Hoyer Press Staff Blog
Blog posts from the press staff of Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer
Instead of focusing on jobs, Republicans have wasted today on yet another repeal of the Affordable Care Act and are offering no replacement, despite their promises to do so. A look at today’s headlines shows we aren’t the only ones who noticed:
We wanted to make sure you saw this scathing Washington Post op-ed by Eugene Robinson that blasts Republicans for their blatant attempts to undermine Americans’ rights with restrictive voter ID laws. Under the false pretense of eliminating voter fraud, Republicans have been pursuing voter ID laws which would be especially harmful to voters that are from low-income and urban communities.
After a week focused on political theater rather than jobs, Democrats are more than ready to work on the issues most important to the American people – getting more people back to work and restoring our economy. House Republicans? That’s another story, as they have already scheduled a political show vote on repealing the health reform law—instead of focusing on jobs and the economy.
Editorial boards from across the country are weighing in on yesterday’s Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act and there’s clearly a consensus: this law is already helping millions of Americans, and yesterday’s ruling ensures that will continue and expand. Here’s an overview:
The Supreme Court’s decision this morning reassured millions of American families that affording quality health care would no longer be an obstacle to receiving it. However, Republicans said today they are still committed to returning America to the days when insurance companies could deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, charge women higher premiums than men for the same plan, and deny young people the ability to remain on their parents’ plans until age 26. Embracing that commitment, Republican Leader Cantor has scheduled a messaging vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act the week of July 9, that everyone knows won’t accomplish anything:
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele was on MSNBC this afternoon to talk about the Republican response strategy after the Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Care Act constitutional. Specifically, he discussed how Republicans still don’t have one, clinging instead to their “all repeal, no replace” health care strategy which has nothing to do with jobs.
As we head into tomorrow, we here in the Democratic Whip Press Shop wanted to make sure you saw this article from The Hill noting the trepidation from Senate Republicans over the contempt vote. We have been saying for days that the contempt vote on the Floor tomorrow is a baseless, politically-motivated fishing expedition that is nothing more than a distraction from critical issues like highways, student loans and middle class tax relief.
Since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, Republicans have been working to repeal this landmark legislation and undo newfound patient protections and consumer freedoms. But while they insist on revoking this law, which has provided new benefits for patients, employers and care providers, Republican leaders have refused to offer an alternative solution. And according to Politico, Republicans have no plans to replace this law, regardless of the Supreme Court’s ruling tomorrow:
This chart from a Dartmouth survey explains the Republican plan to achieve deficit reduction – more specifically, it points out why they don’t have one. As Slate points out, there’s “no Republican support at a grass-roots level for any measure that would lead to substantial deficit reduction.”
Funny how the closer we get to an election, the more vocal Republicans get in speaking out against their own Party’s budget plan introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan. The GOP’s draconian budget plan would end Medicare as we know it and slash the social safety net in order to provide tax breaks for the wealthiest among us. No wonder several prominent GOP members are already throwing the plan “under the bus.”
Yesterday’s meeting with Grover Norquist to keep Republicans in the fold came as more and more Republicans are starting to admit that we can’t face our fiscal challenges without putting revenues on the table. Our favorite recap, courtesy of TPM:
Today’s must read comes from the Wall Street Journal – Jeffrey Liebman’s op-ed gets right to the point that Mitt Romney doesn’t have a jobs plan, and Congressional Republicans are blocking President Obama’s proposals that would create jobs and get Americans back to work:
Who would receive the greatest benefit under Republicans’ tax plan? Not low and middle-income Americans, according to a new analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice. According to their report, under the Republicans’ tax plan the poorest 20 percent of Americans would receive an average tax cut of $120 while the richest one percent would receive an average cut of $70,790. That’s not only a larger tax cut for the wealthy than for the middle class, but also a larger share of the total tax cut, all while adding $1 trillion more to the deficit.
While Republicans are holding middle class tax cuts hostage so they can give tax cuts to the wealthy, they might want to check out today’s National Journal poll. According to the poll results, a majority of Americans oppose extending tax breaks for the wealthy:
We’ve got two weeks to go before the highway bill expires and student loan interest rate doubles. So obviously Republicans are taking action on these critical items – oh, wait. No, they’re not. Instead they’re focusing on… deadly force to protect salmon? We’re sure Americans across the country who are looking for work are relieved to know Republicans are on top of it.
Wanted to pass along some highlights from this morning’s WSJ article with Republican governors touting economic gains and the growth of manufacturing in their states, complicating Mitt Romney’s doom-and-gloom narrative:
Looks like Republicans have given up trying to hide their true priorities. While Americans and businesses are facing economic uncertainty, Republicans are now admitting that they’re slowing down the legislative process on purpose in the hopes of postponing debate on critical items until after the election, when they hope things will be more in their favor.
Yesterday, we highlighted some harsh truths former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida said at a breakfast with reporters, during which he pointed out that confrontation has become the new norm for Congressional Republicans. But as Dana Milbank points out in his Washington Post column, Jeb Bush’s statement has caused several other prominent Republicans to admit their discontent with their party’s style of governing.
There has been a lot of finger-pointing recently about who is responsible for our country’s economic health. While Republicans are busy blaming President Obama, this New York Times op-ed by Bruce Bartlett—himself an advisor to two Republican presidents—explains that the previous White House occupant, Mr. Bush, is actually more responsible for our country’s budget deficit.
By now, you have probably heard it plenty of times from us: Republicans continue to insist on confrontation over consensus, no matter the cost to our economy. We need a big, bold and balanced deficit reduction plan, but it takes two to tango. And the GOP is so allergic to compromise, House Republicans skipped town for another recess, with critical measures to keep our highways funded and student loan rates from doubling still unresolved.
We here in the Democratic Whip Press shop thought we’d pass along a few questions you may want to ask Speaker Boehner and Leader Cantor at today’s press conference:
Just as we’ve been saying since the GOP released their Summer Agenda, today’s New York Times Editorial takes House Republicans to task for their misplaced priorities, taking up political bills instead of focusing on restoring our economy and creating jobs.
Today, Speaker Boehner suggested the possibility of a six month extension of the highway bill, after his own House Republicans have failed to coalesce around a bill, despite months of deliberations.
From Washington D.C. to Washington State, the public outcry over the GOP’s stall tactics on the highway bill continues to grow. Despite the fact that 28,000 construction jobs were lost last month, House Republicans continue to threaten to walk away from negotiations unless they get absolutely everything they want.
So far, House Republicans’ summer agenda is not drawing rave reviews.
