First Funding Fight Chokes Funds From Obamacare

In what is expected to be a long hard fought war in repealing the most egregious portions of Obamacare, the first battle has been fought when the $1.2 trillion omnibus bill was scrapped in favor of a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government until March 4, 2011, which is after the GOP takes control of the House of Representatives.

The CR details can be found here in a three page press release from the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations.

Below are highlights of the Senate amendment to H.R. 3082, a Continuing Resolution (C.R.) that would allow continued government operations through March 4, 2011. Cloture was filed on H.R. 3082 on Sunday, December 19, 2010, with a cloture vote expected to take place Tuesday, December 21, 2010. The current CR also expires on December 21, 2010.

Continuing Resolution Summary

Ongoing programs: Under the CR, funding would continue at FY 2010 enacted levels for most programs. In total, the CR would provide funding at a rate approximately $1.16 billion over the FY 2010 level. Extended Authorizations and Other Actions: The CR extends authorizations or allows for continuous normal operations through March 4, 2011, for certain programs that would otherwise expire or be severely disrupted.....

The Wall Street Journal provides details of what is not funded in this CR:

A Senate deal to fund the federal government until early March doesn't include money to enact the health-care overhaul or stepped up regulation of Wall Street, boosting Republican efforts to curb key elements of President Barack Obama's domestic agenda.

In March the true battle begins, especially in regards to choking the funding for Obamacare, to which Republicans have vowed to do everything in their power to repeal and/or replace the most unpopular aspects of it.

With public opposition still strong and still growing, a majority of Americans according to every poll conducted, against Obamacare, this is a fight Republicans relish because as with the passage against the opposition of the majority of voters, refusing to fund it puts the GOP squarely on the side of American voters.

This is perhaps the only option for the GOP as long as Obama is President and the Senate is still controlled by Democrats.

Any move to actually repeal it would not make it through the Senate and if it did, Obama would surely veto it since he considers it one of his "signature" pieces.

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