Republicans are doubling down on their efforts to repeal the health care law and they’re getting assistance from some powerful Kentucky lawmakers. Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell is the top Republican in the Senate. He says he’s leading his conference into political battle over the health care law.
“But I can assure you this: Republicans won’t let up what so ever in our determination to repeal this terrible law and replace it with the kind of reforms that will truly address the problems it was meant to solve.”
On the other side of the Capitol another Kentucky lawmaker is also leading an effort to derail the law. Hal Rogers is the head of the House Appropriations – or spending – Committee. He says one of his biggest goals is to try to kill the law through defunding it.
“There will be an effort to completely repeal "Obamacare" either now and when Romney is elected and I think we’ll be able to do it.”
Republicans have scheduled another vote in the House to repeal the bill. It will be the thirty first repeal vote. Kentucky Republican Ed Whitfield says now that the high court ruled the law amounts to a massive tax increase it will just bolster his party’s argument for repealing the law.
“I view it as a tax myself as a matter of fact because if you do not buy health insurance then you are going to be taxed which is how the Obama administration philosophically views things anyway because in order to address our deficit and our debt they primarily believe in additional taxes.”
But Democratic Congressman Ben Chandler says the effort to repeal the law diverts Congress’ attention from more important matters.
“What we ought to be doing every minute of every day is working on putting people to work in this country and this leadership and this Congress is not doing that right now.”
The House will vote on a repeal measure when it returns from its July Fourth recess, but the measure isn’t expected to go anywhere in the Senate.
