Obamacare bashed on the Capitol steps

McConnell, Paul share the spotlight

By Kevin Wheatley Published:

Kentucky’s U.S. senators told a crowd of supporters they will repeal the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, when given the opportunity.

About 400 stood on the Capitol steps Tuesday at a rally headlined by U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul and organized by the Louisville Tea Party.

All of the speakers focused on President Barack Obama’s signature health care reform law.

“I say again today, it’s the single worst piece of legislation that’s been passed in America in modern times, the single biggest step in the direction of Europeanizing America,” McConnell said.

McConnell, the Senate minority leader, said repealing Obamacare will be “job number one” if the GOP takes a majority in the Senate and he sets the chamber’s agenda.

Paul said regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, he thinks the “whole damn thing’s unconstitutional.”

“This has been always about more than just health care,” Paul said. “This has been about whether government is limited by the Constitution or whether government is unlimited.”

The Supreme Court in June ruled 5-4 that the individual mandate at the heart of the law is a tax and therefore allowable under the Constitution.

Paul said Obamacare would be replaced by “a system of health care that provides health care for everyone at a lower cost,” but he did not provide specifics.

Both U.S. senators attended a luncheon at GOP headquarters after the rally and weren’t available for questions after their remarks.

Andy Barr, a Lexington attorney and candidate for the 6th Congressional District against U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, likened Obama to Jack Kevorkian and said Obamacare “is no longer just a fantasy of government bureaucrats in ivory towers.”

Tea party supporters near and far came to the Capitol Tuesday to rally against the controversial and polarizing health care law.

Jonathan Gaby, vice chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party, said he attended mainly to hear McConnell and Paul speak.

Gaby organized a tax day tea party rally in 2009 that drew a comparable crowd, and he said Tuesday’s turnout showed the tea party is more than “a flash in a pan.”

“I think it’s just getting stronger and maturing in its efforts, and we’ll see more from it two, three, four, maybe 10 years down the line,” Gaby said by phone Tuesday after the rally, noting some state and local races have seen more tea party candidates.

Stuart Victor, former chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party, said he was impressed with Paul and the issues he raised in his speech.

“I think his passion showed through,” Victor said by phone Tuesday. “I think he’s going to be a figure to watch at the (Republican National) Convention next week when he gives his speech. The crowd loved him.”

Victor agreed that the tea party has remained strong since its inception. He said he believes Kentucky is the strongest state for the movement, especially after Paul’s election in 2009.

“Of all the senators in the United States Senate, no one identifies himself more to the tea party than Rand Paul does,” he said.

Carol Miller, 65, from Wilmore, said she attended the rally to fight Obamacare, which she is against because it is a tax.

“I don’t want Obamacare anywhere in the country, let alone in Kentucky,” Carol Miller, 65, of Wilmore, said. “I want my voice to be heard.”

Not all came to voice their displeasure with the president or the health care law. Dozens of Obama supporters were in the crowd, some waving signs and starting chants during the rally.

Karen Sterling, 55, from Lexington, was there to support the Affordable Care Act. She said tea party supporters should realize it passed the House, Senate and Supreme Court, and it is legal.

“Health care is a basic human right,” Sterling said. “Health care is not just for rich people.”

Others who spoke at Tuesday’s rally include state Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, and state House Minority Floor Leader Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, who both railed against Obamacare and said the state should not expand Medicaid through the health care reform.

Staff Writer Lindsey Erdody contributed to this report.

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  • 671...You lie! Look what Fact Check.Org says: Republicans claim the president’s $716 billion “cuts” to Medicare hurt the program’s finances. But the opposite is true. These cuts in the future growth of spending prolong the life of the Medicare trust fund, stretching the program’s finances out longer than they would last otherwise. Mitt Romney has claimed that President Barack Obama has “robbed” Medicare. Rep. Paul Ryan, Romney’s running mate, said Obama “turned Medicare into a piggy bank to fund Obamacare,” promising to “stop the raid on Medicare.” And the Republican National Committee is promoting on its website a feature it calls “Obama’s Countdown to Medicare’s Bankruptcy,” which lists the days, hours, minutes and seconds left until the Medicare Part A trust fund is exhausted. But there would be even fewer days until the fund’s exhaustion if Obama’s health care law hadn’t included those $700 billion in "SPENDING REDUCTIONS." Medicare would spend less each year than it had been expected to otherwise, allowing Medicare to stretch further the income it receives from payroll taxes and premiums. 671....So do you think if you tell this lie enough times that we will really start to believe it? Doubt it...even us deaf, dumb and blind monkeys know better than that. Shame on you!

  • Your reporting is distorted and disturbing. I was there as a supporter of ACA (as that is the proper name that the extremist often forget) and there were definitely NOT 400 supporters of those traitors. These people were violent, disrespectful, and showed the nastiest side of Kentucky that there is. I promise you that these two will be voted out on our next election! Now, you should start reporting factually and not what you recall from your Tea Party superhero dreams!

  • Your reporting is distorted and disturbing. I was there as a supporter of ACA (as that is the proper name that the extremist often forget) and there were definitely NOT 400 supporters of those traitors. These people were violent, disrespectful, and showed the nastiest side of Kentucky that there is. I promise you that these two will be voted out on our next election! Now, you should start reporting factually and not what you recall from your Tea Party superhero dreams!

  • 1713 and UKfan...Thank you both very, very much. You two just proved my whole point. Deaf, Dumb, AND Blind. Oh, by the way, who is taking 500B+ out of Medicare to pay for Obamacare? I suppose that the conservatives did that too. HMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!

  • 671...thank you...well said

  • 671- Did the Democrats control the Senate when the Republicans abused the filibuster by required 60 votes for everything that came to the floor? Remember, there were only 57 Democrats in the Senate after the 2008 elections, so how were they in "control" if the Republicans were willing to throw the best interest of the country under the bus for political advantage. Their plan was totally transparent (defeat Obama at all costs...the country be damned!) and yet YOU and other so-called conservatives (you are radicals) still can't see it hiding there in plain sight! Were the Democrats in control OR was it the Republican minority? Is your brain in control of your body if your sphincter decides that IT wants to be boss? Nope! Same principle. And the Republican party's opposition has a lot to do with race and party affiliation.

  • WoW....

  • UKfan...LOL!!!!!! Under the current Administration, this country has had NO BUDGET for THREE YEARS. I guess it was the Republicans fault when the DEMOCRATS controlled the WHITE HOUSE, the SENATE, and the HOUSE for two years. HMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!! This has NOTHING TO DO with RACE, RELIGON, or PARTY affiliation. The monkey analogy discribes you perfectly!!!!! Like I said in one of my prior posts, GET OVER IT!!!!

  • Steve_Fry

    Wow... it's about time for a Hitler/Nazi reference (Godwin's Law) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

  • 671...just how do you think the country got into the shape its in? Your Republican friends did this. Wars and tax breaks for the rich without funding. It takes the congress AND the senate to get anything done. But because of the bitterness of losing the election to a black man they made it their sole purpose for the last 3 1/2 years was to make the Mr. Obama a one term president. AGAIN not jobs or education or the economy but obstruction all the way to the next election. And they can't do that on their own merits they have to try to steal the election by trying to keep voters from voting claiming voter fraud where there is none. Go ahead let the rich companies and cronies buy your vote. Your monkey analogy by the way just goes to show how immature you are. HMMMMM!!!

  • Need, I rest my case. Of course, Harry Reid, Nance Pelosi, B. Hussain Obama, to name a few, are totally blameless. Under the current administration and Democratic controlled Senate, our national debt has increased more than anytime in history. Our unemployment has been over 8% the entire time the current administration has been in control. The first two years of this administration, the Democrats controlled the President's Office, Senate, and the House. Where did that get us? HMMMMM!!!!!! My favorite news comes from ABC not Fox. I could have sworn I heard Obama say he was going to close Gitmo. HMMM! I also heard him say he was going to end the war in Afganistan. HMMM! I heard him say unemployment would be under 8%. HMMM! I heard him say his goverment would be more transparent. HMMM! I heard his 2008 campaign slogan "CHANGE". What "CHANGE"? Things have gotten worse. Is that the change he was talking about? HMMM! Compared to Obama, Clinton was one of the best Presidents this country ever had, even "W" is looking better every day. Trying to point out truth to UKfan and 1713 is like the three monkeys, with a little twist, "See no TRUTH, Hear no TRUTH, Speak no TRUTH". Again, I rest my case.

  • The Republicans have thrown this country under the bus to try to make Obama look bad and fool the American people into thinking that it is all the President's fault. What a bunch of hucksters and charlatans. Romney is the biggest one of all. Just look at what his Republican rivals said about him in the primary, including these about Bain: Here are the top 10 comments about Bain from Romney’s Republican rivals: 1. “The idea that you’ve got private equity companies that come in and take companies apart so they can make profits and have people lose their jobs, that’s not what the Republican Party’s about.” — Rick Perry [New York Times, 1/12/12] 2. “The Bain model is to go in at a very low price, borrow an immense amount of money, pay Bain an immense amount of money and leave. I’ll let you decide if that’s really good capitalism. I think that’s exploitation.” — Newt Gingrich [New York Times, 1/17/12] 3. “Instead of trying to work with them to try to find a way to keep the jobs and to get them back on their feet, it’s all about how much money can we make, how quick can we make it, and then get out of town and find the next carcass to feed upon” — Rick Perry [National Journal, 1/10/12] 4. “We find it pretty hard to justify rich people figuring out clever legal ways to loot a company, leaving behind 1,700 families without a job.” — Newt Gingrich [Globe and Mail, 1/9/12] 5. “Now, I have no doubt Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips — whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out because his company, Bain Capital, of all the jobs that they killed” — Rick Perry [New York Times, 1/9/12] 6) “He claims he created 100,000 jobs. The Washington Post, two days ago, reported in their fact check column that he gets three Pinocchios. Now, a Pinocchio is what you get from The Post if you’re not telling the truth.” — Newt Gingrich [1/13/12, NBC News] 7. “There is something inherently wrong when getting rich off failure and sticking it to someone else is how you do your business, and I happen to think that’s indefensible” — Rick Perry [National Journal, 1/10/12] 8. “If Governor Romney would like to give back all the money he’s earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years, then I would be glad to then listen to him” — Newt Gingrich [Mediaite, 12/14/11] 9. “If you’re a victim of Bain Capital’s downsizing, it’s the ultimate insult for Mitt Romney to come to South Carolina and tell you he feels your pain, because he caused it.” — Rick Perry [New York Times, 1/8/12] 10. “They’re vultures that sitting out there on the tree limb waiting for the company to get sick and then they swoop in, they eat the carcass. They leave with that and they leave the skeleton” — Rick Perry [National Journal, 1/10/12]

  • Need4speed, I am not just referring to your post on this story as a "fictional account", as you seem pretty adept at flinging them at other issues like global climate change, but for the record, I was mainly referring to 671's comment (which you seemed to tacitly agreed with in your defense of FOX). Sorry for the confusion..."I used the wrong words in the wrong way and for that I apologize..." (thanks Rep. Akin!).

  • I work in HR and as far as insurance costs going up...they have been going up for YEARS. And yes I will blame BUSH and the republicans, they have done absolutely NOTHING to help this country get back on its feet. And WHY? Because they want to defeat Obama...not create jobs or help the economy but because then the President would get credit for that. So I guess it's okay to spend our tax dollars to go to war and rebuild other countries but to **** with our own people here. .....You say you see what the President is trying to do to this country....WHAT?.....All I see is that he is trying to give the people who need it a helping hand. I believe that its time for women to start standing up to these ignorant men who think they know what's best for women's healthcare issues. You don't hear them talking about taking away their viagra. It's scary people like Akin that I am afraid is going to be running this country. As far as taxes go...yes they will probably to up no matter who gets into office. It just depends on who gets elected who will get hit the hardest.

  • Fictional account? I merely stated that the Supreme court redefined the insurance purchase section of the Affordable Health Care Act as a tax then ruled it constitutional. No crap here, just the facts ma'am.-----------------------------------------------------------------The following borrowed from NBC News (Not the FOX)--------------------------------The essence of Roberts’s ruling was: • “The Affordable Care Act is constitutional in part and unconstitutional in part,” Roberts wrote. • “The individual mandate cannot be upheld as an exercise of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause. That Clause authorizes Congress to regulate interstate commerce, not to order individuals to engage in it.” • But “it is reasonable to construe what Congress has done as increasing taxes on those who have a certain amount of income, but (who) choose to go without health insurance. Such legislation is within Congress’s power to tax.” Roberts made a point of noting that he and the other justices “possess neither the expertise nor the prerogative to make policy judgments. Those decisions are entrusted to our Nation’s elected leaders, who can be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them. It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.”

  • Well Need4speed and 671, I DO watch FOX (it is good to know exactly what the enemy is doing) and the fictional accounts that you and 671 are spreading into the void just happen to be exactly what FOX NEWS (and talk radio) is saying every day. Frankly, I don't care where you all are hearing this crap, but it still doesn't pass the smell test. But let's not regress too far from the topic of the Affordable Care Act and how it effects insurance rates. The fact is, for the FIRST time ever it holds health insurance companies accountable to consumers and ensures that American families are reimbursed if health insurance companies don’t meet a fair standard of value. Because of the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies now must reveal how much of premium dollars they actually spend on health care and how much they spend on administration, such as salaries and marketing. This information was not shared with consumers in the past. If an insurance company spends less than 80% of premiums on medical care and quality (or less than 85% in the large group market, which is generally insurance provided through large employers), it must REBATE the portion of premium dollars that exceeded this limit. This 80/20 rule is commonly known as the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) rule. On June 1, 2012, insurance companies nationwide submitted their annual MLR reports for coverage provided in 2011 to the Department of Health and Human Services. Based on this data, insurance companies that didn’t meet the 80/20 rule will provide nearly 12.8 million Americans with more than $1.1 billion in rebates this year. Americans receiving the rebate will benefit from an average rebate of $151 per household. Them's the facts boys, and you won't hear Steve Ducey and Gretchen saying it any better (or even talkin' about it) on Fox and Friends, that is fer' sure! Now, why not?

  • Steve_Fry

    @ need, re paragraph breaks: I left that ball in their court. I've not heard anything more.

  • Bah-humbug!

  • Need4speed - Couldn't have said it any better. Some people are not only blind, but also ignorant.

  • 1713- Contrary to popular belief, not all of us get our news exclusively from Fox. I also tend to watch CNN and NBC. 671 merely stated his case. i merely state mine, yet somehow in your mind if you show moderate to conservative tendencies, you must have been blinded by the evil minions at Fox news. Apparently, since you know who all the OP-Ed folks are at Fox, you must be a closet Fox watcher.------------------------mtodhotgod, Not sure how the racist bible thumping label got in here, but OK. I tend to think that Colin Powell would have made a good president,( please note, black and a helluva lot smarter than me) but W kinda spoiled him on politics. I know that a lot of foreign countries has(sic) Free(?) health care, but you failed to note that the social democracies of Europe are teetering on the brink off bankruptcy. Or in simpler terms, they are broke. -------------------------------------------------------Steve, how's the person in charge of internet thingy's coming with the paragraph break problem?

  • 671, the good people are so blind because they just aren't watching enough FOX News. All that they have to do to take those "blinders" off is to tune into the "fair and balanced" folks at FOX News TV, right? What indicates that if the President is re-elected that we "will get hit with one of the biggest tax hikes in years"? Did you hear that on Hannity?

  • Steve_Fry

    @ #671: Guess what? My healthcare costs have gone up and my coverage has gone down as well. :o\

  • Alot of foreign countries has FREE health care, wake up right wing dumb A@@ses, just admit you are backward racist bible thumping idiots, and you don't like having a black president that is much smarter than you!

  • Poor ukfan, still blaming everything on Bush, GET OVER IT. I've been a Democrat for over 50 years, and I am NOT one of the top 1%. I am in the middle class, that if Obama is re-elected, will get hit with one of the biggest tax hikes in years. But I don't wear blinders, I can see what Obama is trying to do to this country. I'm so sorry you can't see that and hope you don't have to experience what could happen to this GREAT country. And, by the way, I am a senior, and OBAMACARE is supposed to help seniors. However, since OBAMACARE has been passed, my health care costs have gone up and my coverage has gone down. HUMMMMMM!!!!!!!

  • Need...I comment on a lot of threads....not sure which one you speak of. Good to know you've been working...alot of people can't even find a job. Call it what you will ....the House, Senate and Supreme court passed it.

  • 1713:"If "the whole damned thing is unconstitutional" Mr. Paul, then why didn't the whole damned US Supreme Court find it so?" Because the US Supreme Court redifined the damned thing for what it is...a tax. Which would make it constitutional. Of course, the Democrats said that it wasn't... UKfan I haven't forgotten our other thread, I've been working 12/7.

  • 671...after what the Republicans and Bush did to this country? You know all the spending and wars. But no one complained then. Hmmm...Tell me then just what IS the President trying to do to our country other than help the middle class and the poor? Maybe you are one of the top 1% that is afraid you may have to pay a little more to get us out of this quagmire that your Republicans friends got us into.

  • How did McConnell find his way to Frankfort? Somebody up there waving money around so he could smell it? He lives in DC and uses Ky for a bank account.

  • It's so amazing to me how so many good people can be so blind to the fact that Obama is not trying to keep America the greatest country in the world. If he is re-elected, you ain't seen nothing yet. Sorry to say, but the Republicans are the only chance we have to save our great nation, at this time.

  • If "the whole damned thing is unconstitutional" Mr. Paul, then why didn't the whole damned US Supreme Court find it so? They, not YOU, are the final say on this. You are just grandstanding for political points.

  • If the Affordable Care Act was so bad, then why did Willard Mitt Romney set up a nearly identical one in his state when he was governor of Mass.? Why are both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich publicly on the RECORD as supporting the individual mandate in the last two years? Methinks that the Republicans protesteth too much! This is all just political hay, people, by an antiquated party that desperately wants to return us to the 19th century. The Republicans and particularly its Tea Party wing are our Taliban, complete with its war on women!

  • if you haven't read the law, then you should do so. I have and find it is full of loopholes and unenforceable measures. Wait until the regulation process starts....I'm for health care for all, but this legislation was flawed from the start and most of the legislators who passed Obamacare had not even read the legislation.

  • “I say again today, it’s the single worst piece of legislation that’s been passed in America in modern times, the single biggest step in the direction of Europeanizing America." Actually Mitch, I bet we could find your name attached to worse.

  • McConnell and Paul were sent to D.C. to represent the interests of the Kentucky people. The Kentucky people have been easily scared on the false notion that Obama is forcing socialism upon them by having them submit to healthcare. That's fine. If you don't want mandated, affordable healthcare then I hope you have the right kind of home remedies and a Bible hand to deal with all medical problems. Don't go clogging up the doctor's offices and hospitals without insurance.

  • They could care less about the average person. They are only concerned about the big coporations and the rich. What have you done for us lately....hmmmmm?

  • Do you want to give Kentucky no health system except for the immergancy room?? This is really third world thinking. Doesn't Kentucky people deserve decent health care or is it only for the rich. Ask Mitch McConnel if he would be willing to give up is health insurance package for an immergancy room only health care, no care third world system you are per posing to go back to.