Thread: Exclusive: Rand Paul wants Chief Justice Roberts, all federal workers, to enroll in O

Daily Caller
Alex Pappas
9/23/2013

But after concerns about the cost of health care going up for congressional employees, the Office of Personnel Management announced in August that it would provide a subsidy of about 75 percent of the cost for the health care of members and staff.

Exclusive: Rand Paul wants Chief Justice Roberts, all federal workers, to enroll in Obamacare

Arguing federal workers should not get special treatment, Rand Paul says he does not want taxpayers subsidizing the personal health care plans of any federal employee — including Chief Justice John Roberts — anymore.

With some in Congress arguing lawmakers and their staff should not get subsidies to cover their health insurance as President Obama’s health care law goes into effect, the Republican senator from Kentucky told The Daily Caller on Sunday that he’s going to start pushing a constitutional amendment that goes even further.

Paul’s proposal — outlawing any special exemptions for government employees — would mean all federal workers would have to purchase health insurance on the new Obamacare exchanges instead of getting taxpayer-funded subsidies. Some critics say those subsidies amount to special treatment. The Obamacare health insurance exchange opens Oct 1.

“My amendment says basically that everybody including Justice Roberts — who seems to be such a fan of Obamacare — gets it too,” Paul told TheDC by phone on Sunday from Mackinac Island in Michigan, where he won a straw poll of potential Republican candidates for president in 2016.

“See, right now, Justice Roberts is still continuing to have federal employee health insurance subsidized by the taxpayer,” Paul said. “And if he likes Obamacare so much, I’m going to give him an amendment that gives Obamacare to Justice Roberts.”

Roberts famously voted to uphold the constitutionality of Obama’s unpopular health care law when it went before the Supreme Court last year.

Paul’s constitutional amendment says no federal employees should get special exemptions from laws. The senator also plans to push a proposal requiring that Congress and all federal employees rely on Obamacare for their insurance.

His proposal comes after outrage from conservatives about a so-called “exemption” for members of Congress and their staff from Obamacare.

What’s being referred to as the “Obamacare fix” for lawmakers and staff was made because the Affordable Care Act includes an amendment from a Republican senator that changes how the government currently covers most of the cost of health care premiums for members of Congress and their staffers. The new law mandates that members and staff must enter into exchanges or be covered by insurance “created” by law.

But after concerns about the cost of health care going up for congressional employees, the Office of Personnel Management announced in August that it would provide a subsidy of about 75 percent of the cost for the health care of members and staff.

Paul revealed his new amendment push on Sunday after TheDC inquired about a proposal from Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, who has proposed killing those federal Obamacare subsidies for lawmakers and their staff. “I support any effort to make all laws applicable to Congress that we pass,” Paul said.

But Paul says his proposal goes even further.

“I think mine is a little more inclusive,” Paul explained. “Mine — compared to Vitter’s — would include all federal employees, and save billions of dollars.”

He added: “Why don’t we do it for all federal employees? And mine would save quite a bit more money.”

Lawmakers, including Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, have defended the special Obamacare exemptions being made for lawmakers and their staff. Earlier this month, the Nevada Democrat flatly stated, “That’s what the law says, and we’ll be part of that.”

“We’ll be treated like the rest of the federal employees,” Reid said. “It’s nothing unique that employers help pay for health care.”

http://dailycaller.com/2013/09/23/ex...-in-obamacare/

September 23, 2013

"My amendment says basically that everybody including Justice Roberts — who seems to be such a fan of Obamacare — gets it too."


Said Rand Paul (not modeling orthodox notions of what judges are doing when they decide cases):

"See, right now, Justice Roberts is still continuing to have federal employee health insurance subsidized by the taxpayer.... And if he likes Obamacare so much, I’m going to give him an amendment that gives Obamacare to Justice Roberts."

If only judges had a personal interest in the outcome of their decisions...

Posted by Ann Althouse at 7:26 AM
Tags: John Roberts, judges, law, ObamaCare, Rand Paul


http://althouse.blogspot.com/2013/09...ally-that.html

History will long ponder why The Justice sold out on this one.

Sounds right to me. The Federal elitists should not be excluded.

The House defunding Obamacare in the budget will be overturned if Reid gets the 51 votes needed to take the defunding language out of the Senate Bill.

If the Senate passes a budget Bill without the defunding language, it and what the House already has passed would go to Conference Committee. It would be an easy matter for House Speaker Boehner [not quite trustworthy] to send compliant Members to the Conference Committee.

Paul Amendment Would Put Supreme Court (And The Rest Of The Federal Payroll) Under Obamacare

September 24, 2013 by Ben Bullard

UPI FILE

If Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has his way, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts — who sided with the liberal wing of the High Court in upholding Obamacare as a “tax” on individuals back in June 2012 — will join the rest of Washington, and the country, in signing up for healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Questioned by The Daily Caller about his proposal to outlaw any healthcare coverage exemptions for Federal employees, Paul — an advocate of fair play rather than the Obamacare plan itself — said he believes all government employees ought to buy their coverage in the same manner as the rest of the American people.
From the story:

Paul’s proposal — outlawing any special exemptions for government employees — would mean all federal workers would have to purchase health insurance on the new Obamacare exchanges instead of getting taxpayer-funded subsidies. Some critics say those subsidies amount to special treatment. The Obamacare health insurance exchange opens Oct 1.

“My amendment says basically that everybody including Justice Roberts — who seems to be such a fan of Obamacare — gets it too,” Paul explained. “See, right now, Justice Roberts is still continuing to have federal employee health insurance subsidized by the taxpayer. And if he likes Obamacare so much, I’m going to give him an amendment that gives Obamacare to Justice Roberts.”
Fearing a Washington, D.C. “brain drain” — a potential mass exodus of well-compensated intelligentsia working both within and on the periphery of government — if Congressional staffers and other Federal employees had to pony up the same money as everyone else to receive the same quality of coverage as everyone else, the Office of Personnel Management said last month the government would subsidize about 75 percent of the cost of premiums for member of Congress and Congressional staff.

Filed Under: Conservative Politics, Liberty News, Staff Reports

http://personalliberty.com/2013/09/2...der-obamacare/

Rand Paul: Force Chief Justice Roberts, Obama & All Fed Employees Into Obamacare