John Boehner issued a memo to House Republicans in regards to the supreme Courts potential ruling on Obamacare. Basically, if any or all of the law is struck, no dancing in the streets or as Boehner puts, no spiking the ball.
Full memo below, but first a couple points about what Boehner did not write.
If the Supreme Court overturns the whole Obamacare law or even just the individual mandate as unconstitutional, House Republicans, Senate Republicans, the RNC and Mitt Romney, while not spiking the ball, should hammer home the point that the Supreme Court had to stop Barack Obama and Democrats from violating every American's constitutional rights.
The points Boehner makes are critical and are in line with what he has promised, that House Republicans would continue to focus on job growth and economic recovery, but ignoring the fact that even Democrats in favor of the law see the individual mandate as a violation of constitutional rights, is shortsighted.
A New York Times/CBS News poll, in early June found that two-thirds of Americans hope that the Supreme Court will overturn some or all of the Obamacare healthcare law aka ACA.
Should the Supreme Court strike down the individual mandate part of the law, it is not spiking the ball to remind those very voters that it took the highest Court in the land to stop Obama and Democrats from stepping all over their constitutional rights.
Nothing in the memo refers to the fact that if the individual mandate is struck down, it will be on the grounds that is was unconstitutional, that is the issue before the Supreme Court.
Win, lose or draw, voters need to be reminded, all the way until November that it was a Democratically controlled House and Senate that passed the 2,000+ page mammoth healthcare bill and it was Barack Obama that signed it, against the will of the people.
Boehner and Republicans can focus on the economy and jobs all they want, but as they have seen by over 30 bills passed through the Republican controlled House which would help job creation, just to get stuck in the Senate or have Obama threaten to veto them, without replacing Obama in the White House and taking control of the Senate, nothing will get done no matter intent.
No matter how the High Court rules, Obamacare is one of the key issues Republicans need to focus on, remind voters who voted for it, who signed it and who needs to be held accountable for doing so.
M E M O
To: House Republicans
From: Speaker Boehner
Re: U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on President Obama's Health Care Law
Date: 21 June 2012
Next week, as you know, the Supreme Court of the United States is expected to issue a ruling on the constitutionality of President Obama's health care law. In the months since oral arguments were heard by the Court, we have worked diligently with each other, as well as our colleagues in the Senate and in state capitols across the country, to analyze all of the potential rulings and their impact on the American people.
No one knows what the Court will decide, and none of us would presume to know. But if the Court strikes down all or part of the president's health care law, there will be no spiking of the ball. Republicans are focused on the economy—and under President Obama's policies, our economy is struggling. We will not celebrate at a time when millions of our fellow Americans remain out of work, the national debt has exceeded the size of our nation's economy, health costs continue to rise, and small businesses are struggling to hire. ObamaCare has contributed to all of these problems. Repealing it completely is part of the solution ... but it is only one part.
Americans opposed the president's health care law when it was enacted, and they have only grown more opposed to it since then. From listening to the people, Republicans know the critical points remain these:
* The president's health care law is making things worse—driving up health costs and making it harder for small businesses to hire workers. The only way to change this is by repealing ObamaCare in its entirety.
* Unless the Court throws out the entire law, we need to repeal what is left of ObamaCare and enact common-sense, step-by-step reforms that protect Americans' access to the care they need, from the doctor they choose, at a lower cost.
* Republicans will not repeat the Democrats' mistakes. We won't rush to pass a massive bill the American people don't support.
* Health care coverage has become too expensive for too many people. The number-one health care concern of families and small business is the cost of health care, and Republicans' health care reforms will lower costs.
* Women make approximately 80 percent of the health care decisions made for their families. Republican health care reforms will ensure families and doctors make health care decisions—not Washington.
* We want families to be able to make their own choices in health care, visit the doctor of their choosing, and receive the health care they and their doctor feel is best. Those decisions shouldn't be made by Washington.
As I, Leader Cantor, Whip McCarthy and other leaders have made clear in recent days, the House will act in the coming weeks on legislation to repeal any part of ObamaCare that is left standing by the Supreme Court. Such action is critical for jobs and our economy and for the health care of millions of American families.
House GOP Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Conference Vice-Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), and Policy Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) will be helping to lead our response efforts in the days immediately following the ruling. I commend them for their efforts. If you would like to be involved in our coordinated response efforts following the ruling but have not yet contacted the Conference, please have your staff do so today.