The Battle Over Obamacare

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Air Date: October 3, 2013

Host: Jim Schneider

Guest: Dr. Jane Orient

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Dr. Jane Orient is a medical doctor and is the Executive Director of the Association of Physicians and Surgeons. They are a non-partisan, professional association of physicians in all types of practices and specialties across the country. They are dedicated to the highest ethical standards of the Oath of Hippocrates and to preserve the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship and the practice of private medicine. Dr. Orient has been in solo practice of general internal medicine since 1981 and is a clinical lecturer in medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. She is the author of ‘Your Doctor is Not In: Healthy Skepticism about National Health Care’.

The battle in Washington over the continuing resolution continues. Of course, Obamacare is one-half of this controversy. On that subject, Dr. Orient believes that Washington has it backwards. She explained her position by noting that the House has the power to defund Obamacare. The House does not need approval from the two men who have the power to stop the repeal of Obamacare because if the House doesn’t appropriate funds, by law it can’t be spent. So all that needs to take place is for 218 people to stand firm on the decision not to fund Obamacare. To date the House has decided to fund the rest of the government so if President Obama and the Senate insist on refusing to spend the money on government operation, they are the ones responsible for the current level of consternation.

In other words, as Jim put it, ‘The House holds the purse-strings.’ The problem is, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid doesn’t seem to understand that concept. To prove his point, Jim played audio from an interview of Reid conducted by a CNN reporter. In the clip, Reid accuses Republicans of being obsessed with Obamacare while appearing to show little concern for cancer patients because he feels the House has no right to pick and choose what portion of government it wants to fund. However, as both Dr. Orient and Jim point out, that’s exactly one of the functions of the House of Representatives because that function is part of their responsibilities as outlined by the Constitution.

Review this vital edition of Crosstalk to learn more about Obamacare and how the “rollout” is affecting the nation as well as how it could affect you.

More Information

www.aapsonline.org
www.aapsonline.org/defund

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