Last week's House vote to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare, was called fruitless and wholly symbolic by pundits and Democrats. The editorial pages and shows have been covering this topic extensively. Basically, the general consensus is that the repeal has as much of a chance of passing as the Cubs have of winning the World Series. And by all accounts, this is a fair assessment of the situation.
Even though the repeal will inevitably be a failure, a loss should not discourage Republicans too much. After all, repeal efforts have riled up Republicans' conservative base as well as its growing libertarian constituents. Most importantly, they have shown Republican constituents that they have not forgotten the major reason they were sent to Congress last election: This will play to the Republican favor in 2012.
While outlooks appear grim, Republicans should not stop working just because they have satisfied their base. They should continue to support a repeal vote in the Senate, accept its inevitable failure and focus on passing legislation that advances their health care agenda that has a larger chance of passing in Congress.
Regardless of what the media and Democrats say, the Republican party is not solely a ""party of no."" In fact, many Republicans, from Congressman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to Congressman Ron Paul, R-Tex., have valuable input in the health care debate.
For instance, a Republican plan to reform medical litigation would reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits, leading to lower costs and fewer redundant medical tests. This is an area that President Obama has challenged Democrats to work with Republicans on, and it is a challenge that politicians can easily rise up to. This type of bipartisanship is just one of the ideas Republicans conveyed during the original debates, an idea that was ignored by the Pelosi and Reid Congress.
Another Republican proposal called for educating patients about when to consult a clinic for non-emergency purposes instead of emergency rooms. This addresses a long-standing problem that has wasted government dollars and precious time in emergency rooms across the nation. If Republicans propose such common-sense initiatives, they may be able to gather bipartisan support and bolster their credibility at the same time.
Further hopes of bipartisanship lie in a recent executive order. Obama called for a review of government regulations in hopes of easing the burden on businesses. This is a rare point of agreement for the president and Republicans. If they work together, I am sure they will find examples of these regulations throughout the myriad of comprehensive reform bills from the last Congress.
In the coming months, Republicans and Obama should parse through the legislation to find such regulation. One obvious example is the 1099 tax filing requirement that burdens business with even more IRS paperwork. Luckily, Republicans have already introduced legislation that will repeal this provision, and Obama has already expressed support for it in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
So the Republicans have a strategic choice to make in this Congress. Will they be a roadblock to improvement? Or will they begin to put forth positive reforms that will help patients and lower costs? For the sake of improvement over stagnation, I hope they choose the latter. The Republicans have a lot to offer, and I hope they step up and show the American people that fact.
Don't get me wrong. I still support repealing ObamaCare. It's unconstitutional to mandate that all citizens purchase health insurance and it's wrong to tell insurance companies how to spend their money, who to cover and how to charge for their services. Along with increased taxes and empty promises for lower costs, the law's blatant breach of freedom is the main reason I still want to see a full repeal.
But unless there is a Republican president and majority throughout Congress, the repeal cannot happen. So until then, Republicans should pick their battles wisely, make positive reforms and, as Cubs fans always say, ""Wait ‘til next year"" to see if a full repeal is still necessary. I bet it will be.
Matt Beaty is a sophomore majoring in math and computer science. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
