House Begins Repeal Vote Debate
The Washington Post reports:
The House on Wednesday morning began an hours-long debate that will end with a vote on repealing the national health care overhaul, with both sides still trying to avoid the overheated rhetoric that has characterized this discussion in the past.
The vote probably will come Wednesday evening, Republicans in the House said. The bill is expected to pass the House but ultimately fail.
To actually repeal the law, Republicans would need the approval of both the Senate and President Obama. And the idea of undoing the Democrats' biggest legislative victory in recent memory is not likely to gain traction with the Democrats who control the Senate and White House.
That fact makes Wednesday's debate an opening argument, rather than a closing one. In the coming months, Republicans will likely try to dismantle the health law a piece at a time. That task will be easier if they convince the public in Wednesday's debate that these pieces add up to a law that destroys jobs and spends scads of government money unnecessarily.
"I just think it's time to listen to the American people and to do this the right way," new House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said at a news conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning. "Congress can do better in terms of replacing Obamacare with common-sense reform that will bring down the cost of health insurance and expand access for more Americans."
Democrats, on the other hand, are hoping to build broader public support for the overhaul, by emphasizing the law's benefits for average people. They hope Wednesday is the beginning of a do-over for a public argument they lost, badly, before last year's midterm elections.
