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Health & Fitness

The time to act is now

Source: U.S. News and World Report - Brian Walsh (usnews.com)

While Georgia Republican Rep. Rob Woodall said he thought Heritage Action and the Club for Growth were jeopardizing the sequester spending cuts:

"You risk losing on spending in the effort to win on Obamacare," Woodall said. He said he thought the two groups were "overpromising" conservatives and that, even if conservatives achieve successes with spending and Obamacare, Republicans would be "under delivering" in the minds of constituents.

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via The Senate Conservative Fund and the Heritage Foundation Profit From Attacking Republicans - Brian Walsh (usnews.com).

This article in U.S. News and World Report goes to heart of the problem facing the Republican Party. Current leadership in the party is failing to bridge the ideological divide within the party and with disastrous results. The question we need to answer is who are the rogue actors? As the article points out the nuance is hard for the citizen/voter to discern. There are good arguments to be made to support both sides of the ongoing debate within the Republican Party.

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I disagree with the premise Congressman Woodall  uses in making his assessment. He says his concern is that if we push to defund on the (CR) Continuing Resolution, the net effect is that we will lose on budget reductions gained with Sequestration. You remember Sequestration divided the Republicans on Defense spending. You will also remember that the reductions come from Discretionary Spending (33% of Federal Budget). How ironic that some of the Republicans will use Sequestration to argue both sides of a spending issue.

While these reductions gained by Sequestration are "Real" they are a Straw man in the larger debate centered on the ACA. It is an important distinction to understand, for 66% of our spending is Non-Discretionary or mandated spending. The ACA falls in this category, and these unfunded mandates that are destroying our nation. The ACA is just the latest addition to unfunded mandates.

So the problem is just how disingenuous Congress has become. We need look no further than Eric Cantor's bid to pass a clean (CR) which allows the Senate to vote separately on de-funding the ACA, something they will never do. Do we not remember that ACA was passed by the convoluted unconventional reconciliation process to avoid defeat in the Senate by newly elected Senator Scott Brown?

The Cantor plan shows the length to which our Republican Leadership will go to obfuscate and provide themselves cover for their inability to act. This plan would result in a swift Democratic defeat of the defund measure in the Senate. It would allow a stopgap spending bill that does nothing to rein in the health care law. Result: Kick the can down the road.

As long as he follows the House Leadership, Congressman Woodall will be undermining his support in Georgia's 7th District.  His premise is that the ACA must be defeated by ordinary process, and he rightfully points out that as along as Harry Reid controls the Senate and President Obama is in the White House there is no legislative way to stop ACA.

So it is time to move away from the premise that it can be fixed legislatively. It is time to get creative, just like the Democrats did when they used reconciliation to pass ACA. Let's be clear, there are Constitutional means to gut, impede, slow down and address the ACA. It is the Republican Leadership, which Congressman Woodall is aligned with by virtue of his position on the Rules Committee that is unwilling to use its powers to do all that it can reverse the ACA. That is the source of the public's frustration. We are beyond worrying about future elections, we are beyond worrying about the blame. Republican Leadership has chosen to avoid the hard issues that really matter, it far more important to carry the fight to the Democrats than worry about the savings gained on the discretionary spending.

It is a reality that it is impossible to spend 3 dollars in mandated benefits for every 1 dollar Americans pay to obtain the promised benefits. Be truthful Congressman the problem begins with promises of benefits we have been told we can have, but cannot be delivered. That is the lie Congress perpetrates on the American public.

The Article I Section 7 of the Constitution lays out the authority Congress is given to raise revenues. We are living a in a time of Constitutional crisis, we have much to lose if the ACA is funded. Truth is, we cannot afford to roll over like the Republican Leadership. We must fight the ACA or lose through appeasement.

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