Rep. Cantor's Health Care Repeal Ruse

Last night, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) appeared on Fox News to discuss the GOP's agenda for the midterm elections.  As Mediaite's Jon Bershad reports, host Laura Ingraham "cornered Cantor on rumors that he wouldn't repeal this year's new Health Care laws if the GOP were in charge come November." Bershad writes that Cantor looked "terrified" and purported to be "shocked" by the question.  "I don't see how you ever thought I wouldn't be for doing that," Cantor said. "Now, come on."

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As Ingraham noted, Politico reported this week that Cantor "said it's unlikely that health care overhaul legislation will be repealed with Obama in the White House" because the president would simply veto it.  Indeed, despite Cantor's indignation, he hasn't exactly been consistent on the issue of repealing the Affordable Care Act.  In January, Cantor indicated that Republicans would "NOT campaign for full health care repeal, but will demand partial repeal, including mandates for health coverage." In June, though, he and other GOP leaders bowed to right-wing pressure and signed on to Rep. Steve King's (R-IA) discharge petition to take up a full repeal of the bill.

But no matter where Cantor actually stands, one thing is certain: repealing the Affordable Care Act is bad policy.  Not only would it eliminate patient protections and take coverage away from millions of Americans, but it would further undermine the GOP's claim to "fiscal responsibility."  According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, repealing the bill would increase deficits in the next ten years by $455 billion.   

Furthermore, recent polling shows that support for the repeal effort is waning.  In a Bloomberg News poll released in July, 61 percent of respondents said that they are opposed to repealing the new law.  Similarly, the Kaiser Family Foundation's latest tracking poll found that just 27 percent believe the bill should be repealed at this point.