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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Health Care

News                                                                                                                             
NationalJournal | Are GOP Leaders Going Soft on 'Obamacare'?
Top tea partiers in Congress openly worry about the commitment to defund the health care law.

Econ Comments                                                                                                             
Politico | Why I voted to repeal health reform
We are one year removed from the passage of the Affordable Care Act and nearly two months past a vote in the House to repeal it. Since that first vote was cast, my constituents remind me at every town hall meeting I hold that they are overwhelmingly opposed to this law. That is why I supported repeal.
NationalJournal | Look on the Bright Side of Health Reform, Sebelius Tells Congress
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is set to fulfill her role as the health care reform law’s top cheerleader on Wednesday, when she testifies in front of a Senate Finance Committee hearing to mark the law’s first anniversary.
NRO | Obamacare Marches On
What are Republicans doing to stop it? Not much.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
Econlog | Health Care Prior to Stagnation
Keep in mind, though, that even if we had not expanded third-party payments, health care spending probably would have risen faster than other spending. That is, I think that the inflation-adjusted demand for health care has been on a long upward trend
Heritage Foundation | Obamacare Ties Hands of Congress to Control Funding
Within its 2,700 pages, Obamacare has been given billions of dollars in advance appropriations—$6 billion was immediately appropriated, while over $105 billion was appropriated for the years following. In this way, the 111th Congress made spending decisions for years in advance, making a clear “attempt to handcuff the current Congress and prevent it from determining current levels of spending,” Congressman Istook told members of the committee.
Heritage Foundation | The “Untouchable” $23.6 Billion
This $23.6 billion is part of the $105.5 billion appropriated by the last Congress to fund Obamacare.  The remainder (Think of it as post-dated checks for the other $81.9 billion.) automatically becomes available between now and FY2019.