I suppose that House Republicans had no choice but to pass a repeal of health care reform after all their crazed rhetoric on the campaign trail. But I wonder how far they are willing to go to mess with the implementation over the next two years. I know that Nancy Pelosi’s House passed hundreds of bills that the Senate either ignored or never had time to take up. Other than the Cap & Trade bill, none of those House bills had much consequence. I don’t think you get a whole lot of mileage out of passing bills that don’t become law. And I think obsessing about a law that you can’t repeal by trying to chip away at it in the appropriations process is really not an effective way to govern. Boehner promised today that the committees with jurisdiction are going to work on an alternative (or replacement) health care reform bill, but that means hearings and mark-ups, and that just seems like a monumental misuse of time and resources. I don’t honestly think the committees will actually do it. But if they do it certainly won’t do the Republicans any good.
I don’t know. Do you think Obama’s opponent in 2012 is going to run on a platform of repealing ObamaCare? Wouldn’t they want to shape that alternative rather than take up the banner of whatever joke of a plan the House Republicans can come up with in their faux-hearings and Potemkin mark-ups?
At some point, the Republicans will have to face up to the fact that their rhetoric has no relationship to reality. Bill Frist already know this, but I think they’ll all know it soon enough.
Do you think Obama’s opponent in 2012 is going to run on a platform of repealing ObamaCare?
Yes, because the Teahadists will demand it.
Yep. I see no possibility that the power of the Fox/Limbaugh/Koch driven radical base is going to change in any meaningful way, or that they are going to become any less extreme. Unless Fox changes, and I just don’t see that happening.
What makes you think the nominee will put any serious energy into proposing an alternative other than the pre-Obama status quo? They are interested in whipping up the base and scoring political points, not providing an actual public policy alternative.
As you’ve frequently said, they are not at present a party interested in actually governing. Certainly they’re not interested in responding to any of the problems being faced in the real world.
Of more relevance, that’s a lot of work. Boehner? GOP WankTards? Work? It is to laugh.
If it’s not a plan that will fit on the back of a martini napkin, and can be scribbled down in the course of an inebriated 3-hour lunch, it’s not going to happen. Not on Boehner’s watch.
Politically charged “gotcha” committee hearings, with lots of blathering and grandstanding? NOW you’re talking!
It really depends on the Democrats. If they sit back and assume that the public will be on their side, they will lose and lose big.
If the Democrats begin to fight FOR HCR, we could get the House back. The teabagger traitors have nothing, and we can hit them with hypocrisy, failure to get any jobs because of their dicking around with the reform crap, and trying to hurt seniors.
But we need to push, NOW. Will they do that?
democrats have already started fighting back,
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/dems-press-gopers-to-repeal-their-own-benefits-along-with
-health-care-law.php
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/dems-press-gop-to-announce-whether-theyll-accept-governme
nt-health-care.php
There’s also an ad along these lines which I now cannot find (what else is new?) will post the link when/ if I find it.
I like this strategy b/c it focuses on the rep majority in the house and their hypocrisy and lack of integrity on what they say they stand for
about the ads and dem strategy. what I like about it is that it highlights the repub hypocrisy via mentioning benefits of the law. Another thing that works in the favor of this campaign is that ppl already enjoy these benefits because it is law, the ad doesn’t talk about theoretical or future differences.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/pro-health-care-group-targets-gop-freshmen-for-repeal-vot
e-video.php
Polling shows only 18% want health care completely repealed. Few of them Democrats.
This open debate is frustrating but I think in a way helpful because it also gives Democrats another chance to show how the reform actually is working and even what it actually is.
In the end, it will likely result in some “compromises” that appeal to less whacko Republican votes who a) actually value compromise, and b) thought enough about it to know how the bill could actually be improved. If a Republican face comes out of that as a leader he/she might actually get the nomination an actually might have a chance at winning.
The ONLY what the GOP wins in 2012 is to marginalize the tea bags and the ONLY way to do that is to have some credibility with sane more central voters on their own. That means not acting crazy and actually getting stuff done.
Now if they spend two years passing bills that don’t go anywhere and holding hearings that only piss people off and make them more alienated, than the will be great for Democrats.
BooMan,
you do know their latest scam, don’t you?
they can’t do anything, even though they have the House, because they don’t have the Senate and WH.
erego, they shouldn’t be asked to do anything responsible, like sharing responsibility for governing this country.
G-T-F-O-H with that bullshyt.
Yeah well then there’s that.
If you build your whole political premise that government is inherently bad, even evil and all the political emotion and energy come off that, then the WORST thing you could do (politically) is actually get anything done.
No, maybe worse than that is to put the party in a position to actually be able to get anything done.
How would be left to blame? Where would the anger and fear go? What would they rant about? Might just need to invade Iran I suppose.
The two, and only, legitimate functions of the state: blowing up brown people, and their stuff, and making wealthy people even more wealthy.
Did they actually do anything else when they did have both houses and the White House? They’ll talk about all kinds of stuff — what did they do?
You forgot making abortion inconvenient.