New Hampshire Representative Frank Guinta calls for the repeal of Obamacare
My Representative–Frank Guinta–has decided to write a biweekly column which he will be sending to all of New Hampshire’s media outlets in an attempt to keep his constituents up to date on what is going on in the House as well as what he is doing about the issues as they come before him. I happen to think that this is a great idea and I am looking forward to reading Congressman Guinta’s columns as they come out.
Today he released the first edition of “Frankly Speaking” and it deals with the House’s attempt to repeal Obamacare. In this article he admits that while repealing Obamacare has a great chance of passing the House, it will be tough to get a repeal through the Senate. But he claims the effort is still worth it because this battle is being fought on several fronts.
In addition to nearly half of the states challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare, he notes that the House is also working on picking apart the healthcare law one controversial piece at a time.
I have decided to post his column as it appeared in today’s New Hampshire Union leader in its entirety, here it is:
WELCOME to the first installment of “Frankly Speaking.” Every two weeks, this column will let you know what I’m doing in Washington and explain what it means to people here in New Hampshire. It’s important that you know the steps your Congressman is taking to fight for your interests, and to maintain an open dialogue with you about it.
Our country has just come through the national tragedy of the Tucson shootings. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Congresswoman Giffords and the others who are still recovering, as well as the families of the fallen. It was proper that the House paused from its activities to honor the victims of this senseless crime.
Now the House is turning its attention back to the people’s business, and the first major bill of the new Congress: repealing last year’s federal takeover of our nation’s health care system, commonly called “Obamacare.” It’s disturbing to many Granite Staters not only because it will lower the quality of the health care your family receives, but it will also kill jobs — 1.6 million according to an estimate by the National Federation of Independent Businesses — at a time when we need to be creating jobs, not losing them. (In fact, I never stop looking for new opportunities to help encourage the creation of more jobs for our citizens.)
You sent me to Washington to do something about this dangerous law. That’s why I proudly added my name as a co-sponsor of House Resolution 2, Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act. Ending Obamacare is so important, I made it my very first piece of legislation in Congress. I have mixed news to share with you about our progress on it.
The good news: There is broad support for repealing Obamacare in the House. The bad news: It faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
But this fight is far from over. There are too many controversial provisions in this massive 2,049-page federal intrusion into your family’s health care to allow it to stand. So the repeal battle is being waged on several fronts.
For starters, just a few days ago Wyoming became the latest state to join a lawsuit challenging the law’s constitutionality. Nearly half of all 50 states are now partners in that suit. Personally, I believe this new law strays far beyond the bounds of our Constitution, and I hope the courts will eventually rule it does, too.
On Capitol Hill, we are working hard to find opportunities to repeal the act’s more onerous provisions, one at a time. One bill (H.R. 4) was put on the legislative fast track last week when it was moved to the top of House’s legislative list. H.R. 4 would protect small businesses, which are the backbone of New Hampshire’s economy, by stopping the 1099 tax provision before it goes into effect next year.
What does that mean? Obamacare requires that starting in 2012, businesses (no matter how small) must fill out an IRS Form 1099 every time they spend more than $600 a year for goods and services from a company. Even the smallest “mom and pop” businesses, such as your barber or hair stylist, or your local diner or neighborhood auto mechanic, will be buried under an avalanche of paperwork. That means lost productivity, which in turn means lower profits, and that translates into no new jobs. The bottom line: Businesses would have fewer resources for hiring additional workers.
Instead of throwing roadblocks in the way of small businesses, we must clear the path for them to operate, innovate and expand. That will enable them to create new jobs and get more people back to work. With unemployment still hovering just below 10 percent nationally, doesn’t it make sense to assist the businesses that can help pull us out of this recession
I’m dedicated to doing everything I can to help more businesses put a “now hiring” sign in their window. And the first step in doing that is dumping Obamacare as fast as we can.
I look forward to reporting back to you in two weeks on the latest developments in Washington. In the meantime, if I can be of service to you, or if you want to share your thoughts, suggestions or concerns with me, please call either my district office in Manchester at (603) 641-9536 (603) 641-9536 or my Washington office at (202) 225-5456 (202) 225-5456 , or contract me through my website at http://www.Guinta.House.Gov. Until next time, please know that I am always on your side and actively fighting for New Hampshire’s interests in Washington.
Frank Guinta, a Republican, represents New Hampshire’s First District in Congress.
America's Watchtower 
Good stuff Steve. I think instead of repealing the whole law they should have went for the individual mandate. If they would have done this I think they would have had a real shot of getting it through the senate and to the President’s desk. If the individual mandate goes so does the rest of the law.
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Very good point John, and we still have a chance at that because the challenge to the mandate is on its way through the court system. I would like to see them try to repeal it in the Congress also becasue we simply can’t trust the courts. Maybe that is one aspect they do intend to go after.
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House votes 245-189 for Repeal! 😀
Someone asked me why I supported this, since it will be stopped in the Senate, and even then, it will be vetoed.
This is how I replied:
This was a bill Henry Waxman had sitting around in his desk drawer (figuratively speaking… probably actually a computer file) for decades. When they decided they could do it, they dragged it out, updated the dates and language, and tossed it onto the floor for consideration.
How do we know? Because when they were updating the language in the bill, they goofed. They let the term “mentally retarded” slip by them. That term hasn’t been used by any government body for at least 20 years.
But we know that no one actually read it. They just took each others’ word for what was in it. I know for a fact that my own congresscritter, who swore that he read every word, did not. We held a town hall meeting, came prepared for it, and questioner after questioner challenged him on 36 different items in the bill before we ran out of time. His answer to each challenge was pretty much, “Well, yeah… we need to look at that…”
He said he wasn’t going to vote for it because of the questionable items we brought up, but at some point between the town hall and the vote, he changed his mind.
And on November 2, He. Lost. His. Job.
You must understand that Tallahassee is a blue pimple in an otherwise crimson region. We’re a state capital with two major universities, state offices, and no other industry. If you don’t work for the State or FSU or FAMU, your only other choice is to work for small support businesses or at a chain store in one of the malls. If you look in our phone book’s yellow pages, you have to page through about 20 pages of fine print, three column listings before you ever encounter anything that even resembles a major corporation. The city is about 75% Democrat. And a 6-term Congressional Democrat lost his job SPECIFICALLY over the Obamacare bill because of what it will do to small businesses when it’s in force.
McDonald’s and 120-something other major corporations have gotten wavers from Obamacare because they can’t afford it. If freekin’ McDONALD’S can’t afford it, how on earth do you expect Joe’s Pizza to afford it?
So we elected people who said they would vote to repeal it. Do we actually expect the bill to be repealed? No.
But from now on, we will no longer have to dig through hundreds of speeches to dig out factoids on how individual congresscritters currently in office feel about it. They’ll have an up-or-down vote… Obamacare yes, Obamacare no. No weasel words.
THAT is the point. Their support of this will be up front for everyone to see.
So why are the Senate so afraid of giving repeal an up-or-down vote? They don’t want their opinion on record?
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I have just put my post up on this issue! Even though it was symbolic, this is just the beginning. It is time to dismantle this bill one piece at a time.
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I just watched you on C-span make your little speech for the republican scheme to shaft me out of my Medicare, and my son’s, and there son’s out of Medicare. You G.O.P’er’s which now stands for GET OLD PEOPLE are going to bury yourselves. I’m actually glad you are finally showing the elderly and the poor and the young who you really care about.
Who donated to your campaign? What are their names? How much did they give you to shaft all the people of Manchester and all the people in New Hampshire. You won’t get away with this. Not this time. You disgust me. You are an embarassment to this state, you fat, greasy pig.
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