Steve King: Health Care Loss At Supreme Court Could Aid Obama Reelection

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's fate hinges on the Supreme Court's decision later this year on the constitutionality of his signature health care reform law, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) declared Wednesday.

The Tea Party Republican didn't think winning the case would help Obama. Rather, losing it would improve the president's chances.

"If the Supreme Court should find this unconstitutional, which I believe is the appropriate decision, then we still need to repeal Obamacare to follow through on that. But I think then that there is more risk that President Obama will be reelected because people will think they are protected from this egregious reach into our freedom," King said, speaking at a Capitol Hill news conference.

On the other hand, King argued, "If the Supreme Court finds it constitutional, then I believe President Obama will not be reelected because they [voters] will understand that they have to vote him out of office to repeal it."

Although the Obama administration is unlikely to throw the case in order to take advantage of King's reasoning, the argument does illustrate how vital conservatives consider the Affordable Care Act to their own election hopes. Fears over health insurance reform featured prominently in the Republican victories of 2010.

King predicted that Republicans will win again if the high court doesn't toss out the law, and Republicans can then look forward to a repeal ceremony next year at the White House.

"If Barack Obama is not reelected, we will repeal this and will get it through the Senate and the House, and put it on the desk of the next president of the United States," he said.

Michael McAuliff covers Congress and politics for The Huffington Post. Talk to him on Facebook.

Comments

[Weston White]

10:48 AM on 03/27/2012

To those interested in realizing the full ramifications of “Obamacare”, please be sure to check out an essay in reply:

http://www.iwarrior.defendindependence.us/viewtopic.php?p=1149#p1149

[morbius]

11:57 AM on 03/28/2012

No taxation and defending "liberty" don't mean much to you if your dead.

[George Hanshaw]

09:45 PM on 03/22/2012

Well certainly the EXISTENCE of Obamacare is doing Obam (and the rest of us) little good......

[szweir]

12:53 PM on 03/22/2012

Speculating is thinking. I think thinking and Steve King together is an oxymoron.

[MMiddleDavid]

12:06 PM on 03/22/2012

Wait wait wait - so if Obama's signature piece of legislation is shot down, that will HELP him, because people will realize that he's not perfect (we already knew that) and will re-elect him to steal into our homes and steal our guns, wives, and religious symbols because the court protected us from enacting the legislation that we put him in office to enact.... but if they let it stand, and we're able to reap the benefits from it, then we'll be afraid that he was able to do what the people asked and will pick one of the GOP losers as President.

That can't be right... if the ACA stands, then Obama will get voted out of office for doing what we put him in office to do so that we can elect other people to try and undo what he did at our request, but if it fails, then we'll put him back in office because we'll know that he couldn't do it.

My head hurts. What is he trying to say here?

[AGrant31]

02:32 PM on 03/22/2012

Very nice summing up. You have just put the GOP election manifesto in one of the most succinct and eloquent texts I have have read. Thank you.

[MMiddleDavid]

02:49 PM on 03/22/2012

Thank you. I had to write and rewrite that to make it make any sense at all, then I had to physically unbraid my eyelashes from the mental efforts involved... ;-)

[mm3264]

11:36 AM on 03/22/2012

americonst4 on Mar 22, 2012 at 00:55:56
“GM will be bankrupt when the tax payer money runs out. Stay tuned. They still have the same bloodsucking union.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Your ignorance of unions is overwhelming. Never has a union caused a demise of a company, Poor management has killed them all. Unions didn't design cars that no one wanted to buy. Management did. Unions can only build cars to the specs they are given. Management gave the horrible specs. Unions didn't demand huge cars to be built when the market called for small cars. Management did.
Your jealousy of people who made choices to secure their future is sickening. Why do you blame middle class Americans for your poor life choices?

[George Hanshaw]

10:24 PM on 03/22/2012

"Your ignorance of unions is overwhelming. Never has a union caused a demise of a company, Poor management has killed them all"

Well, if you define poor management as failing to convince the employees not to unionize, I suppose I'll give you that one......

[morbius]

12:01 PM on 03/28/2012

Unions gave you: 5 day work week, 40 hour week; decent pay, the middle class. "Right to work for less" states give you: poor pay, no protection in the work place, child labor, coming feudalism. Which would most of us choose? This is whats called a "no brainer".

[Marioth]

11:28 AM on 03/22/2012

King doesn't do the math thing very well. The only map that matters is the electoral college, a map where Obama has many avenues, whereas the GOP has only a very small window. Even if SCOTUS strikes down AHCA, the behavior of the GOP since Obama was elected will not suddenly change. They still have zero governing achievements on which to run, and policy proposals which hurt the poor and invade the medical decisions of women.

It would also clear the way for single-payer, which is what is coming. The debacle over contraception means employers need to come out of the system. It created the Blunt/Rubio amendment. More of that nonsense is coming as the GOP continues to contract, and grows ever more desperate for ANY win of ANY kind.

And they will still lose. The country is headed into the future, not back to 1812.

[no body]

11:11 AM on 03/22/2012

Seriously Iowa's 4th, if you cared at all about the Federal Deficit, you'd save the country $175k and several million in staffing costs, a year. By sending a rock in Rep. Steve King's place. And you'd receive an even higher-quality level of representation.

[blue2012]

11:04 AM on 03/22/2012

I Stumbled on This last night Its called the Madison Project.

This article explains their plan ,

They want to implant ideas in the minds of the political players
http://madisonproject.com/2012/03/the-misguided-partial-repeal-strategy-continues/

They have a rally March 24,2012

[morbius]

12:07 PM on 03/28/2012

This is a conservative think tank like ALEC. How about a little honesty, Madisonproject folks. What do you plan to put in place of Obamacare? Nothing? The real answer is that you would like to have feudalism as our economic plan. Do something constructive that we can all agree on. Split the country. We blue states can annex to Canada (eventually), and you can have feudal/fascist/theocratic JESUSLAND.

[blue2012]

04:23 PM on 04/24/2012

I'am sorry you didn't see my avatar. I was simply posting a site where people could what the GOP was up to that week. I'am blue2012. with a blue smiley face:) So now you know I'am on your side!!

[Richard Ott]

10:51 AM on 03/22/2012

I am ashame he resents Iowa. Help kick the nut case out! http://christievilsackforiowa.com/content/welcome

[Frog in a pot]

10:47 AM on 03/22/2012

Do republicans know "Obama=Romneycare is 100% republican Heritage Foundation ideas?
Including the MANDATE?

Do they know both Newt and Romney endorced Obamacare in 2009?ESPECIALLY the mandate.

So where are all those protests now?

How could Romney be the top of the ticket?

Oh right they are WHITE no need to protest now right?

[CountryBeforeParty]

10:44 AM on 03/22/2012

This is another question I will continue to ask when it comes to right-wingers saying things like this…..

Do people like Steve King think that the American people are just REALLY stupid, or INCREIDBLY stupid? Does he think we’re going to turn to each other and say, “Hey everybody! King just leaked that the President will get re-elected if ACA is repealed! We should hope it gets repealed!!!”

The right knows that if they don’t repeal this by 2014 the exchanges kick in, real capitalism happens because more competition will start, and the health insurance lobby will not be happy about that. The right talks a good game about “free market” and “reforms” but they only like it when it affects other people, not themselves.

[Grunty1]

10:53 AM on 03/22/2012

People voted for him, so he knows at least some are INCREDIBLY stupid.

[JBINDM]

11:11 AM on 03/22/2012

Sadly, in Iowa we do not have an IQ requirement to run for congress....that is how we get a King to say stupid, ignorant, and uninformed statements....vote for Christie Vilsack and get him out!

[Organic-Guy]

10:26 AM on 03/22/2012

Mr King has said so many ridiculous things in the past few years why does the media report what he says anymore? He's not well and needs help.

[REMEMBER2050]

10:18 AM on 03/22/2012

King's argument is as dumb as a stump. It makes absolutely no sense, and in fact it's so ridiculous it's almost redundant to even point that out. Look, I get that Representatives are elected from specific districts in each state. But you know, each of US are still paying their collective salaries.

This really infuriates me. Because every thinking person in the country--who still believes we're a nation and that we're in this together--is paying for a GOP House that is ONLY out to screw us--and additionally is also apparently paying for completely submarginal intelligence.

We need Congress back--both chambers--this November. I suggest we set the bar a little higher and demand triple-digit IQ's from all of our Representatives.

[Got2Go]

10:17 AM on 03/22/2012

I am so sick and tired of the republican trickle down theory. If it were not for programs such as Welfare, medicare and social security this last recession would have been worse than the great depression. That is what almost happened with that trickle down theory.

[morbius]

12:10 PM on 03/28/2012

Republicans are for feudalism... nothing less.

[fromdnorth]

10:14 AM on 03/22/2012

I live in Canada and we have 9% of our GDP for health care, with no chance of any of us going bankrupt because of medical bills and wonder: Are you guys freeking daft?

[SoapboxKing]

03:38 PM on 03/22/2012

yes.
You will never see a Canadian company go bankrupt because it can no longer afford healthcare for its employees.
And you compete directly in the world markets with that expense removed from the price of manufacturing your goods.

[fromdnorth]

05:06 PM on 03/22/2012

So?

[morbius]

12:11 PM on 03/28/2012

Seems the red states are. Low education favors the republicans; that's why they are against public education.