Obamacare U-Turn
- Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:22am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is hoping his state can be exempted from one of the most controversial parts of the health care bill that he voted for: the individual mandate.
Last week, Wyden sent a letter to the Oregon Health Authority encouraging the state to seek an exemption from the individual mandate allowed under section 1332, because “the heart of real health reform is affordability and not mandates.”
That section also allows states to set up their own health care systems in 2017 (by applying for a waiver) as long as they meet minimum federal requirements. But, Wyden said, he intends to introduce legislation soon that will accelerate that date to 2014, and might try to move the date up even more.
Wyden, who was influential in getting section 1332 included in the national health care bill, said he “wrote Section 1332 specifically with Oregon in mind.” He has been an ardent supporter of individual mandates in the past, authoring the Wyden-Bennett health care bill that included such a requirement.
“Oregonians have demonstrated again and again that a one size fits all approach from Washington is not the best approach,” he said in the letter.



















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Comments (134)
Johnnyyuma
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 10:30amJust keep in mind that fabulous march to pass the bill and all those tea party people shouting kill the bill… Their arrogance was really stomach turning…
Report Post »Luciani
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 10:24amI really want to see just one state say to Washington: NO, we are not going along, no matter what…lawsuits, military or whatever they use to enforce this disaster. Texas, please set the example, we need more politicians with an independent spirit mixed with a courage long lost in correctness.
Report Post »HeReturnsSoon
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 10:12amI can’t wait to read all the addendums to this massive health “care” bill. Oh, Pfff, did i say read.
Report Post »StrinaM
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 9:36amIf you don’t like the bill… here’s an idea… DON’T VOTE FOR IT in the first place!
Report Post »anna8
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 9:22amHave you seem this??
**************************************
Under the new health care bill – did you know that all real estate
transactions are now subject to a 3.8% Sales Tax? The bulk of
these new taxes don’t kick in until 2013 (presumably after Obamas
re-election). You can thank Nancy, Harry and Barack and your
local Democrat Congressman for this one. If you sell your
$400,000 home, there will be a $15,200 tax. This bill is set to
screw the retiring generation who often downsize their homes.
Is this Hope & Change great or what? We can vote them out
in November and demand that they eliminate the bill or at the
very least defund it. Then in 2012 repeal it.
Oh, you weren’t aware this was in the Obamacare bill? Guess what,
you aren’t alone. There are more than a few congressman that aren’t
aware of it either. AND, there are a few other surprises lurking
Report Post »chattycathy
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 3:25pmAnna, I agree that there’s MUCH more detrimental stuff in this bill than we can ever imagine. It’s amazing to me that ANY of the Congressmen and Senators who voted for this bill will be returned to office. Simple fact is that every politician who voted for this bill was voting to turn this country into a Socialist country or worse and they knew EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING.
However, I looked into this after reading your post and, supposedly, this tax is being imposed on upper income earners only (http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/realestate.asp). However, I am furious anyway because I am tired of the way Democrats constantly pin one class of Americans against the other. It goes against the very princples of Christianity and it is nothing more than another attempt at redistribution of wealth.
Report Post »Trance
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 9:21amThese senators already wrote in the bill that they don’t have to participate in Obamacare. Oh yeah, the people who wrote the bill don’t have to participate either. If they gave a damn about the people, they would have exempted everybody else as well. These people are disgusting.
Report Post »GRAMBO
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 6:34pmIn a Baker City, Oregon Town Hall meeting June 27, 2009 Ron Wyden was asked if he would be willing to put himself and his family on the health care plan they pass. His response was “YOU BETCHA”!
Is anyone reminded of John Kerry’s FLIP-FLOP?
Report Post »R and K
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 9:12amMe too, Regmgr. Is it possible he’s going back to DC after the election? Most likely.
What has happened to our state?
Report Post »anna8
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 9:09amJonathon, thank you for the news,the Dem‘s are stupid and the American people aren’t stupid!!
Report Post »RUMBAROCK
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 9:06amTHE AMERICAN PEOPLE KNEW THIS BILL WAS A DISSASTER…THEY SHOULD OF LISTEN TO US! TIME FOR “ WE THE PEOPLE ” TO TAKE OVER!
Report Post »regmgr
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 9:06amI live in OR and this Senator is running away from his president so fast he’s a blur. Unfortunately there are enough gullible people in Oregon to believe his change of heart.
Report Post »SCHEXbp
Posted on September 4, 2010 at 8:49amRemember over a decade ago when he was running for Senator(?), he was the politician who was presented with a large globe during a debate & asked to point out Bosnia. Even though the (female) interviewer was basically pointing her finger north of Greece, he would not hazard a guess. He blamed it on “no glasses,” so he must be legally blind. So Oregonians will re-elect this dummy….
Report Post »dollfin
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:59amSince this terrible socialist program was enacted AGAINST the will of the people, there has to be something we, as citizens can do. It is against us, and our constitution, that it was even enacted, and signed into law. I think good citizens may have to take matters into their own hands. This is illegal to begin with! I don’t want my tax dollars to even begin to go to this! Tax revolt good citizens? They can’t do it without us.
Report Post »joechan8282
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 12:38pmI am 52 years old and have voted since I was 18. Now I don’t trust congress to represent me. Even the ones I like at election time somehow fail to deliver over and over again. I’m going to give this thing another election cycle. My hope is that the states can fight this bill. I am going to continue to pay my taxes though.
Report Post »R and K
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:56amOh my gosh, the people we have in Congress have absolutely no shame, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.
If you vote, know who you are voting for. Do your duty, and your homework.
Report Post »RNCman
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:55amMy health insurance went UP $2400 a year, thanks to BHO.
Report Post »We need to clean house starting in Nov.
It’s time we took our country back…
Freelancer
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 10:00amYou are very lucky…. With my premium increase and the increases in co-pays, mine went up $4,900 for 2011. Thank you Communist-in-Chief and Ms. Pigleosi….
Report Post »hazmat2010
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:55amtime for the WE BULLS fall down! time to clean up the toxic waste in DC!
Report Post »JCoolman
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:47amHypocrite. Is there a politician that believes in anything? They dont even believe in what they voted on a few months ago. Maybe. Just maybe. You should…I dont know…READ THE BILL before voting. Its very frustrating and great to see at the same time. The truth will set you free, Wyden. The truth will set you free.
Report Post »Patrickj28
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:59amNo. I’m sure he totally believes in it. He’s just trying to get reelected.
Report Post »haditup2here
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 9:42amThe only thing politicians believe in is that they’re entitled to continue to represent you in Congress, being as they’re so much smarter than everyone else.
Report Post »warner
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:41amSee what happens when you vote for a bill and you have no frick‘n clue what’s in it! IDIOTS!
Report Post »PaleRyder
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:38amWell,it’s election time and that means giving the appearance that you care about your state and not just a frothy little lapdog for harry reid. The lies and deceit from the dems is over-the-top this election cycle and every single one of them needs to be chased from dc and never to be heard or seen in public again.
Report Post »AntiLibtard
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 1:56pmThey also need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And have all of their money and possessions conviscated to pay for their trials and lifetime incarceration.
Report Post »Gadsden_one
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:38amMy State is way ahead of you, senator Wyden. The people of Missouri passed Propostion C in August, which effectively blocks any federal health care mandates. It was a landslide victory passing with 71% vote.
Show Me!
Report Post »MaduraMi
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 12:43pmUntil the Feds pull and Arizona on you.
Report Post »Gigantopithecus
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 1:56pmNo worries, we’ll have some new feds soon.
Report Post »sodizzy
Posted on September 4, 2010 at 2:36amThat’s why you are the most admirable Show Me state!
Report Post »Ms. Right
Posted on September 4, 2010 at 1:10pmThe dishonest mainstream media is declaring the passing of Prop C in Missouri was purely symbolic but I don’t think so. We aren’t like California where they have rogue lefty judges who will overturn the will of the people. No, the Feds will have to sue us just like they did Arizona.
Never in my life have I seen our government so hostile toward the very people who pay their salaries. It took them a while to build up such arrogance so it will take us a while to bring them down to reality. I’m up for the struggle, though, and the good people of Missouri are proving that they are as well.
Report Post »gmickeyd
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:37amHere is a guy that calls Oregon home but raises his family in New York. He needs to stop tell us what he does is for Oregonians. This is just another one of his moves to keep is job. We already have a state run health plan that is killing our grow and he whats to be exempt. Not to avoid it but to make it worse after he gets his senate seat back. It just leave me with 2 words to say FIRE WYDEN!!!
Report Post »pinnwoods
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:34amI am hoping that after the November elections we will be able to get rid of the whole healthcare debacle all together.
Report Post »Especially when the majority of the country doesn’t want it.
Rickfromillinois
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:32amHe helped get the bill passed, then he changes his mind and wants to change it. It is too bad that he didn’t have his epiphany prior to shoving the bill down the throats of the unwilling public. Could the recent polls numbers have something to do with the sudden change? I know that the Democrats were aware that the bill was unpopular with the public, but I believe that they assumed that by the time the election rolled around the public would have forgotten about it. The Democrats low poll numbers is the fault of the unreliable public. The public is not supposed to be informed or remember what took place in Congress a year or so earlier.
Report Post »jlee80644
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 7:25pmI would ask this of all politicians of any party before passing a bill of this magnitude. Would you be comfortable with the other party in control of what you’re creating? The R‘s and D’s don’t matter anymore. They’re all the same. Would the “hands off my body” people be for the bill if it came about under Bush? I guess if you pick up the tab it’s all good.
Report Post »tprince
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:31amyep you nailed it.
Report Post »broon
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:31amGuess you needed to pass the bill to understand what’s in it huh ?
Report Post »iatoala
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:29amMake me want to puke, this bill is killing me!
Report Post »petrainoregon
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 10:56amHe is going to get reelected here again. Oregon is run by the libs on the west side of the mountains, and all of us to the east have to live with the useless decisions and bad judgment. I’ve always said that they will elect a monkey wearing a diaper as long as it has a D next to its name. And to make matters worse, we will probably get Kitzhaber back again as Governor. Couldn’t get enough of him the first time.
Report Post »SeahawkFan
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 11:43amPETRAINOREGON, same scenario here in Washington state. The Dem. dinosaurs like Cantwell and Murray are elected by Snohomish, King, and Pierce counties. The rest of the state (90+% of the geography) vote R, but the leftists push their candidates so hard and spin things so hard we are held captive.
Report Post »TyrellM
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 2:05pmThe thing that’s worst for me is I living WA and work in OR… These libs rape me in taxes each year, I have no say in how they’re allocated, yet I get none of it back. OR is a lot like CA in its voting issues. The I5 corridor has the vast majority of the population and is vastly liberal, however by area the rural/agricultural population. They make up most of the state’s income and area, yet are not represented at all; just like southern Cali vs. northern Cali.
Report Post »Alexa
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 5:54pmI actually want to respond to PETRAINOREGON. It is not “west of the mountains” it is the ubber liberal I-5 corridor. We on the coast are just as disgusted as you. Don’t put that out there Dudley is going to win!
Report Post »TerriLPN
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 8:29amMany States, Hope to Repeal Obamacare!! Ohio one of them http://www.theohioproject.com/ Drs and Nurses Do Not Like the New Law! It Must Be Repealed!!
cornellpcc
Posted on September 4, 2010 at 9:15amNot much in the news these days to dispute “if you like your plan you can keep your plan”. However, few will be able to do so as most plans won’t meet the “grandfather” status. I signed the Ohio petition!
Report Post »DaveInNC8
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 12:19am”Fathom the hypocrisy that Congress wants every citizen to prove they are insured, but not everyone has to prove they are citizens.” ~Ben Stein
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