Just as Sisyphus toiled in vain to push his personal millstone uphill, so do certain Republican Congressmen continue to attempt to repeal Obamacare, despite the fact that their efforts result in yet more obstacles being strewn in their path.
The repeal strategy has become acutely refined in the U.S. Senate. There, the repealers are using a tactic ironically known as “reconciliation” to do an end-around of a promised Democratic filibuster of any serious attempt at repeal.
But no less an opponent than U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D,Nev.) just put out an “oh no you don’t” memo that, he says, lays to rest this latest GOP scheme.
“The Parliamentarian has ruled that Obamacare cannot be repealed through reconciliation, period. The idea put forth by Senator [Mitch] McConnell’s office that a so-called “technical fix” can save Obamacare repeal in reconciliation is simply false,” reads the memo, released late last week.
“While Republicans may be able to make narrowly tailored changes that primarily have a budgetary effect, any fix that repeals the individual or employer mandates will require 60 votes and therefore will not pass. The Parliamentarian’s decision almost certainly rules out one idea currently being floated among Republicans: to repeal the mandates temporarily now and allow them to come back into effect in the future. Even this change will almost certainly require 60 votes and therefore will not happen,” Reid wrote.
Enter stage left the Parliamentarian as the drama continues. This person is the rules decider of the Senate, the person who interprets the rules of conduct and has the final say in what goes and what doesn’t on the Senate floor. According to The Hill, the parliamentarian did indeed find fault with the GOP’s reconciliation plot, pointing out that such a procedure can’t alter something as basic to the health reform act as requirements to offer and buy insurance.
But don’t go away—McConnell claims he’s got a way around that one, too. And the beat goes on …
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
