Obamacare is socialism defined, no doubt about it. Senate Republicans are on a march to de-fang the beast. NPR‘s Julie Rovner explains the situation.
“Rather than a partial delay for some, America needs a permanent delay for all,” said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., at a news conference Wednesday on Capitol Hill. Thune got 45 other GOP senators to sign onto a letter to the president urging him to shelve the law entirely.
“It’s becoming ever more clear that the Affordable Care Act, ObamaCare, fails to accomplish its intended purposes,” said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., at the press conference.
Moran said hat he would be offering amendments to try to block key aspects of the law during Thursday’s Committee on Appropriations markup on funding for the Department of Health and Human Services. His amendments include one that would bar funding to enforce the individual mandate, requiring people to get health insurance or pay a fine.
Across the Capitol, where GOP leaders have already vowed to hold a vote to delay that very individual mandate, the House Ways and Means health subcommittee held a hearing, allegedly to explore what it called the administration’s “strangely timed announcement” that it was delaying the employer mandate.
That announcement came on a Tuesday evening, via a blog post, two days before the July 4 holiday.
“You have to wonder, if ObamaCare isn’t ready for businesses, is it ready for my family?” asked subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, at the hearing. “Clearly the rollout of ObamaCare is in disarray and experts are questioning whether the White House is competent enough to administer its own massive health care law.”
