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Mitch McConnell Declares Surrender On Obamacare

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

Joining Eric Cantor, John Boehner, Kevin McCarthy, and Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell is declaring surrender on Obamacare. He will no longer fight it.

You’d never know that if you paid attention to his preferred words about Obamacare at CPAC. McConnell told the crowd that “Obamacare should be repealed root and branch.” He also told the crowd that those who think he’s given up the fight are wrong. He pledged to continue to fight. I call bull.

The part of his speech that McConnell hopes you ignore is him saying, “When it came to Obamacare, we gave it everything we have, everything we have, and we just lost.” He’s also signaling that the Senate Republicans will neither filibuster the continuing resolution nor shut down the government.

The continuing resolution is the best vehicle to use as a fight to defund Obamacare. Republicans will not, despite their rhetoric right now, fight on the debt ceiling to undermine Obamacare. This is the fight.

McConnell has a history of throwing red meat to the crowd then turning his back on them. Last February, Jim DeMint offered an amendment to defund Obamacare. McConnell refused to offer it up as a Republican amendment in the Senate because he did not want to anger Harry Reid. The backlash caused McConnell to promise a month long PR campaign about Obamacare the following month.

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Cruz: Let’s See if Obama’s Willing to Shutdown Gov’t to Fund Obamacare

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Photo Credit: AP

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced an amendment on Wednesday that would cut off all funds for Obamacare, a step he said Republicans should support and, if it were to pass in the House as well, could be sent to President Barack Obama to see if he’s “willing to try to shut the government down” over funding of the Affordable Care Act.

“I think it’s the right position for Republicans to be taking,” Cruz told CNSNews.com. “And I think it would be exactly the right decision to then send it back to Harry Reid and President Obama and ask if Harry Reid and President Obama are willing to try to shut the government down in order to insist that Obamacare be fully funded now, even though it could well push us into a recession.”

“I think that is an important stand for principle that makes a difference in the lives of those who are struggling the most,” said the senator.

On Wednesday, Cruz introduced his de-fund Obamacare amendment to the continuing resolution (CR), which is a massive “must-pass” bill to keep the government funded for the rest of this fiscal year, from late March through the end of September.

Last week, the Republican-controlled House passed a $982-billion CR, but the GOP leadership set the rule and did not allow the must-pass CR to include language prohibiting funding for Obamacare or for de-funding the controversial Obamacare mandate that requires nearly all health plans to offer contraceptives, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs without co-payments.

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Rep. Bridenstine on Obamacare: ‘Just Because The Supreme Court Rules On Something Doesn’t Necessarily Mean That That’s Constitutional’

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Photo Credit: TheDC Video

After just over two months in office, Republican Rep. Jim Bridenstine has already set the tone for his first two-year term in Congress as a leader who cares more about principle than party.

For instance, the 37-year-old native of Tulsa, Okla. did not vote for John Boehner to be Speaker of the House and tried last week to get the House to vote to defund Obamacare despite push back from House leadership.

Before coming to Congress, Bridenstine served his country by flying combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He never ran for public office before deciding with his friends in his living room to challenge Republican Rep. John Sullivan, who had voted to increase the debt limit. Bridenstine surprised many by defeating Sullivan in the primary before cruising to victory in the general election last November.

Bridenstine says Obamacare “is a government takeover” and says Chief Justice John Roberts is “incorrect” on the Affordable Care Act being a tax. He says he wants “Congress to take back its constitutional authority.”

“Just because the Supreme Court rules on something doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s constitutional,” he said.

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Your Doctor To Become 1-Person Death Panel?

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Photo Credit: WND

A government-funded “mortality index” study – which helps doctors determine whether a patient has a “good chance” of dying within the next 10 years – raises renewed concerns about health-care rationing under Obamacare.

Federal grants from the National Institute on Aging and the American Federation for Aging Research helped pay for researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, to create a “mortality index” designed to aid doctors in decision-making about “preventive intervention” for older patients.

The index provides doctors with 12 measures to assign points to an elderly patient. The lower the patient’s total points, the better his or her odds of survival. The highest score, 26 points, represents a 95-percent chance the patient will die within 10 years.

The index assigns all male subjects 2 points automatically because men on the average have a lower life expectancy than women, the study noted. Men and women aged between 60 and 64 get 1 point; ages 70 and 74 get 3 points, while 85 or over get 7 points.

Two points are further assigned in the following cases: Patients with a current or a previous cancer diagnosis, excluding minor skin cancers; lung disease impacting on physical activity or requiring oxygen; heart failure; smoking; difficulty bathing; difficulty managing money because of health or memory problems; difficulty walking several blocks. One point is assigned to those with diabetes or high blood sugar; difficulty pushing a large object; being thin or of abnormal weight.

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House Conservatives: GOP Leadership Killed Measure To Defund Obamacare

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Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite

As Republican senators Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Marco Rubio, and James Inhofe prepare to introduce a measure to defund Obamacare — and threaten to hold up a continuing resolution to fund the U.S. government if the measure is not given a vote — some conservatives are unhappy that the House, controlled by Republicans, did not do the same thing.

It wasn’t for lack of effort, at least on the part of some conservative Republicans. As the House prepared to consider its own version of the continuing resolution last week — it ultimately passed 267 to 151 — more than two dozen conservative GOP lawmakers signed on to an amendment that would have defunded Obamacare. They submitted the amendment and hoped it would receive a vote but were stymied when the House leadership declared that no amendments would be allowed.

“If that amendment had gone to the floor, far and above a majority of the conference would have voted for it,” said Arizona Rep. Matt Salmon, one of the supporters, in an interview Saturday. “I think everyone in the conference would have voted for it,” added Florida Rep. Ron DeSantis, another supporter.

Nevertheless, the Republican leadership did not allow the amendment to be considered. And that, Salmon, DeSantis, and other conservative Republicans believe, is a measure of the leadership’s uneasiness with continuing the legislative fight against Obamacare. Some Republicans — lawmakers who might have felt pressure to vote to defund Obamacare — believe privately that the fight is essentially over, and that the GOP should come to terms with the reality of national health care.

“I do think there’s a feeling in the conference among some folks who think that the 2012 election settled Obamacare, that we kind of need to move on,” said DeSantis. “I’m on the other side. I don’t think it did, because I don’t think it was a major issue in the campaign.”

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Rep. Paul Ryan: House Budget Will Assume the Repeal Of ObamaCare

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Sunday said he will not back down from the battle to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act even though some Republicans think the party should move on.

Ryan dismissed criticism that House Republicans have virtually no chance of dismantling the signature legislative accomplishment of Obama’s first term and their efforts might be better expended elsewhere.

He said his budget assumes the repeal of the healthcare law, in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

When host Chris Wallace challenged him on that assumption, Ryan said he would not give up the fight.
“That’s not going to happen,” said Wallace.

“We believe it should,” Ryan shot back. “That’s the point. This is what budgeting is all about. It’s about making tough choices to fix our country’s problems. We believe ‘ObamaCare’ is a program that will not work.

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Bid To Defund Obamacare Gains Momentum In Senate GOP

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Photo Credit: Washington Examiner

This week it appeared Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee would wage a lonely war over their threat to hold up a continuing resolution to fund the U.S. government if they are not given a vote on a budget amendment to defund Obamacare. Now, it’s not quite so lonely. Sens. Marco Rubio and James Inhofe have joined Cruz and Lee, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday that he “looks forward to supporting” the amendment.

It’s a significant step forward for Cruz and Lee. But the Senate Republican caucus remains deeply divided about defunding Obamacare. Sources say that at a Republican caucus lunch a few days ago, several GOP senators expressed opposition to Cruz and Lee’s proposal. And of course, the 55-member Democratic majority will not give it the time of day. But Cruz and Lee are determined to keep up opposition to Obamacare, even though it has flagged in some other quarters of the Republican Party.

And in Rubio, the two have an ally sure to bring a higher profile to the cause. The continuing resolution fight is “a perfect opportunity for us to have a debate once again on Obamacare,” Rubio told radio host Hugh Hewitt Friday. “I don’t think there’s been enough attention paid to it. It’s been awhile, we’ve moved onto these other issues, but there is, right now out there, probably nothing more damaging to our economy in the short term than this implementation of Obamacare.”

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Cruz: Defund Obamacare Through Spending Bill

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller Texas Republican Sen.Ted Cruz declared Wednesday that he will reject any government spending bill that does not directly cut off funds to the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature piece of legislation.

Cruz said “he will offer an amendment to delay the flow of funds to implement the healthcare law when the Senate takes up a continuing resolution to fund the federal government,” the Hill reports.

“I believe we should continue to delay such funding at least until economic growth returns to historic averages, and I intend to object to consideration of any continuing resolution that does not include a vote to delay funding of Obamacare,” Cruz said in a statement.

Cruz’s comment comes on the heels of a continuing resolution to fund the government, including money set aside for Obamacare.

After the GOP’s hopes of easily repealing the national health care law were lost with the 2012 election, some in Congress have said that they will work to use creative tactics to chip away at the law.

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Obamacare Requirements Will Drive Up Premiums

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Photo Credit: Washington Examiner In 2007, candidate Barack Obama declared, “I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family’s premium by up to $2,500 a year.” As president, he signed national health care legislation that is formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. But according to a new report from Congressional Republicans, the law will actually cause premiums to more than double for some Americans.

The report, which is based on a compilation of independent studies on the effect of the law’s new regulations, finds that Obamacare could increase premiums by 40 percent on average and by as much as 202 percent for young adults living in Chicago.

There are several ways the health care law puts upward pressure on premiums. It requires insurers to offer coverage to everybody who applies, regardless of pre-existing conditions. It limits the amount that companies can adjust prices based on health status. It also requires that every American purchase a health insurance policy that meets federal specifications regarding the level of benefits covered. In addition, the law imposes $165 billion of tax increases on health insurance, drug manufacturers and medical device-makers. These policies work together to drive up the cost of insurance, especially on younger and healthier Americans.

It’s true that the law also offers subsidies to individuals to purchase insurance. But those subsidies are phased out for individuals earning more than $46,000. The report anticipates, “Even after receiving subsidies, Americans earning as little as $25,000 will still pay more.”

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Conservatives Pushing Boehner, Cantor To Defund ObamaCare In Continuing Resolution

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Photo Credit: breitbartConservative House Republicans are circulating a letter calling on House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to defund Obamacare in the upcoming continuing resolution that funds the government. Oklahoma Republican Rep. Jim Bridenstine, a freshman, and Kansas Republican Rep. Tim Huelskamp are leading the charge.

“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (‘ObamaCare’) remains broadly unpopular across America,” the letter to Boehner and Cantor reads. “More and more Americans are now feeling its impact–from job losses and part-time downgrades, to insurance policy changes and violations of religious liberties, to state budget strains from Medicaid expansions. And Americans don’t like these impacts. Most Americans still believe that healthcare should be controlled by patients and doctors, not by the government.”

In the letter, the conservatives note that while they plan to “re-start efforts to repeal ObamaCare in its entirety this year, next year and until we are successful,” that “in the meantime, there is more we can do in Congress.”

The upcoming continuing resolution, which funds the government, is one such place. House Republicans have the power, should they choose to use it, to shut down Obamacare through the appropriations process–the power of the purse laid out in the United States Constitution.

It is unclear if Boehner and Cantor will defund Obamacare this time around. Over the past couple years, they have passed continuing resolutions that actually fund Obamacare. Spokespeople for both Boehner and Cantor have not returned requests for comment from Breitbart News on this matter.

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