McConnell Hints That GOP Will Campaign On Repealing Health Care Reform

[TomCADem]

Source: Alternet

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hinted on Sunday that Republicans would campaign for office in the months ahead on a pledge to undo health care legislation, should it become law. But the Kentucky Republican refused to commit to pursuing a repeal, saying merely that the health care reform of 2009 would be a major issue come 2010.

"Certainly politically, it is a big problem for . They all kind of joined hands and went off a cliff together," McConnell told ABC's "This Week," when asked whether the GOP would push for a health care reform repeal. "There is great unrest in the Democratic Party. And the reason for that it is, the surveys indicate the American people are overwhelming opposed to this effort to have the government take over their health care. It will be a huge issue next year. And that's why you hear the Democrats saying, 'Let's not tackle any big issues'."

Pressed by host Jake Tapper to say more definitively whether a repeal of health care was going to be a tenet of the Republican agenda, McConnell said he thought he had answered the question. He then proceeded to provide another vague response.

"There's no question that this bill, if it were to become law and frankly even if it doesn't become law, it will be a big, if not central, issue not only in the 2010 election but in the 2012 election," he said.


Read more: http://www.alternet.org/rss/breaking_news/101308/_mcconnell_hints_that_gop_will_campaign_on_repealing_health_care_reform/

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There you have it. The "American people are overwhelmingly opposed to this effort to have the government take over their health care," according to Mitch McConnell. Instead, we should bow down and trust the divine whims of the free market.

[Unvanguard]

1. They won't campaign on anything they obviously can't do. They want to stop it, not to repeal it.

If they succeed at obstructing it, they will campaign on that; if they don't, they'll be in some trouble...

[Cha]

2. Poor fucking clueless idiots..they don't have anything but

buckets of bullshit.

[msongs]

3. guess we'd better be MORE bipartisan, since that's working so well lol nt

[Demeter]

4. This Is the Ultimate Bait and Switch

This bill is everything they asked for, and nothing the people asked for, and they are going to let it pass and then run on the premise that they will undo it?

I've got a lovely bridge in Brookly for sale--historic property and the location can't be beat!

[aquart]

16. Yeah, but who are you planning to sell it to?

[CBHagman]

5. Cynical on so many levels...

Of course it will take a while for any legislation to have an effect, so basically the Chinless Wonder wants to scare people into keeping the status quo when the status quo is insupportable. I can't say more than that, not at the moment. It all stimulates the gag reflex.

[Hawkeye-X]

6. If they are going to campaign that, then the Dems should campaign for SINGLE PAYER

and see who wins.

Hawkeye-X

[Schema Thing]

7. And this is why greedy Dems are idiots

for not putting tons of good stuff FOR THE PEOPLE in the bill to start on day one.

[tinrobot]

8. Campaigning on killing people

Repealing healthcare reform will cause a lot of people to die.

We need to call them on it and hang it around their murderous necks.

[tishaLA]

9. Tapper kept calling it "Obamacare" on the show

So I guess we know where he sits. He can press McConnell as much as he wants, but he uses RW memes all. the. time.

[No Elephants]

28. Democrats coined "Romneycare." And Obama has praised the Senate bill.

Would you prefer Democratcare?

[PSPS]

10. That will only play well to the 17 percenters (the GOP 'base')

[Proletariatprincess]

11. If the american people are overwhelmingly against this bill...

and I don't concede that they are....it is because it doesn't go far enough to protect us from the voracious insurance industry and that it has no public option and it isn't close to single payer universal coverage.
But McConnel didn't say that, did he...funny how he left that out....:sarcasm:

[Historic NY]

12. That should attract a wide kill the bill audience.

[depakid]

13. Probably wise- since the approach is bound to fail- and many of the benefits don't kick in

until 2014.

Unpopular mandates for increasingly expensive, high deductible, high copay insurance that can still arbitrarily deny people care and claims, with no effective recourse for insureds.

The Democrats really managed to screw the pooch with this one.

[global1]

15. That's Why The Reconciliation Between The Senate & House Bills Need To.....

make sure that many good features of this bill start immediately.

[PittPoliSci]

14. good. seal your fate.

[Zoeisright]

17. No, the American people are NOT "overwhelmingly opposed to this effort"

you chinless idiot, McConnell. Poll after poll shows the exact OPPOSITE.

[No Elephants]

25. Not true. Please see Reply #24 and the three recent polls linked in that Reply.

Originally, I believe nearly 70% backed reform of some kind, but that changed during the cluster flock of this past year. Now, a majority oppose the bill as passed by the Senate, even after a small surge in popularity when it started to seem as though the Senate would finally pass something.

[clear eye]

18. And they made sure they could by sending one of theirs

to demand changes that make it repugnant to swing voters.

Too bad the WH fell for it.

[Posteritatis]

19. Well, yeah. I think we all knew they'd campaign on repealing it the next several elections

Not to mention doing so the moment they get a hold of Congress.

[No Elephants]

27. Doubt a repeal. No one repealed Social Security, Medicare, Medicare, food stamps, etc.

Too risky politically.

[Posteritatis]

30. Was the US nearly so polarized at the time that those were enacted?

The Democrats and Republicans have never been friends, but it's at the part where everything the Democrats do is seen by the Republicans as an existential threat to the United States. They might consider it too risky politically not to try to undo everything that happened under the Evil Muslim Foreigner Guy, given how they seem to be relying more and more on the fringe parts of their half of the voter base.

[Doctor_J]

20. I have seen no ads by DNC blaming Repukes for leaving 16 million without health care

our "leadership" and "reps" are as weak as the rank-and-file

[anigbrowl]

21. This is good news. I would love for them to dig themselves into an electroal hole.

I agree that this will only please the wingnut faction.

[karynnj]

22. This is asinine - as they will never have even the remote possibility of repealing it

- and they really will simply show their weakness in doing so. They would need to have more people in each house than it would take to override an Obama veto.

[JCMach1]

23. Yeah, dude... good luck with that one... NO ONE wants health care

... hello

[No Elephants]

24. Reality check. First, PLEASE stop falling for deceptive headlines.

the body of the article does NOT support the headline. I saw that show Sunday morning and the host tried to stir pots, as do most or all of the hosts of talking head shows, but McConnell did not take the bait, as the body of the article in the OP clearly reflects.

Not trying to defend McConnell, but, geez, we are doomed if we are that easily taken in by headline writers, even it the story itself says otherwise. I mean, God forbid we actually had to go beyond the OP to disprove the headline. We'd never know the truth if we actually had to, oh, I don't know, google to fact check?


Second, current polls indicate that Americans are NOT so much in favor of the Senate bill (even if they favor health care/insurance reform), to wit:

"The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on Sunday, finds that just 22% now consider passage of the plan unlikely.

However, while expectations for passage have risen dramatically, support for the plan has not. Just 40% of voters nationwide now favor it while 55% are opposed. Those figures are essentially unchanged from a week ago. This is the sixth straight week with support for the legislation between 38% and 41% (see question wording and trends).

As has been the case throughout the debate, those who feel strongly about the issue are more likely to be opposed. Just 21% of voters Strongly Favor the plan while 43% are Strongly Opposed."

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/health_care_reform

See also http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/12/21/cnn-poll-6-point-jump-in-support-for-health-care-bill/

and http://www.gallup.com/poll/124715/majority-americans-not-backing-healthcare-bill.aspx

Of course, Republicans and most of their media shills fail to point out is that a portion of those opposed wanted reform to go further than the Senate bill. They all like to pretend that all the opposition came from folks who wanted no reform or less liberal reform.

BTW, I do believe that popularity of whatever ultimately passes will rise. I think at least some of the negativity was a reaction to how long this dragged out and to the parisan back and forth the time lapse allowed. Once something passes, Americans will be more favorable. For better or worse, we tend to be that way.

[Hekate]

26. Then the new bill better have a bunch of things that take place immediately and affect LOTS of folks

As far as I can tell, both the House and Senate versions do. Gov. Dean is correct: when people see that it is already having a positive effect on their lives they will not vote to give it up, any more than they would Medicare or Social Security.

Hekate

[yellowcanine]

29. Bring it on. I would love to see this happen.