Lawmakers are packing up their bags to leave Washington for five weeks today, but as they get ready for the summer recess they really have nothing to celebrate. Well, unless you consider passing the 40th measure against the Affordable Care Act to be some kind of achievement. The latest pointless measure to repeal or dismantle Obamacare at least had a catchy title: Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act of 2013. And it was approved 232-185, with four Democrats joining Republicans in supporting the bill, reports the Hill.
The measure marks the latest in the Republican Party’s effort to rile up its base with a bill that has absolutely zero chance of making it through the Senate. For Republicans the good thing about this bill is that it not only lets them vote against Obamacare, but also ties in nicely to the fresh concerns over how the IRS targeted tea party groups, points out CBS News.
The IRS “has abused its authority by targeting individuals and organizations,” Rep. Tom Price, who sponsored the measure, said after the vote, according to CNN. “There’s no reason to trust this massive agency with one of the most personal aspects of our lives—our health care.”
And while Republicans spend time on bills that are destined to go nowhere, important fiscal issues are not being addressed. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi harshly criticized the GOP, saying that it will be difficult for Republicans to explain to voters how little Congress has achieved this year.
“This was a do-nothing Congress and now it has gone to something worse,” Pelosi said. “It’s an aimless Congress that is falling into chaos, it’s a make-matters-worse Congress.”
