Two Ways The GOP Can Push Obama And Score Political Points

Here are two ways the Republicans can push Obama on issues that voters favor the GOP on.

Yesterday the House passed a bill repealing Obamacare. Pressure will be on Sen. Harry Reid to allow a vote in the Senate on the repeal. I highly doubt it will happen. Even if Reid allows the bill to move forward, the Democrats will filibuster any attempt at a vote. Even if it passes the Senate, there isn’t any chance that Obama will sign it into law.

This of course doesn’t mean the repeal of Obamacare is dead. What the House Republicans ought to do next is pass a repeal of the individual healthcare purchase mandate. This is one of the most unpopular provisions of the bill but it’s also the glue that holds Obamacare together. Without the individual mandate, Obamacare sort of withers away. So what the House GOP needs to do is pass a repeal of this part of the bill and send it onto the Senate. In the Senate, there are any number of moderate Democrats who will consider voting in favor of the repeal in order to get re-elected next year. Don’t forget, 23 Democrat seats are up for re-election in the Senate next year. Senators like Ben Nelson might be willing to vote for a repeal of the individual mandate, knowing full well that Obama will veto it. The veto is key as it will cause Obamacare to continue being an issue into the 2012 campaign. Obamacare won’t be a distant memory, it will be a fresh memory with a fresh veto from the President.

Like Obamacare, the Republicans can keep the deficit issue going through this year and into next year if they play their cards right. The debt ceiling issue is going to go viral in the next six weeks. There’s been talk that the GOP will agree to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts. The Republicans need to hold their ground on this and force the issue.

The GOP cannot raise the debt ceiling to high. They should only agree to raise it $500-750 billion in exchange for $100-200 billion in spending cuts. This sets up another showdown over the debt ceiling in the fall. At this time the Republicans can demand more spending cuts and defund Obamacare in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

If the Republicans do these two things, they can score political points. They’ll keep Obamacare in the nation’s thoughts as the 2012 election ramps up. They’ll also force Federal spending cuts, which voters favor the GOP in doing. The spending cuts will annoy if not outrage Obama’s base, making him all the weaker heading into 2012. Meanwhile the GOP can continue running against Obamacare and they can wave around some modest spending cuts they forced the President to go along with.