Are House Republicans Serious About Repealing Obamacare?

The House Republicans have scheduled a vote on January 12th to repeal Obamacare. I would think most if not all Republicans would vote in favor of the repeal along with a handful of Democrats. Such a repeal will not pass in the Senate and even if it did you can bet that Obama would veto the bill. The Republicans will at least be fulfilling one of their major campaign promises by voting on an Obamacare repeal. Nevertheless the repeal vote is largely symbolic.

With that said, the real battle isn’t going to be over repealing Obamacare. (at least not in 2011) The real battle is going to be over funding Obamacare. This is where the Republicans can do serious damage to the President’s healthcare baby. Spending begins in Congress and with the Republicans in control of the House they can prevent Obamacare from being funded. The GOP is already making waves about not funding Obama’s Wall Street regulation bill that was passed by the Democrats last year. If they aren’t going to fund that bill, why fund Obamacare? Especially so when Republican voters and businesses are enraged over Obamacare.

Obamacare is going to cost this country trillions. Not just in government spending but in cost to businesses. The clerical work required by Obamacare for businesses is enormous. Health insurers have increased prices in 2011 by 20-35%, which is more than the typical 10-12% price increase. That cost, much of which is created by Obamacare’s mandates, is paid for by business and ultimately by consumers. If the Republicans are serious in their opposition to Obamacare they’ll go beyond the meaningless symbolism of a repeal vote. If the GOP is serious they’ll not fund Obamacare.

House Republicans move to repeal Obama healthcare