112th Congress - GOP Led House Plans Assault on Obamacare

When the House of Representatives convenes on Wednesday it will do so with a GOP majority set on repealing Obamacare. According to Politico writer Kendra Marr, House Republicans are planning a "two-pronged assault" on Obamacare.

The first assault will be a House vote to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (i.e., Obamacare) which, hopes incoming House Energy and Commerce Chairman, Fred Upton (R-Mich.), will pressure the Senate to do the same. Politico quotes Upton as stating "we have 242 Republicans...there will be a significant number of Democrats, I think that will join us. You will remember when that vote passed in the House last March, it only passed by seven votes."

Absent a vote in the Senate, the second assault will be an attack on the bill "piece by piece." Representative Upton, according to Politico, "specifically called out the requirement for businesses to complete a 1099, the individual mandate, and the amendment on abortion introduced by Democratic Representative Bart Stupak.

However, the Politico article raises a valid question: If the focus of this Congress is to provide jobs and grow the economy, is this the right time to focus Congress' attention on health care policy?