Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have announced that one of the first things that the new Republican controlled Congress will do it take away health insurance from 1 million Americans.
In their Wall Street Journal op-ed McConnell and Boehner wrote,
We’ll also consider legislation to help protect and expand America’s emerging energy boom and to support innovative charter schools around the country.These bills include measures authorizing the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which will mean lower energy costs for families and more jobs for American workers; the Hire More Heroes Act, legislation encouraging employers to hire more of our nation’s veterans; and a proposal to restore the traditional 40-hour definition of full-time employment, removing an arbitrary and destructive government barrier to more hours and better pay created by the Affordable Care Act of 2010.
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A return to tradition sounds nice, until one understands what that means. Republicans are trying to take private employer based health insurance away from one million Americans. House Republicans tried this same move in February 2014, and the impact on healthcare was spelled out by the CBO.
The CBO concluded,
Republicans have mastered the art of making legislation that would harm average Americans sound beneficial. McConnell and Boehner aren’t going to come straight out and say that their aim is to make sure that fewer people have health insurance, but that is their intention.
Congressional Republicans know that they can’t repeal the ACA, so they are going to try to chip away at the edges of the law in order takeaway health insurance from as many people as possible.
During his press conference yesterday, President Obama made it clear that he will veto any legislation that took health insurance away from the American people.
It took Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. John Boehner one day to show the American people what this Republican Congress will have in store for them.
President Obama better get his veto pen warmed up, because, by the looks of things, it is going to be a very busy two years.
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
