Under a wrinkle that dates back to enactment of the law, members of Congress and thousands of their aides are required to get their coverage through new state-based markets known as insurance exchanges.
But the law does not provide any obvious way for the federal government to continue paying its share of the premiums for the comprehensive coverage.
As you might imagine, the members of Congress (and their aides) are none too happy at being subjected to the same rules the common rabble will soon be “enjoying”.
In the “good-news-&-bad-news” category, there’s a tiny bit of good news…and plenty of bad.
First, the “Good” news, such as it is.
Senator Marco Rubio joined Ted Cruz in support of eliminating funding for this year’s implementation of Obamacare. We’ll need more than Rubio & Cruz on this, but it’s a start.
Normally on a Saturday morning we start with something more lighthearted. However, we had oneor two such posts yesterday, and this is more important.
On Thursday, Florida Senator Marco Rubio spoke to about 250 conservatives in downtown Washington. The conference is organized by the Faith and Freedom Coalition, a Christian conservative nonprofit organization. According to Annika McGinnis from McClatchy Newspapers, Rubio’s speech centered on American exceptionalism within a context of faith and family values:
“Nations and people all over the planet look to us and find inspiration and find the reality that if it’s possible here, it’s possible there,” Rubio said. “And that is where the American light and the American example can make the biggest difference in the world.”
Rubio took stabs at Democrats and the Obama administration, saying their view of how to achieve success is to “pull other people down.”
“They tell our fellow Americans that the reasons why they’re worse off is because other people are doing too well,” he said.
He said the Republican Party wasn’t anti-government.
“We believe government is an important institution in society,” he said. “It’s just not the most important institution in society.”
We don’t hear nearly enough of such talk. Quite the contrary: we have been told for years now that government needs to keep getting bigger, better and bolder. Rubio eloquently points out how wrongheaded such thinking is, and why.
His speech runs about 20 minutes, but I urge you to watch it all. You won’t regret the time, I promise.
Under a wrinkle that dates back to enactment of the law, members of Congress and thousands of their aides are required to get their coverage through new state-based markets known as insurance exchanges.
Two Heads are Better Than One 