Health-Care Repeal Fails in Senate, Next Course: Incrementally Defeat Individual Sections of Health Care -- Promising Long, Drawn-Out Debate

We all read yesterday that the Senate struck down the bill to repeal health care reform, which, of course, was not really news. The House vote to strike down job-killing Obamacare was largely a symbolic measure. The real news came out today, which is that after weeks of wrangling about a bill that actually has a negative impact on the economy, House Republicans announced they will dedicate many more weeks and possibly months attempting to incrementally defeat the most unpopular elements of the bill.

Americans are, according to polls (poll analysis), increasingly flocking towards the President as Republicans continue to bungle their mandate to focus on jobs and the economy. Obama’s approval ratings are the highest they’ve been for years, largely due to an increase in support from independents (36% approval rate last July, compared to 48% now). Not only are Republicans over-focusing on the outright repeal of health care, they're also focusing more on ‘family values’ issues like abortion. Just today Republican lawmakers, after massive outcries from women’s groups and days of dragging their feet, finally removed the term “forcible rape” from the antiabortion bill being debated in Congress. Critics argue that rape is by definition forced, as it seemed lawmakers were trying to make some cases of rape except – like in cases where the victim is unconscious.

But back to health care, Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, prepared Americans for a long fight on repealing individual parts of the law, saying “These are the first steps in a long road that will culminate in 2012. We will continue to expose flaws and faults in this legislation… and the courts will continue to review it.” Democrats and Republicans alike are both hoping the Supreme Court will quickly take up the case to put an end to the debate.

Also coincidentally in the news today Virginia’s attorney general announced that he wanted to bypass the lower court system by asking the Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of the health care law on a more expedited basis. But, historically at least, Democrats have a lot more precedents to point towards in arguing that the health care law is constitutional. As Senator Richard Lugar, Democrat of Illinois, said, “This is not the first major law that’s been challenged in the courts, even challenged successfully in the lower courts.” He then cited the Social Security Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Federal Minimum Wage law – all of which were challenged, sometimes successfully in lower courts, and ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court.


Further Reading:

CS Monitor: Health-care repeal fails in Senate
NY Times: VA. to ask supreme court to rule on health law

GOP Targets Abortion, Ignoring Mandate for Jobs and Economy

Pro-life advocates all across the country are stepping up their efforts to chip away at abortion rights at the federal and state level. Many are particularly incensed that Republicans have totally misread their mandate (if you even want to call it that).  Nancy Keenan, President of Naral Pro-Choice America said, “The 2010 elections were about jobs and the economy. It was not an endorsement of an anti-choice agenda.”

Efforts in the House of Representatives are underway to pass their third piece of legislation, HR 3 (the low number signifies its high priority). The bill, “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” is an effort to reduce federal abortion funding that was put in place with health care reform.

But, opponents rightfully claim, it’s not even clear that Obamacare does that. Before the historic health care reform passed last year, 87% of insurance plans already included an option for abortion coverage. So this new law is actually not stripping away pro-choice rights from the health care law, but stripping away abortion rights that were already available before 2009.

Efforts to pass pro-life legislation are also taking off at the state level. The election in November not only changed the make-up of the Capital, but of state legislators and state capitals as well. There are now 29 pro-life governors, up from 21, and 15 states with both a pro-life governor and legislator, up from 10.

The newly elected legislators are united in making progress on three fronts: (1) pushing women to review an ultrasound of the fetus, (2) cutbacks in insurance coverage, and (3) tighter regulations of late-term abortions. Whether or not this will actually prevent abortions is a whole other subject that deserves wider scrutiny. It will most likely push women to perform an abortion themselves, or turn to an underground market, both of which would put women at much greater risk to their health. Doctors will also have to make tough decisions, and be forced to wait before providing abortions until the women become dangerously ill so the operation can be legally performed. We’ll also probably see more cases of mothers simply abandoning their babies. Besides these truly scary worst-case scenarios, there is just something inherently arrogant and disgusting about people trying to impose their moral beliefs onto others through guilt and fear.

Even though there is a sizeable portion of America that is pro-life, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a backlash from the public. So far newly elected Republicans have focused on many pieces of legislation that the voters simply do not support – like repealing health care, and cutting Medicaid and Social Security. The new House has also, at the same time, neglected to bring up the issues that that they largely got elected to address – jobs and the economy. Even if pro-lifers do make great strides over the next few years, it could very well being a Pyrrhic victory, costing them dearly in 2012.

Further Reading:

NPR: After Health Care Repeal GOP Targets Abortion

Huffington Post: Roe v Wade 38 and Under Attack

NY Times: Across Country, Lawmakers Push Abortion Curbs

Poll Analysis: Is the Tea Party Digging Their Own Grave?

Tea Party's Christine O'Donnell

Last November when Republicans took back the house, many progressives were rightfully gloomy. Our President had done much of what we asked him, passing more legislation than any other president since Lyndon Johnson. And while we knew our concerns about the economy, the environment, and the historic health care bill would take a back seat, many expressed optimism that the tea party Congress would pull the Republican Party even further away from the center.

That is exactly what is happening.

Four polls have been released this week showing many new revelations on what the American public thinks of the new House of Representatives. A Washington Post/ABC News poll shows that while a slim majority of Americans don’t like the health care bill, only a small minority of Americans want to fully repeal the bill. Of the Republicans who don’t support Obamacare only 1/3 of them want to repeal it in totality. On the other side, most Democrats support the health care bill – and the ones that don’t believe it didn’t go far enough towards not-for-profit health care.

The other new poll done by the NY Times/CBS News shows that while Americans favor spending cuts over tax increases, we also do not favor cuts when they involve Medicaid and Social Security. Yet that is exactly what Republicans have endorsed in their call yesterday to enact legislation that drastically reduces government spending. Republicans are now divided amongst themselves on how to move forward. About 2/3 of the House Republicans support this legislation, including all of the newly elected tea party activists, which pits them against John Boehner and the ‘old-guard’ Republicans.

Another poll released this week shows President Obama enjoying a surge of support from the American public. Now, I don’t want to jump to conclusions, because this could very well be in response to the tragic shooting in Tucson. Many Presidents enjoy short surges of support during a national crises. The poll could, however, represent the fact that the tea party is pulling Republicans far to the right just in time for the 2012 elections. So the surge is not from the national tragedy, but from independents and moderate conservatives who voted Republican last November and have now changed their mind.

The bottom line is that America’s top priority right now is jobs, and if the Republicans continue to offer incompetent solutions, the Republican victory in November may well be a boon for Democrats in 2012. Let’s look at one last poll: the top three GOP Presidential contenders for 2012. Newt Gingrich (a washed up political hack), Mitt Romney (a Mormon, and not that I care but America has never elected a non-Christian), Sarah Palin (where do I even begin?), and then there is Barack Obama, one of the most respected and admired presidents this nation has seen since probably Ronald Reagan or FDR.

I, for one, am optimistic.

Further Reading:

NY Times: Poll Finds Weariness About Cutting Entitlements

LA Times: GOP's childish opposition to health care reform

Huffington Post: Republic Study Group Issues Proposed Tax Cuts

Talking Points Memo: What Do Americans Really Think of Health Care Reform Repeal

New Poll Shows More Support For Obamacare Than Previously Thought

Since the passage of the health care bill last year, the American public’s views of the legislation has remained pretty evenly entrenched. Most polls that the mainstream media have conducted show about 45% supporting the bill, and 50% opposed (Fox News poll and NBC/WSJ poll)

But a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that there is much less consensus among those who oppose the bill than previously thought, especially as to whether or not to fully repeal health care legislation. This is of huge importance to our representatives (or it should be) who will be voting on the bill within the next few weeks.

The new poll shows that of those who do not support the law, only 33% support its total repeal, 35 % support a partial repeal, and 30% want to wait-and-see what happens. About 2/3’s of Republicans surveyed wanted the law repealed (at least partly), and about ¼ of all opposed to the law are against it because it doesn’t go far enough (towards not-for-profit health care).

As we can see, support for the health care bill is much more nuanced than simply up or down. If the new poll is taken into account, then in fact 77% of Americans do not want to repeal Obamacare, or at least in its entirety, and only 16% do.

At this point I can only hope that House Republicans will take their constituent’s concerns seriously, although there doesn’t seem to be much room for nuance in the ‘party of no.’


Further Reading:
Huffington Post: Health Care Poll Finds Decreasing Republican Support...
Daily Kos: Obama Does Not Need to Move to Center