US House Moves to Defund ObamaCare and Plannned Parenthood

Today in Washington, D.C. - - Feb 18, 2011:
Last night, the U.S. House voted to reverse the compromise Net Neutrality rules passed by the FCC in December. The House is also involved in a marathon debate which includes 583 amendments on a government funding bill that would cut up to $100 billion off of President Barack Obama's federal budget for the current fiscal year.

Today, the House passed (240-185) the amendment to end federal funding for abortion provider Planned Parenthood. Ten Democrats joined all Republicans except seven voted to end funding. The measure will eliminate about $330 million through the end of September for "preventative-health services" at Planned Parenthood clinics across the country. While Planned Parenthood may not use funding for Abortions they are able to to underwrite their other cost of operations with the addressed Federal funding. The House must still vote for final passage on the underlying spending bill before the cuts head to the Senate for a possible vote if Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid schedules a vote on the bill.

The House also voted (239-187) to block funding to implement Obamacare - the nation’s health care law. The House voted to prohibit any funds be used by the Internal Revenue Service to carry out the law’s mandate that Americans buy health insurance and approved a plan to not pay the salaries of any federal employee involved in implementing the health care law.

The House is is expected to vote to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Yesterday, the Senate passed (87-8) the two-year, $34.5 billion FAA Authorization Bill. The Senate bill also allocates $200 million annually to the Essential Air Service program that subsidizes airline flights to rural communities across the US. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) proposed an amendment to kill the EAS program but it was voted down. The FAA bill must now be considered by the House who has its own proposed four-year, $59.7 billion bill which passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday and calls for phasing out EAS.

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Tags: Washington, D.C., US Senate, US House, FAA Bill, defund, obamacare, Planned Parenthood, Net Neutrality, reduced spending To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!