Picture this: A bride and groom exchange vows before a huge crowd and the minister declares the pair man and wife. The groom lifts the bride's veil, they kiss, and then face the congregation as the minister introduces them for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. [you supply the name]. The mother of the bride cries. The bridesmaids beam. The father of the bride shrugs his shoulder, because now he's lost another income tax deduction. The organist begins playing a joyous recessional march and the bride and groom start walking down the aisle toward the back of the church. About ten steps into his stroll, the groom spots the most beautiful girl he has ever seen (and it's not the bride) standing at the edge of one of the pews with a 'come hither' look on her face. The groom immediately drops the bride's hand and walks over to the beautiful maiden. He takes the girl into his arms and begins passionately kissing and fondling her as the entire congregation looks on.
What would you call such a guy? A cad? A bastard? A cold, hardened sonofabitch?
Nah! He's just a Republican congressman in the newly sworn United States House of Representatives.
Remember "A Pledge to America" - that much ballyhooed oath Republican congressional candidates vowed and declared to the America people last fall? Remember how those same Republican candidates stood before flag-draped lecterns all across America, paraded before TV cameras and pledged on their Bibles to carry out every word of their so-called sacred pledge?
Well, they lied! And like the wayward groom, they wasted no time in going back on their vow!
The Republican "Pledge to America" stated, and I quote: "We will let any lawmaker – Democrat of Republican - offer amendments to reduce spending."
The Pledge explained the reason for the inclusion of that oath as follows: "House Democrats have relied heavily on what is known as 'martial law' procedures during the current Congress, particularly provisions that allow them to bring any bill to the floor with little or no notice and deny Republican members of Congress or even factions of their own party their right to debate and offer amendments or substitutes for consideration or vote."
And now, on only the second day of the 144th Congress, a mere couple of steps from the vow they so solemnly declared at the election alter, Republicans have broken that vow by prohibiting debate and votes on amendments to the Health Care Reform Repeal bill they seek to vote upon next week. Democrats, and even members of the Republican's own party will be denied their "right to debate and offer amendments or substitutes for consideration or vote", a process that could reduce the federal deficit.
Here's why Republicans are being so quick to break their own vows; there's a prettier girl waiting anxiously in the wings – a girl called insurance companies.
Consider the provision of the Health Care Reform Act passed last year that prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and prohibits companies from terminating policyholders who become sick or disabled. Before the Health Care Reform Act, those patients (and there were millions of them) were unable to get insurance and the tab for their medical treatment fell mostly on taxpayer funded Medicaid-type programs. By preventing insurance companies from dumping million of patient onto taxpayer funded programs after collecting premiums from those patients, the Health Care Reform Act was saving taxpayers billions of dollars. Repealing that specific provision of the Health Care Reform Act would actually add to the federal deficit.
Insurance companies, however, are not interested in reducing the federal deficit. They are interested in boosting their profits, and Republican House members have shown that they are more interested in Insurance Companies getting their way than the federal deficit actually being reduced. That's why they want to prohibit amendments to the repeal bill.
If amendments to the repeal bill were allowed, no Representative would dare vote against keeping the pre-existing condition provisions in place, because over 90% of Americans favor having those protections and they help reduce the federal deficit by millions of sick patients off Medicaid. Americans also favor retaining the provision mandating insurance companies to cover children up to age 26, and were the amendment process permitted, that part of the Health Care Reform Act would be retained too. The problem is health insurance companies hate those provisions and want them eliminated. The rest of the population wants them to stay, and if amendments are allowed, those provisions will stay.
That puts Republicans between a rock and a hard place…and that's the very reason Republicans have broken their sacred vow on amendments. The only way Republicans can repeal the Health Care Reform law is to forbid amendments that would help reduce the federal deficit.
You didn't really believe them when they said that was their solemn pledge to America, did you? I didn't!
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