Health Care

Health Care Reform the Day After

By Kate Pickert | @katepickert | November 3, 2010 | +

In the wake of last night’s election, President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have both said they’re open to “tweaks” of the Affordable Care Act, but don’t think they have any interest in fundamentally changing the law.

Obama said today he thinks the 1099 provisions for small business in the ACA are too “burdensome,” so that small piece of the huge law may be repealed. But asked at a press conference today whether the ACA is in danger – House Republicans vow to pass a repeal bill – Obama said, “We’d be misreading the election if we thought the American people want to see the next two years spent re-litigating” the law.

In other words, move along, nothing to see here, folks. As I wrote yesterday, repeal is not going to happen. But Republicans, perhaps looking for a distraction from the congressional gridlock we’re likely to see over the next two years, intend to keep harping on the ACA.

This morning, I talked to Rep. Steve King, a conservative House Republican who wants to lead the repeal effort in that chamber. He spoke freely of the possibility of a government shutdown over the issue, while deftly saying shutdown “wouldn’t be good for anybody.” I asked him whether he thinks congressional Republicans have the guts to force a shutdown, even though it was a disaster for Newt Gingrich in the 1990s. “I can tell you that I do,” he replied, “I’m not changing my mind by the way, just in case anybody wonders.”

Ok yes, this may be bluster. But King called for “confrontations” and said the incoming Republican freshman class in the House “puts some extra spine into our conference.” He also cited Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson as someone who might support a repeal effort in the Senate.

The real political question here is this. Will opposition to a nearly foregone conclusion – the Affordable Care Act – hold up as a salient GOP issue the party can rely on for the next two years? Around half or less of the American public supports repeal. My sense is that health care reform makes for a better rallying cry on the campaign trail than it does in the legislative doldrums between elections.

And a h/t to Ben Smith, who posted the following list of House Democrats who voted against the health care bill and how they fared last night. (Hint: half still lost)

Scott Murphy (N.Y. 20) – LOSS

Bobby Bright (ALA. 2) – LOSS

Frank Kratovil Jr. (MD. 1) – LOSS

Walt Minnick (IDAHO 1) – LOSS

Eric Massa (N.Y. 29) – RESIGNED

Parker Griffith (ALA. 5) – SWITCHED PARTIES, LOST PRIMARY

John Adler (N.J. 3) – LOSS

Glenn Nye (VA. 2) – LOSS

Chet Edwards (TEX. 17) – LOSS

Travis Childers (MISS. 1) – LOSS

John Boccieri (OHIO 16) – LOSS

Larry Kissell (N.C. 8) – WIN

Jason Altmire (PA. 4) – WIN

Harry Teague (N.M. 2) – LOSS

Betsy Markey (COLO. 4) – LOSS

Jim Marshall (GA. 8) – LOSS

Suzanne Kosmas (FLA. 24) – LOSS

Dennis J. Kucinich (OHIO 10) – WIN

Lincoln Davis (TENN. 4) – LOSS

Allen Boyd (FLA. 2) – LOSS

Heath Shuler (N.C. 11) – WIN

Tim Holden (PA. 17) – WIN

Michael E. McMahon (N.Y. 13) – LOSS

Brian Baird (WASH. 3) – RETIRED

Jim Matheson (UTAH 2) – WIN

Ben Chandler (KY. 6) – WIN

Ike Skelton (MO. 4) – LOSS

John Barrow (GA. 12) – WIN

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (S.D.) – LOSS

Mike McIntyre (N.C. 7) – WIN

Dan Boren (OKLA. 2) – WIN

Collin C. Peterson (MINN. 7) – WIN

Bart Gordon (TENN. 6) – RETIRED

Gene Taylor (MISS. 4) – LOSS

Mike Ross (ARK. 4) – WIN

Rick Boucher (VA. 9) – LOSS

Artur Davis (ALA. 7) – RETIRED, RAN FOR GOVERNOR

Charlie Melancon (LA. 3) – RETIRED

John Tanner (TENN. 8) – RETIRED

Related Topics: affordable care act, obama, steve king, Health Care

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  • http://gum0nshoe.wordpress.com gumOnShoe

    ·
    I think all this proves is that elections are rarely referendums on policy.

  • allthingsinaname

    Well Kate it is my opinion that they still want grid lock, it is what has gotten the this far. Failure of Government, unemployment, weak economy, having done nothing but fan the flames they win.
    .
    They will keep it up so as not to have to govern, and fix the blame on the Democrats, Obama and the Senate. It appears to be good politics.

  • Paul-no not that one

    They have no choice but to try to repeal ACA.
    .
    The new majority in the House is beholden to their new masters. The TPers will not accept diddling.

  • charlieromeobravo

    “– House Republicans vow to pass a repeal bill –”
    .
    Which, regardless of what the election results were, will happen right about the same time there is a mass rapid simian airborne departure from my posterior. Adjustments to small parts can happen but, seriously, try selling the idea that it would be a good thing to totally revoke a bill that provides children wider access to insurance, that guarantees you can even get insurance despite preexisting conditions, etc… There are a lot of common sense consumer protections in there that revoking would be impossible to justify to the electorate.

  • http://phd9.blogspot.com Paul Dirks

    Most R’s ran on the platform of STOP THE SPENDING! and NO TAXES! The only reason to push for ACA repeal is to distract their constituents from the fact that they are completely uninterested in the former and incapable of delivering the latter.

  • textee

    The death of Obamacare comes in 2013 after a Republican president and Republican super-majorities in the house and senate take office.

    Enjoy the next two years, Time magazine. You won’t be happy after November 2012.

  • grape_crush

    My sense is that health care reform makes for a better rallying cry on the campaign trail than it does in the legislative doldrums between elections.

    Agree…Problem is that Washington – and the GOP in particular – are on the Permanent Campaign. The ACA will be a rally point on the right-wing for years, just like Social Security and Medicare have been for decades.

  • http://gum0nshoe.wordpress.com gumOnShoe

    That’s sad, I wrote:
    ·
    Insert bad joke about morning after pill.
    ·
    Wordpress must have stripped it thinking it was a tag since i put > & < around it.

  • Ivy_B

    And OMG teh deficit!!! (Except for that needed to retain the tax cuts, of course.)

  • square1

    The electoral outcome just proves the old adage that, given a choice, voters will pick a real Republican over a fake Republican every time.

    I take particular pleasure in watching Herseth-Sandlin depart.

  • http://djtrudeau.wordpress.com djtrudeau

    Maybe Democrats will learn that voting for something, followed by acting like you’re ashamed of it don’t make you attractive as a leader. You’ll note the Democrat who won as a far left liberal in Kentucky. He openly boasted about voting for health care reform, supporting gay rights, etc and got re-elected. How can these guys expect to win against a Tea Party movement they’re shaking in fear of?

    In times of crisis, people seek confidence. This might not be the only reason so many Democrats lost but I think it’s a bigger factor than many of the others the media is chatting about.

  • earljr1

    Yes, it will be repealed, but not until we milk it for all it is worth. It was a sight worth seeing watching democrats RUN from Obamacare and for many, they were defeated, anyway. Democrats constructed this monstrosity, Obama OWNS it and just like 2010, it will be an anchor around their necks. You have already seen the much ballyhoo’d GOOD parts (timed for the midterm elections) just wait until this onion gets peeled back a little further and the bad stuff starts hitting home (exorbitant premiums, inability to find a doctor to treat you, “junk” policies with 5k deductibles and limited coverage) and the list goes on and on. America spit out Nancy Pelosi (“you have to pass it to see what is in it”) like a fur ball and will do the same thing to Obama in 2012, once the full ramifications of this putrid bill start hitting home. Yes, indeed, keep it around for two more years…Americans will demand a repeal and while you are at it… please take the architects out with the garbage.

  • http://healthcaremomsrising.wordpress.com healthcaremomsrising

    America’s moms and dads don’t want to go back to the bad old days when insurers could drop us or our children just when we got sick! Keep America moving forward: http://bit.ly/asvNdW

  • halcyan

    It’s only good politics so long as they get the reaction that they have been getting from the Democrats. Voters want folks to stand up for what they believe in and explain it, forcefully. Stand by decisions with conviction.

    Over the past year I have seen various and sundry Republicans threaten Democrats not to run on any of their wins or successes, as the Republicans are going to “hammer” them on them. So the Dems back down and say “we are not so bad”. Lots of conviction there, eh? Confidence building. Not.

    Obama is a very good President, but he is not good at selling his ideas on policy. He needs to do what George Bush did and skip “the filter” and go directly to the public. With shorter answers. Pick a few salient arguments and repeat and repeat. Those are the messages that get through to people who are busy living their lives.

    Sound bites.

  • herby002

    earl,

    “exorbitant premiums, inability to find a doctor to treat you, “junk” policies with 5k deductibles and limited coverage”

    That’s been the situation for 20+ years under your “free market” way of doing (health care) business.
    The health care law, as written, will fix some of those problems.
    If the Repubs get their “all state insurance plans” passed, we’ll see what we have with credit card plans: The insurance companies will rush to open “official” offices in the state that allows them to sell the most policies with the least coverage at the highest premium prices, with the smallest text and longest asterisk* addendums.

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