“In My Second Term, I Guess I’ll Pass It Again”

June 25, 2012

President Obama and House Democrats Make Clear That They Will Never Stop Fighting for a Government Takeover of Healthcare

While Americans wait for a Supreme Court decision on ObamaCare, President Obama has signaled he will push for ObamaCare all over again if the court strikes it down.
Obama’s not the only one—House Democrats are also laying the groundwork for an even bigger government takeover of healthcare.
The Democrats’ refusal to abandon ObamaCare makes clear why they must be replaced.

While Americans wait for a Supreme Court decision on ObamaCare, President Obama has signaled he will push for ObamaCare all over again if the court strikes it down:

OBAMA ON OBAMACARE: “IN MY SECOND TERM, I GUESS I’LL PASS IT AGAIN”: “Though the White House continues to maintain official silence on contingency plans, Mr. Obama hinted at his thinking a few weeks ago. ‘In my first term, we passed health care reform,’ he began a joke at the White House Correspondents Dinner in April. ‘In my second term, I guess I’ll pass it again.'” (Jodi Kantor, “Wearing Brave Face, Obama Braces for Healthcare Ruling,” The New York Times, 6/23/2012)

OBAMA: “MAY HAVE TO REVISIT” OBAMACARE IN SECOND TERM: “President Barack Obama is confiding to Democratic donors that he may have to revisit the health-care issue in a second term, a position at odds with his publicly expressed confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold the Affordable Care Act, according to three Democratic activists.” (Hans Nichols, “Obama Tells Donors Health-Care Fight May Loom After Court Rules,” Bloomberg, 5/31/2012)

OBAMA HHS SECRETARY KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: DEMS WILL “KEEP GOING” WITH OBAMACARE NO MATTER WHAT SUPREME COURT RULES: (Sam Baker, “Sebelius: ‘We Keep Going’ if Court Strikes Down Mandate to Have Insurance,” The Hill, 1/24/2012)

Obama’s not the only one—House Democrats are also laying the groundwork for an even bigger government takeover of healthcare:

REP. RAUL GRIJALVA (D-AZ): “THE EFFORT [TO BRING BACK OBAMACARE] WILL BE INTENSE”: ” ‘I think the effort will be intense to come back, but also the opposition will be emboldened, knowing that their refuge is the courts,’ Grijalva said.” (Sam Baker, “Court’s Decision on Healthcare Law Could Put Progressives Back at ‘Square One,'” The Hill, 6/21/2012)

REP. PETER WELCH (D-VT): OBAMACARE WASN’T “SO MUCH A DREAM AS A NECESSITY”: (Sam Baker, “Court’s Decision on Healthcare Law Could Put Progressives Back at ‘Square One,'” The Hill, 6/21/2012)

DEMOCRATS: “FULL SPEED AHEAD” ON OBAMACARE NO MATTER WHAT SUPREME COURT RULES: (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, “AP Sources: Administration Mulls Pared Health Law,” Associated Press, 6/18/2012)

HOUSE DEMOCRATS DRAFTING A BACKUP PLAN FOR GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTHCARE EXPANSION: “Universal coverage, Medicare for all, single payer — call it what you will. It’s clear that conservative forces are determined to prevent such a system from ever being introduced at the national level. So it’s up to the states. … But legislation quietly being drafted by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) would change that. It would create a mechanism for states to request federal funds after establishing their own health insurance programs.” (David Lazarus, “Legislation May Enable States to Offer Universal Healthcare,” Los Angeles Times, 5/25/2012)

DEMOCRATS CLAIM THEIR PLAN WILL BUILD ON OBAMACARE: “Kinsey Kiriakos, a spokesman for McDermott, said by email that the bill is intended to advance the goals of President Obama’s healthcare reform law, which would extend coverage to about 30 million of the 50 million people nationwide without insurance.” (David Lazarus, “Legislation May Enable States to Offer Universal Healthcare,” Los Angeles Times, 5/25/2012)

The Democrats’ refusal to abandon ObamaCare makes clear why they must be replaced:

WASHINGTON POST: “THE POLITICAL FIGHT ON HEALTHCARE IS OVER. REPUBLICANS WON”:“While official Washington waits with bated breath for the Supreme Court to announce its decision on the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care law, a new study from the Pew Research Center makes it abundantly clear that the political fight over health care is already over. And Republicans won.” (Chris Cillizza, “The Political Fight on Healthcare is Over. Republicans Won.”, The Washington Post, 6/20/2012)

STUDY: OBAMACARE COST DEMOCRATS THE HOUSE IN 2010: “A top Democrat acknowledged Thursday that President Obama’s health care bill hurt his party in 2010. And a new study suggests it cost the Democrats something pretty specific: their House majority. … The study, by five professors from institutions across the country, looks at the health care bill alongside other contentious votes in the 111th Congress and determines that, more so than the stimulus or the cap-and-trade energy bill, it cost Democrats seats. In fact, they lost almost exactly the number of seats that decided the majority.” (Aaron Blake, “Study Shows Health Care Bill May Have Cost Democrats the House,” The Washington Post, 3/9/2012)

OBAMACARE COST DEMOCRATS “25 SEATS, EXACTLY THE NUMBER THEY NEEDED TO KEEP THE MAJORITY”: “Study co-author Seth Masket of the University of Denver said that Obamacare cost House Democrats 25 seats, exactly the number they needed to keep the majority. Democrats who voted for the health care act ran six percentage points behind those who didn’t, Masket said, enough to cost those 25 members their seats. Overall in 2010, 63 Democrats lost their jobs.” (Paul Bedard, “ObamaCare Could Cost Democrats the Senate Too,” The Washington Examiner, 3/12/2012)

AP: “JUST A THIRD” FAVOR OBAMACARE, 48% OPPOSE: (Mark Sherman, “Poll: Just a Third Favor Obama Health Care Law,” Associated Press, 6/20/2012)

ONLY 21% OF INDEPENDENTS LIKE OBAMACARE: “But an Associated Press-GfK poll shows that only 21 percent of independents approve of the law, a new low in AP-GfK polling.” (Mark Sherman, “Poll: Just a Third Favor Obama Health Care Law,” Associated Press, 6/20/2012)

CBS/NYT: 48% DISAPPROVE OF OBAMACARE, 34% APPROVE: (“The Supreme Court, Healthcare and Immigration,” CBS News/New York Times Poll, 6/7/2012)

PEW: 50% OF INDEPENDENTS SAY THEY WOULD BE HAPPY IF COURT OVERRULES OBAMACARE ENTIRELY: (Stephanie Condon, “Poll: Half of Independents Would Be Happy if Supreme Court Throws Out Health Care Law,” CBS News, 6/18/2012)