[Liabmeasez]

So in a nutshell, here's the GOP position on policy for Health Care Reform:
-- Increase the deficit by $143 billion (CBO estimates HCR will save this much if fully implemented)
-- Reduce Medicare payments to doctors providing primary care services to senior citizens (HCR increases Medicare payments to doctors for this care)
-- Allow insurance companies to revoke coverage of children with pre-existing conditions
-- Disallow parents from keeping adult children on their policies through the age of 26
-- Re-open the donut hole in Medicare prescription coverage, which HCR gradually closes
-- Revoke the ability for seniors to discuss medical directives with their doctors without being charged (HCR picks up the tab for this)
-- Discontinue Medicare coverage of annual physicals for seniors
-- Insurers will not be legally prevented (at a national level) from shutting down someone's insurance coverage once they realize that person has a serious illness that with cost lots of money to treat.
-- Small businesses will not receive a 35% tax credit toward their insurance costs for offering insurance to their employees.

That's quite a compelling list of goals.

Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...010305520.html

House Republicans have set Jan. 12 as their day to vote on a repeal of President Obama's health-care law, after a midterm election in which they campaigned against the landmark legislation as a government takeover of the health industry.

The announcement Monday sets up the attempted repeal of the law as the first significant action by House Republicans in the 112th Congress. With 242 members on their side, Republicans expect to pass the legislation easily, but they privately acknowledge that the measure faces a high hurdle in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

[replicajoy]

In the story I saw in CNN, the GOP said Obama failed on his promise that the healthcare bill would save the country money. Considering some of the bill only just went into affect, it just shows this isn't about the legislation, it's only about partisanship. How about they at least give the bill a shot longer than three days before denouncing it?

[RastusuadegeFrimoum]

What we have here is grand political theatre. The GOP is very fearful of the Tea Party extremists who are splitting the party with purity tests, and opposing health care reform is one of those purity tests. It has nothing to do with actual governing, it's simply the latest edition of "if Obama's for it, I'm against it" obstructionism.

This vote will get a partisan rubber stamp from the Republicans in the House, but will get shut down in the Senate and won't stand a chance of getting sign by the president.

Their longer-term strategy will be to insert anti health care poison pills into every bill they can attach amendments to, holding virtually every piece of legislation hostage in a game of chicken with the Senate and the White House. Let's see how long it takes for that to get old.