Repeal and Spend

What'll you do when you get lonely
And nobody's waiting by your side?
You've been running and hiding much too long
You know it's just your foolish pride
--Derek & the Dominos

The Senate bill known as Concurrent Resolution 3 has now passed Senate and House votes. This is the bill that puts in motion efforts to defund and repeal Obamacare.

Although repealing Obamacare is thought to be at the top of the incoming GOP agenda, you will note from the roll call results above that not all Republicans were 'yeas' on S.Con.Res.3. Rand Paul broke ranks in the Senate to spoil GOP unanimity, and nine Republican Reps including Thomas Massie joined House Democrats in 'nay' votes.

One concern voiced by some dissidents is that there is, as of yet, no firm replacement for Obamacare. This is not a good reason for delaying the repeal of Obamacare. Keeping bad law in place, regardless of intentions, continues to infringe on people's rights.

The other concern is that the overall budget for federal government spending contained in S.Con.Res.3 is forecast to raise the federal debt by $9 trillion over the next ten years. This is a good reason for voting no on this resolution.

The correct approach would be separate bills--one for repealing Obamacare and one for the overall federal government--so that each issue can be debated on its own merit.

That GOP leadership refused to separate these issues, when coupled with the Republican roll results, is revealing in terms of collective Republican Party priorities when it comes to cutting federal government spending.