Republicans will have a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives next year. In the New York Post, Michael Tanner at Cato outlines what Republicans can, and cannot, do to stop ObamaCare (HR3590). Some excerpts:
- “The Democrats remain in control of the Senate, and Harry Reid, returning in triumph, is unlikely to even schedule a vote. Repealing ObamaCare is just not going to happen while Obama is in office.”
- “Republicans should use their new investigatory powers to hold hearings and force officials like HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to testify about the law. For example, since the law passed we have learned that health care spending will go up, not down as promised, and that millions of Americans will not be able to keep the insurance they have today.”
- “Republicans should seek repeal of those parts of the new law that are unpopular with Democrats as well as Republicans. … the law’s new long-term care entitlement is “a fiscal time bomb” … the law’s requirement that even small businesses file a 1099 tax form for every vendor that they do $600 worth of business with.”
- “With seniors having voted heavily against Democrats on Tuesday, there may be bipartisan support for revisiting cuts to [Medicare Advantage].”
- “repeal restrictions on popular options like Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Accounts.”
- “Republicans in the House now control the power of the purse. They should refuse to fund implementation of the bill.”
- “Republicans will have to show that they have their own proposals for dealing with health care costs and the uninsured. They had a number of good ideas during the debate over reform, ranging from allowing the purchase of insurance across state lines to changing the tax treatment of individually owned insurance …”
Read the whole article: “What Republicans Can — And Can’t — Do about ObamaCare.”
See also David Catron’s How the GOP Can Stop the Spread of Obamacare published in The American Spectator.
