House Votes to Repeal the Affordable Care Act
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ABC News(WASHINGTON) — The House of Representatives voted today to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It was the 33rd time Republicans have voted to chip away at, defund, or repeal the health care law. Democrats called the move a political charade since the repeal law has no chance of becoming law this year.
But leading into the Supreme Court’s health care decision on June 28, Speaker John Boehner vowed to repeal anything that the justices left standing.
“We’ve made it pretty clear and I’ll make it clear one more time: If the court does not strike down the entire law, the House will move to repeal what’s left of it,” Boehner, R-Ohio, pledged the day before the ruling. “Obamacare is driving up the cost of health care and making it harder for small businesses to hire new workers.”
Thirteen days after the historic decision upholding the law, Boehner and the House Republicans made good on that promise. But it was a symbolic gesture. The repeal bill faces a Democratic double road-block in the form of the Senate and White House.
The House vote was largely along party lines – 244 – 185. Five House Democrats – all of whom opposed the law when it passed in 2010 – crossed party lines to vote with the majority. No Republicans defected on the vote.
Democrats have admitted that there are areas of the law that need some refining, but stand by the individual mandate, which the court determined was constitutional under the legislative branch’s power to tax, and intend to make the law a central part of their campaign dialogue.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio