Posted on 03/23/2012 8:38:24 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Legislation to roll back President Barack Obama’s health care law will be the first order of business next January if Republicans win the Senate this fall, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said this week in an interview with Roll Call.
But the Kentucky Republican conceded that repeal legislation would likely fail, given that even the most optimistic forecasts project the GOP to win a majority that falls well short of a filibuster-proof 60 seats. Still, if McConnell replaces Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as Majority Leader in 2013, the Republican vowed to use every parliamentary tool at his disposal to block the implementation of the law, much of which is scheduled to take effect in 2014.
“If I’m the leader of the majority next year, the first item up will be repeal of Obamacare,” McConnell said. “We will be looking at it in every way that we can to see if we can prevent the full implementation of this monstrosity.”
With the Supreme Court scheduled to hear three days of oral arguments on the constitutionality of Obama’s signature domestic achievement beginning Monday, Senate Republicans have revived a messaging campaign that they believe has been successful in helping turn public opinion against the health care law — and keep it there. According to the RealClearPolitics.com polling average, voters favor repeal 50.7 percent to 40.7 percent.
McConnell, who filed an amicus brief in the case, declined to predict how the Supreme Court would rule. However, he said if the law’s mandate to buy insurance is upheld, it would open the door to laws forcing Americans to “eat carrots, or to quit smoking, or to lose weight.” Democrats dismiss such complaints as hyperbole and contend Americans will embrace the law once it is fully implemented and they experience all of its benefits.
(Excerpt) Read more at rollcall.com ...
The main reason Nobama could win (IMHO) is by cheating.
Before that was done it had to get 60 votes to pass through the first time, sent to the House, passed again with amendment, then "reconciled." This is just a straight up or down repeal - there would be no reconciliation.
True for two reasons: It’ll never get 60 votes, as explained in the article, but also because there isn’t a Presidential candidate from either party that’s going to be on the ballot who would sign it.
The best answer so far. We have to face it, big business wants the law, big medicine wants the law, and those on the dole want the law. Rino's like to be re-elected and they also like power and control. Did not conservatives get the memo?
“But, even if we win the Senate, will we have enough votes to override a veto, which Nobama will surely do.”
Exactly. The weird thing here is that a guy like Romney (assuming he was actually interested in governance, and not running for the WH because of his massive ego) could actually provide enough political cover for a ‘do-over’.
“Hey, this time let’s see if we can get this done without bringing totalitarianism to the American people this time.”
Not so. Like or hate McConnell, he is a shrewd and reliable vote counter. Repeal of Obamacare does not yet command 60 votes in the Senate — and may not even after 2012.
And this, my friends, is why WE NEED TO ELECT CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN SENATORS WHEREVER POSSIBLE so that when the Republicans are in the majority next January this cowardly, stupid individual who never lets an intelligent strategic though cross his mind IS NOT MADE SENATE MAJORITY LEADER by his fellow Republican Senators.
Please support the Conservative candidates for Senate. You know who they are.
-—He’s not going to need 60 R votes. He’ll get crossovers. There’s enough poll data and charred democrat incumbant bodies from 2010 that there will be crossovers.——
Although I have a sense of impending doom, when I try to be realistic, I come to the same conclusion. Most politicians want to survive. And Obama made it abundantly clear that Dem congressmen are cannon fodder.
“Not so. Like or hate McConnell, he is a shrewd and reliable vote counter. Repeal of Obamacare does not yet command 60 votes in the Senate — and may not even after 2012.”
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McConnell is anything BUT shrewd. He would be a gutless Majority Leader. NOT EVERY MEASURE IN THE SENATE requires 60 votes for closure. I’d have to research it but I think that BUDGET related legislation does NOT require 60 votes.
McConnell would have to be willing to play hardball and, from everything I’ve seen of him, he is absolutely, AT HIS CORE, unable to do that. He wants to BE NICE. We need a Republican majority in the Senate and a majority leader who is a creative thinker and who has some guts.
Being NICE is absolutely unacceptable if being nice means America continues its descent down the drain.
Let’s MAN UP and GRIZZLY MOM UP.
This is especially true after Obama told folks across the aislerunning for Congress that there was NO MONEY AVAIALABLE. If they are paying the entire freight, they’ll most assuredly vote the way they need to in order to keep the seat.
Correct, but he may think that we don't know about it.
The man is in for a huge shock, if the pubbies win the house, senate {but not by 61} and White House, and he tries to weasel out of repealing it by crying about a filibuster.
we will pull the Senate apart, limb by limb.
They are prepping for the potentiality of a hail mary pass and a Romney win.
They will never get rid of it, just tweek it because they will have the purse strings, and htey have the inteligensia to make it right. Besides they can get their kids a job on K-Street pumpin' MSA's HSA's or whatever the bleep they come up with.
They will repeal nothing HHS, EPA, DOE, etc.
Again I say, the EGOP has handed us our Divorce Papers long ago and we are too stupid to move out. 11.7.12 we should start anew and leave and start "THE PARTY OF REAGAN".
I am so over this wicken of weasel, the whole damn bunch of them...
The Senate rules are notoriously complex and opaque, and McConnell has the added handicap of keeping the GOP caucus united, reliant as it is on a handful of RINOs. Notably, conservative stalwart Tom Coburn praises the job McConnell has done as leader.
Two words for ya, Mitch....
Nuclear F—king Option
I agree that McConnell has to keep the GOP caucus united. But in a process that started gathering steam in 2010 (e.g., getting rid of Bennett in Utah and replacing him with a true conservative) and will flower big time in 2012 the GOP caucus has been moving rapidly into a more conservative makeup.
If this year we can get the following new Senators (this is a list of candidates I’m trying to support to the extent my limited finances allow):
TED CRUZ to replace the retiring Kay Bailey Hutchinson in TEXAS
JOSH MANDEL to replace Sherrod Brown in OHIO
MARK NEUMANN (instead of RINO/CINO Tommie Thompson) in WISCONSIN
RICHARD MOURDOCH to replace the RINO/CINO Richard Lugar in INDIANA
SARA STEELMAN to replace Claire McCaskill in MISSOURI
DAN STENBERG in NEBRASKA
I think all of the above are likely to be successful this year if they get nominated as the Republican candidate.
There are other possibilities also of course. For example, there is Dan Liljenquist in Utah; but he may have started too late in his effort to unseat the CINO Hatch. We’ll see how the Utah caucuses go next month. If he can keep Hatch from getting to 60% of the Caucus vote he’ll force Hatch to go to primary where there will be time to defeat Hatch.
Most of the above CONSERVATIVES will be part (along with additional moderate Republicans such as Allen of Virginia) of the changing make up of the Republican caucus in the Senate. 2013 could be very interesting.
Conservative 3rd Party = Victory for Democrats & Progressives
Let’s be SMART—and not STUPID/DEFEATIST! We’ve been successfully moving the Republican Party to the right; let’s keep up that winning strategy. We’re getting very close to many of our goals.
BINGO! The law was illegally passed anyway.
I still want to see an outright repeal by a vote of House and Senate GOP majorities, and the repeal signed by president Romney (ugh! that was hard to type out... president Romney. It was year before I could type president Obama).
Yes, I am still assuming that Romney can be bought, bribed, blackmailed or pressure to sign the repeal of Obamacare.
BINGO! The law was illegally passed anyway.
I still want to see an outright repeal by a vote of House and Senate GOP majorities, and the repeal signed by president Romney (ugh! that was hard to type out... president Romney. It was year before I could type president Obama).
Yes, I am still assuming that Romney can be bought, bribed, blackmailed or pressure to sign the repeal of Obamacare.
IMHO...that nasty piece of so called “legislation” doesn’t go away until We the People go rip it out personally by the roots...
I live in California and the TSA can suck my, well thumb I guess.
I would DRIVE to Washington DC and protest on the steps of the Senate if that is what it takes to get them to vote a repeal of Obamacare. It doesn’t take that much time and money to drive cross country.
Political correctness is the most damaging tactic and biggest socialist victory to occur in my lifetime (born in ‘58). Obamacare would be the final nail in the coffin of liberty and the first genuine conversion of our society to hard socialism.
IT MUST BE REPEALED.
I would gladly help you rip the Senate and House limb from limb to get that overturned. Obamacare is all the chips. Obama and Pelosi and Reed knew this when they rammed it through unread late on a Saturday night.
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