As the Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare withered on the vine, the self-described socialist senator from Vermont rushed to fill the political vacuum. Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All Act of 2017 is a single-payer proposal that shamelessly attempts to harness the popularity of…
To those feverishly speculating, whether in glee or in terror, that the election results in Virginia and New Jersey portend loss of GOP control of the House of Representatives in midterm elections a year from now, I ask this question: What difference does that prospect make not as of January 2019…
Obamacare “repeal and replace” may have failed this year, but that doesn’t mean the Affordable Care Act can’t be significantly defanged. For example, there is still time to excise the Independent Payment Advisory Board from the law before it is up and running.
Obamacare “repeal and replace” may have failed this year, but that doesn’t mean the Affordable Care Act can’t be significantly defanged. For example, there is still time to excise the Independent Payment Advisory Board from the law before it is up and running.
Today on the Daily Standard podcast, senior writer John McCormack talks with host Eric Felten about the prospects for Graham-Cassidy, the GOP's last chance this year at undoing Obamacare.
Last week, insurance giant Anthem announced it was pulling out of the Obamacare exchanges in Nevada, leaving most of the counties within the state without even one insurer to cover demand in the individual marketplace. This latest development only increases the pressure on Congress to do something.
Last week, insurance giant Anthem announced it was pulling out of the Obamacare exchanges in Nevada, leaving most of the counties within the state without even one insurer to cover demand in the individual marketplace. This latest development only increases the pressure on Congress to do something.
Today on the Daily Standard podcast, deputy online editor Chris Deaton talks with host Eric Felten about the Obamacare repeal debate going on in the Senate Wednesday.
Today on the Daily Standard podcast, senior writer John McCormack talks with host Eric Felten about what comes next and when for Obamacare repeal, as Obamacare reform is on hold for a week while Sen. John McCain recuperates from a blood clot.
Today on the Daily Standard podcast, senior writer John McCormack talks with host Eric Felten about Ted Cruz’s efforts to amend the Senate GOP’s floundering (okay, foundering) healthcare legislation.
Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on July 3.
In the first two years of the Obama administration, “Read the bill!” was an effective anti-Obamacare rallying cry. Republican congressmen, as well as conservative and Tea Party activists, demanded that legislation weighing in at more than 2,000 pages and affecting one-sixth of the economy be…
Today on the Daily Standard podcast, editor at large William Kristol shares his perspective on the House's passage of the American Health Care Act and the road ahead in the Senate for Obamacare repeal.
As President Donald Trump and House speaker Paul Ryan spoke on the phone Thursday morning, hours before the House would vote on the American Health Care Act, they discussed an idea: If the bill passed, Ryan and a group of House Republicans would travel to the White House for a post-vote statement…
Today on the Daily Standard podcast, executive editor Fred Barnes discusses the House's passage of the American Health Care Act, and why it was a necessary win for President Trump and the GOP.
At 39, Tom Cotton is the youngest member of the Senate. He was elected from Arkansas in 2014 after two years in the House. And having served in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan as an infantry captain, he quickly emerged as an influential senator on military and foreign affairs.
After the failure of the American Health Care Act (AHCA)—the House Republican alternative to Obamacare—there was plenty of blame to go around. President Donald Trump pointed his finger at the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), the group of 30 or so conservatives who largely opposed the bill, tweeting,…
After the failure of the American Health Care Act (AHCA)—the House Republican alternative to Obamacare—there was plenty of blame to go around. President Donald Trump pointed his finger at the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), the group of 30 or so conservatives who largely opposed the bill, tweeting,…
It's official: Ivanka Trump is now an employee of the federal government. The daughter of President Donald Trump and wife of senior adviser Jared Kushner, Ivanka is making official what was already clear from her frequent appearances alongside her father at the White House and last week's news that…
The WEEKLY STANDARD Podcast with executive editor Fred Barnes on President Trump's revived efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Where to begin? Monday was jam-packed with news regarding Donald Trump and his administration. Unfortunately the best news for Trump, a solid first day of hearings for his Supreme Court nominee (more on that below), was overshadowed by the appearance of FBI director James Comey and National…
As the Republican alternative to Obamacare winds its tortuous way through Congress, the parallels with the big mistake President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats made eight years ago are unmistakable. Such large changes to society should only be done with a broad coalition, otherwise they…
As the Republican alternative to Obamacare winds its tortuous way through Congress, the parallels with the big mistake President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats made eight years ago are unmistakable. Such large changes to society should only be done with a broad coalition, otherwise they…
Trusting the process makes for good life advice and bad legislating. The morning after congressional Republicans released their Obamacare replacement, dubbed the American Health Care Act, conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham complained it lacked the "Trumpism of the health care reform" the…
The WEEKLY STANDARD Podcast with deputy online editor Chris Deaton about the GOP's troubled Obamacare repeal and replace efforts.
The White House continues to argue that the House Republican health-care bill is the best and only way to repeal Obamacare. "No matter where you are, especially on the conservative side, you cannot possibly believe that the current health care system is an effective program," said press secretary…
Trusting the process makes for good life advice and bad legislating. The morning after congressional Republicans released their Obamacare replacement, dubbed the American Health Care Act, conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham complained it lacked the “Trumpism of the health care reform" the…
Who can forget watching in one’s youth the great sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? It aired for just two glorious seasons, from 1961 to 1963, on NBC on Sunday nights from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. It was a memorable touch of wry reality, sandwiched between the fantasies of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of…
The House Republican health care bill has an odd problem: Nobody seems to support it. Nobody, that is, except President Trump and his administration. While the House plan appears to be the work of Speaker Paul Ryan and the two committee chairmen of Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce, the White…
After years of campaigning on the need to repeal and replace Obamacare, Republicans in Congress are in disarray about what to do now that voters have empowered them to do just that. In his address to Congress on February 28, President Donald Trump helpfully exercised some leadership by letting…
The fight to repeal Obamacare is ramping up as Congress prepares to return from its recess. Senators and representatives will hear from President Trump on Tuesday during his address to a joint session, and repeal and replace is expected to be among the most important talking points in the speech.
Amid concerns of cold feet in the congressional GOP and noncommittal comments from President Donald Trump, House speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday the House and Senate would conclude their role in repealing and replacing Obamacare by the end of 2017, but cautioned that implementing a new regime will…
Republicans rode their near-unanimous support for repealing Obamacare to big wins in the elections of 2010, 2014, and 2016. Now, having won control of the House, Senate, and White House largely on the strength of that clear and courageous commitment, some Republican officeholders are thinking that…
On the last full day of the Obama White House—a phrase conservatives have waited eight long years to utter—it's worth recalling the Obama administration's own arguments about the connection between Obamacare's "community rating" mandate and runaway health costs.
The House approved a budget Friday providing for Congress to axe the revenue-related portions of Obamacare, teeing up a repeal procedure that congressional Democrats are powerless to stop.
The WEEKLY STANDARD Podcast with frequent contributor and Hudson Institute senior fellow Jeffrey H. Anderson on repealing Obamacare, and his related story about how the GOP can avoid being blamed for high premiums.
Top GOP officials say their first order of business in the new year is to repeal and replace Obamacare. But the first order itself has a clear first step.
It's the opportunity Republicans have been awaiting for six years, which invites the obvious question: Are they going to screw it up? In January, a united Republican Congress and Republican White House will finally have the ability to dispose of Obamacare, the unpopular and destructive…
It’s the opportunity Republicans have been awaiting for six years, which invites the obvious question: Are they going to screw it up? In January, a united Republican Congress and Republican White House will finally have the ability to dispose of Obamacare, the unpopular and destructive…
For years now, the Republican party has promised to “repeal and replace" Obamacare. Now that voters have delivered Republicans control of the White House and Congress and they can make good on that promise, suddenly they are singing a different, decidedly off-key, tune: "Repeal and delay."
When the Democrats passed Obamacare (without a single Republican vote), part of how they were allegedly going to pay for it was through a "Cadillac tax" on expensive employer-based insurance. Yet, this week, many Republicans are working with Democrats to delay or even repeal this tax. For three…
Today, in his remarks to the House of Representatives following his election as speaker, Paul Ryan reiterated his belief that “we can renew the America idea.” This recalls Ryan’s excellent speech on the fateful night of the Obamacare vote, on March 21, 2010, when he proclaimed,
So far, the Republican presidential contest has been light on Obamacare, with Scott Walker — who has essentially championed the 2017 Project’s “Winning Alternative to Obamacare” — providing a noteworthy exception. Since Obamacare is the biggest issue of Barack Obama’s presidency, why are most GOP…
Assuming a Republican wins the presidency in 2016, his top domestic priority will be—and should be—to repeal and replace Obamacare. The health care overhaul is the cornerstone of President Obama’s project to transform America into a top-down administrative state. The effects of repealing Obamacare,…
Now that the Supreme Court has held its oral arguments in King v. Burwell, the case has somewhat receded from the headlines. But conservatives would be wise to use this period between the oral arguments and the Court’s ruling, expected in late June, to encourage Republicans to unite around a…
Over the past few days at CPAC, Sean Hannity has asked various prospective Republican presidential candidates to list their “top five agenda items.” Former governor Jeb Bush’s list did not include repealing Obamacare.
The Huffington Post’s Jeffrey Young and Jonathan Cohn declare that “putting together a real Obamacare alternative will take more time — and more genuine interest — than Republicans have.” In truth, such Obamacare alternatives are already available to Republicans. These include the 2017 Project’s…
Bobby Jindal isn’t as close to announcing a run for president as some of his other would-be GOP rivals, but that hasn’t kept the Louisiana governor out of the news. In recent weeks, Jindal has spoken out on terrorism (he says, contra Obama, Islam “has a problem”), vaccines (he’s unequivocally for…
In the official Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night, newly elected Iowa senator Joni Ernst stressed the importance of combating liberals’ “stale mindset” that has “led to failed policies like Obamacare,” while reaffirming Republicans’ commitment to…
Republicans have now won two Obamacare elections, the first in 2010 and the second in 2014. (In 2012, their presidential nominee chose not to engage on the issue.) In the lead-up to their latest victory, Republicans ran far more ads against Obamacare than either party ran for or against anything…
The Republicans in congress have some plans for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and the Supreme Court will be considering the possibility that that language in the bill itself might, if followed literally, doom the program.
Given that I’ve probably published more articles critical of Obamacare than anyone alive, I’m often asked to speak to conservative audiences about our new health law. Last month, I was at the big grassroots confab of Americans for Prosperity, the Defending the American Dream Summit. I asked the…
Slowly but surely, the anti-repeal wing of the Republican party is starting to reassert itself. The latest effort comes from Lanhee Chen, who was the top policy advisor on the Mitt Romney campaign. As readers will likely recall, that campaign refused to advance an alternative to Obamacare, failed…
It's a question often asked these days in conservative circles: Do you really think Obamacare can be repealed? Usually uttered behind closed doors, the question reveals both an un-Reagan-like pessimism and something of a disconnect from political reality.
Shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision on Obamacare, the CBO projected that 9 million people would buy Obamacare-compliant insurance through newly established government-run exchanges. Now, after an enrollment period that his administration expanded by about two months—to more than half a…
Jeffrey H. Anderson, writing for National Review Online:
Let me add a word to my comments from Tuesday night supporting the budget deal.
Pessimists who believe that once a large piece of governmental malpractice is in place, it is there forever and immoveable, should to pay attention to this day and, perhaps, celebrate with a cocktail.
Scott Johnson calls attention to a column in the Roanoke Times by Sharon Ingerson, a registered nurse in Salem, Virginia.
Obamacare has now been unpopular for more than an Olympiad—an amazing feat for a law that’s just now going into effect. It’s been unpopular since the summer of 2009—which, come to think of it, is about the time that President Obama first starting saying that if you like your health plan, you can…
Could the focus on Obamacare in the last couple of weeks before Tuesday's Virginia gubernatorial election enable the Republican nominee, Ken Cuccinelli, to come from behind in the homestretch? He's run a pretty awful campaign so far, and has been trailing badly for months, but ...
You know things are bad for President Obama when even Warren Buffett has soured on Obamacare and says that "we need something else." Money Morning writes:
Nineteen conservative activists have signed a letter to Republican leaders in Congress urging the body to fight to delay all of the provisions of Obamacare set to go into effect in 2014. (Update: the number of signatories has increased to 33.)
A new Fox News poll says that independents support the repeal of Obamacare by a whopping 40-point margin (65 to 25 percent). That’s more than twice the margin by which Ronald Reagan beat Walter Mondale, or Franklin Roosevelt beat Herbert Hoover.
The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll indicates that the only group of Americans who remain strongly supportive of Obamacare are self-described “liberal Democrats.” Even “moderate or conservative” Democrats have started to jump ship en masse — as they’re now more likely to oppose Obamacare than…
Speaker of the House John Boehner said it was "unfair and indefensible" that Barack Obama hasn't delayed Obamacare's individual mandate for individuals and families:
After a year spent largely out of the limelight, Obamacare’s individual mandate is back — as the core symbol of Obamacare’s unprecedented threat to Americans’ liberty. In truth, the mandate never really left; it simply faded a bit from public view. The means of its reemergence, however, is clear: …
Echoing the boss, GOP House leaders released this statement on the Obama administration's Obamacare decision:
House Republicans need to focus on turning the administration's retreat on Obamacare into a rout. In light of the administration's announced delay of the employer mandate, they could move immediately to delay the individual mandate as well, and/or the legislation as a whole.
CBS's political director compared Obamacare to "a jalopy they are trying to roll out of the driveway here at barely operational" this morning on national television:
The Obama administration must have been hearing some awfully threatening noises from the business community lately, because its unilateral delay of Obamacare’s employer mandate, from 2014 to 2015, is otherwise very difficult to explain. The delay is an embarrassing move for the White House and will…
From the middle of 2009 onward, those opposed to President Obama’s attempted overhaul of American medicine have enjoyed a distinct, if underappreciated, rhetorical advantage. Taking a page out of the playbook that led to the defeat of Hillarycare in 1994, advocates of limited government and…
A big part of Obamacare is its massive expansion of Medicaid. Fortunately, this expansion can’t happen in most states without Republicans freely choosing to make it happen. Unfortunately, far too many Republican governors seem to be confused about the distinction between repealing Obamacare and…
It would be a major understatement to say that Obamacare has had a bad spring. Around the time of Lincoln’s birthday, registered voters told Fox News that, by a margin of 6 percentage points (48 to 42 percent), it would “be better to go back to the health care system that was in place in 2009”…
When President Obama released his first budget — entitled with no hint of irony, “A New Era of Responsibility” — he projected that deficit spending over the next five fiscal years (2010-14) would total $3.767 trillion. Now, Obama has released his fifth budget (which doesn’t seem to have a name). …
Rasmussen Reports’ latest polling of likely voters shows that, by a 10-point margin, Americans favor the repeal of Obamacare. The poll shows that 52 percent of likely voters support the repeal of President Obama’s centerpiece legislation, while only 42 percent oppose it. Repeal is popular among…
Obamacare makes the ’62 Mets look like the ’27 Yankees. Since President Obama signed Obamacare into law on March 23, 2010, Rasmussen Reports has conducted 114 polls asking likely voters whether they’d prefer to keep Obamacare or repeal it. All 114 times, voters have said they’d prefer to repeal…
The latest poll of likely voters from Rasmussen Reports shows that, by a margin of 15 percentage points (54 to 39 percent), Americans support the repeal of President Obama’s centerpiece legislation. In the two-and-a-half years since Obama signed Obamacare into law, Rasmussen has conducted 113…
At a rally in Ohio last week, Mitt Romney said, “Obama-care is really Exhibit No. 1 of the president’s political philosophy, and that is that government knows better than people how to run your lives.” The GOP nominee added, “I don’t believe in a bigger and bigger government. . . . I believe in…
The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that independents overwhelmingly support the repeal of Obamacare — by 18 percentage points (55 to 37 percent) — which once again raises this question: How can an incumbent president hope to win reelection when his centerpiece legislation is this…
Addressing the audience at an AARP convention today, Paul Ryan declared, "The first step to a stronger Medicare is to repeal Obamacare." He explained to those in attendance how Obamacare would turn "Medicare into a piggy bank," while also putting "15 unelected bureaucrats in charge of Medicare’s…
As we get further removed from a Republican convention that, at least in prime time (and apart from Paul Ryan), didn’t emphasize the importance of repealing Obamacare, and a Democratic convention at which President Obama was praised for spearheading Obamacare’s passage regardless of the…
The verdict now seems to be in on the Romney campaign's strategy of generally avoiding making the case against Obamacare and choosing not to make President Obama's defining legislation a defining issue in this campaign. That strategy plainly seems to have benefited both Obamacare and Obama, and it…
The latest Rasmussen poll shows that 50 percent of likely voters support the repeal of Obamacare, while 41 percent oppose it. In addition to these specific tallies, Rasmussen's survey draws attention to two things.
On the Senate floor right now, just before Congress breaks away for summer recess, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is imploring Majority Leader Harry Reid to allow the full Senate to vote on Obamacare. This is the fourth time McConnell has asked Reid for a vote since the Supreme Court decide to…
Rasmussen’s latest poll of likely voters shows that there’s at least one thing that unites the vast majority of the American citizenry: the desire to see Obamacare be repealed.
The latest CBO scoring of Obamacare, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision upholding the overhaul’s individual mandate as an allowable (although seemingly unprecedented) tax on inactivity, shows that President Obama’s centerpiece legislation would cost about $2 trillion over its real…
The latest polling by Rasmussen Reports shows that independents think Obamacare would raise (53 percent), rather than lower (16 percent), health costs. They think it would reduce (50 percent), rather than improve (13 percent), the quality of health care. They think it would raise (56 percent),…
The latest Quinnipiac poll shows that — by a 15-point margin — the Supreme Court’s Obamacare ruling makes voters less likely, rather than more likely, to cast their vote for President Obama. Twenty-seven percent of registered voters say that the ruling makes them “less likely” to vote for Obama,…
Over at National Review Online, Ramesh Ponnuru highlights a CNN story entitled, “Voters sick and tired of health care debate.” Ponnuru notes that the story offers essentially no evidence to support the claim made in its headline. It’s also worth noting that the CNN story cherry picks one question…
Regardless of whether the Obama administration and campaign insist on calling Obamacare a penalty, most Americans now believe the president's signature legislation is a tax, according to a new poll by Quinnipiac. Sixty percent of Hispanics believe Obamacare is a tax, and 59 percent of independent…
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that Republicans will be able to "effectively repeal" Obamacare with a simple-majority vote in the Senate if they control Congress and the White House in 2013. By using the budget reconciliation process, repeal of Obamacare would…
Now that Americans are becoming more acutely aware that Obamacare would be funded in large part through higher taxes, it’s all the more crucial for President Obama to keep voters from discovering the overhaul’s other principal source of funding — its Medicare raid.
The House has overwhelmingly voted to repeal Obamacare, by a vote of 244-185. Five Democrats joined 239 Republicans to vote for repeal, making it a bipartisan vote. No Republicans voted against repeal.
The Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee will later today release the following chart, detailing the rising projected cost of President Obama's signature legislation, Obamacare:
Former Democratic pollster Pat Caddell writes in a long piece at Breitbart.com that the Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold (most of) Obamacare, but only on the grounds that its lynchpin provision is a tax, “has changed the nature of the 2012 elections.” Caddell argues that Obamacare was “the…
The New York Times reports that "a veteran Republican campaign consultant," speaking on the condition of anonymity and in an apparent time warp, said, "Anytime Republicans are debating taxes and the economy, we’re winning. Anytime we’re debating health care, they’re winning." In 2008, this might…
One hundred times since President Obama signed Obamacare into law in March 2010, Rasmussen Reports has asked likely voters whether they want to repeal Obama’s centerpiece legislation or keep it. In all 100 polls, voters have favored repeal.
A newly released Rasmussen poll asked likely voters, “If Mitt Romney is elected President and Republicans win control of Congress, how likely is it that the health care law will be repealed?” Only 40 percent of independents said that it’s “very likely.” The other 60 percent of independents’…
Apparently thinking that, in our republic, the president unilaterally passes laws and the Supreme Court unilaterally decides whether or not we’ll keep them, President Obama has been telling the American people that “the law I passed [Obamacare] is here to stay.” But former Senate majority leader…
Tomorrow, the House of Representatives is expected to hold another vote to repeal Obamacare, and the American Action Network is encouraging voters to tell House Democrats in potential swing districts to support repeal. AAN is running web ads for New York and California voters with a Three…
The Hill reports:
According to a newly released Newsweek/Daily Beast poll of likely voters, the Supreme Court’s Obamacare ruling makes Americans more likely to vote for Mitt Romney and less likely to vote for President Obama. By a margin of 21 points (32 to 11 percent), voters say that they are now more, rather than…
Two days after the Supreme Court handed down its landmark ruling on President Obama’s signature legislation, the president delivered his weekly radio address and didn’t utter one word about Obamacare or the ruling.
The latest Rasmussen poll find that 52 percent of likely voters favor repealing President Obama's signature legislation, Obamacare. Rasmussen writes:
In response to the Supreme Court's decision yesterday to mostly uphold Obamacare, Americans for Prosperity announced plans to spend $9 million dollars to push back against the broad health care overhaul. The effort will include a large television ad buy, across more than a dozen states, including…
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney reacted to the Supreme Court's Obamacare decision by saying that, "if we want to get rid of Obamacare, we're going to have to replace President Obama."
Was today's Supreme Court Obamacare decision a win for conservatives or a loss? It depends on what you were rooting for.
With the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Obamacare, the issue now shifts to the elected branches of government and raises this question: Will the intense opposition dissipate or will it lead to a fervent new effort to repeal the liberal health care law?
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the constitutionality of Obamacare, the principal choice now facing Americans on November 6 will be whether to keep Obamacare or to repeal it. The question is a binary one, and the answer — expressed almost entirely through their presidential…
The Supreme Court has ruled that Obamacare’s individual mandate exceeds Congress’s power under the commerce clause, but (in a 5-4 vote) it has upheld the individual mandate as a tax. Here is President Obama on national TV, ensuring the American people that the mandate — Obamacare’s cornerstone…
Obamacare survives on June 28, 2012. It falls on November 6, 2012.
As the nation awaits the Supreme Court’s ruling on President Obama’s centerpiece legislation, it’s worth reviewing the American public’s response to it across the 27 months since Obama signed it into law. Over that span, from March 2010 through a poll released this morning, Rasmussen has conducted…
A new report from the Treasury Department says that Obamacare “represents the largest set of tax law changes in more than 20 years and affects millions of taxpayers.” As the report notes, Obamacare’s “new taxes, fees, and penalties account for approximately $438 billion.” But, really, it’s even…
In the event the Supreme Court does not put Obamacare out of our misery next week, Mitt Romney ought be ready to roll with the punches and come out at once with Plan B. Plan A was to have the Court sever it neatly with one swing of the axe, but there was always the possibility the Court would not…
As the Los Angeles Times reports, for every $1 that President Obama’s campaign has spent in support of Obamacare, his administration has spent another $65 in taxpayers’ money. The Times writes that the Obama administration has spent $46 million of taxpayers’ money in support of Obama’s centerpiece…
Mitt Romney said Barack Obama is "out of touch" with small business owners and their struggles with the president's signature health care law, Obamacare.
With the Supreme Court poised to rule on whether Obamacare was passed in defiance of the Constitution, there’s no question where the American public stands on President Obama’s centerpiece legislation. On Thursday, a New York Times/CBS News poll showed that more than two-thirds of all Americans,…
Former state solicitor general Ted Cruz is the only one of four Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in Texas to have signed the Repeal Obamacare pledge. The pledge, sponsored by Independent Women's Voice, states that the signee will vote for "all bills" that seek to repeal Obamacare.
The Washington Post reports on a new study by Bloomberg Government, which shows that the repeal of Obamacare would cost health insurance companies more than $1 trillion — yes, that’s trillion — over the remainder of this decade alone. Why? Because Obamacare would transfer colossal sums of money…
Republican House candidate Tom Cotton has signed a pledge to repeal Obamacare--but his primary opponent, Beth Anne Rankin, has not.
Nearly half of all Americans (46 percent) now “strongly” favor the repeal of Obamacare, while barely a quarter (26 percent) “strongly” oppose it — according to the latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters. Among independents, the split is even greater — 46 percent now “strongly” favor repeal, while…
The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that 26 percent of Democrats support the repeal of President Obama’s centerpiece legislation — which, of course, was a purely Democratic endeavor that passed without a single Republican vote. Moreover, the poll shows that most of these…
Last week, President Obama clumsily announced that it would be "unprecedented" for the Supreme Court to strike down "a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress." This week, his words are already having an effect in the courts—but not the effect he hoped…
Americans don’t look to be inclined to rely on the Supreme Court to determine the future of Obamacare. For the 30th consecutive time, Rasmussen’s polling of likely voters shows that Americans not only support the repeal of President Obama’s centerpiece legislation but support it by…
In light of the bruising that Solicitor General Donald Verrilli took during this week's oral arguments, no one can blame Obamacare's supporters for trying to offer (belatedly) winning answers that the government’s attorney lacked. Two of the early entrants are law professors Akhil Amar and Jeffrey…
During yesterday’s arguments on the constitutionality of Obamacare’s individual mandate, Justice Stephen Breyer took exception to the states’ argument that the mandate imposes, for the first time in American history, a congressional obligation that private citizens must purchase a product of the…
Yesterday, we endured an esoteric debate over a jurisdictional statute that practically no one expects to actually affect the Supreme Court's review of Obamacare. Today, by contrast, was the argument we've all been waiting for: the challenge to the constitutional merits of Obamacare's individual…
The Washington Post editorial board essentially writes that, because Obamacare is good policy (in the editors’ estimation), and because it would involve the economy, it must also be constitutional. Here is the Post’s argument, in its entirety:
Politico reports:
What do you do when the defining event of your presidency is the passage of a massive health care overhaul that bears your name, is wildly unpopular, and was passed into law without receiving a single vote from the opposing party? If you’re President Obama, you don’t abandon your well-worn strategy…
At the time when President Obama signed Obamacare into law — two years ago today — the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that Obamacare would cost 3 million people their employer-sponsored health insurance by the end of this decade. Seemingly in commemoration of Obamacare’s anniversary,…
In USA Today, Mitt Romney argues that we need “to abolish” Obamacare, “root and branch,” and replace it with “a free market, federalist approach to making quality, affordable health insurance available to every American.” He writes, “Each state should be allowed to pursue its own solution in this…
The following exchange should give Republicans a pretty good indication of whether President Obama would rather have the upcoming election be focused on Obamacare or the economy:
Today marks the 2-year anniversary of the Democratically controlled House’s passage of Obamacare (without a single Republican vote). For many of us, that date — March 21, 2010, immediately led our thoughts to two future dates: November 2, 2010 and, especially, November 6, 2012. Here’s what I wrote…
The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that Americans support the repeal of Obamacare by a margin of 17 percentage points — 56 to 39 percent. The margin of support for repeal is slightly higher among independents — 18 points (57 to 39 percent). Repeal is supported by a majority of both…
As is becoming increasingly clear, the legislation that was the principal cause of the Democrats’ historic defeat in 2010 isn’t getting any more popular as President Obama heads toward his day of accountability to the American citizenry. Four days before the 2-year anniversary of when Obama signed…
It’s not easy to lose 63 seats in a House election. Before 2010, the last time it had been done was when Joe DiMaggio was still patrolling center field for the New York Yankees. It’s even harder to pull off such a feat when exit polling shows that Americans were inclined to blame the prior…
During his interview yesterday with David Gregory on Meet the Press, Rick Santorum shared his thoughts on the economy, Obamacare, and how Republicans can beat President Obama.
Andrew Stiles reports:
The two leading GOP candidates' speeches last night showcased the real divide in the GOP race. Here's what each of them said, in total, about Obamacare:
Super Tuesday coincides with the 28th consecutive Rasmussen poll showing double-digit support for the repeal of Obamacare. By a margin of 11 percentage points (53 to 42 percent), the poll shows that likely voters from across the political spectrum favor repealing President Obama’s signature…
As BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski reports, USA Today published a health care op-ed by Mitt Romney on July 30, 2009 — just days before the start of the August recess that quickly became the August uprising against Obamacare. In his op-ed, Romney seems to encourage President Obama to move in a slower…
A newly released USA Today/Gallup poll shows that, by a margin of 13 percentage points (53 to 40 percent), swing-state voters want Obamacare to be repealed. The poll included registered voters in 12 key states: Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, New…
A new Quinnipiac poll released today shows that, by a wide (and widening) margin, Americans want Obamacare to be repealed. By a margin of 13 percentage points (52 to 39 percent), Americans support the repeal of President Obama’s centerpiece legislation. That represents a swing of 8 points,…
The Obama administration’s recent decree — that, under Obamacare, Americans would no longer be free to offer or to choose new health plans that don’t include complimentary coverage of birth control, morning-after pills and the abortion drug ella — would likely lead a great many people to switch to…
Whatever the press corps may think the upcoming election will be about, one thing remains clear: Americans overwhelmingly support the repeal of President Obama’s centerpiece legislation. According to the latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters, Americans support the repeal of Obamacare by a margin…
Saturday's lead editorial in the Wall Street Journal discusses the White House's “accommodation” concerning its decree that all new private insurance plans must cover birth control pills, morning-after pills, and the abortion drug ella—and must cover them free of charge. The Journal writes, “Under…
Highlighting how crucial it is that the eventual Republican presidential nominee be able and willing to put Obamacare front and center in the general election campaign, the latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that independents overwhelmingly support the repeal of President Obama’s…
In wake of his 12-point defeat in the South Carolina primary (which no previous Republican nominee has lost), Mitt Romney’s principal challenge is to convince Republican primary voters that he shares their core convictions and concerns. Above all, he needs to convince them that he shares their…
Crossroads GPS, the policy arm of the American Crossroads PAC, says a key factor in successfully repealing Obamacare in 2013 will be emphasizing the importance of repeal during the 2012 election campaign. National Journal quotes Crossroads GPS president Steven Law:
The latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll shows that, since the survey taken in the first month after Obamacare’s passage, the gap between those who like Obamacare and those who dislike it has swung 8 percentage points against the health care overhaul. Kaiser is an outlier poll, consistently showing…
On the eve of the New Hampshire Republican primary, Rasmussen’s nationwide polling of likely voters shows that Americans want Congress and the President to repeal Obamacare. By a margin of 15 percentage points (54 to 39 percent), Americans want repeal. By a margin of 17 points (51 to 34 percent),…
It was a tough distinction to earn (given the competition), but tonight ABC News managed to stage perhaps the most pointless debate of the Republican presidential race. George Stephanopoulos and Diane Sawyer seemed to be under the impression that Mitt Romney is in 5th place in the GOP race (they…
The New Hampshire Union Leader reports:
Michele Bachmann’s speech announcing her departure from the presidential field emphasized the singular importance of repealing Obamacare. Referring to Howard Chandler Christy’s painting of the signing of the Constitution, which hangs in the United States Capitol, she said:
Two thousand and twelve is now upon us, and one thing is clear: It will be a nation-defining year. The election that will take place just over ten months from now will serve either as a welcome reaffirmation, or as a significant repudiation, of America’s founding principles of limited government…
Over at the Washington Examiner, Philip Klein reacts to a Romney video Ben Domenech highlighted this weekend. In the clip, Mitt Romney, who is responding to a young Mike Warren’s question at Vanderbilt, talks about the similarities and differences between Romneycare and Obamacare and says, among…
The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that, by the whopping margin of 20 percentage points — 55 to 35 percent — Americans support the repeal of Obamacare. This marks the continuation of a striking trend: Since Memorial Day (just over six months ago), Rasmussen has taken 21 polls on…
Spike Dolomite Ward’s op-ed in the Los Angeles Times has been getting a fair amount of attention. Ward, a private citizen and an on-again, off-again supporter of President Obama and his party, is now thankful for Obama because Obamacare helped her get health coverage for cancer when she didn’t…
The November Kaiser Health Tracking poll shows that Americans have an “unfavorable” (44 percent), rather than a “favorable” (37 percent), view of Obamacare — including 29 percent “very unfavorable” to 17 percent “very favorable.” What’s most remarkable about Kaiser’s survey, however, is that it…
The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that Americans as a whole, and independents in particular, want Obamacare to be repealed. By a margin of 13 percentage points (53 to 40 percent), respondents support Obamacare’s repeal. Among independents, the margin is even higher — 19 points (57…
Remember those ads with a Paul Ryan-lookalike rolling granny’s wheelchair off a cliff? Well, just a few short months later, the New York Times writes:
A new Gallup poll shows that Americans want repeal and that about two-thirds of those who want repeal think it’s “very important.”
By a colossal margin, middle class Americans want Obamacare to be repealed. The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that, among those who make between $40,000 and $60,000 a year, a whopping 68 percent support the repeal of Obamacare, while only 27 percent oppose it — a margin of 41…
Throughout the Obamacare debate, President Obama repeatedly promised, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” Now, Gallup reports that from the first quarter of 2010 (when Obama signed Obamacare into law) to the third quarter of this year, 2 percent of American…
In his Fox News “Center Seat” interview last night, Newt Gingrich highlighted (from 18:30 to 21:00) that “the first item” on his legislative agenda is “repealing Obamacare,” adding, “I think that’ll be the campaign theme in September and October of next year.”
A ballot measure that StateImpact Ohio (a creation of local public media and NPR) describes as “a referendum on a constitutional amendment…aimed at keeping the national health care reform law from taking [e]ffect” won in all 88 counties in Ohio. In 81 of the counties, it won by a margin of at least…
Here’s what the four leading Republican presidential candidates (based on the Real Clear Politics average of recent polling) have to say on their websites, in total, about why it’s so important that we repeal Obamacare — and about how highly they prioritize that goal. In both of these veins, one…
In Paul Ryan’s hometown newspaper, the Janesville Gazette, Grace-Marie Turner and Tevi Troy debate whether Mitt Romney is the right person for the job of repealing Obamacare and replacing it with real reform — reform that would lower health costs without amassing power and money in Washington at…
The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that, by a margin of 15 percentage points, Americans support the repeal of President Obama’s signature legislation. Among all respondents, 54 percent support the repeal of Obamacare, compared to 39 percent who oppose it. Independents support repeal…
The October Kaiser Health Tracking poll shows that, by a margin of 17 percentage points, Americans have an “unfavorable” (51 percent), rather than “favorable” (34 percent) opinion of Obamacare. This margin of opposition is all the more remarkable because the poll by Kaiser, a strong supporter of…
The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that, by a margin of 16 percentage points (54 to 38 percent), Americans support the repeal of Obamacare. Among independents, the margin is 30 points — 61 to 31 percent.
On Friday, the Obama administration announced that it was abandoning the CLASS (Community Living Assistance Services and Supports) Act, because it was impossible to certify (as was required by law) that this aspect of Obamacare is financially sound. Now, in a surprise turn, the Hill reports,…
With the Obama administration’s abandonment of its CLASS (Community Living Assistance Services and Supports) Act yesterday, the cost of Obamacare for its real first six years alone (2014 to 2019) just went up $53.6 billion, according to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates. The AP reports,…
During tonight’s GOP presidential debate, Mitt Romney vowed — for the first time — to advance legislation to repeal Obamacare “on day-2,” pledging to use the reconciliation process (the same process by which Obamacare was ultimately passed) to do so. This is a welcome step forward for Romney, who…
At Forbes, Avik Roy writes about a recent exchange he had with a Mitt Romney adviser. Roy characterizes the exchange as follows, “I asked: Why isn’t a repeal bill one of the five bills for Day One of a Romney presidency? The advisor responded that Romney is advocating the [50-state] waiver approach…
In his speech yesterday at the Hoover Institution on health care reform, Paul Ryan said the real problem in health care is “runaway inflation” and that the Republican party needs “to coalesce around a complete reform agenda” focused on bringing down costs. This is exactly the opposite of the…
During a major speech today at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Paul Ryan laid out his vision of health care reform, saying, “Choice and competition are critical to controlling costs…[and] improving quality….And yet, across the federal landscape, choice and competition are undermined…
When Mitt Romney answered a question about Romneycare during last night’s GOP debate, it unfortunately sounded like he was defending Obamacare.
The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that, by a margin of 20 percentage points (56 to 36 percent), Americans support the repeal of Obamacare. This marks the first time since the spring of 2010, shortly after Obamacare’s passage, that 3-straight Rasmussen polls have shown at least…
On September 17, 1787, George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and 36 other Constitutional Convention delegates completed four months of labors at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall and signed the glorious document that, upon its ratification, would become the Constitution of the United…
Fifteen minutes into last night’s Republican presidential debate, Michele Bachmann became the first candidate to mention and attack Obamacare. She did so after five other debaters had already spoken, and in response to a question that didn’t explicitly reference the overhaul — thereby immediately…
Americans are more confident than ever that Obamacare will be repealed, according to the latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters. By a margin of 25 percentage points (54 to 29 percent), Americans now think repeal is “likely” (whether “very” or “somewhat”).
In the Washington Examiner, Jim Capretta and James Wootton write that House Republicans should freeze, investigate, and replace Obamacare. All three steps should be taken prior to the 2012 election and would help advance the already extraordinarily popular cause of repeal.
According to the latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters, Americans support the repeal of Obamacare by a margin of 20 percentage points (57 to 37 percent), with 46 percent “strongly” supporting repeal. To put that into perspective, more than twice as many Americans “strongly” support repeal (46…
Americans overwhelmingly continue to support the repeal of Obamacare, and among those who feel “strongly” (either way), support for repeal is greater still — according to the latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters. Americans support repeal by a margin of 14 percentage points (54 to 40 percent), the…
The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows continued overwhelming support for the repeal of Obamacare. By a margin of 16 percentage points (55 to 39 percent), Americans support the repeal of President Obama’s signature legislation. This marks the 67th consecutive week that more Americans have…
A new report from federal officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) says that Obamacare will increase nationwide health care spending. Particularly interesting are the report’s findings for 2014, the year that’s slated for Obamacare’s grand opening (if the overhaul isn’t…
While President Obama’s notion of a “balanced approach” to deficit reduction isn’t written down anywhere, it’s quite clear that it doesn’t involve repealing Obamacare (despite the fact that the health care overhaul would cost over $2 trillion in its real first decade, from 2014 to 2023). Polling,…
As of today, President Obama’s approval rating is only 42 percent in Gallup, while Rasmussen’s Presidential Approval Index shows that only 23 percent of likely voters “strongly approve” of Obama’s performance as president, compared to 44 percent who “strongly disapprove” — matching the highest…
By a margin of 32 points (63 to 31 percent), independents favor the repeal of Obamacare, according to the latest Rasmussen survey of likely voters. Independents who feel “strongly” (one way or the other) support the repeal of Obamacare by a margin of 31 points (52 to 21 percent). Likely voters as a…
The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that, by a margin of 13 percentage points (53 to 40 percent), Americans support the repeal of Obamacare. In the 28 weekly polls that Rasmussen has taken in 2011, the average margin of support for repeal has been 15 points (54 to 39 percent). Only…
By a margin of 23 percentage points (53 to 30 percent), Americans now think it’s likely, rather than unlikely, that ObamaCare will be repealed — according to a recent Rasmussen poll of likely voters. That’s the high-water mark to date for Americans’ expectation for repeal. By a margin of 14…
The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that, by a margin of 17 points (55 to 38 percent), Americans want Obamacare to be repealed. It’s not hard to tell why: By a margin of 32 points (49 to 17 percent), Americans think Obamacare would reduce, rather than improve, the quality of health…
The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that, by a margin of 19 percentage points (54 to 35 percent), Americans support the repeal of Obamacare. Among independents, the margin is 27 points (60 to 33).
A recently released CNN poll shows that Americans oppose Obamacare by a margin of 17 percentage points (56 to 39 percent). Independents like Obamacare even less, opposing it by a margin of 25 points (60 to 35 percent). CNN also shows that, by a 10-point margin — 52 to 42 percent — independents do…
Politico reports that there is growing support across the political spectrum for repealing Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Politico writes,
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