Michael Barley's Blog
Michael Barley's Blog
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March Madness, ObamaCare style
Health care has been dominating the headlines this week, which says something considering everything that is going on in Pennsylvania politically (petitions, petition challenges, the drawing of ballot positions, Bonusgate, etc.).
For those of you keeping score at home, the Democrats are in control of the White House, have a near super majority in the U.S. Senate (and had one until January), and have a huge majority in the U.S. House. So why are they having so much trouble passing their government-run health care bill? Why did they have to include so many sweetheart deals in order to advance it this far?
The answer is simple. The bill is awful.
The pending legislation that Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been pushing will impose new employer mandates, including a provision that will force businesses with 200 or more employees to automatically enroll their employees in a health insurance plan that complies with minimum benefit standards developed by federal bureaucrats. Any businesses with more than 50 employees who fail to offer health insurance would be required to pay a $750 per employee fine.
Each and every one of the Democrats who vote for this bill will be putting their reelection this November in serious jeopardy. Republicans are watching closely the votes of vulnerable Democratic members like Jason Altmire, Kathy Dahlkemper, Tim Holden, Paul Kanjorski, Chris Carney and Patrick Murphy.
Voting in favor of this bill really may spell their early retirement from the House.
March 21, 2010 at 12:12 pm
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Bio: Michael Barley is communications and technology director for the Pennsylvania Republican Party.
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Ed H.
Mar 21st, 2010
It could be better, but the bill is basically what many Republicans were pushing as an alternative to the better idea of a single payer system that would lower costs and raise the levels of care.
So, it is funny to read Republicans railing against their own talking points from a mere couple of years ago.
Ed H.
Mar 21st, 2010
And no… Democrats voting for this bill will be able to say that they went down the middle of the road course and now that the bill is finished, the Tea people dopes are too, in many ways.
well, except their anger that a black man resides in the White House.
David Diano
Mar 21st, 2010
Sweetheart deals were needed initially, because we had to pull in a few votes to overcome Republican obstructionism.
Now that we are past the need for 60 votes, those bad deals are being taken out.
Basically, the Republicans hung there hats on the temporary, intermediate provisions, and now they’ve run out of things to cry about, since the Dems cleaned up the bill by getting the votes.