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Posted: 3:24 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17, 2011
By Jamie Dupree
After delaying work last week in the aftermath of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), the House is back at work today, with a vote set for tomorrow on a GOP bill that would repeal the Obama health reform law.
For some, the debate will seem off key, as one should expect some Democrats to complain that Republicans aren't looking for ways to heal partisan divisions by bringing up this reform repeal legislation.
Democrats seem likely to zero in on the name of the bill, "Repealing the Job Killing Health Care Act," especially by focusing on the "killing" aspect of the title, trying to tie that to the Arizona shootings.
Whether or not that's the right thing to do isn't the point - the point is that some Democrats are going to jump on that angle as lawmakers come to work today.
"Job Killer should be deleted from the title," complained former top Democratic Congressional staffer Bob Weiner on Fox News yesterday.
There will be some debate on the plan today, followed by a vote on Wednesday on the repeal bill.
Then on Thursday, the House will vote on a separate resolution that instructs three major House committees to develop plans to replace the Obama reform law - Repeal & Replace - just what some Republicans have been talking about.
Meanwhile, Democrats will try this week to make the argument that any repeal plan will end up taking away important benefits from consumers - and voters.
It will start today in a "hearing" that Democrats will hold in the House, designed mainly to get out their point of view that the GOP effort is a big step backwards.
"Americans want Congress to focus on creating jobs, strengthening the middle class, and reducing the deficit, not the Republican plan to repeal patients' rights and hand power over our health decisions back to insurance companies," said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.
The White House will also ramp up its PR machine today, charging that a repeal would harm small businesses.
"Repeal of the Affordable Care Act would raise taxes on small businesses and hinder the ability of U.S business to compete in the global marketplace," said a release from the White House on Monday.
What's really odd about this debate is that just a few months ago, Democrats didn't want to talk about the health reform bill at all, worried it was going to really hurt them in the November elections.
But now, Democrats seem to have turned over a new leaf, defending the bill against repeated attacks, as many in their party seem to believe this fight will actually be a political plus for Democrats.
And despite the controversial nature of the law, don't look for more than just a handful of Democrats to vote for the Republican repeal effort.
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