Never mind what David Frum says: Minority Leader John Boehner’s call to repeal the health care bill is getting a warm reception from several prominent Republican candidates in Connecticut.
Three GOP candidates for U.S. Senate, Rob Simmons, Linda McMahon and Peter Schiff, all back the idea.
“This is not the time to give up and go home. Now is the time to fight. We will take this battle all the way to November, and we will win,” Simmons said in an email to supporters. “Stand up and fight with me to repeal this bill and restore the American free enterprise system that has been the envy of the world for more than 200 years.
“Linda absolutely supports repealing this misguided bill, which increases the deficit, adds to the debt, raises premiums on working families, slashes Medicare, and places an even greater burden on small businesses with higher costs and mandates,” says McMahon spokesman Shawn McCoy. “Linda believes we need common sense, bipartisan health care reform to address unsustainable rising costs.”
Schiff also favors repeal, said his spokeswoman, Jennifer Millikin.
“Our political leaders have once again chosen to offer us an entitlement, instead of solving the underlying problems in our health care system that prior acts of congress helped create,” Schiff said in a statement.
“Common sense dictates that prior to adding a new entitlement Congress should first solve the huge problems in the ones that already exist. Such sheer incompetence reinforces that we need to send people to Washington who aren’t politicians and who understand what drives markets and business, otherwise we’re never going to turn our economy around. We’ll continue to fall back to mediocrity, instead of being the world leader we should be.”
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is keeping track of which Republicans have taken the repeal pledge. The DSCC clearly hopes to make political hay out of opposition to the health care overhaul.
“”Republicans in Washington want their Senate candidates to run on the repeal of health care reform, and many like Mark Kirk, Kelly Ayotte, and Trey Greyson have succumbed to the pressure from the establishment,” said DSCC Spokesman Eric Schultz.
“Others, like Mike Castle, Jane Norton, and John Boozman have dodged the question. We believe that every Republican should be clear on if they would support the repeal of health care reform if elected to the Senate. If Mike Castle is going to look voters in the eye and pledge to repeal health care reform which will have afforded coverage to 109,000 Delawareans, eliminated the doughnut hole for seniors, offered tax credits to small businesses, lowered the deficit, and ended appalling insurance practices – then good luck to him.”
What about the House? Three Republicans running against Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy in the 5th have taken the pledge.
“This matter is not finished,” Justin Bernier said in an email to supporters last night, “because it will take at least two years to fully implement the bill, we have time to put on the brakes.
“By electing a Republican House we can ‘starve the beast’ — denying billions of dollars in funding necessary to implement the bill. Without that funding, the takeover cannot take effect. To stop this bill we must win back the House. Furthermore, I believe Republicans should continue to propose low-cost and no-cost improvements to the health care system, even if the Democratic leadership will not listen.”
Republican Mark Greenberg, who is also seeking to unseat Murphy, backs repeal of a bill that he says puts the nation on course for European-style socialism.
“When I am elected to Congress, I will fight to repeal this disastrous piece of legislation. We can find ways to lower the cost of heath care without government intervention. You don’t tear down the whole house to repair the kitchen floor,” Greenberg said in a statement.
“This trillion dollar, job-killing piece of legislation endangers our children and grandchildren, and will saddle them with a debt that they can never repay.”
“One has to wonder what is next? The Obama -Murphy agenda has us clearly on the path to European socialism.”
Another Republican running in the 5th, state Sen. Sam Caligiuri, was the first candidate for federal office from Connecticut to sign the Club for Growth’s “Repeal It!” pledge, said his spokeswoman, Tiffany Romero Grossman.