairness Act” today, according to Philip Klein at the Washington Examiner. Sounds great, eh? Who doesn’t love some fairness?
The only problem is that Jenkins is a Republican, and so by “fairness” she means another way to try to deny access to affordable healthcare for the people by relentlessly taking haphazard potshots at Obamacare. This is really designed to generate free campaign material for Republicans, who still believe that they can win by running against Obamacare.
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Klein from the Washington Examiner explained the real purpose behind Rep. Jenkin’s bill to delay the individual mandate for a year:
The move is part of an effort by Republicans to make an issue of Obamacare during the 2014 midterm elections, by putting Democrats in the position of either defying the administration or voicing support for one of the most unpopular provisions in the health care law.
The answer to this political “dilemma” for Democrats is pretty easy: Change the conversation. Don’t get mired in the weeds of “fixes”; instead, ask the Republicans what they are going to replace Obamacare with. Ask them why they are against protecting patients from greedy insurance companies. Ask them why they don’t agree that people with pre-existing conditions deserve access to affordable healthcare.
Unlike Republicans, Democrats are not afraid to voice their differences with their President, so when Republicans think they can win by forcing Democrats into “defying” the administration, they are barking up the wrong tree. President Obama knows that some Democrats will have to run on separating themselves from him, due to the fact that Republicans have demonized the President to such a degree that many GOP voters believe him to be the anti-Christ.
But Democrats can also point out that they were taught to respect the office of the President, even when they disagree with the person holding the office. Let that shot linger in the air until the pungent after taste of GOP hate mongering settles back on the Republicans — where it belongs.
Republicans refuse to have a real policy discussion, and instead rely upon fear-mongering and division.This is why they avoid discussing their healthcare reform plan. Their diversionary tactics only work so long as no one calls them out on their uncivilized behavior. This kind of boorishness is often referred to as having been raised in a barn. Southern Democrats might want to suggest that Southern Republicans were raised better than that.
Klein tells us that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s office confirmed for him “that the chamber would vote on the plan next week.” In December, the Obama administration already granted a temporary exemption to people whose insurance policies were canceled last year.
But because they either don’t understand the law very well or are deliberately playing obtuse for Machiavellian political ends, Republicans keep accusing the President of illegally granting exemptions to some and not to others. The bottom line is that Republicans will do anything to kill Obamacare.
Republicans are also claiming to be deluded enough to believe that if they win the Senate, they can kill Obamacare. Of course they would face incredible backlash if they tried to take health insurance away from people and replaced it with the same old corporate give away plan they’ve been peddling since Bush was in office.
People are going to notice when their cancer treatment is no longer covered. Really. This is not a good long term plan to remain in power should Republicans win the Senate.
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