Colorado politicians and candidates for officer can show their support for freedom and individual rights in medicine in at least two ways. One is to endorse Colorado Amendment 63. The other is to sign the Repeal Pledge.
From the Wall Street Journal:
Republicans are promising to “repeal and replace” ObamaCare, and more than a few Democrats seem to be running on—or at least from—the same issue. And it’s a good campaign platform given the rising unpopularity and toxic side effects of one of the worst pieces of legislation Congress has ever passed. …
The “repeal pledge” is a project modeled after the famous taxpayer-protection pledge of Americans for Tax Reform, under which incumbents and candidates make a public promise to vote against tax increases. The tax pledge debuted in 1986 with the endorsement of Ronald Reagan and has helped to steel opposition to antigrowth policies. The repeal pledge aims to do the same for ObamaCare.
Efforts like these can be gimmicks, though when well done they educate the public and encourage politicians to commit to specific policy goals while drawing bright-line contrasts with their opponents. Pledges also help define electoral mandates. The 2010 campaign is already a referendum on the Obama Presidency, but if the repeal pledge gains currency it would allow voters to remonstrate this bill in particular and add momentum to the “repeal and replace” movement.
Launched a week ago by the nonprofit outfits Independent Women’s Voice and American Majority Action, the repeal pledge has been signed so far by 43 Republicans. Its sponsors are about to name a board of outside policy experts to evaluate all votes and let the public track how Members shake out on health care. The pledge applies beyond repeal per se to interim steps like discharge petitions to allow certain up-or-down votes in Congress on partial repeal, stripping funding from some ObamaCare subsidy or enforcement programs, and repealing certain regulations.
Read the whole article: The Repeal Pledge: Holding politicians to their promise to replace ObamaCare.
(Via Linda Gorman)
