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| Obama Silent on Failed ObamaCare Promises |
The Senate resumed consideration of H.R. 3606, the bipartisan House-passed JOBS Act. This morning, the Senate voted 76-22 to invoke cloture on the JOBS Act.
Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed cloture on the House amendment to S. 2038, the STOCK Act, prohibiting insider trading in Congress. Also yesterday, Democrats failed to get the 60 votes needed for cloture on Sen. Jack Reed’s (D-RI) amendment that would weaken the JOBS Act by a vote of 54-45. An amendment from Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) concerning the Export-Import Bank also failed to get 60 votes by a vote of 55-44.
Yesterday, the House announced that it was time to get ride of the expense of some excess government property. They passed (403-28) H.R. 665: Excess Federal Building and Property Disposal Act of 2011 which will dispose of 14,000 excess federal government properties, beginning with a pilot program to sell off some of the most profitable pieces. This is less than one-third of the excess property identified in a February 2011 GAO report which documented more than 45,000 underused Federal properties with operating costs totaling nearly $1.7 billion each year. With 94% of Congress voting for the Bill, 14 Democrats and 14 Republicans voted against disposal of the property. In the 6% opposing, some notables were Dem. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) and "Far Right" Peter Sessions (R-TX) and 9 members from the Illinois delegation (3 Dems and 6 Repubs). Looks like some Federal properties may have made for strange bedfellows.
The House also passed (204-164) HR 2087 - Removal of deed restrictions in Accomack County, Virginia which has been sent to the Senate.
The House is expected today to consider H.R. 5 - Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011.
The Hill reports today, “President Obama will not mark the two-year anniversary of his signing of the healthcare law — which takes place days before the Supreme Court offers a decision on the constitutionality of his signature legislative achievement. Senior administration officials said on Tuesday that Obama will not be offering a vigorous public defense of the law, holding events or even making public remarks in the lead-up to the Supreme Court case. Obama will instead leave arguments to the Justice Department, which begins defending the law on Monday. Likewise, Obama is not expected to hold an event around the two-year anniversary on Friday, said officials who labeled it a faux milestone and off the radar of most Americans.”
Speaking on the Senate floor this morning, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “This week marks the two-year anniversary of the President’s health care law, one that’s often described as his ‘signature legislative achievement.’ But you wouldn’t know it based on the President’s schedule this week. For a President who isn’t particularly shy about taking credit even for things he didn’t have a whole lot to do with, he’s curiously silent this week about a bill he talked about for more than a year before it passed. According to news reports, the President doesn’t even plan to mark the occasion.
“Well, Republicans are happy to talk about it for him. We’re happy to point out the ways in which this law has failed to live up to the promises the President made about it. We’re happy to make the case for why this unconstitutional infringement on Americans’ liberties needs to be repealed and replaced with the kind of common sense reforms that Americans actually want.”
Indeed, it’s been clear for two years now that Democrats’ unpopular health care law hasn’t lived up to the litany of promises they and President Obama made in their push to get the law passed. Though President Obama pledged repeatedly, “If you like your current plan, you will be able to keep it.” But The Wall Street Journal reported, “The law could leave more than half of employers without a grandfathered plan in 2013 . . . .” Obama promised “I will protect Medicare,” but the law cuts hundreds of billions in Medicare funds to pay for its new spending. Obama promised, “This law will lower premiums.” But the CBO estimates that families could be paying $2,100 more per year on premiums under the health care law. Obama claimed the law would “slow the growth of health care costs,” but governmental estimates show federal expenditures on health care would increase under the law.
On and on, promises about protecting federal conscience laws, not raising taxes, broadcasting negotiations on CSPAN, not adding to the deficit, focusing on medical liability reform after leaving it out of the law, and even the bill’s allegedly inevitable popularity have all fallen by the wayside, exposed by the reality of this massively flawed legislation.
As Leader McConnell said, “The bottom line is this: This health care law is a mess. And the American people don’t want it. . . . Look: this bill would be unconstitutional even if it did the things the President said it would. But the fact that it did the opposite of what he promised means it should be repealed either way. It should say something when the President himself isn’t even talking about this bill except in closed campaign events.”
Tags: Washington, D.C., US Senate, JOBS Act, Us House, Sale of Excess Property, Barack Obama, 2nd Anniversary, Failed, Federal health Care law, ObamaCare To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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