No House majority likes to see its accomplishments buried in the graveyard of the Senate. That’s why Republicans, who cherished the Senate’s anti-majoritarian rules for the last two years, are already complaining about how their plans to repeal the health care law have just run into a dead end.
The logical solution to this problem, of course, is filibuster reform, unless you are Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), in which case it’s more repealing of things. Specifically, Bachmann wants to repeal President Obama and the Senate and replace them with something more sympathetic.
“This is not symbolic, this is why we were sent here and we will not stop until we repeal a president and put a president in the position of the White House who will repeal this bill, until we repeal the current Senate, put in a Senate that will listen to the American people and repeal this bill,” Bachmann said on the House floor Wednesday afternoon.
Bachmann also reprised her criticism of the law as the “crown jewel of socialism.”
“Obamacare as we know is the crown jewel of socialism. It is socialized medicine,” Bachmann said. “The American people spoke soundly and clearly at the ballot box in November and they said to us, Mr. Speaker, in no uncertain terms, repeal this bill. So today, this body will cast a vote to repeal Obamacare and to those across the United States who think this may be a symbolic act, we have a message for them.”
You can watch this portion of Bachmann’s speech below.
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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