Democrat Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ) told MSNBC today that he isn’t happy with congressional Republicans. They’re doing a horrible thing: They’re sponsoring legislation that would force President Obama to honor his “If you like your healthcare, you can keep your healthcare” promise.
Host Thomas Roberts leads off the segment: “We have this article that points out the shift. Weeks ago many Republicans said Obamacare was too broken to fix but now the GOP is drafting legislation that aims to do just that. So is this “Keep your health plan” act a tacit admission by the GOP that the law is here to stay?”
Grijalva jumped: “Yeah, it’s a concession that the health care law and the reform is here to stay. I think it’s an effort to continue to undermine it by chipping away at the mandate of the law.”
So Republicans are “undermining” the law by trying to force Obama to keep his central promise concerning that law — the promise that was central to his re-election. But Obama didn’t undermine it by delaying the employer mandate and carving out exceptions for Big Labor.
Shorter Grijalva: I’ll just say whatever it’s convenient to say to get me through the next 30 seconds.
The GOP legislation isn’t alone — vulnerable Democrats have proposed similar ideas, but Thomas doesn’t mention them. They’re not admissions that Obamacare is here to stay, as Thomas ought to be aware. They’re efforts to force Barack Obama to keep his word. As such, they’re doomed to fail. But the legislation’s failure in the Democrat-controlled Senate sets things up nicely for 2014.
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