Townhall
Reminder: Every Senate Democrat Voted in Favor of Exempting Themselves From Obamacare
by Daniel Doherty
Oct 01, 2013

One of the most profoundly unfair provisions of Obamacare is that members of Congress and their staffers were unilaterally and illegally granted a special exemption from the law they themselves passed. Unlike many Americans, many of whom have been forcibly kicked off their current health care plans, the governing class and their staffers as of now will keep their insurance providers and receive an enormous taxpayer subsidy (depending on which plan they choose) to off-set rising health care costs. Sound fair? I didn’t think so. As it happened, many congressional staffers threatened to resign if they were forced to enroll in the Obamacare exchanges and comply with the mandate -- even though many of them helped draft (and ultimately pass) the legislation. This is what prompted the president to act. But not everyone in Congress is comfortable with upholding such a grotesque waiver. Indeed, this has been a sticking point for Senator Ted Cruz and his allies -- and something they will never let the American people forget: All 54 Senate Ds voted yesterday for Obamacare exemption that treats Congress better than the people.

What’s curious to me is that even Red State Democrats voted in lock-step with their party to buck the House of Representative’s duly passed spending bill on several occasions. Not only did they reject a continuing resolution that would end this unjust and unfair Obamacare waiver -- a de facto endorsement of special privileges and protections for members of Congress -- they voted against the provision to delay the law’s controversial mandate requirement to purchase health insurance. As recently as four days ago, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said it was “reasonable and sensible” to vote in favor of delaying this provision for one additional year. So how did he and his party end up voting? Well, in the end, along with every other Senate Democrat, he and his colleagues rejected House Republicans’ plan to avert a government shutdown. Splendid.

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