Breath. Taking. Arrogance. Senate Majority Leader Harry has spent the past three plus years denouncing any and all efforts to slow or halt Obamacare. Yet he has exempted his own staff from having to sign up for it.
On CNN today, reporter Lisa Desjardins broke the news: “He’s the only of the top four congressional leaders, the top Democrat and Republican, both the House and Senate, to make this exception. Why is he able to do it, Wolf? Well, frankly, it’s because of wording in the Affordable Care Act to begin with. It’s all semantics. Let’s look at exactly who is required to get on these exchanges. Got a graphic here. Essentially all members of Congress have to go on the exchanges if they want their job-related premium support, the money that comes from the federal government as their employer, and also the law says members and congressional staff. It uses just those two words. But the question is, who are those designated staff members? And frankly, Wolf, it is up to each member of Congress to determine that for themselves. Is my member of staff someone who should qualify for this? And what we’ve seen here is a patchwork throughout both the House and Senate of some members exempting their staff from the ObamaCare exchanges, others not. But Harry Reid is the only one of the top four leaders who has exempted his own staff. Now, he is able to do this under the law, but it really is a question of the wording and the intent. When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, it said members of Congress and congressional staff should be going on the exchanges if they want any help with their premium.”
Wolf Blitzer asked, “So has he issued a statement explaining his decision?”
As you probably expected, he has not.
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