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Defunding Obamacare is This Easy

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  March 12th, 2013 at 06:55 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

After the House caved on funding Obamacare in the CR, the fight moves to the Senate.  Senator Ted Cruz has taken the lead in fighting Obamacare.  For the first time in almost two years we are actually having a discussion about the rising cost of health insurance engendered by Obamacare.  Cruz is proposing an amendment to the CR, which is already full of Barbara Mikulski’s pork, to defund Obamacare.

There has been some pushback from the status quo Republicans who contend that Obamacare cannot be defunded because it is purveyed by mandatory spending.  The reality is that the HHS and the IRS will need a substantial sum of discretionary appropriations just to implement the thousands of pages of regulations and the healthcare exchanges.  According to the Congressional Research Service [page 5], the agencies implementing the program “will incur substantial administrative costs to implement the law’s private insurance reforms and its changes to the federal health care programs.”  The administrative costs will eat up all of the money that has already been appropriated.  They need more funding.   CRS notes that HHS projected that all the mandatory funds for implementation “would be obligated by the end of FY2012. Thereafter, ACA administrative costs will have to be funded through annual discretionary appropriations.”

Moreover, every budget bill, including this one, contains numerous policy riders that can prohibit specific funding even for mandatory programs.

It is really very simple.  Here is the language that all Senate Republicans need to fight for:

1 At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. ll2 . PROHIBITION ON FUNDING.
3 None of the funds made available in this Act may
4 be used—
5 (1) to carry out any provision of the Patient
6 Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law
7 111–148) or title I or subtitle B of title II of the
8 Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of
9 2010 (Public Law 111–152), or the amendments
10 made by such Act, title, or subtitle; or
2
BAI13216 S.L.C.
1 (2) for rulemaking under such Act, title, or
2 subtitle.

If the bill does not contain that rider, every Republican must continue to filibuster the CR.  Supporting the amendment in the abstract is not good enough.  As we’ve noted many times, if there is no disruption of implementation this year, there will be not entitlement reform and there will be no balanced budgets.  There is also no way they will ever have the courage to fight it in the debt ceiling after they have run scared every time the debt limit approaches.  It is now or never.  #StandWith Ted

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COMMENTS

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  • Tbone

    Daniel, what makes you think any significant number Republicans really want to defund Obamacare?

  • quill67

    OK. So the Democrats will shut down the government. Will we win this political battle for force President Obama to kill his only domestic achievement?
    I don’t think so. There might be damage politically that gets a Democratic House elected. We have to kill ObamaCare but it needs to be done in such a way as President Obama has no choice but to go along with the Republican demands. I propose allowing each state to get the funds which they are allowed under ObamaCare BUT let them use those funds however each state sees fit and sets rules each state wants. In other words, let each state have the choice. It will be much harder for President Obama to oppose letting people have choice and also he will face political pressure even from Democrats who know ObamaCare is a disaster and will want to create their own better designed program.

  • plh

    Easy as pie. I’m absolutely astounded at the cowardice/ineptitude/dihonesty/treachery of our leadership. They have missed one opportunity after another to unchain our nation and its people from the disaster that is progressivism run amok. Come 2014, they must be purged from every position of power and left to take their places in the ash heap of history.

  • ehopejr

    I do think this is the burning question Tbone; it can be a discouraging thought for sure. However, it only takes a spark…so perhaps the leadership shown by a Ted Cruz can inspire and deal with the disease of fear in the GOP to the squelching of the “I like it the way it is crowd” in the GOP.

  • GregInFla

    Every Republican Representative and Senator won their last election, just like Obama. We are not a dictatorship. It’s time for them to start governing because Obama is surely not doing so. Pretty soon Venezuela will be more free than the USA.

  • checkmate2012

    Thanks for the clarity on defunding. Saw Ryan on Hannity and he said they couldn’t defund mandatory programs via the CR but you point out ways they can. Did you see the 7 foot stack of 20K+ pages of regs with more to come outside McConnell’s office? If HHS and IRS are discetionary budget items, them defund them now!

  • MottdeWitt

    I live in Texas. We are run by tards, as is most of the south. No chance in hell would I want maniacs like Perry or Cruz coming up with a healthcare scheme and inflicting it upon the state.

  • littlehouse18

    Boehner has been stringing along many of the anti-Obamacare organizations, meeting with them, making false promises to them that he has a plan if they will just not make noise and wait long enough. That is, long enough for him to say “oops, sorry, guess that didn’t work out after all, too late now.”

  • checkmate2012

    Ha Ha bamastumpy! see below! Great minds….

  • bamastumpy

    I’m afraid you might be right. Once implemented, the statist Republicans would just as soon keep it. That way, they will have more peer after the Dems screw it up so bad they get kicked out. They only opposed it initially for show and political necessity. Are they willing to do the hard work to obstruct it?

  • Bill S

    You dont get to resurrect yourself after you get banned, Scooter. Be gone…again. And don’t come back.

  • checkmate2012

    You are soooo popular dude. Just 4 comments ev-vah and 47 upvotes. Wow, I’m sooooo impressed on your ability to get upvotes without substance- congrats NotdeWitt….oops, MottdeWitt. My bad.

  • PowerToThePeople

    Zach really wants to be here huh.

  • Bill S

    Goodbye, lefttard.

  • http://www.neoavatara.com/blog neoavatara

    I am for defunding Obamacare, but couple things.

    There is not a greater than 0% chance that the Senate would ever defund it.

    Second, doing this would take the focus of the sequester. The sequester is really the first time under Obama we have won the debate over spending in the court of public opinion. We lost in the summer of 2011, and again last year during the election.

    So unless someone shows me a path from point A to point B with a greater than zero chance of success, I don’t support this. The time for doing this was when we were trying to get Romney elected…and we lost.

  • gscandlen

    There is no such thing as “mandatory spending.” There may be spending that is automatic. But it is only automatic until Congress decides otherwise. Many people delude themselves into thinking they have a contract with the federal government — if they do certain things during their working lives, the government is required to provide Social Security and Medicare. No, it is not. There is no contract. These programs may be cancelled at any time.

  • gscandlen

    Nope. The time to defund ObamaCare is today and tomorrow and the next day until we get it done. The program will be a monstrous failure, growing worse with every day that goes by. Republicans need to do everything they can to distance themselves from it.

    We also need to learn from the Dems that you never give up — never. Lose on gun control? Come back next year and try again. Lose on gay marriage? Come back next year and try again. Lose on tax hikes? Come back next year and try again. Eventually you wear down your opposition. That’s called “winning” — something Republicans are unfamiliar with.

  • http://www.neoavatara.com/blog neoavatara

    I don’t say give up. I say keep fighting. The question is, are we willing to ‘die on the hill’ right now on this?

    Because we are winning…we are winning on the sequester. The polls show it. The more the public sees how little, if any, the sequester hurts, the easier it will be to cut the budget the next time.

    But are we willing to give up that victory for a certain defeat on Obamacare funding? That is the exchange suggested here.

  • Acton 27

    I wish it were so simple. The problem is, this language is a lightning rod. It is a full frontal attack and will be perceived as such by the media and the people. It will be perceived as obstructionism and the media could win another battle.
    Obamacare is the law, even though it was passed on Christmas Eve, passed in violation of the Constitution, Senate rules, House rules, and the Budget Act. We lost that battle.
    Pick the next battle. Why not just make it clear we are for freedom to contract in health care? Pass a simple law that makes it clear that, notwithstanding the Death Panel, every citizen maintains the right to purchase health care or health insurance that is not regulated by the Death Panel. That would put the battle back on our turf — Republicans are for freedom, the Dems are for a one-size-fits-all statism. (Except for their own congressional plan, which looks exactly like the freedom to contract that Paul Ryan wants to give all Americans.)

  • http://www.neoavatara.com/blog neoavatara

    I have to agree.

    We are going to have to look for other ways to negate the negative impacts of the ACA. There is no way Obama will allow it to disappear, so at least increase freedom and choice within this bad system, until such a time that we actually have the power to get rid of the worst parts of the bill.

  • ihateliberals

    Mr Horowitz, I think that one point or possibility that isn’t being talked about is that the Progressive Republicans don’t want Obamacare defunded. The only thing they are mad about is that Republicans didn’t do this first. They are waiting for a Major control of congress so they can modify it the way they want to. House speaker john Boehner for one. and many others that are actually Liberal Republicans. Our ranks have been infiltrated and we have been asleep through the whole process. We have been caught in Frog Soup!

    For those that don’t understand Frog Soup here is how it works. When you place a Frog in a pot of boiling water he will jump right out. When you place a Frog in a pot of cold water and slowly raise the heat to a boil the Frog will be boiled to death. We Conservatives are almost to the boiling point.

  • ihateliberals

    BTW If anyone want was to know the power of Obamacare a miniature model is being administered by mayor Bloomberg of New York. Trying to control what people can buy to eat in the name of better health is just a hint of what 2014 obamacare wil be like.

  • Jim_Riggs

    His/her comment makes a point. You can agree or not. I personally don’t think Venezuela is going to have more freedom than we in the US do in any of our lifetimes.

  • Jim_Riggs

    Let’s hope so. Venezuelans deserve better.

  • bdnsc

    Case in point: McCain and Graham look forward to working with Obama, this time, after their dinner at the Jefferson.
    Email the GOP, Graham, McCain, and your Senators and tell them we have had enough of their BS.
    I did, and we all need to. Daily if necessary.

  • conservativechick42

    I have no faith whatsoever in the Republican leadership. As many have said, they have missed opportunity after opportunity to reign things in and have not done so. The “Redstaters” are growing in number and I hope they grow to the point we can vote out all of these epselons and get some TRUE conservatives that will fight for the people in there. We just Stand with Rand and Stand with Cruz for a start and let’s make conservatism as contagious as statism is.

  • Jim_Riggs

    And Congress may jointly commit suicide at any time.

  • whitetop

    CAN’T is the most negative word in the English language; especially where legislation is concerned. Our elected servants CAN’T read a 2,000+ page law but they can still pass it when over 60% of the people were against it. They CAN’T repeal it because of a host of excuses. They CAN’T unfund it because of host of excuses. It seems like Congress can pass a lot of destructive legislation but they CAN’T prevent it from being passed and they CAN’T correct the damage once it has been done. The problem isn’t the legislation, it is the people we elect.

  • paleen

    Sorry but we have to fight for liberty in good times or bad. If we continue to fight every aspect of O care no matter the odds then maybe we will educate the people who want this monstrosity if not we are lost anyway. At least we can make a record of honesty.

  • gmat

    I live half the year in Panama, where a lot of Venezuelans (and Venezuelan money) have found refuge during the Chavez era. Panama has benefited greatly from those expats, and now I hope they will choose to go back and help Venezuela.

  • rightlane1111

    Well…they had better get off their behinds and read it totally. This is the death nail to our country. Oh…shout out to CJ Roberts for the help on this one. Our legislators don’t have the courage to save the country…and Obama is holding Medicaid as a bribe over the states…so…bye…bye…Miss American Pie.

  • rightlane1111

    I have to get in here again. Can these law makers fathom this. It will cost the family of four $20K for this darn insurance. Seniors are already taking the hit, both in hikes and/or having to eventually go to Medicaid. Those that stay on Medicare will be paying close to $10K (medicare and supplement). It was always designed as a single payer program…because companies would go bankrupt. The companies that do carry insurance for employees will be tempted to fudge numbers, i.e., cheat and they will be guilty of fraud.

    Back to this $20K a year. Do they not realize with EVERYTHING rising in price…that people will not be able to live on the net amount…and the DEMOCRATS are proposing MORE TAX INCREASES. God…this might be too simplistic…but this is MADNESS.

  • uselogic

    A much appreciated zap. Thanks, Bill.

  • vladtheimp

    All the republicans need to do, if they have the desire and the stones, is to insert the suggested language in the appropriate annual appropriation bills; when confronted they simply need to cite the Obama/Democrat promises on the costs, and the latest CBO estimates that the costs will triple in the near future.

    The simple law proffered will not undo the damages Obamacare is doing, and will do to the insurance industry and the medical delivery system, including forcing doctors out of the system, or into large, impersonal “corporate care” entities. We need to abort the entire abomination, which after all is still wildly unpopular with a majority of the voters.

  • paulejb

    This sort of action scares the hell out of establishment Republicans. If this can be done to the left’s legislation, it can also be done to the pork filled bills passed by big government Republicans.

  • Mike Ferguson

    I actually think “BOOM HEADSHOT!” whenevery Bill S wacks someone, lol

  • lineholder

    All 45 Repubs voted to defund O-care today.
    https://twitter.com/search?q=%23DefundObamacare&src=hash

  • battleaxe

    Sure, because they knew it had zero chance of passing into law. Total Pyrrhic victory, if 45 votes can be considered a win. Time to face reality. Obamacare is the law of the land. To derail it, we would have had to win the last election (both the White House and the Senate).

    These efforts are just for show. It’s the way those in power pat people like us on the head and tell us to be good little children.