The Obamacare echo chamber: Neither side will budge
WASHINGTON (CNN) - As a potential government shutdown inched closer Saturday morning, the Obama administration reiterated that it will not negotiate with Republicans over delaying the president's signature health care law.
A day after President Barack Obama said any attempt to "gut" or repeal the Affordable Care Act "will not happen under the threat of a shutdown," a White House official echoed the commander-in-chief, telling CNN's Jim Acosta a continuing resolution that alters or delays Obamacare will not merit the president's signature.
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"I don't think the president could have been any more clear," the official said, in reference to Obama's comments Friday.
Arriving at the Capitol to prepare for a noon meeting with his caucus, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, again slipped into his mantra of late, declaring himself a "happy warrior" to reporters. Despite the speaker's nom de guerre, it appears as if both sides remain unwilling and unable to move towards a compromise. Responding to Obama's Friday remarks, Brendan Buck, a spokesman for the Ohio Republican, blasted the president for refusing to negotiate with House Republicans and assailed Obama's comments as "grandstanding" that "won't bring Congress any closer to a resolution."
The administration's staunch refusal to negotiate would seem to render potential bargaining points under consideration by the House Republican caucus as non-starters. A source within the Republican Party told CNN's Dana Bash on Friday night that options being examined by the GOP-controlled lower chamber include delaying the health care legislation one year, eliminating the Independent Payment Advisory Board - commonly referred to by right-wing partisans as "death panels" - and repealing a tax on medical devices.
Two House Republican sources informed Bash Saturday morning that a vote on a continuing resolution is likely sometime today. The sources say the bill would include delaying Obamacare for a year or a repealing the medical device tax.
White House press secretary Jay Carney is already on the record saying the president would reject doing away with the medical device tax if it were included in a stopgap spending bill. Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Harry Reid, D-Nevada,also weighed in on behalf of his boss, relaying that the Senate majority leader thinks the Republican proposal is "stupid." Even the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Orrin Hatch, who helped write the medical device tax repeal, agrees that it's the wrong time to push for axing the tax and opponents of the measure would be better served waiting until the mid-October debt ceiling fight.
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We need to quit calling the right wing evangelicals such an inocuous name like the Tea Party. It only allows them to continue with the fallacy that they are patriots. Nothing could be further from the truth. I suggest The Anarchy Reich!
Did Obama ever find out who in his administration decided to blame Benghazi on the You Tube video? He said he would find that out a year ago. He also said he would find out about the IRS targeting the TEA Party about 9 months ago, I wonder how he is coming on that too. Has he blamed Bush or the racists yet?
Why is Obama willing to negotiate with Iran & Syria but not Republicans???? So we now negotiate with Terrorists and Terror States but Not our own people???
bill
thank you obama. my health premium went up 48%
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Compared to what? Nice to know the trolls work on weekends.
Bill:
Did state government approve the Medicaid expansion? Will your state implement the insurance exchanges?
And are you talking about new policy premiums? If not, you are thanking thewrong man. But you knew that, right?
Compromise. Let those who are ready for health care purchase it under the plan. If it is to confusing or they can't afford it let them have an automatic 6 month extention to meeting the deadline as long as they have looked at the Affordable care Act.
Time will tell. We'll see.
Republicans can only ruin our nation's credit once. After October 17th, what leverage do they have?
A lady just said that the GOP was trying to deny her healthcare .. I said how you figure that nice lady we already have health care ? She says yes but you have to pay for it 😦 As she was walking away I yelled watch out for that red line!! She says what red line ? I said I didn't say nothing bout no red line!
@bobo, your name says it all (bobo=dumb in Spanish).
The president IS trying to negotiate with terrorists they are called teatards in congress or as NameTomo calls them The Anarchy Reich. If the name fits wear it. Next week we'll see them all wearing brown shirts and swastikas.
MY advice to the President is plain and simple...HOLD FIRM...DO NOT NEGOTIATE AT ALL...This nation can not afford to have ANY PRESIDENT forced to settle budget disagreements outside the regular budget process!!! I KNEW this was going to happen this time, because the President negotiated with them the last time. They viewed this as a WEAKNESS and HE HAS to let them RUIN the credit rating of the country to get them out of this bad habit. As a nation we decided not to negotiate with terrorist, the SAME PRINCIPLE applies here. If he negotiate this time, in 12 months this whole cycle will start up again, it is unhealthy for the world economy not just ours.
"Fair is fair
Shut it down."
You see here...the tea Cons actually want government shutdown to destroy our economy. Shame on you, "Fair," for being so irresponsible...
Vote this tea nonsense OUTof our government 2014
@bobo: "Why is Obama willing to negotiate with Iran & Syria but not Republicans???? So we now negotiate with Terrorists and Terror States but Not our own people???"
President Obama has more than met the repubs halfway. You folks won't compromise on anything – and would rather harm our country than do so.
YOU are the terrorists in this scenario, bub.
@Stuffit: Oh ye of the original screen name – NOT! You keep harping on Benghazi liked you harped on Whitewater – nothing there, but you won't let it go because of your hatred.
The IRS? People have been fired, reviews are being conducted. And you probably don't know this because you only listen to RWNJs, but Liberal groups were targeted, too. You want to point a finger at someone? Point to the Supreme Court that upheld Citizens United and opened the floodgates to unaccountable, unlimited money influencing our elections. (And don't give me that "unions" crap, because corporations out-contribute unions 15-1. When it comes to PACs, business has a more than 3-to-1 fundraising advantage. In soft money, the ratio is nearly 17-to-1 in favor of businesses.
Go crawl back under your bridge, troll.
bobo
Why is Obama willing to negotiate with Iran & Syria but not Republicans???? So we now negotiate with Terrorists and Terror States but Not our own people???
===
Our "own people" ARE the terrorists.
miracles happen
Republicans have no conscience and heartless to shutdown the federal government!!
beginning to think al qaeda finances the tea party –
HEY JASON SEHER!
You are wrong to frame this as "two sides not compromising". This is a minority throwing a tantrum and holding the country hostage to get what they cannot get democratically (ie by VOTES). We cannot have ANY president of ANY party allow such a tactic to work. If they do our system is lost.
Yes, both sides are unwilling to negotiate- a true enough statement. But really, when one party is insane, it's a fool's folly to try to reason with them. The GOP IS insane. They have no policy, no plan, just obstruction and the goal to wreck the American economy (again). "negotiating" with them is pointless. Draw the line, then throw them in jail. Cuba is quite nice this time of year.