Posted on 04/12/2013 2:25:52 AM PDT by markomalley
In an almost-impossible-to-believe collapse of principle and political smarts, the House GOP appears committed to stalling out the bipartisan effort to repeal the onerous, job-destroying medical device tax.
In an interview with me on Thursday, House GOP Deputy Whip Peter Roskam attempted to explain why the House Republicans would not be moving a stand-alone repeal bill, even though the Senate’s test vote on repeal passed by a 79-20 margin the week before the Easter recess began.
The transcript of my interview with Roskam is here.
A week ago Roll Call’s David Drucker had reported that House Ways and Means Committee Chair David Camp was opposed to moving the repeal bill through the committee and to the floor quickly, but a series of interviews with other Ways and Means Committee members as well as Mitch McConnell’s appeal to the House to pass a stand-alone repeal bill appeared to set the stage for quick House action on the measure. Why, after all, would the GOP endanger its signature issue of tax reduction, especially when the Senate was poised to agree? That is the politics of self-destruction, and it was simply impossible to believe that even the so-called “stupid party” could be so dumb.
Well, it now appears to be, and the reasons Roskam advanced for not moving repeal are not only not persuasive but in fact verge on the incoherent. The very savvy Roskam was trying to argue that the House couldn’t pass repeal because Harry Reid might hijack the repeal bill and send a different bill to the House-Senate conference. This is utter nonsense, of course, because Senate Republicans could block such a measure, and even if they didn’t the House would be under no obligation to approve the disfigured repeal. The Camp-Roskam argument appears to be, then, that the House GOP cannot pass a simple bill for fear of getting tricked later, but that it can be trusted to pass a complicated tax overhaul sometime in the future but not get tricked in the course of that House-Senate conference.
Right.
There are explanations for this bizarre decision to snatch defeat from the the jaws of victory, but what is truly amazing is that Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor and all the other House GOP members are willing to let Chairman Camp endanger their majority because he doesn’t want to proceed now with a narrow medical device tax repeal that is manifestly great and urgently needed policy and good politics.
If the leadership does not overrule Chairman Camp and oblige a clean repeal bill –which is already supported by a majority of the House– to issue from the Committee, every single House Republican will suffer damage to their credibility, re-election chances, and of course their own self-respect. Real jobs are being lost by real people, genuine hardships are happening and the nation is losing a crucial edge in a crucial industry, but the House GOP is fiddling and spouting absolute nonsense.
The idea of volunteering time to, much less contributing to a party this lost in Beltway absurdity is ludicrous. How can any House GOPer expect anyone to take them seriously when they refuse to do the most obvious things?
Reality is that the GOP does not want to get rid of ObamaCare.... and plan to expand it with Illegal Alien Amnesty.
Benedict Arnold Party 2.0
The GOP has become like the “palestinians” - always snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
The party needs to die, and something viable to grow in its plpace. Which may be difficult, since there now isn’t even a viable legal system, or election system. There’s routine infiltration and takeovers of other parties by the “democratic” fascist movement, and if you escape an all-out communist/islamist holocaust it’ll be a bloody miracle.
My two senators (D) from MN helped lower the medical device tax once already and are supporting to lower it again.
When ‘Tax and Spend Democrats’ want to lower a tax I have to wonder what’s in the pudding.
Isn’t this the role of the discharge petition?
Your senators are being lobbied hard by Medtronic, no doubt. I wouldn't give them an ounce of credit for integrity or vision on this issue. My general feeling is that the only way to fully get rid of this horrible legislation is to make sure everyone feels the pain. Why should the device companies be exempt from the pain, but patients, physicians, small businesses, and others have no such exemption?
I'm not sure of the best way to deal with this particular issue, but I don't see it as clear cut.
I have a hunch that they want the democrats to choke on what they have done until they are ready to get rid of a whole lot, if not all of the mess.
If we keep making corrections to the bill we will be stuck with it, leave it alone and have it collapse. No repub fingerprints at all.
All you said is true.
The GOP has no record of having programs like this removed. They’ve always tried to get along with them.
I don’t trust any strategy from them at the moment.
“The party needs to die, and something viable to grow in its plpace. Which may be difficult, since there now isn’t even a viable legal system, or election system. There’s routine infiltration and takeovers of other parties by the “democratic” fascist movement,.......”
Legitimate points that need be understood, and addressed by we the people.
Yesterday, the GOP gave away any chance of regaining control of the Senate with their cloture cave on the Manchin-Toomey monstrosity.
According to FR posts last night, Speaker Boner indicated that he will side with DemocRATS to pass what he considers “important” legislation. This stance, coupled with everything else, will keep the base at home in 2014—Bye-bye House.
For whatever reason, elected Republicans are more afraid of what the MSM will say about them than they are of their constituents.
I no longer believe that there IS such a thing as the “Republican Party” at all.
Instead, we have a “GOP” that is nothing but a “Kept Opposition” for conservatives to waste thier $$$$ and efforts on—with nothing but frustration and bitterness as a result.
The WHOLE POINT of the “GOP” is to frustrate any opposition to the Commielibs of the “Democrat” party whilst keeping them in power.
The second amendment is their most feared threat. Once they destroy that, the first amendment will fall easily along with the rest of the constitution.
The GOP is (are?) no different than the Washington Generals.
They don't seem to have the same drive and ambition as the Dims do to become absolute rulers, but they do appear to be willing to kiss the ring and accept a favored status above the thralls that they make of us.
Same old tired process... They get elected as change agents, and within two years become part of the elite structure that must be changed.
Sad part is... nothing is going to change. The GOPers are more interested in A-List invites to DC cocktail parties than serving the interests of the people who elected them.
I’ve lost confidence in the whole bunch of them.
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