Excellent. The other day I opined here that all legal efforts should be made by Republicans to impede the Independent Payment Advisory Board from becoming operational. One way, I suggested, would be for Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader McConnell to refuse to participate in naming people to the would-be board — since it would be paradoxical to state on one hand that the IPAB is horrible policy, and then on the other, suggest people you would like to see in its leadership. Well, wonder of wonders: Both have informed President Obama that they will not be recommending names for nomination. From the Washington Examiner story:
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., sent a letter to President Obama today informing him that they would not be making recommendations for the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), as they are allowed to do under the president’s 2010 health care reform law. ”We believe Congress should repeal IPAB, just as we believe we ought to repeal the entire health care law,” the Boehner and McConnell letter reads.
Way to go! The next step is to use Senate confirmation hearings to educate the American people about why the IPAB is un-American and shatters representative democracy. Pound it, pound it, pound it! Then, Republicans and commonsense Democrats in the Senate should refuse to confirm any nominated members to the board, using a filibuster if necessary. After that, defunding and eventual repeal.