Wednesday, August 14, 2013 11:47:33 PM
OPINION: Cruz's irresponsible plan to defund Obamacare
By admin 11/08/2013 08:50:00
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. (Ron Jenkins/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT)
Ted Cruz won his seat in the U.S. Senate vowing to repeal
"every syllable of every word" of the Affordable Care Act.
With Democrats in control of the Senate and President Barack Obama in the White House, the health care law isn't headed for the legislative trash can. Repeal is not a realistic option. So now Cruz wants to defund the law, even if defunding it results in a government shutdown.
It's a petulant, irresponsible plan.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah pitched the idea to try to fiscally neuter Obamacare. A continuing budget resolution expires Sept. 30. Lee wants members to Congress to pledge to vote against any new continuing resolution that includes money for the health care law. Cruz backs the idea and eagerly became the primary spokesman trying to sell it.
Cruz has said that "under ordinary Washington rules" he and his colleagues can't prevent Obamacare from taking effect. Yet Cruz is counting on Washington rules to defund the law.
Specifically, he is counting on the Senate's obstructionist filibuster rules that render majority support for legislation meaningless unless at least 60 senators agree to end "debate" on a bill to bring it up for a vote. Cruz says he needs to rally 41 Republican senators to the cause to prevent a vote on any continuing resolution containing money for Obamacare. He's been traveling the country to put pressure on "scared Republicans" who have refused to join the defunding effort.
The defunding effort runs the risk of shutting down the federal government, which would harm the country. Republicans are right to worry the public will blame them for the turmoil a government shutdown would create. Republicans paid dearly when House Speaker Newt Gingrich's budget tantrum in 1995 led to a government shutdown. The move weakened Republicans and strengthened a reeling President Bill Clinton, who won re-election the next year.
Republicans in and out of Congress are no fans of Obamacare, but many of them have been speaking against shutting down the government to defund it. Mitt Romney's done so, as have Karl Rove, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer and U.S. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, who called the plan "the dumbest idea I've ever heard." Romney's running mate in last year's presidential election, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, who chairs the House budget committee, dared to point out the inconvenient fact that Obamacare can't be defunded since virtually all of the money that supports it isn't covered by continuing resolutions.
A key component of the health care law takes effect soon. Gov. Rick Perry and other state leaders refused to set up a health insurance marketplace in Texas as outlined by the law, so the federal government is putting one together for the state instead. The marketplace, or exchange, is where Texans looking to buy insurance can compare plans and enroll in one. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was in Austin last week to update local and health industry officials on the exchange's status, which is scheduled to be up and running Oct. 1, with coverage set to begin Jan. 1.
There is much about the Affordable Care Act to be concerned about, and it is far from perfect. Like any new, complicated law, it will need significant adjustments over the years.
We expect confusion and problems as the law takes full effect. The 2006 implementation of Medicare Part D, the prescription drug benefit passed in 2004 by a Republican Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush, went badly, but tweaks were made and the program has become a popular one.
One difference between now and 2006 is Democrats, though unhappy with many of Medicare Part D's provisions and the way Republicans rammed it through Congress, worked with Republicans to make the program run more smoothly rather than constantly working to subvert it. Indeed, a part of the Affordable Care Act that took effect in 2010 helped 4 million seniors cover a gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage.
Most Americans like the parts of the health care law already in effect. Among the syllables Cruz swore to repeal were rules preventing health insurance companies from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions or prohibiting insurance companies from canceling coverage when a policyholder gets sick.
The Affordable Care Act, for better or worse, probably is here to stay. We suspect Cruz knows this, and knowing this, he could try to change the law in ways he finds more palatable. But that would require building congressional coalitions and persuading colleagues to vote his way. It would require governing. Instead he chooses to grandstand.
___
(c)2013 Austin American-Statesman, Texas
Distributed by MCT Information Services
http://latinotimes.com/politics/543841-opinion-cruz-s-irresponsible-plan-to-defund-obamacare.html
By admin 11/08/2013 08:50:00
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. (Ron Jenkins/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT)
Ted Cruz won his seat in the U.S. Senate vowing to repeal
"every syllable of every word" of the Affordable Care Act.
With Democrats in control of the Senate and President Barack Obama in the White House, the health care law isn't headed for the legislative trash can. Repeal is not a realistic option. So now Cruz wants to defund the law, even if defunding it results in a government shutdown.
It's a petulant, irresponsible plan.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah pitched the idea to try to fiscally neuter Obamacare. A continuing budget resolution expires Sept. 30. Lee wants members to Congress to pledge to vote against any new continuing resolution that includes money for the health care law. Cruz backs the idea and eagerly became the primary spokesman trying to sell it.
Cruz has said that "under ordinary Washington rules" he and his colleagues can't prevent Obamacare from taking effect. Yet Cruz is counting on Washington rules to defund the law.
Specifically, he is counting on the Senate's obstructionist filibuster rules that render majority support for legislation meaningless unless at least 60 senators agree to end "debate" on a bill to bring it up for a vote. Cruz says he needs to rally 41 Republican senators to the cause to prevent a vote on any continuing resolution containing money for Obamacare. He's been traveling the country to put pressure on "scared Republicans" who have refused to join the defunding effort.
The defunding effort runs the risk of shutting down the federal government, which would harm the country. Republicans are right to worry the public will blame them for the turmoil a government shutdown would create. Republicans paid dearly when House Speaker Newt Gingrich's budget tantrum in 1995 led to a government shutdown. The move weakened Republicans and strengthened a reeling President Bill Clinton, who won re-election the next year.
Republicans in and out of Congress are no fans of Obamacare, but many of them have been speaking against shutting down the government to defund it. Mitt Romney's done so, as have Karl Rove, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer and U.S. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, who called the plan "the dumbest idea I've ever heard." Romney's running mate in last year's presidential election, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, who chairs the House budget committee, dared to point out the inconvenient fact that Obamacare can't be defunded since virtually all of the money that supports it isn't covered by continuing resolutions.
A key component of the health care law takes effect soon. Gov. Rick Perry and other state leaders refused to set up a health insurance marketplace in Texas as outlined by the law, so the federal government is putting one together for the state instead. The marketplace, or exchange, is where Texans looking to buy insurance can compare plans and enroll in one. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was in Austin last week to update local and health industry officials on the exchange's status, which is scheduled to be up and running Oct. 1, with coverage set to begin Jan. 1.
There is much about the Affordable Care Act to be concerned about, and it is far from perfect. Like any new, complicated law, it will need significant adjustments over the years.
We expect confusion and problems as the law takes full effect. The 2006 implementation of Medicare Part D, the prescription drug benefit passed in 2004 by a Republican Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush, went badly, but tweaks were made and the program has become a popular one.
One difference between now and 2006 is Democrats, though unhappy with many of Medicare Part D's provisions and the way Republicans rammed it through Congress, worked with Republicans to make the program run more smoothly rather than constantly working to subvert it. Indeed, a part of the Affordable Care Act that took effect in 2010 helped 4 million seniors cover a gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage.
Most Americans like the parts of the health care law already in effect. Among the syllables Cruz swore to repeal were rules preventing health insurance companies from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions or prohibiting insurance companies from canceling coverage when a policyholder gets sick.
The Affordable Care Act, for better or worse, probably is here to stay. We suspect Cruz knows this, and knowing this, he could try to change the law in ways he finds more palatable. But that would require building congressional coalitions and persuading colleagues to vote his way. It would require governing. Instead he chooses to grandstand.
___
(c)2013 Austin American-Statesman, Texas
Distributed by MCT Information Services
http://latinotimes.com/politics/543841-opinion-cruz-s-irresponsible-plan-to-defund-obamacare.html
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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