House GOP wants Obamacare — for themselves

April 30--Oh, those wascally wabbits!

What won't they think of next?

The Hill, which covers politics and government in the nation's capital, reported last week that "a new amendment to the House Republicans' ObamaCare replacement bill exempts members of Congress and their staff from its effects."

Well, ain't that nice?

What's good for the goose, apparently isn't good for the gander.

The story said that changes to the bill would allow states to apply for waivers for certain ObamaCare provisions, such as a ban on insurers charging premiums based on a customer's health and the requirement that insurers' basic health plans cover certain services, like prescription drugs and mental health.

But the amendment submitted by Republicans "exempts members of Congress and their staffs to ensure that they will still be protected by those ObamaCare provisions," it said.

In other words, we hate ObamaCare when it gets us votes.

But not when we're buying insurance.

Naturally, Democrats, when they spotted the amendment, had a field day, charging that Republicans wanted to take away protections for us, but not for themselves.

A GOP aide told The Hill that U.S. Rep. Thomas MacArthur (R-N.J.) was working with Republican leadership to get rid of the language.

"Congressman MacArthur does not believe members of Congress or their staff should receive special treatment and is working with House leadership to make absolutely clear that members of Congress and staff are subject to the same rules, provisions, and protections as all other Americans," the aide said.

She blamed the language on the Senate Budget Committee.

But, The Hill said, Senate Republicans disputed that.

The story said that a Washington Post/ABC News poll last week found that 70 percent of those surveyed want pre-existing condition protections to apply nationwide and not be up to each state.

Here's my thought: Members of Congress claim to be public servants.

A bunch are millionaires now -- and several of them got that way in Washington.

So let them serve -- paid minimum wage and no benefits.

Maybe then, they'll be more concerned about the rest of us.

Keith Lawrence, 270-691-7301, klawrence@messenger-inquirer.com.

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