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Subscribe to RSSYes, if Mitt Romney wins the White House and his Republican allies retake the Senate, he could shred most of President Barack Obama's health care law without having to overpower a Democratic filibuster.
But it won't be as easy as some Republicans portend, and it certainly won't be quick.
Why?
Because any realistic effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act — as opposed to last week's quixotic vote in the GOP-controlled House — is sure to get jumbled together with lots of other issues, including Medicare, taxes, food stamps and defense spending.
And that's because Republicans have to first pass a budget. It's the only way than can invoke special Senate rules that allow legislation to pass with just a simple majority vote — instead of the 60 votes needed in the 100-member Senate to beat a filibuster.
Passing a budget requires answering a raft of questions unrelated to the relatively simple idea of repealing "Obamacare." How much to cut the deficit? Should Medicare be overhauled and Medicaid bear sharp cuts? Is it realistic to sharply boost defense programs, as Romney would like, in such an atmosphere?
The first step is to pass a budget resolution — a nonbinding, broad-brush outline of budget goals like cutting or increasing taxes, or slowing increases in Medicare. A budget resolution sets the terms for follow-up legislation that's called a reconciliation bill in Washington argot.
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Two years ago, Democrats used a reconciliation bill to enact the health care law with a 56-43, party-line vote in the Senate.
Republicans have a problem in that there's a lot more on their agenda than just repealing the health care law, and it's all going to have to be crammed into a budget resolution and follow-up reconciliation bill, too.
"They're going to want to use that budget resolution to set up a tax bill, they're going to want to do other deficit reduction," said Hazen Marshall, a GOP lobbyist and the Senate Budget Committee's top aide in 2001 and 2003 when reconciliation bills were used to push former President George W. Bush's tax cuts through Congress.
"So I would think it's just going to take some time to get everybody on the same page as to what the budget resolution's going to look like," Marshall said.
In 2001, when Republicans set about the relatively simple task of cutting taxes in an era of unprecedented budget surpluses, it took them until Memorial Day to pass the legislation.
What Republicans would confront next year is far more difficult — wrenching cuts to programs popular with voters. A more apt comparison might be the GOP's budget efforts of 1995, when it took the party until November to complete action on its budget plan.
"It's not that it's not doable. It absolutely is doable," said a senior House GOP budget aide . "It's just going to take a lot longer than everybody wants it to. And people aren't anticipating the pain of each step to get to that point." The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak on the record.
Republicans currently hold 47 Senate seats. If they take control of the Senate, it's not likely to be by more than 1 to 4 votes, well short of 60. That would put lots of leverage in the hands of Senate GOP moderates like Susan Collins of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts, should he win his difficult re-election bid.
Both Collins and Brown cast votes earlier this year against the House GOP budget plan, authored by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. At the center of Ryan's plan was controversial overhaul of Medicare that would transform it into a voucher-like program for those who retire in 10 years. Also voting against Ryan's plan was Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., who Republicans are counting on to win a Senate seat this fall as a building block to a GOP majority.
Keith Hennessey, a former GOP Senate and White House official, says that if Republicans follow past practice, they'll try to forge a center-right agreement that includes spending cuts but no tax increases. But he noted that the willingness of some Republicans to embrace tax increases could complicate matters.
"You look at the Republicans and you see that there's going to be a spectrum on how deep they're going to be willing to cut various things," said Hennessey, currently a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. "The question is just how far toward the Ryan plan can you get the moderate Republicans."
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On the other hand, combining the repeal of Obama's health care law with other GOP priorities like curbing the deficit gives lawmakers who are not part of the leadership plenty of incentive to vote for the package.
"When elections are about certain policies and are defined on that, you've got momentum to do those things," said House GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy of California.
A simple-majority reconciliation bill could certainly cover the health care law's tax increases — including the penalties used to enforce the individual mandate to buy insurance — and subsidies for insurance premiums.
Republicans, however, could not use the filibuster-proof budget process to repeal provisions in the health care that don't have a direct impact on the government's balance sheet. For example, it still would likely take 60 Senate votes to repeal the law's requirement that insurance companies cover people with pre-existing conditions.
Experts say leaving the insurance reforms intact on their own is economically unsustainable because the ratio of sick to healthy people in the plans would be out of balance.
"If you were to remove everything else in reconciliation and be left with the insurance provisions, you have something that everybody recognizes is unworkable," said former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin. "I think if you take enough out, the rest probably has to go."
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If the American General Public have some time experiencing the A C A. I would hope and expect that there would be strong resistance to changing the Health Care Reform. All nationalities have rejected their Government's attempts to take away their National Health Care ,without exception, when it has been attempted by a change in governments to a Conservative one by any country that has it,despite the huge amounts that Medical and Insurance Co.'s spend to try to tell the population at large that they are doing it for the benifit of all of the population. Another .we have it ,but you won't like it approach.
Wait until you can't get in to see a Doctor or the quality of our health care system deteriorates because the government is now in control. The government needs to get out of the way and let the competitive marketplace resume with regulatory constraints. Have you actually read the Affordable care act? If you have not you have no clue how bad this legislation is and the cost to consumers relative to at least 21 or 22 taxes incorporated in the bill, larger government, which can not function even now, and penalties if you do not dance the "wellness tune". Not even our representatives read it, yet they voted for it and passed it. They still do not understand it.
We will always have enough doctors and nursing staff,as we will continue to do what we do at this present time,which is bringing them here from overseas,mainly India and Pakistan. The western U.S. has been doing that for many years and I now see that we have many of them in our Central U.S. and don't think that you can sneer at their capabilities.They are equal to any other doctors and so are the nurses. While I am on about foreign medical matters.The government are saying that we shouldn't be buying foreign medicines,as they are not inspected to our standards,but when we buy those drugs in Canada and Mexico you would see that they come from the same countries as the ones that we get from our own pharmacies,mainly Germany.Canada ,Mexico and Ireland . I doubt that those drugs are of any difference to the ones that they sell to the U.S.A.
B..b...b...b...but Mitton's promised he would repeal Obamacare on day one of a "Romney Presidency", right ?
You see, even in his promises, Romney is lying.
You can't trust Mitt Romney for anything, why would anyone who is at all sane vote for him.
OBAMADOESNTCARE is rejected by most doctors (83% say they may quit). There is already a doctor shortage in the U.S. Do you think 30 million more people on the healthcare rolls won't affect your care? That is why there WILL be rationing. If you are an older American you will be denied care as it will be too costly. If you have a premature birth - that will be too costly. If you are disabled whether mentally or physically you will be denied care - too costly. The death panels (the 12 bureaucrats in DC Obama has formed) WILL decided who lives and who dies. Suicide will be touted as heroic by the democrats in order to save the earth and help provide care for those who are not as sickly. Obamadoesn'tcare takes over 1/6th of our economy. That means it takes over YOUR freedoms. Pres. Obama & the dems in power do NOT care one iota about anyone. What they care about is THEIR power over you. If you support Obama you are a fool, useless idiot, lemming ready to follow these democrat/liberals off a cliff and FOR WHAT? What will YOU gain? Don't be a fool. Romney WILL repeal this healthcare takeover as IF elected WE the people will hold his feet to the fire. It WILL be done. A vote for Romney is a vote to stop bureaucrats & dem pols from making YOUR personal healthcare choices.
By da Way…….Did any of these Republican TeaBilly Conservative Politicians Vote to Repeal their Own Socialist Healthcare that they Receive.? You know…………da one that that Covers them and their Families (Including Birth Control) all paid for by Our Tax $$$$$$$$.
I hear Crickets Chirping……
Lets break this down in simple terms. Republican TeaBilly Conservative = Self Righteous Hypocrite.
@jstdafacts... equal liberal=? United we STAND, divided we fall. I am not left or right. I am an American. You need to end the war against other Americans...we all have our opinion, there is always common ground, the most common being we are Americans. Stop running your fellow Americans into the ground. Stop using labels "Republican TeaBilly Conservative = Self Righteous Hypocrite"
Do you want this nation to crumble? If you do... keep on driving a wedge. Keep on dividing us. Keep using labels.
@Bobby. UR a wuss. labels are the least of our concern you can call me a liberal all day. no skin off my potato sack
mrs bobby you are a coward conservative , your response reveals what you are
harryo
"Coward" conservative? Do you have any clue how many conservatives are over in combat zones right now? Look at the voting history of the military. Pretty much says it all.
Exactly why the democrats do NOT count the absentee military ballots. Don't believe me? Google it.
This is another reason why the democrats/libs/socialists are against the Photo ID card for voters. They have been getting away with fraud for so long that they will do whatever it takes to keep it going. Five months is long enough for all those idiots out there who do NOT have photo ID. And anyone over the age of 18 who doesn't have photo ID is a person who is a hermit. You must have ID to do and go just about anywhere. Liberals are like a bunch of mad/whining teenagers. They never matured. It is a mental disease that MUST be cured somehow.
The Top 10 Poorest States in the U.S. are Republican States. Do you ever hear the Republicans talk about the Poor or Poverty in those States? The answer is “Never”. It just so happens most of those States are in the South and have “Right To Work Laws”. How’s that working out for ya?
And here is da Real Kicker: All those Republican Politicians in those States have Good Salaries, Health Care, Pension, Vacations, and all kinds of Special Perks……paid for by our “Tax $$$$”. Hmmmmm.
The most impoverished state is Mississippi, and it's followed by Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, Louisiana, Montana, South Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama and North Carolina.
Lets break this down in Simple terms. Republican TeaBilly Conservative = Self Righteous Hypocrite.
Hey jstdafacts
The top 3 three states, with the lowest unemployment rates, have Republican governors. What's your point?
jstdafacts
Name just 1 poor Democrat politician. I'll gladly wait until I have to go to work. Remember-just ONE.
Oh, and all those city/states run by dems are doing well? Chicago is busted and criminals run the city. Detroit is dead because dems/libs ran it into the ground. CAlifornia is busted being run by spend and tax nuts. Pelosi's city of San Francisco is a hotbed of prostitutes and the homeless sleeping on every corner. Ever visited? It is sickening. The states that are NOW doing well are all run by repubs. Every city, state or country run by libs is destroyed - Greece, France, Spain, Cuba, Venezuela,e/g/ are sinking fast. Taxing and spending and controlling the people with force from politicians is killing everything/everyone. Pres. Obama MUSt be stopped from taking away YOUR freedoms. Why would you libs like to be controlled by pols in DC? Are you blind idiots?
Mitt is about as Real as a Plastic Bananna!
Is it Mitt ____________Romney?
“Political Puppet”
“I’m Not a Crook”
“Country Club”
“Middle Class Warfare”
“Not To Much..Out of Touch”
“Cheap Labor is Our Future”
“Outsourcing is Awesome”
“Profits Over People”
“Corporations are People Too”
“F da Poor”
“No Substance”
“Let Detroit go Bankrupt”
“National Right to Work”
“Swiss Accounts”
“Flip Flop”
“Pray da Gay Away”
Mitt Romney’s Solution to all Problems…….Prayer and a Moment of Silence.
Da Biggest Threat to Mitt Romney’s Campaign……..da Truth!
Wouldn't Mitt "F da Poor" Romney make a Great Siamese Twin Republican TeaBilly Politician?
He could always point da Finger and say "I never said that.......it was Him". LOL
Here's an impressive list of accomplishments of the IDIOT that currently occupies the White House!
First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner.
First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.
First President to preside over a cut to the credit-rating of the United States .
First President to violate the War Powers Act.
First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico .
First President to defy a Federal Judge’s court order to cease implementing the Health Care Reform Law.
First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third party.
First President to spend a trillion dollars on ‘shovel-ready’ jobs when there was no such thing as ‘shovel-ready’ jobs.
First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies to his union supporters.
First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through executive fiat.
First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S. , including those with criminal convictions.
First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his political appointees.
First President to terminate America ’s ability to put a man in space-defunded NASA.
First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.
First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it.
First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly spoke-out on the reasons for their rate increases.
First President to tell a major manufacturing company (Boeing) in which State they are allowed to locate a factory.
First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN).
First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly issued years ago.
First President to fire an inspector general of Ameri-corps for catching one of his friends in a corruption case.
First President to appoint 45 czars to replace elected officials in his office.
First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years in office, 90 to date & counting.
First President to hide his medical, educational and travel records.
First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.
First President to not know how to properly pronounce Navy 'corpsman'.
First President to go on multiple global ‘apology tours’-including bowing to foreign rulers.
First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends; paid for by the taxpayer.
First President to say that America was not a Christian nation.
First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) just for his wife.
First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000 a year at taxpayer expense.
As a 5th grade educated birther-teabagger, you certainly has made your case. Are there anymore Fox type facts that you want to share with us? I mean he also coaches his daughters basket ball team on the gov dime.
If you only could comprehend how moronic and asinine are your post, you would die of embarrassment. But then again in your used tea bag mind, you have laid bare all of the chronic faults of our president.
Especially the birther claim that he got free student scholarships. As an old white person, you certainly know that your world is slipping away. You are going to have to do better than repeating a few lines of moronic birther code.
In the meanwhile, when you vote for the man with the holy panties, vote twice because that is the only way that you and the rest of the teabag birther jackasses are going to win.
How about the fact that while Obama claims to care about the poor, his own family members live in poverty in Kenya, and he does nothing to help them?
Obamanatic
Before you judge someone on their educational level, you had better check yours. Your sentence writing is horrible, to say the least.
The three biggest lies I ever heard:
"I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."
"I'm not a crook."
"Hope and Change."
If you view someone as a Democrat, Republican, liberal, Progressive, Conservative, Tea bagger, libertarian,radical right wing, radical left wing or some other label or flavor would you view them as a fellow American. With all this divisive talk about Democrat versus Republican. Private sector versus government. A divided America and an impending civil war is looming...all because you can't stomach someone else's opinion or meet on common ground. So which is it going to be "the American dream" or the "Obama dream of bigger government". You want national health care, global governance, no manufacturing plants, no American made goods and more government regulation.
WE NEED MORE GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS. Corporations should not be able to do whatever the hell they want, there have to be limits there have to be rules. Large government is not a bad thing a large government is capable of protecting citzens from corporations who have no morals no ethics and care only about profit. I trust the government more than I trust private companies because the government's agenda is for the people by the people at least it should be a companies motto is we will rape the land, rape our employees and rape our consumers. Deregulation is never a good idea it never works. Only idiots think it does
Rape the land? Good, then give up your house. Hate corporations? Then don't buy anything! Big government? Yep-works real well in N. Korea, and China. Maybe you need the government telling you what to do, but I don't.
Don't like big govt BVET? Then get the hell out, and move to TeaBaggerLand. America has to have a big govt to protect us from corporations who own Congress. I don't wanna live in Robber baron times again. I know you do...
ROMPPY WANTS TO INCREASE DEFENSE SPENDING?????? IS THAT WHAT I READ ABOVE!!!!!!
First thing is FIRST BUNDLE ALL GOVERNMENT ISSUED HEALTH CARE INTO ONE DEPARTMENT !!!
That means the POLITICIANS CADILLAC HEALTH PLANS, DEFENSE HEALTH CARE FOR THE VETS, YOU NAME IT if it has health associated with it PUT IT UNDER ONE ROOF. SEE HOW MUCH THAT IS COSTING TAXPAYERS?????
Then figure out what works and does not work ?
This scraping of the AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE is so stupid and DISHONEST TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
WHY DO THE GOVERNMENT GET THE BEST POSSIBLE CARE BY THE TAXPAYERS AND THEY the REPUKES and TEA-SHYSTERS are getting the CADILLAC PLANS that rival what any AMERICAN GETS???? WHY????
Then have the BALLS to say to AMERICANS TO BAD WE CAN NOT AFFORD YOU !!!!! WHAT HYPOCRITES !!!
THESE SLUGS IN CONGRESS ALONG WITH ROMPPY ARE F"N INSANE, JUST PSYCHO would be best for them.
How many of your liberal loon Democrat buddies are going to opt in to this health care plan??? NONE. There's hypocrisy for you!
It is the biggest TAX in World History!! No ONE can Afford it!!
.Obama the promise BREAKER!! Equals a LIAR!!! BIG EMBARRASSMENT to the USA!!!
Obama’s promise that his healthcare proposals would “never be purchased with [a] tax increase on middle-class families.” The SUPREME COURT & JUSTICE DEPT say it is a TAX!!! .Attack on the middle Class!
…….…NOW Obama wants to invade Syria and Iran!!!
Remember these?
THE OBAMA CHRONICLES:
“I promise 100% transparency in my administration.”.
“I promise NO NEW TAXES on a family making less than $250K a year.”.
“I will allow 5 days of public comment before I sign any bills.”.
“I will remove earmarks from PORK projects before I sign any bill.”.
“I will end Income Tax for seniors making less than $50K a year.”.
"I will bring ALL of our troops home within ONE year."
“I’ll put the Health Care negotiations on CSPAN so everyone can see who is at the table!”.
“I’ll have no lobbyists in my administration."
"I'll close Guantanamo."
"I'll resign if I don't cut the deficit in half by the end of four years."
"I'll unite the people of this great country."
“The TROOPS will be home for CHRISTMAS.” WHY ARE MORE LEAVING EVERYDAY???? AND DYING every day…
NOW Obama invokes Executive Privilege( as a Sen. called it’s use a RUSE!) for Holder on GUN SMUGGLING and killing US Agent Brain Terry!!! That only applies if Obama was part of it!! Obama & Holder should be on trial for giving Machine Guns to the Mexican Drug cartels!!
BETTER KNOWN AS LIES.
Fool me once shame on YOU!
Fool me twice shame on ME!
Vote NOBOZO, . NOBIDEN.............2012!
This whole article is nonsense... All the house will have to do is de-fund the ACA.... The rest will die on its own...
the BIGGEST tax in world history...NOOne can afford it... Taxation by liars!!
Don't sit around on your asses; get out and volunteer at a local repub office or for the Romney campaign. Use your creative efforts to put the word out to your community how Obama is a control freak who wants to rule your life. Post signs, pass out flyers, put flyers on cars. Boycott Hollywood movies, left wing biz. Support conservative companies like Chick=Fil=A. Google conservative biz and support them.
Runawayslavemovie.com to see the new form of slavery in America!