Representative Lance appeared on FOX News this week to talk
about the issues that still need to be worked out concerning Obamacare. Lance did say that he doesn’t feel the
government shutdown was completely unnecessary in order to make it clear that
Obamacare needs to at least be revised and revamped. He stands firm on his position that Obamacare should be
delayed for at least one year. His
reasoning is that Obamacare forces “people to be taxed for not purchasing a
product when they can’t find it on a website that doesn’t work.” And Lance states that the rollout
of this healthcare program has been a “complete disaster.” He points the figure at the
administration for their lack of ability to see how problematic its
implementation has been. I think
it’s important that Lance doesn’t point the finger at any specific party (the
Democrats or any other specific supporters of Obamacare necessarily) for its failure
in his eyes. However, this comment
he makes is contradictory of what he had previously communicated to his
constituents. All he talked about
during the government shutdown was indeed how ridiculous it was, and that
Obamacare had already been voted on thus it is a separate issue that needs to
be addressed. Clearly here he does
in fact think it was an issue worthy talking about and thus creating the
government shutdown. I think some
of his constituents may have been angered by this interview.
During his interview it was also very
clear and interesting that Lance brought up Obama’s recent reward of the Nobel
Peace Prize. He spoke with the
interviewer about it saying that it’s possible that Obama may have received the
reward a bit too early for his formulation of the Affordable Care Act because
it is not technically a real accomplishment yet. Lance stated that in his opinion currently there is nothing
in writing right now that would be able to support the fact that Obamacare is
currently very successful.
Another
issue that Lance recently brought up in the press is the refusal by Kathleen
Sebelius, the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, to be a
part of the discussion that would be going on in Congress about the funding and
implementation of Obamacare. She
outright rejected a request that was sent-in to her by Congress to testify at a
hearing that is to be held this coming week concerning the health care exchange
roll out. Congressman Lance
specifically complained about her rejection because she had the time to appear
on The Daily Show to talk about the
Affordable Care Act, but she can’t make the trip up to the Hill? Lance stated, “We could subpoena her,
but usually the way the system works is that the Cabinet secretaries come
before the committees of jurisdiction.
I would hope that the secretary would come before the committee. Chairman [Fred] Upton is a very fair
person” (Kopan 2013).
A
concerned constituent wrote to the Star Ledger in the Letter to the Editor
section, and brought up a point about Lance’s view on Obamacare and the recent
events with the government shutdown.
He speaks of the motivation behind Lance’s opposition to Obamacare, and
that there may be an issue with his failure to represent specifically his constituents’ needs. He brings up some very interesting
information that I did not know of previously. In the last election cycle, Lance specifically received
support through funds by PAC from the medical device industry. His main argument has been that many
jobs will be lost, there will be no net reduction in the cost of healthcare and
investment in research and development in the healthcare industry would be
reduced. However, this constituent
is saying that, “congressman [Lance] opposes the Affordable Care Act because
reforms threaten the favored position of his political base. He has never offered a solution to a
dysfunctional system that makes some very comfortable but leaves many without
access to affordable healthcare or on the brink of insolvency." He has also argued-with little backup as to why he is
arguing it- that there should be a delay on the specific tax on medical device
products. This most definitely
points to him doing the best to benefit those who put through funds for his
last campaign. Now, is this what
the Framers intended for each Representative to be acting and making decisions
in Congress? I highly doubt it,
and if Lance is making decisions like these, what other Congressmen are doing
the same? I think this may be one
of the reasons why the public has such a negative view of our governing body.
**Sources:
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