Smith Report 10.3.2013

Ending Washington’s ObamaCare Exemption
Nothing makes folks back home in Missouri more disillusioned with their government than Washington politicians who say one thing and then do something different. Four years ago when Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi forced the health care mandate through Congress, they chose to exempt themselves from the law. In fact, the President, Vice-President their staffs, executive branch political appointees, House and Senate leadership and congressional committee staffs were all exempted from ObamaCare.
This month I became an original cosponsor of the James Madison Congressional Accountability Act that ends Washington’s Obama Care exemption.
Washington politicians should not be exempt from ObamaCare while Missouri families are subject to the Obama health care mandate. It’s insulting that President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid would force ObamaCare through Congress only to exempt themselves and their staffs from the law. Obama, Pelosi and Reid are no better than anyone else and I am fighting to ensure they are part of the law they pushed through Congress.
In the coming months millions of Americans will lose their insurance coverage under ObamaCare and be forced into the health care exchanges without any tax-excludable employer subsidies. However, when ObamaCare was written, Congressional leaders, their staffs, and the political elite were able to engineer a special deal, to relieve them of the burdens faced by millions of our fellow citizens. My constituents expect Washington insiders to play by the same rules as the rest of the country. That is why I became an original cosponsor of the James Madison Congressional Accountability Act to hold Washington politicians accountable.
Already, key portions of ObamaCare have been delayed due to lack of preparation, and costs are projected to skyrocket. The Obama Administration has selectively exempted multiple groups from fully participating in Obamacare, including labor unions, associations, and various self-insured employers, to protect them from the harmful impacts of the law.
The Administration has already signed seven bills passed by the House of Representatives to dismantle portions of Obamacare, including legislation to repeal onerous mandates burdening small businesses and protect taxpayers’ dollars. The most effective way to make President Obama aware of the disastrous impact his healthcare law will have, is by forcing him onto the healthcare exchanges.
Washington’s ObamaCare exemption must end. The United States is not a nation with one set of rules for families in the fifty states and another set of rules for Washington politicians. The James Madison Congressional Accountability Act is about fairness and accountability. In the United States, no one is above the law. Not even President Obama, Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi.