Republicans Promise More Health Care Repeal Efforts After Amendment Fails

WASHINGTON -- Democrats defeated a Republican effort to overturn health care reform on Wednesday when they blocked a repeal amendment from being added to an unrelated bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. The symbolic amendment was defeated 51 to 47, with no Democratic senators crossing the aisle to vote for repeal. But Republicans vowed afterward to continue bringing challenges to the law.

"We think this is just the beginning," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said. "We will be going back at it in a variety of different ways. There are also funding issues. We'll be looking at it in every different way and hoping our friends on the other side of the aisle will have other epiphanies."

Bolstered by a Florida judge who ruled the law unconstitutional on Monday, Republicans said they will fight against the law until it is repealed. One bill, introduced on Tuesday by Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), would allow states to opt-out of portions of the health care law. "I'm going to do everything I can to bring this law down and start over," Graham said at a press conference on Tuesday.

The state opt-out measure has not yet been offered as an amendment to the FAA bill, and Republican leaders were silent on whether it they planned to offer it in the near future. But they said they would continue challenging the law until it overturns.

Lawmakers filed more than a dozen other amendments to the FAA bill on Tuesday and Wednesday, including a measure from Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) to cut off domestic spending if Congress does not act on raising the debt ceiling.

Earlier in the session, the senate overwhelmingly approved an amendment to repeal one measure of the health care law in an 81-17 vote. The amendment, offered by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) but based on an earlier bill introduced by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), would remove the 1099 provision, a much-criticized segment of the health care overhaul that would require businesses to file forms to the IRS for vendors with whom they have $600 or more in transactions.

Another amendment to repeal the 1099 provision, introduced by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), failed 44-54. Levin's amendment would have given Congress control over what spending cuts will be made to pay for the $22 billion cost of repealing the 1099 provision.

The senate will hear more amendments on Thursday, and then resume work on the FAA bill when it convenes after a retreat next week.

Comments

[formerroadie]

01:56 PM on 02/04/2011

Shouldn't that be "GOP continues to waste time and tax payer money?"

[CosmoMaxwell]

01:31 PM on 02/04/2011

No meaningful or fruitfull agenda is ins store for America. All we will see and near is the hatredthey have for President Obama, day in and day out. We've seen this before from them, and now the re-run.

[nypapajoe]

12:45 PM on 02/04/2011

Give it up health care reform and work on creating a jobs program! Stop procrastinating!

[Jambala99]

12:43 PM on 02/04/2011

We promise to keep wasting more of the american taxpayers "Time & Money"......

[ChiGuy]

12:39 PM on 02/04/2011

Republicans = Party before country.

[CosmoMaxwell]

01:28 PM on 02/04/2011

Exactly they never put America or Her general popualtion first. Their party, the super-rich, their latest spcial interest group, CEO's, and corpoartions all come before America.

[ElBruce]

12:22 PM on 02/04/2011

Continued McConnell, "your Republican party will not rest until every single American is actually suffering from a debilitating disease."

[Don Giovanni]

11:51 AM on 02/04/2011

When I think of McConnell the word "loathesome" comes to mind.

[serialcoma]

01:34 PM on 02/04/2011

F&F... there are several others as well...

[nothingchanges]

11:36 AM on 02/04/2011

Rush Limbaugh has publicly stated he wants President O'bama to fail.
Mitch McConnell has publicly stated that the GOP's primary objective, their number one priority, is to make sure President O'bama is not elected to a second term.

This isn't about what's best for the American people, never has been. It's about the Republican agenda. Those two goals are not necessarily the same.

[Patchdee]

01:36 PM on 02/04/2011

Happy to be your 4th fan. In this case the two goals are definitely NOT the same - diametrically opposed.

[bmike]

11:02 AM on 02/04/2011

REPUBLICANS TO ANNOUNCE MAJOR JOB PROGRAM TODAY JUST LIKE THEY PROMISED.

[1differentdrummer]

10:39 AM on 02/04/2011

Ah, the great Republican crusade against health care. How enlightened.

[CosmoMaxwell]

01:34 PM on 02/04/2011

To them, enlightenment, like higher education is something to fear. Both, shine too much light on their true nature.

[JustJoy7]

10:35 AM on 02/04/2011

What McConnell is saying in effect is that the GOP is going to spend two more years doing absolutely nothing with the hopes that the American People, as he likes to say, will not notice.

[CosmoMaxwell]

01:41 PM on 02/04/2011

Yeah, thats exactly what Chinless Mitch is saying. Or in ther words, GOP agenda first, America last.

[GlamMom]

02:35 PM on 02/04/2011

Wait... isn't that what the dems JUST DID?? Oh we noticed (see November) Why didn't the dems with the house, senate and potus focus on the real issues over the past two years? Oh , they were busy crafting unconstitutional legislation that will eventually be repealed and then they will have wasted unfathomable amounts of time and money..which is what they do best.

[toshia evans]

07:37 AM on 02/07/2011

why don't the rep share their ideas for health care? where are all the jobs they claim to have created? so many people are still without jobs............ people should focus on the problem at hand instead of constantly criticizing each other...... what happen to "one nation under God"? this is not and have ever been one nation ~ more like divided nation. so many people have strong opinions, why not stress your solutions.........

[AD]

10:31 AM on 02/04/2011

HEY McConnell, where are the frackin' jobs? Where is the bill promoting jobs? If the Health Care Law is repealed, then the 50 MILLION Americans without health insurance will NOT have health insurance, and ALL OF THE PEOPLE that would be hired to service the accounts of these 50 million will not have jobs! This is a no - brainer. So not only are the repubs not coming up with a jobs bill, they are also hard at work destroying 100,000 + jobs that are in the pipeline to be create as the Health Care Law comes into full bloom, HEY! REPUBS, WHERE ARE THE JOBS?! DANG! Why are republicans so Anti-American?

[CosmoMaxwell]

01:42 PM on 02/04/2011

They wont be creating any jobs. They dont know how.

[rgilley]

09:44 AM on 02/04/2011

How will the GOP's crusade against healthcare create the jobs they promised THEY could deliver while they told us Democrats couldn't? More lies and misinformation from the obstructionist Republicans. I suspect they unemployment rate would be far less had Republicans not obstructed every single jobs bill Dems proposed.

[ampdem]

08:52 AM on 02/04/2011

What gives these money/proffit driven sobs the right to trample on any kind of progress that is made on behalf of the people of this country over and over again? They continuously and shamelesly protect the rights of Corporations and the wealthy over the rest, and the majority of people in this country continue to suffer. We the people, have a right to be heard, we deserve a goverment that works for ALL of us. We need to take our country and election process back from greed driven, corupt Republican politicians that have drained our economy, stolen and sold our coutry from under our feet. Enough is enough.

[AD]

10:36 AM on 02/04/2011

I just moved from Los Angeles, where everyone I met, or just about everyone was a progressive Democrat to south Florida, a state where the electorate is soooo underinformed - to be polite, I can hardly keep myself from smacking some of these ignorant people. I guess the only answer is for all of us, Dems, to get out the vote, volunteer to help the Democrats running for office in 2012. If we don't get out there to help elect Dems the US will slide completely into Third World status on Education, Quality of life, and the enormous gap between the wealthy robber barons and the working people.

[GlamMom]

02:37 PM on 02/04/2011

Liberal Dictionary

underinfor­med :Does not agree with progressive agenda.

[CosmoMaxwell]

01:37 PM on 02/04/2011

We can do it with massive turnout like we had in 06 and 08, we have the numbers, we just have to show up at the polls and gop doesnt have a chance.

[teabagflush]

08:45 AM on 02/04/2011

And the jobs that were promised by REPUBLICANS during the fall campaign are going to be announced later today?

[toshia evans]

07:41 AM on 02/07/2011

lol..............