Thursday, March 13, 2014

ObamaCare debate happening now

The Kentucky House of Representatives is debating funding for ObamaCare right now.

3:47 pm: Speaker Stumbo tried a little legislative sleight-of-hand to avoid taking a vote specifically on ObamaCare funding and House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover crammed it back down his throat.

3:54 And Stumbo just slipped back out of it. But House Republicans immediately moved to shift the discussion back to ObamaCare. The fight is on.

3:57 We are now in a full blown budget crisis over funding for ObamaCare in Kentucky.

3:59 Rep. Joe Fischer is properly framing the debate as one dealing with proper gubernatorial powers and the abuse of same by Gov. Steve Beshear.

House Republicans are the only people speaking.

4:13 First test vote on ObamaCare funding passed with 52 votes.

4:14 Now taking up first floor amendment to strip out ObamaCare funding. Democrats are using their majority to shut off debate about ObamaCare.

4:29 Rep. Stan Lee is arguing for making Attorney General Jack Conway pay for Gov. Beshear's appeal of the federal court marriage amendment lawsuit. The legislative trick Democrats used to avoid a vote solely on ObamaCare is now forcing them to take a position on marriage they did not want to take.

4:44 Rep. Lee's amendment failed. Some of the cowards who took a pass on this one will have trouble with this pretty soon. Thinking specifically about Bob Damron's Democratic primary for Jessamine County Judge Executive.

4:58 Rep. Robert Benvenuti is making the case for dropping ObamaCare funding because it has nothing to do with healthcare and is only about a federal takeover.

5:02 Rep. Mary Lou Marzian is the first rank and file Democrat to stand up in support of ObamaCare. She hates insurance companies. Really isn't saying anything else.

5:06 Rep. Kim King talked about being kicked off her private health insurance due to ObamaCare.

5:08 Rep. Tom Burch says ObamaCare is the law and we should just get over it. Said we will have single payer in five years and people won't be fat or smokers.

5:11 Rep. Rick Rand said if ObamaCare funding is not included in the budget Frankfort will undergo a government shutdown in July.

5:28 Rep. Jill York, Richard Heath, David Floyd and Bam Carney took to the floor to talk against other forms of waste in the budget.

5:34 Rep. Jim Wayne appreciates Gov. Beshear being "wise enough" to throw us into ObamaCare.

6:00 Rep. Jeff Hoover on ObamaCare: "We don't agree with it and we want to know what Democrats in the House think about it." By all accounts, Democrats in House are for it. Twenty nine Democrats who are in attendance today did not vote on the ObamaCare amendment.

6:22 Democrats are whining about "no" votes, saying that voting against the budget means you want children to starve and old people to freeze to death.

6:27 Rep. David Watkins spoke in favor of ObamaCare.

6:28 Rep. Tim Moore criticized Democrats' "procedural manipulation" which shut off all Republican amendments to make the budget "acceptable to all." Said voting against budget is not a vote against everything in the budget, but against the entire measure.

6:42 Rep. Bob DeWeese: "I have voted for every budget since I have been over here, but I'm not voting for this one."

6:48 Rep. Bob Damron: "The federal law didn't give us any options. The only option we had was about the Medicaid expansion." "I don't know if it will work or not but there is not a single member on this floor who has taken a vote or can take a vote on ObamaCare." This is not true. Damron voted for it when he passed on the motion to suspend the rules and take a vote on an amendment to delete ObamaCare funding. Damron: "We've been talking for three and a half hours about how much we hate ObamaCare but, Mr. Speaker, we don't have a say in whether we do ObamaCare or not."

6:57 Rep. Stan Lee: "The people want us to not fund it (ObamaCare.)

7:03 Budget passed House 53-46.