Once again, the House of Representatives passed a measure to repeal the Obama administration’s healthcare reform bill. And once again, it appears to have no chance of being any more than an official announcement of the Republican party’s hatred of the legislation.
Just two weeks after the Supreme Court declared the law constitutional, House members passed the repeal measure by a vote of 244 to 185 — and five Democrats voted with the GOP.
It was the 33rd anti-reform measure passed in the house since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed two years ago.
It’s generally acknowledged that, like all earlier similar House bills, it’s got no shot to make it through the Senate. And even if it did, it would be vetoed by President Obama.
In a New York Times story, both sides took time to stake their political claims before the latest vote.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the House Democratic leader, described the law as one of the Democrats’ greatest achievements, making health care “a right, not a privilege, for all Americans.’’
Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) claimed the health reform legislation would never have gotten passed if the individual mandate was originally described as a tax — which is how the Supreme Court characterized it.
The Obama administration had claimed it was a “penalty.”
