ObamaCare Repeal will be Senate's 1st objective in new congress

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

McConnell is hoping for democratic cooperation in repealing a "very, very controversial law." (While reconciliation procedures can gut most of the law, they can't get rid of every last provision or enact a replacement)

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/obamacare-repeal-coming-soon-mitch-mcconnell-232268

[Gass3268]

Hoping for cooperation? Lol! Democrats need to give Trump and Republicans the same treatment they gave Obama for 8 years. Trump needs to be viewed as a lame duck on day one, just like they did to Obama.

[Mr.Phips]

Democrats need to give McConnell the same treatment that he gave them for the last eight years.  Schumer needs to make sure not a single Dem votes for this and filibuster any piece of the bill that isn't budgetary in nature.

[Mr. Reactionary]

I hate the democrats so they need to be exactly like the Republicans were the past 8 years and obstruct so that they show themselves to be spiteful partisans with no ethics or moral high ground. Then no one new or moderate will want to vote for them.

[JJC]

McConnell is hoping for democratic cooperation in repealing a "very, very controversial law." (While reconciliation procedures can gut most of the law, they can't get rid of every last provision or enact a replacement)

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/obamacare-repeal-coming-soon-mitch-mcconnell-232268

What an understatement.

Obama started this thing when he had a 60 vote filibuster proof supermajority and an enormous house majority, and he still couldn't get it passed. Then the MA senate election was turned into a referendum on Obamacare, thrusting a GOP senator in liberal, liberal, liberal MA.

Then dems got demolished in the 2010 midterms, loosing the house and a ton of senate seats, in an election that was largely a referendum on Obamacare.

And guess what? Dems rammed this turd though anyway, despite absolute rejection by the American electorate, passing a bill that 65% of the American people opposed.

And then there was serious constitutional ground against it, but was accepted by the SC as being okay because the fine for not having insurance was considered a 'tax' - a dubious explanation with no precedent.

Never before had we ever had such sweeping legislation passed with so little support. Disgusting, really.

[JJC]

The good news is that thing was passed through reconciliation, and therefor can be repealed through the same process.

[Mr.Phips]

I hate the democrats so they need to be exactly like the Republicans were the past 8 years and obstruct so that they show themselves to be spiteful partisans with no ethics or moral high ground. Then no one new or moderate will want to vote for them.

Behaving that way sure didn't hurt Republicans.

[GlobeSoc]

I hate the democrats so they need to be exactly like the Republicans were the past 8 years and obstruct so that they show themselves to be spiteful partisans with no ethics or moral high ground. Then no one new or moderate will want to vote for them.

Behaving that way sure didn't hurt Republicans.

[Tartarus Sauce]

I hate the democrats so they need to be exactly like the Republicans were the past 8 years and obstruct so that they show themselves to be spiteful partisans with no ethics or moral high ground. Then no one new or moderate will want to vote for them.

Behaving that way sure didn't hurt Republicans.

^This.

I don't think they will though, it's against their political philosophy to stall everything out of spite. On an ideological level, Democrats are far more interested in actually trying to make government work while Republicans are more interested in cutting back government responsibilities. Democrats are far more likely to pivot off of tensions between the Trump administration and the GOP-led Congress as their main form of subversion and will make high profile stands only on issues that are of the utmost priority.

Scrupulous partisan power plays ended up being a highly rewarded tactic for the Republicans when they were acting as the opposition party and rallying against grievances the populace had with the Democratic agenda. Democrats could tap the same well so long as they utilize that strategy on issues that Americans have similar grievances with regarding the Republican Party now that they are in charge.

[krazen1211]

Problem is the leftist sloth relies on government money. The Democrats can't push a standoff without infuriating their 47% base. Lol. Problems!

[Devout Centrist]

Problem is the leftist sloth relies on government money. The Democrats can't push a standoff without infuriating their 47% base. Lol. Problems!

Hypocrisy you can feel from China!

[Hermit For Peace]

This is what upsets me about the GOP. All they talk about is REPEAL.

First of all, please get in touch with your humanity and your common sense, and START with how you want to change the healthcare law, and what you want to do to MAKE IT BETTER for the American people, and not just big business.

Don't scare the crap out of people and go slashing a program out the gate just because your ego is too bloated to see the proper way forward. Tell us how you plan to help us get better more affordable health care, and how you will not just swing the ax and let the pieces fall where they may, leaving millions of Americans in the lurch.

Damn, this party is so heartless!

[Frodo]

Mitch McConnell wants Democratic cooperation in repealing a key Obama legacy?  That's a rather rich statement coming from the same man who urged obstructionism from Day One, and vowed to make Barack Obama a one-term president in early 2009.  And failed.

Democrats (at least certain members) should cooperate just enough with the GOP to force concessions from them, and then turn around and vote against the resulting legislation anyway.  And make a pattern of it.  Serve Republicans a bit of their own medicine, and see how they like it.  

[angus]

ObamaCare Repeal will be Senate's 1st objective in new congress

One can only hope.

It increases the share of our aggregate GDP that we spend on medical services.  It doesn't insure everyone.  It guarantees fines to those who choose to opt out who are earning too much.  It provides no assistance to those who are making too little.  And it redistributes wealth from the many to the few. Ironically, perhaps, the right-wing talking heads call it socialism, but in reality it is the antithesis of socialism.  Moreover, many of those in congress freely admitted that they did not read the bill before voting for its passage.  Charlie Rengel famously said, "how could I be expected to read a bill that was 2000 pages long?"

The PPACA needs to go away.  I'm not against Obama.  I voted for him in 2008, and was very open about that on this forum.  Moreover, if a pollster asked me today I'd say that I generally approve of him and his legacy, but I voted for Obama in spite of, not because of, this unnecessary and wasteful bit of legislative agenda.

[ApatheticAustrian]

i (or more literally: the newly insured) am dying to see how the republicans are going to preserve the "good parts" (*cough*) without some kind of non-market-based influx of income.

[Mercenary]

They want to repeal it with no plan. They are like the idiot that quits a job without a new one secured.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

They want to repeal it with no plan. They are like the idiot that quits a job without a new one secured.

Well, a lot of Republicans feel that even the pre-09 system is better than Obamacare.

[Frodo]

I'd be fine with repealing Obamacare if the replacement was something like the Sen. Ron Wyden's Healthy Americans Act.  Which would be the best we can hope for from an all-Republican government. 

[Hermit For Peace]

ObamaCare Repeal will be Senate's 1st objective in new congress

One can only hope.

It increases the share of our aggregate GDP that we spend on medical services.  It doesn't insure everyone.  It guarantees fines to those who choose to opt out who are earning too much.  It provides no assistance to those who are making too little.  And it redistributes wealth from the many to the few. Ironically, perhaps, the right-wing talking heads call it socialism, but in reality it is the antithesis of socialism.  Moreover, many of those in congress freely admitted that they did not read the bill before voting for its passage.  Charlie Rengel famously said, "how could I be expected to read a bill that was 2000 pages long?"

The PPACA needs to go away.  I'm not against Obama.  I voted for him in 2008, and was very open about that on this forum.  Moreover, if a pollster asked me today I'd say that I generally approve of him and his legacy, but I voted for Obama in spite of, not because of, this unnecessary and wasteful bit of legislative agenda.

So do you want this to go away BEFORE they have something BETTER to replace it with? I'm not aware of their replacement plan.

What do you think should be done with people who already have health insurance from the exchange? Just drop them and let them suffer?

[emailking]

The good news is that thing was passed through reconciliation, and therefor can be repealed through the same process.

Changes to get the House on board with the Senate version were passed through reconciliation because Kennedy had died. But Obamacare passed the Senate with 60 votes and wasn't a reconciliation bill.

[angus]

What do you think should be done with people who already have health insurance from the exchange? Just drop them and let them suffer?

There are about 17 million such people.  Estimates vary regarding the number of people who purchased it to avoid the fine, but it might be something like 7 million.  That leaves 10 million who want the insurance and benefit from it.  (Actually, there may be about 28 million who want medical insurance but who do not qualify for PPACA insurance because they don't make enough money.  It's pretty well understood that Obama sold out to the insurance companies when he pushed for this bill, rather than pushing for socialized medicine, so there are millions of need people who go uninsured under the law.)  But those 10 million I referred to earlier who have purchased insurance can still purchase private insurance if the repeal stipulates that insurance companies cannot reject clients on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions.

[Gass3268]

The good news is that thing was passed through reconciliation, and therefor can be repealed through the same process.

Changes to get the House on board with the Senate version were passed through reconciliation because Kennedy had died. But Obamacare passed the Senate with 60 votes and wasn't a reconciliation bill.

In the first post it clearly states that they can't repeal the entire bill with reconciliation.

Also:

Democrats will not assist Republicans in any repeal and later replace scheme, they will make the Republicans own it

[Mr.Phips]

The good news is that thing was passed through reconciliation, and therefor can be repealed through the same process.

Changes to get the House on board with the Senate version were passed through reconciliation because Kennedy had died. But Obamacare passed the Senate with 60 votes and wasn't a reconciliation bill.

In the first post it clearly states that they can't repeal the entire bill with reconciliation.

Also:

Democrats will not assist Republicans in any repeal and later replace scheme, they will make the Republicans own it

Exactly.  If Republicans chose to dismantle Obamacare and destroy the health care industry and likely economy with it, they 100% own the consequences.  They will get zero help from Democrats when they come crawling to them for a lifeline.

[Gass3268]

REPORT: Under GOP Obamacare Repeal Plan, Number Of Uninsured Would Double

[Slander and/or Libel]

The good news is that thing was passed through reconciliation, and therefor can be repealed through the same process.

Changes to get the House on board with the Senate version were passed through reconciliation because Kennedy had died. But Obamacare passed the Senate with 60 votes and wasn't a reconciliation bill.

In the first post it clearly states that they can't repeal the entire bill with reconciliation.

Also:

Democrats will not assist Republicans in any repeal and later replace scheme, they will make the Republicans own it

Exactly.  If Republicans chose to dismantle Obamacare and destroy the health care industry and likely economy with it, they 100% own the consequences.  They will get zero help from Democrats when they come crawling to them for a lifeline.

Their hope is pretty clearly to repeal it with an effective date of 3 years later, so that they can separate the action from its consequences. Then they'll come running to Democrats, asking them to defuse the bomb they just started ticking, and in three years they'll either have a big bipartisan victory or a huge disaster that they'll try to blame on Democratic intransigence. It's so craven.