Thursday Open Thread

Rep. Tipton twisting:

Congressman Scott Tipton · 2,367 like this

10 hours ago ·

We have voted every way possible to repeal, defund and replace Obamacare in the House. Some even thought that a government shutdown would stop it. But as we’ve seen over the past two weeks, while some government functions have ceased during the shutdown, Obamacare has continued unaffected. Our Constitution lays out the legislative process very clearly, and to pass or change a law (including Obamacare) we need the House, Senate and the President to act. While spending bills originate in the House, the Senate and President must also act. When the legislative process fails, gridlock ensues and unintended consequences can occur—such as a default on our national debt, damage to our economy, lost jobs and an extended government shutdown.

There have been many opinions on the best way to stop Obamacare and it’s important to remember that a difference in tactics is not a difference in principle. There is no question that Obamacare is raising costs and decreasing access to care in this country, and that it must be replaced. The person who ought to be concerned most about the end of the government shutdown is Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius who will now have to explain to the American people why the implementation of Obamacare is going so drastically wrong. The fight to effectively repeal and replace Obamacare moves forward and I will continue to vote to stop this bad law.

Today’s agreement includes positive steps to extend responsible spending reforms, prevent a national default on nearly $17 trillion of U.S. debt, and reopen the government. It protects the economy and sets the stage for further budget negotiations to address our nation’s spending crisis. Our nation is facing a staggering national debt, and this plan continues to address the debt by extending sequester-level spending reforms. For the first time since the Korean War, the federal government is set to actually spend less for two consecutive years, and recent spending reforms resulted in an upgrade of the United States credit rating by Moody’s earlier this year. We have taken some positive steps toward addressing our nation’s debt and we must continue to fight for responsible spending reforms and extend those we’ve been able to achieve so far.

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