She was FOR it, before she was AGAINST it. (Just like John F. Kerry — who served in Vietnam)
It’s sadly no surprise to hear of a Washington politician coming down on both sides of an issue. But it is surprising when you find out it we’re talking about Renee Ellmers, and the IT is the defunding of ObamaCare.
The Second District Congresswoman — fresh off of deliberating over entering a Senate race that (1) no one was asking her to jump into and (2) she had no chance of winning — has been making news lately by bashing The Heritage Foundation and the Tea Party’s efforts to defund ObamaCare.
Well, it appears Miss Harnett County’s snarkiness may be sneaking up and biting her on her Spanx-encased posterior:
Ellmers is certainly not alone in her view that making the next CR a do-or-die fight over Obamacare funding is unwise. But one person who would disagree with her is Renee Ellmers, circa 2011.In a “Bloggers Briefing” at none other than the Heritage Foundation, Ellmers told an audience in March 2011 she would push GOP leadership to use a continuing-resolution bill to defund Obamacare.
Whaaaaaaa ???? But -but-but didn’t she just say ‘Absolutely NOT’ ??? MORE:
Heritage’s Robert Bluey asked Ellmers about specific amendments to defund Obamacare and Planned Parenthood that weren’t in a two-week stop-gap bill the House had just passed and asked, “Are those issues that you’re going to push leadership on . . .”
But before Bluey could even finish his question, Ellmers interrupted to say, “Absolutely!” She went on to defend the relatively modest spending cuts that had been in the stop-gap measure. (Audio is here beginning at the 6:50 mark.)
Ah. Audio. Now that’s a sticky wicket, eh? MORE:
While the issue (defunding Obamacare) and the legislative vehicle (a continuing resolution) are the exact same then as they are now, two years have since passed, and an Ellmers spokesman said the circumstances are now different.
Really? Let’s see. 2011 — GOP House, Democrat Senate. 2013 — GOP House, Democrat Senate. 2011 — President Obama at 1600 Penn. 2013 — Barry still in da house, yo. So, tell us what’s different now:
“The situation you are referring to took place in March of 2011 right after Republicans had taken control of the House in a historic election. Since that time, President Obama has won reelection and Democrats have held onto their majority in the U.S. Senate. Things would be very different now if Mitt Romney had won the presidency and Republicans gained control of the Senate, but unfortunately they didn’t,” the spokesman said.
So, it’s all the fault of Mitt Romney — who passed something very similar to ObamaCare while governor of Massachusetts — that Renee and the rest of the congressional Republicans won’t fight?
And Ellmers’ years in Washington, D.C., may have given her additional perspective on the matter.
Perhaps more than any other member of the tea-party class of 2010, she has embraced the strategic decisions of Speaker John Boehner and the House leadership team with gusto. Although elected with virtually no party support and zero political experience besides her participation at anti-Obamacare rallies, Ellmers was surprised, upon entering Congress, to find herself impressed by Boehner.
“There is just a lot of mistrust Americans have for ‘those people in Washington,’ ” she told the New York Times, adding with a laugh, “and now I am one of those people in Washington.”
“Congresswoman Ellmers ran for public office because of the terrible damage Obamacare will do to our country and her desire to stop it from being implemented. Nothing has changed in this regard and she has voted over 40 times to repeal or destroy this terrible law that will destroy our health-care system and is already showing its negative impact on jobs and businesses. Congresswoman Ellmers believes that threatening to shutdown the government in order to defund Obamacare is a misguided tactic and will only replace one economic disaster with another one, and she is not willing to jeopardize the economic security of the United States in order lose a battle with the Democrats who control the White House and the U.S. Senate,” her spokesman added.
OK. Ellmers and her friend Mr. Boehner are supporting a plan that calls for limits on ObamaCare in exchange for raising the debt ceiling AGAIN. And what if Barry says NO to that? The debt ceiling needs to be raised so more money can be borrowed to pay for our bloated, out-of-control government. If talks bog down as the deadline approaches for running out of money, we might have a government shutdown. (*The horror.*) If the threat of a government shutdown NOW is bad — what makes it more acceptable down the road during the debt ceiling discussions?
It’s kicking the can down the road, and giving the folks back home the mushroom treatment. That’s all it is.
Obamacare, Ellmers has joined the ranks of the French Republicans. She has changed her focus to immigration reform, she is right in step with Paul Ryan and her dear leader Speaker Boehner
Why no townhall meeting with the common folk in her district?
Ellmers is just as spineless and cowardly as Boehner and McConnell. McConnell now has a conservative primary challenger and both Boehner and Ellmers need such challengers as well.
Until we rid ourselves of the Republicans like Ellmers nothing will change. I actually sent her money before; now I wouldn’t give her the time of day.
Elmers is not my favorite candidate. Her opposition to the Marriage Amendment was very, very disappointing to me.
But she and Burr are not traitors to the conservative cause for pursuing a different strategy to stop ObamaCare. The traitors to the conservative cause are the Ron Paul, Alex Jones, Bircher & libertarian nutjobs whose incessant, dishonest attacks on decent Republicans so weakened the GOP and strengthened the Democrats that they were able to enact ObamaCare in the first place.
The argument is over whether to “delay” or “defund” ObamaCare. Elmers & Burr are in the “delay” camp, and below is Elmers’ comment on the subject. It is well worth reading.
These articles in National Review are also well worth reading:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/355633/defund-or-not-defund-question-andrew-stiles
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/355732/obamacares-shutdown-shock-jocks-avik-roy
Here’s an excerpt:
On The Larry Kudlow Show, DeMint — a supporter of the shutdown strategy — agreed that a one-year delay would serve essentially the same purpose, because any continuing resolution that “defunded” Obamacare would only last for at most one year.
Think about that. In other words, since a continuing resolution is in effect for at most one year, defunding ObamaCare in the continuing resolution is also actually just a delay strategy. The “defund” folks are really just pushing a different delay strategy, while falsely accusing those who want to directly delay the whole ObamaCare program of “surrendering.”
Here’s Congressman Elmers’ letter. Please read it:
Friends,
Obamacare must be stopped, but we cannot stop it with political games. And, frankly, any threat to shut down the federal government over funding Obamacare in the Continuing Resolution is a political game and a distraction.
We cannot stop Obamacare by defunding it through the Continuing Resolution because there would be very little, if any, funding of Obamacare in a continuing resolution to begin with! A continuing resolution dictates “discretionary” spending and, unfortunately, that does not apply to the Obamacare spending that is already mandated by law.
Should we repeal, replace, defund, dismantle, and do everything we possibly can to stop Obamacare? Of course! But the Continuing Resolution is not the way to do it.
Friends, you know how committed I am to stopping this disastrous healthcare law.
I am a nurse. My husband is a doctor. And together we are small business owners. We understand the very real and chilling effect that Obamacare is having on our healthcare providers and our economy. That’s why I left nursing – my life-long dream – in 2010 to run for Congress. And, it is still the reason that I leave my husband and son each week to go to Washington.
I am as committed to stopping Obamacare today as I was 3 years ago when I ran for Congress. But we have to do it the right way and we have to work together.
There are many different ideas on our side of the aisle for repealing and replacing Obamcare and I’ve been proud to vote 40 times on legislation that would repeal or dismantle the law. I have even introduced the DEFECT Act (Delaying Enrollment in Federal Exchanges to Certify Trust) to continue to combat Obamacare.
Like you, I know Obamacare will wreak havoc on our economy if we don’t completely and permanently dismantle it. And a majority of Americans agree with us!
We may not agree about the best strategies for dismantling Obamacare, but we can all agree that it must be done. I hope we can stop the political games and distractions and start working together to fully repeal and replace Obamacare so that we can get America back on track to a healthy and thriving economy.
Thank your for your support,
Renee Elmers
Dave – This article in RedState tears your defense of the GOP beltway establishment and their brown nosers to ribbons:
http://www.redstate.com/2013/08/26/republican-leaders-and-their-changing-stories/
Just to flesh out the NC-2 picture a bit, Rep. Ellmers has, along with Speaker Boehner, refused to sign onto House Resolution 36, establishing a special investigating committee to find the answers to key questions about the Benghazi massacre of four Americans, almost a year ago. The White House has done all in its power to prevent revealing the decisions (and indecision) prior, during and after the attack on our people by radical Islamists at Benghazi.
Most recently, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Tex) issued, at the request by 1000 special operations veteran members of Special Operations Speaks, a Discharge Petition requiring 218 US House of Rep signatures, that will by-pass the Speaker, and force a vote on House Resolution 36.
We urge Rep. Ellmers to sign the Stockman Discharge Petition, as the right thing to do for America and for the families of the four murdered Americans.
Go to SpecialOperationsSpeaks.com for more information.
tsk tsk tsk…with all the Marxists running around Washington ala the Democrat Party and BHO appointments, you’d think Republicans would take a definitive stand. Nope, most of ’em wanna stay in their foxhole. Head down, make yourself as small as possible. Don’t make any waves, you might draw fire. Mark Levin calls them the French Republicans I call them the Neville Chamberlain Republicans…appease, compromise, go along to get along. Basically sell outs and snivelers (especially in weepy Boehner’s case). What the Republican Party needs are more Reagans, Thatchers, Jeffersons and far less Neville Chamberlains.