Republicans, however, have successfully campaigned against the Affordable Care Act in the past and haven’t seen electoral fallout for votes to repeal it. Andrea Bozek, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Democrats’ attacks are misplaced.
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The Senate on Thursday passed an amendment to strengthen ObamaCare repeal legislation, clearing the path for GOP leaders to send the measure to President Obama’s desk.
Republicans wrapped the measure in a filibuster-proof process that requires just 51 votes for Senate passage, not the 60 usually required to end stalling tactics.
President Obama has promised to veto the bill, and Republicans lack a supermajority required to override his veto.
Throughout the day, the mainstream media has been reporting that the Senate was expected to vote in favor of repealing ObamaCare and stripping Planned Parenthood of federal funding.
According to the Susan B. Anthony fact sheet on Planned Parenthood, during the fiscal year 2013-2014 Planned Parenthood recieved more than $528 million in taxpayer funding.
“We made a promise to [voters] that if they gave us the majority last November we would have this vote and we would place this squarely in front of the president”, Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn of Texas said before Thursday’s vote.
The bill would also terminate the roughly $450 million yearly in federal dollars that go to Planned Parenthood, about a third of its budget.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been called many things in the course of his long career, but “Christ-like” is probably not among them.
That same year, President Obama signed a bill repealing a provision of the act that expanded tax-reporting requirements for businesses.
But stripping federal funds from Planned Parenthood may not be a slam-dunk.
“Sometimes I wonder what Senate Republicans do when they’re not here in Washington”. Asked if Ayotte has concerns about that approach, given that local health centers have indicated they don’t have the capacity to take on Planned Parenthood’s patients, Johnson seemed to say no.
The White House insists that Obamacare is a much-needed law that prohibits insurance companies from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions, saves money, and insures higher quality care. The moves hold political advantages for them – even if some observers say they could come back to hurt the GOP, or even the greater body politic.
Though many Democrats are willing to scrap the unpopular tax, they blasted Senate Republicans for attempting to phase out the law’s expansion of Medicaid to those making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.
So it hasn’t been exactly smooth sailing to win over 51 Republican votes.
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Republicans argued voters were on their side.
