As the conservative American Spectator reports, Republicans continue to furiously backpedal from their initial bluster that they would repeal health care reform:
But in the GOP, cooler heads always prevail. What these Republican heads want to cool down is the campaign to repeal the health care takeover. Reports the Associated Press: “Top Republicans are increasingly worried that GOP candidates this fall might be burned by a fire that’s roaring through the conservative base: demand for the repeal of President Barack Obama’s new health care law.” [Pols emphasis]
One of the Republican leadership’s volunteer firefighters is none other than Sen. John Cornyn, the Texas Republican who chairs the committee responsible for getting GOP candidates elected to the Senate this fall. Cornyn initially unfurled the “repeal and replace” banner, only to quickly make an exception for the “non-controversial stuff,” such as the ban on preexisting conditions which is unfortunately exactly what necessitates the “controversial stuff” like the individual mandate.
Cornyn was later seen pouring cold water on the idea entirely. Asked by the AP whether he was going to advise Republican senatorial nominees to run on repeal, he said, “Candidates are going to test the winds in their own states… In some places, the health care bill is more popular than others.” Meanwhile, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee doesn’t need a weatherman to tell him where the wind blows: “It’s just not going to happen.”
Republican candidates seeking to join Cornyn and Corker in the club have gotten the memo. Shortly before Obamacare passed, Congressman Mark Kirk — the Republican running to fill Barack Obama’s old Senate seat in Illinois — bravely vowed to “lead the effort” to repeal the bill. Now he glumly tells a local newspaper, “Well, we lost.”
We wrote about exactly this reality when health care reform was passed last month. For all the fiery rhetoric from Republicans over the last 18 months, the actual health care legislation that was passed is not at all unpopular with the majority of voters — and many of those who are unhappy with it are Democrats who wanted it to be stronger.
We’ve said all along that the reform bill will ultimately benefit Democrats when the election finally rolls around this fall, and Republicans are apparently figuring that out as well. Too bad much of the knee-jerk reaction to the initial passage has already caused a lot of damage. How do you suppose Republican Attorney General John Suthers is feeling today? The silly lawsuit that Suthers joined ended up costing him an easy re-election bid by emboldening a strong Democrat to run against him.
Whoops! Sorry about that, John!
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– death panels
– the gov’t take over and all the socialism
– the 16,000 irs agents
– the “cornhusker kickback”
– the elimination of Medicare
– the gov’t funded abortions
– the free healthcare for illegal immigrants
– the closing of Offutt Air Force Base
– the cuts to Veteran’s health care
– free viagra for sex offenders
– the exemptions in health reform for Congress
– the rule that prohibits future Congressional action to amend or alter the act
All should be repealed and none of these should have been included when it finally passed anyway.
Now that you, a Democrat, have proposed repealing these provisions, the knee-jerk GOP reaction will be to Just Say NO!
Now we’re stuck with these insidious provisions FOREVER!
– death panels
do not exist cept for within insurance companies, and the minds of propagandists. talking to your doctor about a living will and reimbursement for it. should be a right
– the gov’t take over and all the socialism
paranoia. the insurance companies still run the show. only now with a little regulation.
– the 16,000 irs agents
what are YOU afraid of?
– the “cornhusker kickback”
No longer exists
– the elimination of Medicare
Propaganda Medicare is actually bolstered
– the gov’t funded abortions
More paranoia, the Gov does not fund Abortions
– the free healthcare for illegal immigrants
so you would advocate bleeding to death in another country you visit, because of resident hate and bigotry?
– the closing of Offutt Air Force Base
what is wrong with cutting waste out of the federal buget?
– the cuts to Veteran’s health care
this is a new one? did glen beck tell you this?
– free viagra for sex offenders
whoa/ this is nothing but fear mongering
– the exemptions in health reform for Congress
the Health care bill actually sets up the very SAME type of pool for the rest of us as congress (and all fed employees) enjoy.
– the rule that prohibits future Congressional action to amend or alter the act
Awww when Democrats write legislation like republicans… republicans complain BOO FUCKING HOO!!!
All of the things I listed should be repealed.
n/t
Yeah, but it did give Froward a chance to froth at the mouth so that’s always fun to watch.
go for universal single payer or Medicare for all. I could support THOSE solutions.
Heyy, let’s nominate a Colorado candidate who will campaign on that. Then we can be sure to get a R win.
the talking point conservatives push about “the American people do not want this.” is only the surface of it. the whole line should be “The American people do not want This particular watered down version of health care.
reality shows us that Medicare for all actually polls in the 70%-80% range. so a candidate running on that platform probably would win an election (even with a felony record)
Just sayin’.
http://www.medicareforall.org/…
and
http://pnhp.org/blog/2009/12/0…
so reality shows republicans would most likely die off as a party fighting against what Americans REALLY want.
(something like the rest of the industrialized world.)
is that voters generally don’t vote exclusively on issues. Personalities matter, and parties matter.
Huge majorities favor Medicare for all, huge majorities believe in angels, and huge majorities favor bipartisanship. How the fuck are you supposed to get a candidate supporting all that stuff?
http://www.gallup.com/poll/127…
The Angels suck.
I think they’re playoff chances are thin and I’m still mad they chaned their dang name.
It asked about various Reagan positions, without labeling them as such, and majorities were against each and every one. When asked for opinion on Reagan himself, he was wildly popular, big majority approval. It wasn’t that people liked him in spite of his positions. They simply liked his image and didn’t have a clue what his positions were if they were paying any attention to issues at all. Personalities seem to matter more than anything in statewide and presidential elections.
This would explain why Palin has suffered no decrease in popularity among tea-baggers who despise McCain even though she is actively supporting him. Just keep winking, Sarah.
The Reagan love seemed pathological to me, but I was too young to understand it.
I remember being really freaked out in 2004, though, when someone explained to me that her biggest issue was using stem-cell research to cure a disease her brother had, and that’s why she was voting for Bush.
Well, we can agree there is a problem.
We’re going to have to disagree what exactly that problem is for now.
Maybe Froward’s sig line is more appropriate than intended.
aint it?
dems r just jokes Froward.
May I suggest the decaf.
pansies, girlymen and republicans.
(like ass-less chaps are)
so noted !
Thanks for the chuckle Sir.
or maam
http://findarticles.com/p/news…
Seriously- she should run.
It’s not too late – she petitions on. Kicks Nortons and Bucks collective asses and now we gotta race.
she makes me proud to be an American
as nuts as Glen beck, Rush, and Sarah palin.
possibly more so.
never mind.
But then again I liked “midget wrestling” in the ’50s.
Thanks Ralphie !
n/t
The author keeps talking about math, but doesn’t seem to know how it works. You estimate various things, and then combine them, and get another estimate out. It’s not garbage just because you don’t know the future. Elmendorf’s statement sounds like a standard legal disclaimer to me, not as a secret indictment of the bill written in ancient runes that only Malkin can decipher.