Getting Back to Business: House GOP Sets Vote for Repeal of Obama Care

Sadly, Dems still try and use Arizona tragedy to forestall GOP action!

The tsunami of fingerpointing blaming conservatives for the Tucson massacre is subsiding.  A massive dose of poison was deliberately dumped in the well of our political discourse by those who claimed they sought a more civil process. While their vicious and self serving calumny was overwhelmingly rejected in a CBS poll with 57% saying the GOP was not to blame for the tragedy in Arizona, the damage has already been done. Subliminally, Republicans will be more likely to pull their punches while Democrats will continue to go full bore with their attacks. Independents who may have been on the fence about Sarah Palin or conservatives in general have had the seed of doubt planted in their minds. In that, Democrats succeeded in accomplishing their goal.

We'll have to deal with the repercussions of the Democrat's shameful behavior in this episode for some time to come. Most sadly, their vicious lies took all the oxygen out of the room that might have gone instead to addressing the real problem of untreated mental illness. Should a future tragedy like this occur, we'll know who to blame.

Time to get back to the People's Business

But it's time to get back to work. House Republicans who had planned to celebrate their new majority with an aggressive legislative schedule put their plans on hold in the wake of the shooting. They got little thanks for it from the other side of the aisle. House Republicans who are holding a weekend retreat in Baltimore to discuss plans for their new majority have already announced they intend to push for a vote repealing Obama Care next Wednesday; a week later than originally planned.

Just to show that Dems have not completely given up on politicizing the Tucson tragedy there was a call by  Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) to change the name of the repeal bill which is currently titled "Repealing the Job Killing Health Health Care Law Act." Rep. Pingree implored GOP leaders to change the name and went so far as to invoke the name of seriously wounded Rep. Giffords in the title of her article at the Huffington Post: "For Gabby's Sake, Republicans Should Change the Name of Their Health Care Repeal Bill."

But changing the name is not so simple as one might imagine. It would require a new vote on the rules for bringing the bill to the floor which would open up the discussion for a whole new round of fingerpointing by Democrats and more delaying tactics.

House GOP leaders intend that the vote to repeal be passed before Obama's State of the Union Address on January 27th. Obviously House Democrats who work in lockstep with the White House on all things (even the blame game which allowed Obama to be the great healer) would like to block the vote. That won't happen.

If Democrats really want to honor Gabby Gifford, the best we can do as she recovers is to continue the work which she was doing the day she was struck down. It's time to continue with the people's business and desist from using the tragedy to forestall the democratic process. Using this tragedy for partisan political advantage must stop!