Having now passed the health reform repeal vote, 245-189, full repeal dies now, and the House moves on to the protracted strangulation process of each provision, piece by piece. But at least the GOP can tell their Tea Party tormenters that they held the damned vote, and "won" it. Last year, 34 Dems voted against the Affordable Care Act, and just 13 of them are still in office. Today, 4 3 voted for repeal. (When the roll call is posted, I'll update with names.)
Update: The three Dems voting for repeal: Boren, McIntyre, and Ross.
Meanwhile, a couple of Democrats very clearly focused on the real hypocrisy at work in this vote in their floor statements. Here's Rep. Joe Crowley (NY-7) with his version of "Speaker Boehner, where are the jobs?"
Madame Speaker, today we consider the first major piece of legislation of the 112th Congress, the first. Does this bill does this legislation create one job? Not one single job will be created by this legislation. In fact, if this bill were to become law, over 4 million jobs that would be created in the next ten years will not come to fruition. Does this bill reduce the deficit? This bill does not reduce the deficit by one penny. In fact, if it became law it would increase the deficit by $230 billion. Does it strengthen the middle class? No! This bill will not strengthen the middle class, it will devastate the lives of millions of Americans who are finally free from the fear that they or their children will not have health insurance....
Republicans are not offering a single solution to this problem. They can't even tell you what their secret plan is. It's part of the "Harry Houdini Healthcare Strategy." Now you have healthcare, now you don't. Our constituents deserve better.
And here's Rep. George Miller, ranking member on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Below is just a snippet of his remarks, focusing on jobs. The entire transcript is below the fold, and it's worth the read.
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