The Democrats have touted the health care reform as a panacea. It will cure all our ills. But if it is so wonderful and Barry Obama thinks it is the right thing to do, why is he exempt from it? Why is the leadership of the Congress exempt? Why are staffers of leadership exempt?
Rank-and-file House and Senate staffers will be forced out of the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP) and into the restricted federal health insurance exchanges, but not the leadership or committee congressional staff or the federal civil service bureaucrats who will be making your health care decisions for you.
“This is such an incredible affront to every principle of equality in this country that it demands an immediate apology to the nation by the President,” House Republican Conference Secretary John Carter (Texas) said. “That should be followed by a straight up-and-down vote in the House and Senate on a bill requiring every member and staff in both Houses and the administration be included in this new monstrosity, with no exceptions for leadership, committee staff, the President’s cabinet, or the President. If they think this crap is good enough for Joe the Plumber, then it should be good enough for Barack Obama, Rahm Emmanuel, and Tim Geithner.”
The bill was amended behind closed doors by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) back in December to exclude all congressional committee and leadership staff from the horrors of the health care “exchange.” The President, Vice-President, cabinet members, thousands of Obama administration staff and an unknown number of czars will all remain in the FEHBP.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-Okla.) attempted to offer a floor amendment in December that would have nullified Reid’s covert carve-out, but Reid blocked a vote on the amendment. Human Events
Fact Check claimed that it was not true and that members of Congress would have to be in the exchange. This is certainly not true for leadership and the bill says “Notwithstanding any other provision of law…” so they might be exempted under another provision of law. But no matter what, leadership, Obama, and certain staffers will be exempt as will many members of the administration.
The FEHB actually works fairly well because it allows competition among a number of companies in various geographic areas and the pool of employees is large. This is the free market working well.
If it is good enough for us it is good enough for them.
We need to make them pay at the polls.
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]