WASHINGTON - With Republicans in Congress and the Obama administration nowhere near agreement on a spending plan to keep the government operating past Oct. 1, both sides will be trying to score points with voters Wednesday. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, Wednesday afternoon will unveil the conservative Republican Study Committee's alternative to the Affordable Care Act, which the GOP wants...
WASHINGTON - With Republicans in Congress and the Obama administration nowhere near agreement on a spending plan to keep the government operating past Oct. 1, both sides will be trying to score points with voters Wednesday.
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, Wednesday afternoon will unveil the conservative Republican Study Committee's alternative to the Affordable Care Act, which the GOP wants to delay for a year in exchange for any spending bill. The plan by the RSC, which Scalise chairs, is expected to provide some guarantees that Americans can get coverage, even with pre-existing conditions, a key element of the president's health care law. But Scalise has said it would be much more market oriented, presumably without ObamaCare's mandates requiring most individuals to purchase coverage (some will qualify for subsidies) and businesses with over 50 workers to subsidize coverage for workers.
Also Wednesday, President Barack Obama will meet with business leaders to discuss the consequences if Republicans in Congress continue to insist on delay, or repeal, of his signature health law as the price for a budget deal.
In 2011, when Republicans balked, at least for a while, at extending the nation's debt limit, the stock market plummeted 17 percent, the U.S. credit rating was downgraded and consumer confidence dropped to the lowest levels since the 2008 financial crisis, the president will remind the business leaders, according to his aides.
On Monday, Obama chastised Republicans for what he called an uncompromising approach to negotiations.
"I cannot remember a time when one faction of one party promises economic chaos if it can't get 100 percent of what it wants," Obama said. "That's never happened before. But that's what's happening right now."
Scalise said the GOP doesn't want to shut the government down.
"We can achieve victory for American families without a government shutdown, but I will not surrender in the fight to delay ObamaCare for all Americans," Scalise said. "We must use every legislative avenue available, through the Continuing Resolution, the debt ceiling, and sequester conversations to free the country from the President's train-wreck of a healthcare law."
On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that the president's 2012 presidential election victory, in which he ran on gaining passage of the Affordable Care Act, has settled the issue and the GOP needs to move on from its futile efforts to repeal the law.
"Since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, insurance companies can no longer discriminate against children with pre-existing conditions," Reid said. "That's a good deal. You have a child with diabetes, that boy or girl can't be denied insurance. Epilepsy -- can't be denied insurance."
House Republicans have voted 40 times during the current Congress to repeal, delay or diminish the Affordable Care Act, but all those measures died in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
