Bengh . . . Obamacare!
The least productive Congress in the history of U.S. Congresses is taking this last chance in 2013 to nail down that title. The House has eight days of work left this year, and a deadline of January 15 for coming up with some kind of budget to avert yet another disastrous government shutdown. So what are they doing with the very few days left of congressional business? Having "oversight" hearings about Obamacare.
Four of them. Because what else?
The Republicans’ strategy of digging deeper in the ongoing implementation of the Affordable Care Act and its impact should come into wider view by year’s end, as news about lingering glitches with the federal online marketplace possibly fades. House committees conducting the latest round of hearings includes Ways and Means, Small Business, Energy and Commerce, and Oversight and Government Reform, which convenes Friday in Apache Junction, Ariz., to explore the issue of canceled health plans.
Nice job there, Rep. Darrell Issa, getting out of Washington on Friday for your "field hearing" in Arizona. We wouldn't want you to have spend a whole five days in D.C., after all. He's going to "spotlight Obama's 'broken promise' and its impact on millions of Americans who buy their own health care plans." Since the website's working now, he has to do something. So he'll try to breathe life into those debunked horror stories about people who are getting comprehensive insurance coverage to replace their crappy plans.
Meanwhile, from the media branch of the GOP, Fox News totally thinks a previously broken-but-now-fixed website is totally an impeachable offense. "He's not effectively implementing that program we don't want implemented! Impeach!" If you think that this makes absolutely no sense, congratulations. You're a smart person.
Meanwhile, too, House Speaker John Boehner still completely hates Obamacare, but he pretty much doesn't have any idea what he's going to do about it other than mumble "patient-centered" something something. Impeach!