10 ideas Republicans loved until Barack Obama became President
by Amy Lynn Smith
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It’s not the ideas they hate, is it?
Republican obstructionism isn’t exactly new in Washington, D.C. It’s been all the rage since Barack Obama was elected President. Since then, a majority of Republicans have gone to great lengths in an attempt to torpedo his Presidency.
The twisted irony is this: Many of the ideas President Obama and the Democrats have tried to put forth were actually Republican ideas first. So when you think about it, finding common ground and passing legislation that might, you know, help the American people, would be possible if Republicans weren’t hell-bent on attacking President Obama.
Here are 10 examples:
1. The Obamacare individual mandate. Before they became obsessed with bringing down Obamacare, Republicans had the idea of a free-rider fee for people who can afford health insurance but refuse to buy it, also known as the individual mandate. The free-rider fee is part of “Romneycare” in Massachusetts.
2. End-of-life counseling. Republicans also used to include counseling for end-of-life issues in their own healthcare proposals. But when President Obama liked the idea? Well, he just wants to kill your grandparents. Oh, and by the way, the so-called “death panels” are nothing of the kind. It’s simply about giving patients and their families the information they need to make the best decisions about the end-of-life care they want.
3. Donor disclosure. Before they opposed the DISCLOSE Act, Republican Congressional leaders were all for transparency in campaign contributions. How can we forget House GOP leader John Boehner proclaiming that “sunlight is the best disinfectant”?
4. Clean energy. There was once a day when Congressional Republicans made clean energy a priority. They supported national energy laboratories, hybrid-vehicle manufacturers and the development of electric car batteries. Now, of course, they want nothing to do with clean energy. After all, there are plenty of climate-change deniers to claim there’s no reason to make the investment.
5. Medicare cost savings. Before they accused Obamacare of “cutting” $700 billion from Medicare, Republicans in Congress proposed the same $700 billion in savings from reducing waste and inefficiencies in Medicare. But unlike the cuts made by Obamacare, which come from eliminating excess payments to providers (not patients), the GOP wanted to use the money for more tax cuts for the wealthy. Not to mention that Republicans have been trying to make cuts to Medicare for years, and still are. Vouchers, anyone?
6. Deficit-reduction commission. This one’s downright blatant. Republicans in Congress voted against their own bill to create a deficit-reduction commission because, according to a former GOP senator, they wanted to “stick it to the president.”
7. Welfare flexibility. After wanting more flexibility to eliminate red tape and move people out of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and into jobs, Mitt Romney, GOP governors and Congressional Republicans fought the idea when the Obama Administration proposed it.
8. Nuclear START treaty. Before they tried to block the nuclear START treaty negotiated by the Obama Administration, Republican leaders supported it under Presidents Reagan and Bush.
9. Gun violence prevention. Republicans in Congress helped President Reagan pass the Brady Bill establishing a national gun purchase background check system and pass a ban on military-style assault weapons. Now Republicans in Congress
oppose restoring the ban, and voted against closing the background check loophole that lets criminals buy guns easily at gun shows and over the Internet.
10. Upholding the Constitution. Many Republicans — especially Conservatives — say they live by the Constitution. But they can’t seem to make up their minds about the Constitution’s eligibility requirements to serve as President. Conservatives have, and still do, argue that if President Obama were born in a foreign country (which he wasn’t) to his American mother, he’d be ineligible to be President. But they don’t seem to have a problem with Tea Party darling Senator Ted Cruz running for President — even though he actually was born in a foreign country to an American mother.
