House Votes To Defund Obama Amnesties | More Obamacare Flaws And Failures On Display

Today in Washington, D.C. - Jan. 14, 2015:
The House convened at 9 AM.
The House immediately took up and passed at 12:05 PM, after approving amendments as detailed below, H.R. 240 (236 - 191) — "Making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes."

Prior to passage the following Amendments passed  to H.R. 240 follow:
Amendemnt No 1 by Mr. Aderholt (Passed 237-190) - To prevent any funds from whatever source to be used to carry-out the Executive actions announced on November 20, 2014 to grant deferred action to certain unlawful aliens and for other purposes, and four of the `Morton Memos' on prosecutorial discretion and immigration enforcement priorities issued in 2011 and 2012 that effectively prevent certain classes of unlawful aliens from being removed from the country. Declares that no funds may be used to carry-out any substantially similar policies to those defunded. Declares that the policies defunded and any substantially similar policies have no statutory or constitutional basis and therefore no legal effect. Provides that no funds may be used to grant any Federal benefit to any alien as a result of the policies defunded.

Amendment No. 2 by Mrs. Blackburn (Passed 218-209) - To provide that no funds may be used to consider new, renewal or previously denied DACA applications.

Amendment No. 3 by Mr. DeSantis (Passed 278-149) - To require that DHS treat any alien convicted of any offense involving domestic violence, sexual abuse, child molestation, or child abuse or exploitation as within the categories of aliens subject to DHS's highest civil immigration enforcement.

Amendment No. 4 by Mr. Salmon (Passed 253-171) - Expressing a sense of Congress that the Executive Branch should not pursue policies that disadvantage the hiring of U.S. citizens and those lawfully present in the United States by making it economically by Mr. Schock, numbered 5 printed in Part B of House Report 114-2 to express a sense of Congress that the Administration should stop putting the interest of immigrants who worked within the legal framework to come to the US behind those who came here illegally.

Amendment No. 5 by Mr. Schock (Passed 260-167)  - Expressing a sense of Congress that the Administration should stop putting the interest of immigrants who worked within the legal framework to come to the US behind those who came here illegally.

Prior to the passage of the bill, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) spoke on the floorin support of the House’s efforts to stop President Obama’s unilateral actions on immigration. During his remarks, he directly quoted each of the 22 times the president said he didn't have authority to take this action.

The House then took up and passed at 12:25 PM H.R. 37 (271 - 154) — "To make technical corrections to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, to enhance the ability of small and emerging growth companies to access capital through public and private markets, to reduce regulatory burdens, and for other purposes."

No other bills are being considered today.

The Senate is not in session today and will reconvene on Friday. On Wednesday and Thursday, House and Senate Republicans are meeting for a retreat to discuss policy and strategy in Hershey, PA. Senate Democrats are holding their retreat in Baltimore, MD.


Yesterday, Senator John Boozman (R-AR) took to the floor of the Senate encouraged his colleagues in the Senate to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.  In his speech he said, "The Senate has an opportunity to pass legislation that is a commonsense plan to improve our nation’s energy supply by approving the Keystone XL pipeline," He also noted that "This is good news as we work to reduce our dependence on oil from regions of the world that are hostile toward our country and it’s good news for Arkansas.

On another topic, as the Obama administration continues to implement Obamacare, Americans are seeing more of its flaws and failures up close.

Despite the promises made by Democrats when they passed the unpopular law that it would lower health care costs, the Chicago Tribune reported last week, “Workers continue to be squeezed by rising insurance costs, eroding benefits and stagnant wages, the report from the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund found. Nationwide, the average contribution an employee made to an insurance premium in 2013 and the average deductible together represented 9.6% of the median income of American households with members under age 65. That is up from 8.4% in 2010 and nearly double the 5.3% that households were paying for employer-provided health coverage in 2003. ‘Workers are paying more but getting less protective benefits,’ the report's authors noted.”

Another promise made by the authors of Obamacare was that it would bend the health care cost curve down. In addition, proponents of the law have urged states to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, calling it “free money.” The Los Angeles Times reported recently that there’s no free lunch in California. “California's budget, which bounced back after years of deficits, is now being squeezed by rising healthcare costs for the poor and for retired state workers. . . . Enrollment in the state's healthcare program for the poor, known as Medi-Cal, has exploded by 50% since President Obama's signature law took effect. Although the federal government picks up most of the tab, state costs have also been growing, and faster than expected. . . . Obama's new immigration policy could also increase healthcare costs. More than a million California immigrants who are in the country illegally are expected to be protected from deportation, and many will probably qualify for Medi-Cal, but those costs cannot yet be calculated, according to the Brown administration.

Meanwhile, the editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal warn readers to expect a difficult time with their taxes this year, thanks to Obamacare. “Get ready for another Obamacare surprise,” they write. “As if canceled policies, dropped doctors, higher premiums, higher deductibles and enrollment nightmares aren’t enough, millions of people who were supposed to be most helped by the law are about to be hit with a tax bill. As reported by The Wall Street Journal’s Stephanie Armour and Louise Radnofsky, as many as half of the 6.8 million people who received Affordable Care Act subsidies in 2014 may have to return some of that money to the government. Ms. Armour and Ms. Radnofsky explained that enrollees were awarded subsidies based on estimates of their 2014 income, but millions of those estimates were wrong and resulted in subsidies that were too generous. . . .

“So millions of people could face a tax bill that in some cases will be modest but could be as high as $2,500 for families at the upper end of the subsidy eligibility range. Some people may have to reimburse overpayments in full. These are the people who were supposed to be least able to afford insurance. Equally as bad for these 2014 filers is the fact that no one — not even professional tax preparers — has any experience with the IRS forms that reconcile the subsidies. So lower-income earners will face the most complicated process in complying with Obamacare’s individual mandate, a process that is expected to force many of them to shell out even more money to have their returns professionally prepared.”

The LVRJ editors conclude, “These are not unintended consequences. When lawmakers create a new entitlement and put the IRS in charge of verifying Americans’ health coverage, no one can expect simplicity and efficiency. This tax season will provide one more reason for Americans to loathe Obamacare.”

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