This week, thanks to a groundswell of opposition from conservative activists, the House Republican leadership decided to delay voting on their continuing resolution. Leadership would never admit it, but they canceled Thursday’s scheduled vote because they did not have enough support from Republican members.
Using tactics that only Washington insiders could dream of, House leadership attempted a questionable parliamentary scheme which is known as “deem and pass.” The goal was to give Republicans a chance to say they voted to defund Obamacare while simultaneously passing a bill out of the House that funds it. If that sounds confusing, that’s because it is… and by design. The proposal was an outrageous sleight of hand by House leadership who apparently forgot how voters gave them the majority in response to Obamacare’s passage in 2010.
The House leadership’s gimmicks to try to pull the wool over the eyes of conservatives failed. The rumored estimates are there were barely 200 “yes” votes, which means they fell short of the 218 votes of the Republican majority. The vote is tentatively rescheduled for next week, so it is incumbent on conservatives to continue to pressure members of Congress to reject this scheme so the Obamacare-funding CR goes down in flames.
It is clear that what Congress needs is a straight up-or-down vote on a CR which defunds Obamacare. Instead of accepting the misleading “shut down” rhetoric from a President with a 44% approval rating, the House should use their position as the birthplace of all spending bills to fund all of the government, except Obamacare. Republicans must go on offense, and hold Democrats accountable for their opposition.
Conservative Congressman Tom Graves is leading the charge with the Stability, Security and Fairness Resolution (H.J.Res. 62) that defunds Obamacare while funding the rest of the government at agreed-upon sequestration levels. This resolution, which already lists 42 House members as co-sponsors and earned an endorsementfrom Senator Mike Lee of Utah, defines the ongoing battle to stop Obamacare before its scheduled implementation on October 1st. I ask you to stand with me in support of this smart piece of legislation.
The time to fight against Obamacare is right now. If it is not removed immediately, Obamacare will not just destroy America’s healthcare system, it will be even more difficult to remove after it’s slowly implemented. Now is the time for action; we cannot afford to have House leadership fold when we are this close to winning. Let your voice be heard and call, email, tweet your Congressman NOW and tell them to support Congressman Graves’ Stability, Security and Fairness Resolution (H.J.Res. 62).