Game Point for U.S. House?

ObamaCare on the block for the 33rd time

by Jay Zimmer

Ever since Lyndon Johnson and Medicare, many candidates for the White House have spouted rhetoric calling for a national health care plan that will include all Americans. Equally, candidates for Congress and the Senate have made health care an issue in their own campaigns, all with varying results. Yet for decades no one seemed to be able to agree on how a national, all inclusive health care program would work, nor how it would be paid for. And so the rhetoric continues.

Barak Obama ran on a promise that he would stop talking about health care and do something about it. After several speeches, the President managed to ram through Congress a comprehensive health care plans that assures that every American can buy health insurance. Ion face, the program apparently makes it mandatory that all U.S. families buy and hold health care insurance under the program once it takes effect.

Importantly, a challenge of the law before the U.S.Supreme Court upheld the program, and even decided that the U.S. government may require American citizens to purchase health insurance – and permits the Internal Revenue Service to monitor such purchases and in-force insurance as part of annual tax returns.

While several Republican members of congress voted the measure in, the GOP has made noises ever since it’s passage about repealing the law, and has even brought a bill to repeal to a vote on the House floor. It’s failed there 32 times

Thirty third time’s the charm???

Considering Democratic roadblocks in the Senate and an almost certain White House veto, any potential law repealing ObamaCare seems doomed from the starting gate.

But they try. Oh, how they try! “Hope springs eternal,” says Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). "This is not what the American people want. They don't want the government involved in this, and so we're going to continue to work to repeal this."

The first attempt at repeal was in January 2011, not long after Republicans took control of the House of Representatives. As part of that attempt, the House has voted to block funding from agencies implementing the Affordable Care Act. And In addition, the last two House budgets have also defunded the law.

While Democrats agree that there are some parts of the law that need tweaking, at least someone has actually done something. Their idea is to tinker with the law before it goes into effect, and once it does, see what works and what doesn’t and fix it. It’s better than just talking about it, say many on the Democratic side of the aisle.

Republicans, though, say the Supreme Court decision strengthens their resolve to repeal, and will put through another bill even though it hasn’t a snowball’s chance of becoming law.