Opinion Forum

Now Is the Time to Defund ObamaCare the Right Way

March 8th, 2011

This article from The Heritage Foundry has some worthwhile thoughts on defunding ObamaCare and reports previously undiscovered advance funding for its implementation. The problem was brought to light by Michele Bachmann, as reported here. As the Heritage Foundry article notes,

While Obamacare is rightly notorious as a fiscal nightmare, less well known is just how massively it transferred power from Congress to the executive branch. In fact, the full scope of Congress’s abdication is still unknown. What is now known, however, is that deeply buried within Obamacare was a $105 billion slush fund that assures its implementation into the future, no matter what future voters think or want.

This makes then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s comment to the Legislative Conference for National Association of Counties about Obamacare, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it,” made a year ago tomorrow, ironically prescient. Just this past month, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) updated an October 2010 report titled “Appropriations and Fund Transfers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).” The new report found that, unbeknownst to almost every Member of Congress, Obamacare contains $105 billion in direct implementation spending that bypasses Congress’s normal appropriations process.

A separate CRS report, titled New Entities Created Pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, concludes: “The precise number of new entities that will ultimately be created pursuant to [Obamacare] is currently unknowable, for the number of entities created by some sections is contingent upon other factors, and some new entities may satisfy more than one requirement in the legislation.” These new bureaucracies would have the power to reach into your life on a daily basis, including control over who is allowed to sell you health insurance and how they may do so, as well as what procedures Medicare will or will not pay for. Once Congress allows these new bureaucracies to be created, it will be next to impossible to get your health care freedom back.

But these merging entities do have a weak spot. CRS reports: “In practical terms, many of these entities will not be able to function until their members are appointed and funds are appropriated or made available for the entities to operate.” That is where the secret $105 billion stash comes in. Instead of leaving these fledgling bureaucracies vulnerable to the budgetary decisions of future Congresses, Obamacare appropriated billions in implementation spending over a 10-year period.

The approval or rejection of executive appointees is within the power of the Senate, not the House. However, The article continues,

Conservatives can still save the nation from Obamacare’s bureaucratic kudzu, but they must act proactively. They must go beyond simply not providing funds for the implementation of Obamacare. CRS explains: “Precedents require that the language be phrased in the negative, for example, that ‘none of the funds provided in this paragraph (typically an account) shall be used for’ a specified activity.”

Continue reading this article at The PJ Tatler »

Articles written by Dan Miller
Tags: advance funding, defunding, implementation, Obamacare, slush fund
Categories: Law, News, Politics | Comments (9) | Home

9 Responses to “Now Is the Time to Defund ObamaCare the Right Way”

Tom Carter | March 9th, 2011 at 8:52 am

Dan, I have absolutely no confidence that the Republicans will get it done — certainly not through repeal, and probably not through defunding. Congress has become almost totally disfunctional. What we’re going to end up with is a confused, semi-operational law wrapped in mile and miles of red tape and tied up in the courts for a long time and at great cost.

Or maybe I’m wrong. Maybe they’ll get their act together and do everything well. And pigs will fly past my window….

Dan Miller | March 9th, 2011 at 9:24 am

Tom, please allow me to correct this for you: Congress has become ~~almost totally~~ disfunctional.

I agree that the Republicans will probably do nothing useful about ObamaCare. Defunding along the lines I would like to see would require lots of time and effort accompanied by defensive platitudes about how the Democrats have been wickedly obstreperous in defeating repeal. The time and effort would be out of the public eye, productive after only months or more and the CongressCritters involved would get little political credit for it, something they cherish. The platitudes would, rightly, be seen as excuses for not having done enough to kill ObamaCare, something they would not like to hear. They campaigned on promises of repeal and that should be enough!

Pigs flying past your window are unlikely. However, should they do so keep in mind that pork is no longer merely “the other white meat.”

The National Pork Board on Friday replaced the decades-old ad campaign with a new message: “Pork: Be Inspired.”

“The overall goal is to move sales of our product,” said Ceci Snyder, the Des Moines, Iowa-based board’s vice president of marketing. “We want to increase pork sales by 10 percent by 2014. To do that, we needed to make a stronger connection, a more emotional connection to our product.”

So, should you see some flying pigs, prepare to feel inspired. You might even be sufficiently inspired to grab one; a whole pig roasted over charcoal is yummy.

Tom Carter | March 9th, 2011 at 11:54 am

All this talk of pigs and pork may get you crosswise with Sharia law, so you better be careful. You just might offend some American convert to Islam, and as soon as he gets out of prison he might cut off some appendage of your infidel body.

Dan Miller | March 9th, 2011 at 12:53 pm

Nonsense. Islam is the religion of peace. Surely you mean the Amish.

Did you know that “Amish” spelled backwards means “hsima,” a primitive variation on “it’s mine and I’ll kill you for it?” Were you aware that simply by rearranging the letters in “Amish” you can spell “mashim,” an early Gaelic battle cry meaning “Kill the Limeys?” They are violent and uncivilized rural people who shun necessary modern conveniences, wear strange costumes in public, cling to their superstitions, make their horses work for their very food and probably even murder innocent pigs for no better purpose than to sustain them as they plot and execute terrorist attacks on those whom their perverse religion requires them to view as excessively civilized.

Any pigs seen flying past your window are almost certainly fleeing unthinkable Amish depredations. You must render all assistance of which you are capable to the poor pigs; perhaps even declare your home a pig sanctuary.

Tom Carter | March 9th, 2011 at 2:01 pm

Seems you’ve been watching too many Charlie Sheen videos. Pretty soon he’ll have the Quakers after him, and you know what that spells backwards!

Brian | March 9th, 2011 at 4:38 pm

Srekauq?

Tom Carter | March 10th, 2011 at 3:10 am

Srekauq, indeed. As is well known, that’s the anguished cry of the flying pig as it frantically flaps its way past the window, pursued by hordes of bloodthirsty Hsima, each brandishing a razor-sharp mashim. Once you’ve heard that horrible cry of “Srekauq, srekauq!” it will haunt your dreams forever. It’s a lot like the silence of the lambs, but noisier.

OK, Dan, you led us down this path. Now how about something on defunding ObamaCare?

Dan Miller | March 10th, 2011 at 5:53 am

Nuts. I was trying in all seriousness to point out some highly alarming aspects of the terror crisis.

~~Speaking~~ Writing of Nuts, here are some updates on the attempt to defund ObamaCare through current appropriations bills. According to Secretary Sebelius, “HHS wouldn’t have the authority to pay private plans that administer the popular Medicare Advantage plans, which actually are diminished under the reform law.” There’s some other interesting stuff as well.

Have plans to visit the Washington Monument? Better hurry before it’s closed.

Norma | December 26th, 2022 at 11:04 am

Thanks for the info!
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