politics

Will Obama’s Health Care Victory Cost Him His Job?

Jun 28 2012

It would be his signature accomplishment, whether or not he serves a second term, yet President Obama is widely criticized for not selling his Affordable Care Act to the public in the two years since its passage. The result is that, while people like its individual features, once explained, two-thirds of Americans are against the mandate requiring them to come together as a nation and pay for those features.

So we now may see independent and undecided voters shift to Romney and to Republicans in Congress in tight races because the latter have vowed to repeal the entire law. Indeed, the moment the Supreme Court announced that it upheld the ACA, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor proposed a symbolic repeal vote against the Act, scheduled in just two weeks.

So as the drama plays out, we may see Obama not only lose his job but Congress taking away that signature accomplishment as well.

But, democratic majority rule having been abolished in the Senate, how would Republicans assemble the 60 votes needed to overcome filibuster?

The answer is that there is another way: because the Court has ruled the mandate a "tax", the mandate is subject to what is called "budget reconciliation", a tactic that requires only a 51-vote majority. Indeed, that was the same tactic that was used to pass the ACA in the first place.

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