Myths about Obamacare

                The takeover of our health care by the federal government will begin implementation on October 1, 2013, unless Congress defunds Obamacare.  Defunding Obamacare is much better than delaying all or part of it.  According to The Heritage Foundation, defunding Obamacare would cause three actions:  1) It would “prohibit any taxpayer funds from being spent to implement or enforce Obamacare.”  2) It would “keep Americans from losing their current health coverage and being forced into Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges.”  3) It would “allow Congress to consider Obamacare funding separately from regular government functions – there’s no need for a government shutdown.”

                A showdown about Obamacare between conservatives and liberals is coming because funding must be approved by the end of September.  Conservatives want to defund Obamacare, but liberals are twisting the conservative message and claiming conservatives want to shut down the government.  No one I know is clamoring to shut down the federal government, but many people want to defund Obamacare.  We recognize that Obamacare is a bad bill that was rammed through Congress before anyone knew exactly what was in it.  The more Americans know about Obamacare, the more we do not like it. 

                Barack Obama is the person who is “threatening to shut down the government if Congress sends him a year-end spending bill to fully support government operations but without funding for his (unfair, unworkable and unaffordable) health-care law.”  Liberals stretch the truth and outright lie in order to support Obamacare.

                The Heritage Foundation debunks two myths being spread about Obamacare.  The first myth is that Congress does not have the power or authority to defund Obamacare.  Heritage says:  “Congress defunds mandatory spending on appropriations bills every year.  In fact, it has even defunded part of Obamacare already – billions of dollars in `mandatory spending’ for the co-op program.”  See their fact sheet for more information on this myth.  

                The second myth is that the opponents of Obamacare are trying to shut down the government.  Chris Jacobs of Heritage says:  “Conservatives want to keep the federal government open – we just want to shut down Obamacare.”

                Hans A. von Spakovsky ofHeritage explained: “If a fight over such a defunding provision led to a shutdown of the government, not all elements of the law could be implemented.  Moreover, supporters of Obamacare would be put in the unenviable position of trying to explain why they are willing to interrupt the normal functioning of the federal government in order to fund an unworkable law that Americans do not like and do not want to see implemented…

                “The smartest thing the House of Representatives could do is pass a CR as soon as possible that funds the government with the exception of Obamacare.  That would force the President and his supporters to explain why they would shut down the government to fund an unfair, unaffordable, and highly unpopular law that is so unworkable that the Administration has itself admitted it cannot manage to implement major portions on time such as the employer mandate to provide insurance.”

                The simple fact is that Obamacare can and should be defunded.  There is no question that we need to tweak our health care system in ways that will assist more Americans to receive high quality medical care without bankrupting themselves.  Obamacare is not the way and should be stopped.  We can do better!