GOP leaders reformulate strategies to undo health law

Jan 14 2011

In the wake of last weekend's shootings in Arizona, GOP House leaders are contemplating ways to proceed with their planned health law repeal vote. Meanwhile, even as the debate continues — perhaps with more civility — The Washington Post offers a fact-check of one of the key points in play. Also, new committee chairs are outlining their plans for the health law — with both planned oversight investigations and and an attempt at defunding its provisions.

Los Angeles Times: GOP In A Bind Over Healthcare Repeal Vote
As lawmakers promise a new era of comity after the Arizona shooting attack that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in critical condition, Republican leaders grappled with how and when to return to an issue that brought political discourse to a boiling point (Hennessey, 1/12).

The Washington Post: House Republicans Heading To Baltimore For Retreat
Led by House Speaker John A. Boehner (Ohio), Republicans plan to hear from a host of experts on federal spending and long-term deficits, as well as discuss strategy for trying to repeal the Obama administration's health care overhaul (Kane, 1/12).

The Washington Post: The Fact Checker: The Battle Over The Health Care Bill
The new leader of the House of Representatives, speaking to reporters at his maiden news conference last week, resorted to a lot of inside-the-Beltway language that might have left even devoted watchers of C-SPAN scratching their heads. But he's talking about a critical question — whether the health care overhaul passed last year will actually reduce the deficit or not. Republicans contend that it does not, and that is one of the main reasons they cite for wanting to repeal it. But the problem, for the GOP, is that the CBO is the official scorekeeper for Congress. By the CBO's math, the bill does reduce the deficit — and that repealing the bill would increase the deficit (Kessler, 1/13).

Bloomberg: Issa Targets Obama's Legislative Agenda With Two New Investigative Panels
Representative Darrell Issa, House Republicans' new chief investigator, is expanding his oversight committee to focus on the heart of President Barack Obama's legislative achievements. The California Republican, who has called Obama's administration corrupt, says he will hold hundreds of hearings as chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He has created two subcommittees to scrutinize policies defining Obama's first two years in office: the $814 billion economic-stimulus plan and the bailouts of banks and automakers. A third panel will oversee Obama's health care overhaul (Przybyla, 1/13).

The Hill: Rep. Rehberg Lays Out Health Funding Priorities
Rep. Dennis Rehberg (R-Mont.) tells The Hill that he'll try to use his chairmanship of the Appropriations Labor and Health and Human Services subcommittee to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that guarantees services to disabled children, even as he fights to starve the health care reform law (Wasson, 1/12).