Opinion

Who’s really responsible for Obamacare? The answer may surprise you

David Williams President, Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Font Size:

House and Senate Republicans would like you to believe that they are willing to do almost anything — including forcing a government shutdown or a default on the debt ceiling — to stop the implementation of Obamacare. They are rightly appalled at the damage that Obamacare is already doing to our economy and healthcare system, since the implementation thus far has been a train wreck. However, for all the debate, votes to repeal, and genuine opposition from Republicans in Congress, the truth is that the GOP and its profligate ways actually created Obamacare. The story begins in 2005.

Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress. Earmarks were considered the accepted way of doing business in Washington then and 2005 was the year that the infamous Bridge to Nowhere earmark was born. The plan was for the project to be funded for fiscal year (FY) 2006. The earmark’s “parents” were two prominent Republicans, the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) and Rep. Don Young (R-AK). The Bridge to Nowhere is now a part of American folklore as a project that many Alaskans didn’t want and the poster child for government waste.
The grassroots fought hard against the bridge and their efforts paid off as the Alaskan legislators were ultimately forced to drop the earmark from the appropriations bill. Conservative activists saw the power of working in concert to reduce government waste and pork-barrel spending.

Unfortunately, members of Congress didn’t learn the same lesson. While the grassroots was focused on enacting more conservative policies, Republicans in Congress remained focused on protecting their pet projects. The divide between elected Republicans and ordinary Americans on government spending was clear.

The Bridge to Nowhere was emblematic of the 2006 appropriations process, as Congress — both Republicans and Democrats — continued to increase its appetite for pork-barrel spending. Even though the media reported on voters’ distaste for earmarks, Congress, led by Republicans, kept on spending taxpayer money on wasteful ones, clueless to the rising sentiment against the practice. 2006 was a high point for earmarks, with Congress spending nearly $30 billion on those special interest projects like $1,000,000 for water-free urinals at the Department of Defense; $500,000 for the Sparta Teapot Museum in Sparta, North Carolina; and $250,000 for the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo, Iowa.

Republicans had previously warmed up to earmarks when then-Speaker Newt Gingrich used them in 1996 to help Republican freshmen get re-elected. So, by 2006, the track record of Republicans embracing earmarks was not a new phenomenon. It had, however, become completely out of control.

When Election Day rolled around in 2006 Republicans believed they were safe from the wrath of the voters. Leadership and committee chairmen thought their bits of bacon would secure them re-election so they could retain control of Congress.

But something funny happened on the way to the polls: citizens showed their frustration with earmarks and overspending by voting Republicans out and giving control of both the House and Senate back to the Democrats. Despite the Democrats own fondness for government largesse, the citizens wanted to punish those responsible for failing to hold the line on wasteful government spending.

In 2008, Barack Obama was elected president and — thanks to Democrat control of Congress — had the support needed to pass his top legislative priority: Obamacare.

Republicans regained control of the House in 2010, as citizens again expressed their frustration with government waste and issued a stinging rebuke to President Obama. The Democrats felt the voters wrath and Tea Party grassroots activists elected a Republican majority in the House. Unfortunately, by then, the damage had been done.

The lesson is that if it wasn’t for Republicans overspending and excessive earmarking they could have retained control of the House and Senate in 2006 and blocked Obamacare from ever becoming law.

So, when you hear House and Senate Republicans complain about Obamacare, remember, it is their lack of leadership that led to this debacle in the first place. Weak, unprincipled leadership and losing elections have consequences.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel