You had to be hiding under a rock not to see it coming: The huge wave of smaller-government sentiment that crashed down on the Washington establishment has been building for a long time, picking up steam with each passage of legislation that expanded government’s encroachment into the lives of the American people.Central to all of this has been the controversy surrounding health care reform.
How Will Health Care Reform Be Affected by a Republican Majority?
The question that has surfaced even before the votes were counted is whether the new Republican led House will act on its threat to force the repeal or defunding of health care reform. Tea Party backed Republicans have declared their election to Congress as a mandate by the electorate to take immediate steps to repeal or substantially change the Act.
Demoralized Democrats fight to Uphold Health Care Reform
The demoralized Democrats, including the Administration, have a more tempered view that sees the election results as the public’s insistence that there be less partisanship Congress and more cooperation between the Administration and Republicans on policies needed to get the economy moving again. The reality may lie somewhere in between, but that is not going to slow the efforts of the new Republican leadership to press forward on the dismantling of health care reform.
Can the GOP Actually End Health Reform?
The basic math would say no. While the Republican-led House can pass legislation to repeal, the Senate, where the Democrats will hold a 53 to 47 edge, is less likely to muster the votes to pass similar legislation. Even if the a few embattled Senate Democrats were lured over to the Republican side, there would not be enough of the 66 votes required to overcome a Presidential veto. Most political observers agree that such an effort would not have a chance of success until 2012 with a change of parties in the White House.
This is not likely to dissuade the new Tea Party infused blood in the House as even the Republicans have been put on notice that the electorate expects action quickly and often on reigning in government and spending. We can expect “dead-end” repeal legislation to be introduced and passed soon after the new session begins. And, as quickly as it dies, another piece of legislation will take its place.
The more feasible track will be the defunding effort that will take place as components of the Act are brought up for implementation funding. The House can simply hold up funding by refusing appropriations or tying things up in committee hearings. While this is a slower process, it can also inflict a lot more pain by drawing out all of the Act’s flaws holding them up to public scrutiny, which never really occurred during its backdoor passage.
We can also expect many committee hearings and investigations, led by new Republican leadership, to delve into the process by which the bill was passed as well as the constitutionality of the bureaucratic mechanisms that have been created to implement and enforce the Act.
In the end, the Affordable Health Care Act may not be repealed during this current session of Congress, but it will be starved, scrutinized and assaulted in such a way that it will remain as a political ball and hammer for pro-reform candidates in the next election.
photo credit: JosephLeonardo
photo credit: akeg
photo credit: kenteegardin
The torch of the state of the United States health care system has been passed, and it has been passed to Kansas Govenor Kathleen Sebelius. A Democrat, Sebelius was President Obama’s second choice for the position, and she received the call to duty after the first choice, Tom Dachle, withdrew his name after revelations about his sticky unpaid taxes. The nomination came during the first week of March in 2009, and Sebelius said it was a responsibility that she could not refuse. Who is this new face in Obama’s administration, and how will she go about tackling one of the largest crises facing our country right now?
Fortunately for Sebelius, things can’t get much worse than they are right now. That probably isn’t much of a comfort to her though, as the task she’s facing is definitely a formidable one. With the health care and health insurance system struggling with people getting turned away left and right for insurance, and the sick not being able to afford the care they need, things are in dire need of a drastic makeover. President Obama has said that he plans to release $155 million out of the $787 billion economic stimulus package to support 126 new health centers to give people more access to primary and preventative health care services. Many people have been comparing the changes Obama is gearing up for in the health care industry to those attempted by the Clinton administration, but the key difference is this: the recession America is in has everyone calling for change, no matter how radical it may have seemed years ago. Time will only tell how Sebelius is able to handle the massive task that lies ahead, but putting money toward opening new care centers is a good start. A good question to ask is: Are these centers aimed at only serving those who currently carry health insurance, or will they just be public service centers in which all comers can receive proper medical and attention?
