The repeal of health care insurance reform is just another dog and pony show

Now that the dog and pony show in the U.S. House is over and Republicans have placated their base and pretended they repealed health care insurance reform, I want to see the other half of their campaign mantra of repeal and replace.

On Wednesday every single Republican voted for the budget-busting repeal of the historic health care insurance reform; another pure show and tell move for the teabagger base that controls the GOP that will add $230 billion in the first decade and over a trillion dollars in the second decade to the federal budget deficit. It will also bar more than 32 million Americans from access to lifesaving health care, raise health insurance premiums, take away prescription drug benefits, allow insurance companies to go back to cutting off coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions and kick millions of young people under the age of 26 off their parents insurance plans.

There is, of course, no plan to replace the reform, but that is typical of Republicans. The good news is we will not go back to the old, broken health care system because the Senate will not take it up, and even if that occurred, the President will veto the budget busting bill that repeals it. So, it was just another political dog and pony show Republicans are famous for.

They can sure campaign well, but they simply cannot govern.

These cuts, of course, didn’t apply to the health insurance plans Republican members of Congress receive, and they had no problem repealing affordable health care for 32 million Americans while gladly accepting generous, federally subsidized government health care insurance.

I would like to call on my Congressman, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, to give up his government health care, as well as the lifetime health care benefits he receives for serving in the Michigan Senate. It's kind of a sad commentary that he has better health benefits for serving in the state Senate for less than eight years than someone who served 20 years in the military.

In fact, I call on all House Republicans and the 14 misguided Democrats who voted to kill health insurance for 32 million Americans to give up their government health care, too.