Now that everybody is finally going to be on a level playing
field with Obamacare, maybe congress will act quicker when they need to adjust and fix things, for their own
selfish reasons.
WTF Moment: The political elite in congress may have insulted the public for the very last time:
Politico: Congressional leaders in both parties are engaged in high-level, confidential talks about exempting lawmakers and Capitol Hill aides from the insurance exchanges they are mandated to join as part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, sources in both parties said.
The talks are extraordinarily sensitive, with both sides acutely aware of the potential for political fallout from giving carve-outs from the hugely controversial law to 535 lawmakers and thousands of their aides. Discussions have stretched out for months, sources said. A source close to the talks says: “Everyone has to hold hands on this and jump, or nothing is going to get done.”
Potential fallout…you bet. I’m stunned. Like the story says…
Yet if Capitol Hill leaders move forward with the plan, they risk being dubbed hypocrites by their political rivals and the American public. By removing themselves from a key Obamacare component, lawmakers and aides would be held to a different standard than the people who put them in office. There is concern in some quarters that the provision requiring lawmakers and staffers to join the exchanges, if it isn't revised, could lead to a “brain drain” on Capitol Hill, as several sources close to the talks put it.“Brain drain” on Capitol Hill? That’s already happened on the Republican side of the aisle. But get this, those poor aides might have to get a second or third job like the rest of us:
Low-paid junior aides — could be hit with thousands of dollars in new health care costs, prompting them to seek jobs elsewhere. Older, more senior staffers could also retire or jump to the private sector rather than face a big financial penalty. One proposal exempts lawmakers and aides; the other exempts aides alone.
I’m crying alligator tears. As Rep. Henry Waxman put it:
“I think the law is pretty clear,” Waxman told POLITICO. “Members and their staffs should get their health insurance through the exchange; the federal government will offer them health insurance coverage that they obtained through the exchanges because we want to get the same health care coverage everybody else has available to them.”Always remember;
During the 2009-10 battle over what’s now dubbed Obamacare, Republicans insisted that Capitol Hill hands must have the same health care as the rest of the American people. The measure was introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley.
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