Free Republic

Great first step today by the House! Now the bill goes to the Senate and there's no doubt they'll change it to fund ObamaCare. And then the House must hold the line! Reject the Senate's changes! Defund/kill ObamaCommieCare before it kills us!! If Obama/Reid follow through with their threats to shutdown the government, then the adults in the House, with the full backing of the people, will have an opportunity to pass appropriation bills to fund the essential departments of government department by department. The first appropriations bill to pass should be social security and medicare. This will set the...

The House voted Friday to keep the government open through mid-December but only if Congress strips funding from ObamaCare. The vote was 230 to 189, and largely expected. Current funding for the government is set to expire at the end of the month, and lawmakers must approve the stopgap bill in order to keep Washington open. The GOP measure would fund the government through Dec. 15, at current funding levels. “Today, the constitutional conservatives in the House are keeping their word to our constituents and our nation to stand true to our principles, to protect them from the most unpopular...

The Wall Street Journal reports today on the latest “Obamacare” glitch to emerge—this one striking at the heart of the law’s coverage expansions: Less than two weeks before the launch of insurance marketplaces created by the federal health overhaul, the government’s software can’t reliably determine how much people need to pay for coverage, according to insurance executives and people familiar with the program…. -snip- Less than two weeks before the exchanges “go live,” officials at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are months behind schedule and scrambling to “fix” the software that will run exchanges in 36 separate...

Even among Republicans, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is one of Washington’s most divisive figures. Activists love him, but leadership staffers and many of his colleagues can’t stand him — especially his latest effort to connect a government-spending bill with the defunding of Obamacare. After a Senate luncheon on Tuesday, several Republicans told me they’re tired of Cruz’s campaign, and one senator, after rolling his eyes, called it a “Passion play.” The internecine tensions spilled over to the House on Wednesday, when a group of Republicans knocked Cruz on Twitter for appearing to back down from the defunding fight. Speaker...

Grassroots pressure from conservatives has induced the House Republican leadership to permit a vote on a continuing resolution that defunds Obamacare. That is excellent news. For spearheading the move to defund the (Not Remotely) Affordable Care Act, intrepid Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) have been scalded by the usual ruling class crowd of GOP establishment leaders and Obama administration officials. Yet public resistance to a law the public has never liked – and about which the public grows increasingly anxious as its deleterious consequences and exploding costs begin to materialize – has forced leadership’s hand even as...

If you're watching...feel free to comment. How many Republicans will vote against this? And how many Democrats will vote FOR defunding?

The recent Pew poll found that 53% of Americans were opposed to ObamaCare, while only 41% supported it. The recent CNN poll: 57% polled were opposed to ObamaCare, while only 39% support it. The even more recent Rasmussen poll: 52% of Americans are opposed to ObamaCare, while only 41& support it.

Just spoke with Senator Burr's DC office. Senator Burr announced this morning he will vote to defund!

Millions of tax dollars will be used to advertise Obamacare in “red” states with Republican governors who opposed the federal exchanges in the Affordable Care Act. Politico reports the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services has reserved more than $12 million of air time in a dozen states beginning Sept. 30 for Obamacare television advertisements. The states being targeted: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.

Over the next two weeks, the sad spectacle that is Washington will be on full display as Congress and President Obama debate yet another short-term spending plan, also known as a continuing resolution (CR). Early in my Senate term, I realized these short-term CR's were a miserable way to run the federal government and decided I would not go along with this budgetary charade again. I came to the Senate to solve real problems and eliminate the biggest threats standing in the way of the 21st century being another exceptional American century. The people of Florida who I work for...

I’ve written about how Obamacare is a costly boondoggle.I’ve written how it victimizes children, low-income workers, and retirees.And I’ve explained how it exacerbates the real problem in our healthcare system.I’ve even pointed out that there’s something good in the law.But I’ve never bothered to discuss how bad laws usually aren’t as damaging as we think because folks in the private sector often figure out ways to work around some of the most onerous rules created by our overlords in Washington.For example, some employers have figured out how to avoid Obamacare while still providing health insurance.That’s the good news. The bad news is that the crowd in Washington...

This week, thanks to a groundswell of opposition from conservative activists, the House Republican leadership decided to delay voting on their continuing resolution. Leadership would never admit it, but they canceled Thursday’s scheduled vote because they did not have enough support from Republican members. Using tactics that only Washington insiders could dream of, House leadership attempted a questionable parliamentary scheme which is known as "deem and pass." The goal was to give Republicans a chance to say they voted to defund Obamacare while simultaneously passing a bill out of the House that funds it. If that sounds confusing, that’s because...

Today, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) released the following statement in favor of Congressman Tom Graves' (R-GA-14) legislation to defund ObamaCare: Lee: "Congressman Tom Graves has introduced a bill today that would continue to fund all the functions of government and protect the American people from ObamaCare for at least one year. The House should pass this legislation immediately and send it to the Senate. The president has delayed the implementation of ObamaCare for big business, unions, and his special interest supporters. Congress should act to delay it for the rest of the country, as well."

GOP leaders eager to avoid blame for a possible government shutdown next month appear confounded by conservatives' passion for using fast-approaching deadlines to derail the implementation of President Barack Obama's health care law. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, conceded Thursday his plan was all but dead for quickly passing a temporary spending bill that also defunds Obamacare, make the Senate vote on each idea separately and then send only the portion for keeping the government open to the White House for the president's signature. Meanwhile, new freelance effort by rank-and-file Republicans to condition keeping the government open or preventing a...

For the past week, debate over Syria has overwhelmed Capitol Hill -- even though Congress has just about two weeks left to pass a budget bill before the federal government partially shuts down. Democratic and Republican leaders are meeting Thursday morning to discuss the looming budget issues, but before the two parties forge a path forward, the GOP may have to sort out its own issues. The Republican-led House had planned to vote this week on a bill to temporarily fund the government (referred to as a continuing resolution, or CR), but the vote was delayed Wednesday because Republicans divisions...

We’re a bit closer to a government shutdown today. And that may not be such a bad thing. Here’s the deal: 1) House Republicans pulled their bill to fund the government. The House was expected to vote Wednesday on a bill to continue funding the federal government. The initial whip count showed the bill 18 votes short of passage, so the vote didn’t happen. Why is the bill 18 votes short of passage? Obamacare, of course. 2) The GOP’s small Obamacare problem. The vote was delayed because the House GOP can’t decide on what to do about Obamacare. Hardcore conservatives...

A document House Majority Leader Eric Cantor distributed to all House Republicans on Tuesday, obtained by Breitbart News, confirms that he is planning to make it appear as though the House is voting to defund Obamacare while using a legislative procedural trick which would allow the Democrat-controlled Senate to strip defunding language from the Continuing Resolution. * * *

Most members of Congress think they just received a tremendous personal gift on Obamacare, courtesy of President Obama, and paid for by taxpayers. But according to a new poll, this issue cuts across all demographics with unrivaled unanimity: if they accept the gift, they put themselves at risk of losing reelection. What’s a congressman or senator to do? Hopefully they’ll use the upcoming continuing resolution (CR) to turn this issue to advantage.Let’s back up a few weeks. Heading into the August recess, after facing tremendous pressure from Nancy Pelosi andothers, President Obama directed the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to...

As Obamacare is implemented in the U.S. Americans will be forced to give up the privacy usually taken for granted when seeing their doctor—one more reason to defund it.

In just a matter of weeks, the Don't Fund Obamacare petition that Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have been working tirelessly to promote has now collected over ONE MILLION signatures and this number continues to grow by the minute! Folks, this is HUGE, especially considering that Congress hasn't even yet reconvened to begin debating the issue! If you haven't already, please direct all your family and friends to sign this petition at: www.dontfundobamacare.com. Let's pull out all the stops now to get the number of patriot signatures beyond the two million mark! Eventually, this number is going to become...