As Republicans on Capitol Hill grapple with some kind of way to continue their efforts to repeal Obamacare, conservatives who worked to get them elected in 2010 and 2014 are paying close attention.
On Wednesday afternoon, leaders from a number of grassroots organizations will call on Congress to keep working toward repeal. After all, Republican politicians have been promising to do so for nearly a decade.
Leaders from the Club for Growth, Tea Party Patriots, FreedomWorks, ForAmerica, Senate Conservatives Fund and the Family Research Council will participate. They're also calling out Senators who voted for repeal, rather than repeal and replace, two years ago yet opposing the same now.
“Now that Senate Republicans have abandoned their watered-down ObamaCare repeal efforts, we are hopeful that this will be the start of a new day in Washington. The time to drain the swamp and keep the promises made to the American people has finally come. If Republican senators wish not to squander their majority, they will work in good faith to fully repeal ObamaCare as they promised time and time again," Tea Party Patriots President Jenny Beth Martin said in a statement.
"Full repeal means getting rid of all of the taxes, penalties, and mandates and freeing up the market so Americans have more choices, more freedom, and more affordability in the health insurance market. Working in good faith and truly keeping this critical promise will earn Republicans favor with the American people that will be highly important when the time comes to move on to other critical issues such as tax reform and growing the economy," she continued. "We would like to thank the senators who have worked tirelessly to improve health insurance policy and encourage all senators to finally listen to the millions of people outside of the beltway who have been clamoring for full repeal of ObamaCare and less government involvement in the health insurance market.”
Citing the burden of Obamacare taxes, FreedomWorks is urging Senators to vote for repeal next week.
Here are some of the major aspects of ObamaCare that the 2015 bill repealed or altered:
Premium tax credit (Section 202)
Cost-sharing subsidies (Section 202)
Small business tax credit (Section 203)
Individual mandate (Section 204)
Employer mandate (Section 205)
Medicaid expansion (Section 207)
Cadillac tax (Section 209)
Tax on health savings accounts (Section 211)
Prescription drug tax
Medical device tax (Section 214)
Health insurance tax (Section 215)
Tanning tax (Section 219)
Net investment tax (Section 220)
"At this point, there is a small group of moderates -- Sens. Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) -- who have gone on record saying that they would vote against a motion to proceed on a bill that repeals ObamaCare without a replacement. On December 3, 2015, Sens. Capito, Murkowski, and Portman voted to pass the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, without a replacement. Sen. Collins, to no one's surprise, was one of two Republicans to vote against the bill," FreedomWorks Jason Pye writes.
"From FreedomWorks perspective, and undoubtedly the minds of conservative grassroots activists, a vote against the motion to proceed is a vote to keep ObamaCare. There are no more excuses. With a Republican president urging the Senate to pass the 2015 ObamaCare repeal bill and pledging to sign it into law, we finally have the opportunity to accomplish a big victory. Don't let this moment pass," he continues.
McConnell plans to bring a repeal bill to the Senate floor for a vote next week regardless of its chances of passing.
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