GOP promises House vote to repeal Obamacare, defund Planned Parenthood

For the first time, Congress will send a bill that repeals Obamacare and defunds Planned Parenthood to President Barack Obama’s desk.

After which it will be vetoed by the President; and Republican leaders will claim victory.

Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan held an evening rally at Lee County Sports Complex Soccer Field in Fort Myers, Florida on Thursday, October 17, 2012, after comedian Dennis Miller entertained the crowd and Florida Attorney General…

Ryan has vowed to push an aggressive, conservative agenda this year. “We can – and should – do it as many times as it takes to get them signed into law”.

The change appears to be at least in part a reaction to the growing sense that Congressional Republicans must have that their base is very very angry.

Congress is poised to begin this effort Tuesday afternoon when the House Rules Committee meets to discuss the repeal, initially proposed by Congress back in 2010.

Republicans are looking to pass their latest bill targeting ObamaCare through a budget process known as reconciliation.

An officer of the Senate, named the parliamentarian, decides whether a bill can be reconciled or not.

The bill would dismantle the health law’s key pillars, including requirements that most people obtain coverage and larger employers offer it to workers.

“We are confronting the president with the hard, honest truth”.

That was a month ago. They seem to think there’s some political value to making Obama veto the repeal – figuring that with all the things that are wrong with ObamaCare and the selling of baby parts for fun and profit, they can put Obama on the defensive and use that to press the issue in the coming election year.

Congress will not be spending much time on Capitol Hill this election year.

Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, defended the move, saying they didn’t want to complicate the budget bill. Obama has said he’ll veto the repeal measure, and Democrats in each chamber have enough votes to block an override by the Republican majority.

The fight over Obamacare has been a major source of contention between the two parties. If Ryan’s initiative proves successful, he will have come further than anyone who came before him.

This bill, meanwhile, demonstrates what is possible and achievable through the reconciliation process.

Instead of actually proposing an alternative to Obamacare, Republican Congressional leaders believe they can continue to convince us they are committed to repealing and replacing Obamacare by executing various parliamentary gymnastics that give the illusion of action.

Republicans also are hoping the public embraces these policy ideas as a contrast to those propounded by Obama and Democrats with health care topping the list. The GOP-controlled Senate passed it before the holidays.

Republicans have received harsh criticism from conservatives after they failed to include defunding Planned Parenthood in the $1.1 trillion omnibus bill passed in December. The House has voted more than 50 times to repeal, defund or delay the law. And it’s nicely ironic, because that’s the way Obamacare was sneaked by in the first place.