Is Bill Owens Running Away From ObamaCare?

WATERTOWN – When our current congressman, Bill Owens, needed to justify his vote for ObamaCare, he cited cost savings predicted by the Congressional Budget Office that have now been proven to be illusory.

“The math in this bill is sound,” Owens said in his official statement before the March 2010 vote.

It appears our congressman is now having second thoughts.

On Wednesday, Owens voted with the House Republican majority to repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Support (CLASS) Act. Budget officials said the long-term-care program was going to raise $86 billion - or 40 percent of the health law’s $210 billion in deficit reduction - over the next decade.

But in October, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the program would never attract enough participants to cover costs and could not be implemented in a fiscally responsible way. That proposed deficit savings, the Obama administration admitted, would never materialize.

“My opponent has little to show for his two votes for ObamaCare, except for the loyalty he returned to the Democrats who spent millions to get him elected hours before the first vote,” said Doheny. “Americans are not better off since these so-called reforms passed. Individuals and companies are paying more in premiums. More people are uninsured than ever before. And ObamaCare has failed to improve outcomes and lower costs.”

“Our current congressman may not admit it, but his votes for the repeal of the 1099 provision as well as the CLASS Act proves he no longer believes that ObamaCare will reduce the deficit,” continued Doheny. “I urge him to disavow his previous votes and join me in calling for the individual mandate to be overturned by the Supreme Court. At a minimum, he should work toward overturning ObamaCare in Congress. Anything less would prove our congressman truly does not care about our nation’s exploding deficit and $15 trillion debt.”