The GOP is living their own version of the movie Groundhog Day by continually trying to repeal Obamacare and defunding Planned Parenthood. Just yesterday, the House GOP tried (and failed, yet again) to cut off funding to both programs. MSNBC tallies this as approximately attempt 62 to defund ACA. This is also their 62nd failure. The Republicans have led investigations into funding of Planned Parenthood in 12 states and in all 12 states, Planned Parenthood has been cleared of wrong doing.
Tuesday's vote was an attempt to override President Obama’s veto of legislation and would have repealed much of ObamaCare and defunded Planned Parenthood. Without Democratic support, it was not expected to pass, and the veto failed by a vote of 241 to 186, The Hill reports.
Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen (MD), who led Democrats in the floor debate, said:
“It certainly does indicate the stakes in the 2016 elections. [Republicans] said, ‘We’re going to repeal this and we’re going to replace it. How many times have we voted to replace it? Zero. Zero times to replace it.”
And this is a critical issue. If Republicans were to take over the White House in 2017 (shudder) with Cruz, Rubio or Trump in command, what would they actually replace ACA with? Has any candidate actually proposed a viable replacement yet?
The Hill notes that some Republican lawmakers have put forward replacement plans, no plans have been put to a floor vote since Republicans took over the House in 2011. Speaker Ryan has stated that the House Republicans will put forward a replacement some time this year, but has not provided any additional details.
On Tuesday, Speaker Ryan said this vague statement:
“This year, we will show the country how we would replace ObamaCare with a true patient-centered system,”
Uh huh. Sure. Show us proof, not just words.
The bill also would have cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood for one year, a dream for the Republicans, even though 97% of services offered at Planned Parenthood are not abortion related and the Federal funds cannot be used for abortion costs at all. But the Republicans don't like to publicize those facts.
If they successfully defunded Planned Parenthood, they offered to divert $235 million in funding to "community health centers" which they say would have provided similar services. Except abortion, right? So not similar. Different.
So let's get this straight - the Republicans have tried at least 62 times to repeal ACA and have failed every single time. They have wasted hundreds of hours trying to wrench healthcare coverage from millions of Americans and nothing has changed. 17 million American's have gained coverage since the inception of ACA in September 2013, but the GOP continues to argue that it is "hurting Americans," a statement that is patently false.
They also have tried to defund Planned Parenthood 12 times and failed every single time. Their argument hinges on the misleading "sting" videos put out by a fake company called the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) that purported to show Planned Parenthood employees illegally selling fetal tissue. These videos were used as evidence to embolden the anti choice movement which led to Planned Parenthood being investigated in 12 states. They were also cleared of charges in all 12 states.
In a shocking turn two weeks ago, the anti-abortion activists that created the doctored Planned Parenthood videos, David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, were indicted on felony charges in Texas, while Planned Parenthood was cleared of all charges.
As Albert Einstein so eloquently said:
"Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result"
Perfectly summarizes the entire GOP. Insane.
