McConnell: No Congressional Subsidies for Obamacare

by Todd Beamon, NewsMax: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that members of Congress should not receive any taxpayer-financed subsidies to pay for Obamacare.

"I don't think members of Congress ought to be treated any differently in any way from anybody else in America," the Kentucky Republican told former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett on his morning radio program. "We should not get any carve-outs from Obamacare." . . .

McConnell said he supported legislation proposed by Republican Sen. David Vitter that would require all members of Congress, the president, vice president, and Obama administration appointees to buy health insurance on the Obamacare exchange without the subsidies.

Vitter, of Louisiana, has also charged other Capitol Hill lawmakers with "lying" to their constituents when claiming that no Obamacare exemption exists for themselves or their staffs.
Sen. David Vitter attacked fellow Capitol Hill legislators on Thursday for "lying" by telling constituents that no Obamacare exemption exists for them and their staffs.

"Some are lying, trying to mislead the public about the Obamacare exemption for Congress," the Louisiana Republican said in a statement published by The Daily Caller. "President Obama recently issued a special rule for Congress and congressional staff to get a special subsidy to purchase health insurance on the Obamacare Exchange unavailable to every other American at similar income levels.

"That’s an exemption, plain and simple," he said.

Vitter has long opposed federal Obamacare subsidies for lawmakers and their staffs. He has proposed an amendment that would require all members of Congress, the president, vice president, and Obama administration appointees to buy health insurance on the Obamacare exchange without taxpayer-funded subsidies, the Daily Caller reports.

To illustrate his point, Vitter's office released a letter that fellow Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, wrote to a constituent. The idea that legislators are getting special treatment on Obamacare "could not be further from the truth," Landrieu said.

"Once again, let me assure you that there is no exemption for Members of Congress and their staff in the [Affordable Care Act], nor will I ever support an ‘exemption’ for myself or my staff," Landrieu wrote, according to the Daily Caller.

But in a letter Vitter wrote to the same constituent, he said: "Senator Landrieu is trying to mislead you, to put it kindly. Others might say she is lying."

"As you have no doubt read, President Obama recently issued a special rule for Congress only," he added. "Under it, Congress and congressional staff get a special subsidy to purchase health insurance on the Obamacare Exchange unavailable to every other American at similar income levels.

"That special subsidy is worth approximately $11,000 per family," Vitter claimed.b"I'm totally opposed to any preferential or special treatment for members of Congress when it comes to Obamacare,” McConnell said. . . . [Full Story]

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