As the House ignored a veto threat from President Obama and approved bills to delay both the employer and individual mandates for one year, Republicans were finally able to dent what has been a strong level of support among Democrats for the Obama health reform law.
35 Democrats voted for the one year delay in the employer mandate, while 22 Democrats also voted to delay in the individual mandate.
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The vote was 264-161 in favor of the employer mandate delay; 251-174 for the individual mandate plan. A full vote breakdown on the employer mandate is at http:// 1.usa.gov/1aRptn2 with the individual mandate roll call at http:// 1.usa.gov/1aRpuHN
It probably wasn't what Republicans had envisioned when they came up with the idea to vote to codify the one year delay in the employer mandate that was quietly announced by the White House just before July 4.
"Today's vote is a step in the right direction," said Rep. John Barrow (D-GA), one of a handful of surviving Blue Dog Democrats who broke ranks with their party leadership on the mandate delays.
But for the most part, the debate was a rerun of previous efforts by Republicans to either repeal, replace or defund the Obama health reform laws - GOP lawmakers supported that, while Democrats denounced it.
"This is nothing more than a waste of time," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
While lawmakers exchanged pointed jabs on the House floor about the Obama health law, there were also some interesting exchanges in various House committees on Wednesday about the law's implementation, especially the delay in the implementation of the employer mandate.
At one point, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) asked a Treasury Department official if any consideration had been given to delaying the individual mandate - the answer made Republicans wonder if they had been given the full story.
As for the future of the bills that would delay both the employer and individual mandates - they are not expected to go any where in the U.S. Senate.
Even if they did, President Obama has threatened to veto both measures.
