In “ObamaCare knockout,” Michael Walsh writes that “America awaits GOP’s punch:”
So the time to deal a body blow to ObamaCare is now. Since all spending bills must originate in the House, it will be up to the Republican majority there to first defund it, then to repeal it. Indeed, if they play their cards just right, ObamaCare can be the wedge issue that finally exposes liberal do-goodism for what it really is: coercion with a smiley face, cloaked in the false mantle of “compassion.”
Sure, repeal is unlikely to get through the Senate in this term, and even if it did President Obama would veto it. But the folks who elected the new Congress don’t care. It’s the principle that counts: Not only do anti-constitutional government programs like ObamaCare make us less free, they make us less self-reliant as well. The politics of repeal are right as well. Dispirited Americans watched the lame-duck kamikaze Congress piloted by Harry Reid flip them the bird as they ploughed ahead with their agenda.
AdvertisementSo let’s see it, 112th Congress. Defund ObamaCare. Hold hearings on the bill and force the left to defend its provisions. Pass a repeal bill, such as HR 4972, sponsored by Rep. Steve King of Iowa and see what happens.
Washington isn’t broken. It’s out of control, and the American people are shouting no mas! The first order of business is for the Republicans to stand upright, spinally stiffened — and to finally throw that first Rocky punch.
Get in their face and punch back twice as hard, as someone once said.
People who fear 2011 is going to mimic 1995 and that Obama’s going to be able to triangulate to the middle (even if he doesn’t want to use the ‘T’ word) forget that while Clinton could run as being between the left of his party and both the House and Senate, Obama’s going to have to figure out how to get to the right of Harry Reid, if he wants to put himself in the middle, at the same time at least half of the 23 Democratic Senators up for re-election in 2012 are going to be trying to make sure the public thinks they’re to the right of Obama. That makes setting up efforts to stifle ObamaCare® and the bloated federal budget easier, because either the Senate Dems and Obama go along to some extent, or they turn those battles into 2012 campaign issues.
Y, I hope the House does defund and repeal Abaminable-Care. It would be the surest sign that they are serious about listening to the people that elected them instead of the Beltway cocktail party crowd or the useless media.
Michael Walsh: “It’s the principle that counts: Not only do anti-constitutional government programs like ObamaCare make us less free, they make us less self-reliant as well.”
That is weak. The strong argument is that “programs like ObamaCare” give us worse healthcare and make us less wealthy, all of us.
Freedom and self-reliance are not not ultimate goods in themselves. As an odd thought, if we all would have four-star vacations and gourmet food as slaves, then we could rationally support our own slavery. If socialism actually provided a great life for all, then I would support socialism.
But, authoritarian government, socialism, and slavery deliver less to all, except for the thin, ruling class extracting taxes from the peasants.
ObamaCare should be repealed along with the prior government restraints on the excellence and efficiency of a free approach to healthcare. Before ObamaCare, we were already living under the late Ted Kennedy’s decree about how we should relate to our doctors.
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Company Paid Health Insurance is Part of Your Salary
People are already personally paying for their “employer-paid” insurance. They don’t buy it directly so (1) it doesn’t attach to them when they change jobs, (2) and they can’t shop for the insurance they might want. The employer writes the check with part of the money earned by the employee.
Untangle the tax mess, remove employers from the middle, and salaries would go up in the amount of the “free” healthcare benefit through employers. Then people would have enough take-home pay to buy their own health insurance. That is what healthcare reform should be about, along with removing anti-competitive rules from the insurance market.
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Health Insurance Thirst Mandate
His Benevolence: I have decided to banish thirst from the land. All health insurance will henceforth include unlimited purchases of refreshing drink, like Coke, Pepsi, and 7-Up. The peasants will slake their thirst and be reimbursed by the insurance companies. No co-pay.
Advisor: Your name will be legend. But Sire, will you be paying for this bounty?
His Benevolence: The insurance companies will pay.
Advisor: Sire, the peasants will have to pay the insurance companies.