GOP leaders react to ruling by renewing pledges to repeal the health law

Jun 29 2012

From Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney to key House and Senate leaders, the call to repeal the sweeping health overhaul came loud and clear in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision largely upholding it.

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Romney Calls Supreme Court Ruling Incorrect, Says Health Care Remains Bad Law, Bad Policy
Republican Mitt Romney is promising that he will repeal the federal health care law the Supreme Court just upheld. He called the decision incorrect and said Thursday that it is "bad law." He says it raises taxes and cuts Medicare. Romney says that, if elected in November, he will work to repeal and replace the law. But he hasn't said precisely how (6/28).

The Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle: Boehner: Health Ruling Shows Need To Repeal Law
House Speaker John Boehner says the Supreme Court ruling upholding the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul shows the need to repeal the law. The Ohio Republican says in a statement that the law is hurting the economy by increasing health care costs and making it difficult for small businesses to hire (6/28).

The Washington Times: Cantor: House Will Vote To Repeal Health Care Law
And Majority leader Eric Cantor said the House will vote to repeal the health care law next month, delivering on GOP promises to try to repeal the rest of the law even if the court upheld it (Cunningham, 6/28).

Politico: GOP Leaders Rip Health Care Law, Not SCOTUS Decision
Republican Congressional leaders did not blast the Supreme Court or its ruling upholding the health care law on Thursday. Instead, they targeted the law itself, saying it hinders growth and must be repealed. "Today's ruling underscores the urgency of repealing this harmful law in its entirety," House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement. ...  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called for "new leadership in the White House and Senate" in order to repeal the law (Slack, 6/28).

The Hill: McConnell: Ruling Shows Health Law Was Sold 'On A Deception'
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the Supreme Court's ruling on the 2010 healthcare law reveals that the individual mandate is constitutionally acceptable when defined as a tax, though Democrats tried to argue that it wasn't a tax to help get it passed. "The president of the United States himself promised up and down that this bill was not a tax," McConnell said on the Senate floor. "This was one of the Democrats' top selling points, because they knew it would never have passed if they said it was a tax (Kasperowicz, 6/28).

The Wall Street Journal: Ruling Gives Obama Big Boost, Could Aid Romney
The Supreme Court's decision to uphold the federal health care law, President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement, hands the White House a major legal victory just ahead of a tight presidential election. But the ruling also could energize Republicans, whose fierce opposition to the law propelled the issue to the high court. ... [T]he opinion, written by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, provides an undeniable jolt of energy for Mr. Obama, who has faced a weak economy and accusations from Republicans that he had overreached the bounds of the presidency (Lee and Bendavid, 6/28).

Detroit Free Press: Democrats Applaud, Republicans Growl Over Health Care Ruling
The conservative Club for Growth issued a statement decrying the opinion. And the Republican Natonal Committee weighed in, with chairman Reince Priebus saying, "Today's Supreme Court decision sets the stakes for the November election. Now, the only way to save the country from Obamacare's budget-busting government takeover of health care is to elect a new president." ...  but the court's split decision upholding the law's mandate that people buy insurance or pay a penalty on Thursday was clearly a victory for President Barack Obama – especially with many court watchers expecting the decision to go the other way (Spangler, 6/28).

MSNBC: Republican VP Hopefuls'  Reactions To Health Reform Ruling
Among the flurry of conservatives vowing to redouble their efforts to repeal President Obama's health reform law was the handful of Republicans whom Mitt Romney might pick as a running mate (O'Brian, 6/28).