The GOP's Health Care Mishaps

It's not a matter of opinion. Republicans won big, in the Congress and the State Houses in 2010, because people were unhappy with the economy. Eric Cantor is now the Majority Leader of the House because people wanted to see JOBS.

He didn't get the memo. Leader Cantor is now saying the GOP will "forbid funding" for "ObamaCare" out of the House. This is just full of stupidity in the whole comment. First off, he made sure to say they would forbid funding in the House bill. In other words, he knows the Senate is going to pass a bill that funds the bill, one way or the other. We all know that the President won't sign a bill that de-funds his main initiative. So, not only is Cantor ignoring the most important issue facing the people that elected him MAJORITY Leader, he's ignoring it to "chase windmills" on a fool's errand that will not be successful.

He's not alone though. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the State House of Representatives went Republican after four years of Democratic control. The State House Health Committee, chaired by Rep. Matthew Baker (R-Tioga) isn't just defunding it. He is asserting "states rights" to nullify federal laws.

The state House Health Committee passed a bill Monday to remove Pennsylvania from the individual mandate portion of the nation health care reform law with a party-line vote.

The bill, H.B. 42, would prohibit the government from enacting or adopting any law to penalize any individual, employer or health care provider for participating in a health care system of their choosing. Health Committee Chair Matthew Baker (R-Tioga), the bill's sponsor, said it protects Pennsylvania citizens from potential federal penalties if they choose to ignore the individual mandate in the federal health care law passed last year.

"It protects a person's right to participate, or not, in any health care system," said Mr. Baker. "It provides a state-level defense against the federal government's excessive power."

Right. It's also not legal. States cannot undo federal laws. This assertion of "states' rights" might be popular with the base, but we've fought WARS over it. Your side lost. This isn't something we need to re-hash.

Now, the bottom line is this: The GOP won, both nationally and in Pennsylvania in 2010 because people wanted JOBS. They can put the word "job-killing" in anything they want, the fact is that continuing to fight health care reform will not create the jobs they promised. They can fight this fight if they'd like, and Democrats like myself prefer that they do. Eric Cantor can be sent back to the minority if he'd like, and Governor Corbett can be replaced with Joe Sestak, Rob McCord, or anyone else the Democrats would like. Frankly, I'd rather they succeed in creating jobs, but if not, I'll take the future electoral wins for my party.