“There Ain’t No Rules Here”: Vote Buying, Fix-its, and Budget Gimmicks Used to Ram Through Healthcare Bill
On Christmas Eve morning, Senate Democrats managed to strong arm enough members with giveaways such as the “Cornhusker Kickback” and “Louisiana Purchase” to pass Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) healthcare bill, H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This $2.3 trillion legislation, packed with tax increases, insurance mandates, Medicare cuts, and rationed care was rammed through the House on March 21, 2010 in a 219-212 vote.
One reason for the close vote was widespread public opposition. A March 22, 2010 CNN poll revealed that 59 percent of Americans oppose President Obama’s plan. Similarly, a CBS News poll released on the same day showed that 48 percent of Americans oppose the plan, with 33 percent in strong opposition. Only 37 percent support it, with 13 percent in strong support.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who at one point lacked the necessary votes, managed to pass a rule offered by House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) to establish a scheme by which the Senate-passed healthcare bill would be deemed as passed by the House without an actual up-or-down vote. The rule passed by a vote of 222-203 with 175 Republicans and 28 Democrats voting “no” against this utter abuse of power.
The so-called “Slaughter Solution” was nothing more than a deceptive and dishonest procedural maneuver meant to excuse members from putting their name on an unpopular piece of legislation. Fortunately, after much criticism and cajoling, Democrats abandoned this “deem scheme” for a straight up-or-down vote on both reconciliation and the Senate bill.
Ultimately, the Democratic leadership was forced to buy support with special deals and kickbacks in order to ensure the necessary 216 vote minimum. As Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) pointed out, “there ain’t no rules here, we’re trying to accomplish something. . . All this talk about rules. . . When the deal goes down . . . we make ‘em up as we go along.” And that’s precisely what Congress did.
At the eleventh hour, President Obama secured enough votes by promising Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) a completely meaningless, non-binding executive order to give him and other pro-life Democrats cover on the federal funding for abortion issue. Americans watched in total disgust as Democrats voted for their big-government ideology rather than for their constituents’ best interests. Not a single Republican supported this massive infringement on liberty and freedom.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will force Americans to shoulder the burden of new taxes, penalties and higher insurance premiums. Small businesses will be hindered by stringent regulations and taxes that will ultimately force them to slash jobs.
Seniors will see their Medicare benefits significantly reduced, resulting in limited choices and higher costs. While Medicare will be cut, Medicaid will be expanded, despite the fact that the program is going broke and states are struggling to keep up with the expiring federal matching program. Imposing an unfunded mandate will only exacerbate Medicaid’s problems.
Mandating coverage will provide a huge incentive for employers to drop health insurance since the tax penalty would in many cases be less expensive than the cost of providing coverage. Imposing an individual mandate will penalize Americans who genuinely cannot afford to pay for health insurance and may be unconstitutional as challenges from state attorneys general are ready to be filed in court. This healthcare legislation will unquestionably be a stepping stone toward total government control of the nation’s healthcare system.
Members of Congress have vowed to “fix” the bill’s many problems through a reconciliation package. Using after-the-fact “sidecar” budgetary amendments to alter one-sixth of the American economy, however, is not an appropriate use of power. Nevertheless, the House forged ahead amidst rampant opposition, passing the reconciliation package in a 220-211 vote and sending it over to the Senate for their stamp of approval. This $940 billion reconciliation bill, packed with more tax hikes, more spending, more benefit cuts, and more pay-offs, is the Democrats’ brilliant idea of “fixing” the healthcare bill.
Early estimates from the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation indicate that H.R. 4872, the Reconciliation Act of 2010, will expand entitlement spending by roughly $1 trillion, hit Americans with more than $500 billion in tax hikes, and cut Medicare by $500 billion. These estimates are generous; the reconciliation bill includes a series of egregious budgetary gimmicks that hide the true, astronomical costs of the bill.
There are many problems with the nation’s current healthcare system that can be rectified through medical liability reform, pooling health insurance, offering tax incentives, allowing states to customize programs, and reforming insurance regulations. Forcing a government takeover of healthcare will not solve America’s healthcare problems, it will only exacerbate them. Members of Congress cannot hide behind irresponsible vote buying, supposed “fix it” amendments and deceitful accounting. To those members who supported this outrageous healthcare bill: Beware, the voters know who you are.
— Erica Gordon
