[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 11, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S860]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               OBAMACARE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I was surprised this morning to hear 
Republicans literally howling over President Obama's decision to ease 
the transition for medium-sized businesses to providing health 
insurance for all of their employees. Republicans have complained that 
health care reform is a burden to employers, but now they are 
complaining that President Obama is trying to ease that burden and 
smooth the transition to a new system. Think about that one.
  But this Republican duplicity should come as no surprise. After all, 
Republicans are the ones who invented the individual mandate. It was 
their idea. It is a conservative idea that every American has a 
responsibility to seek insurance to cover their health care needs, and 
the government has a responsibility to make that coverage accessible 
and affordable. But now Republicans are attacking their own brain 
child--the individual mandate. The individual mandate was their idea, 
and Republicans are willfully ignoring the fact that the Affordable 
Care Act creates a transition period for individuals to obtain 
insurance as well.
  It is time for Republicans to stop talking out of both sides of their 
mouths. If they have legitimate concerns about the Affordable Care Act, 
or ObamaCare, and not just political gripes, they should work with the 
President and the Democrats in Congress to fix and improve the law; 
otherwise, they should stop complaining and get out of the way.

                          ____________________