Top Republican Floats Obamacare Voter Registration Ploy

[DonViejo]

SAHIL KAPUR MARCH 29, 2013, 10:55 AM

A senior Republican congressman is seeking answers from the Obama administration on why the draft application form for Obamacare benefits asks if the applicant wants to register to vote.

The White House has said it’s simply following a 1993 law called the National Voter Registration Act, which seeks to let people register to vote when applying for social services.

But that hasn’t satisfied Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee, who floated the possibility that the Obama administration, in its implementation of the law, is scheming to make people think they must register to vote in order to receive federal subsidies to buy insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

“The position of the question [on the Obamacare application form] could lead some to think voter registration is somehow tied to subsidy eligibility,” Boustany wrote this week in a letter to the Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. He demanded to know what justification HHS has for asking that question and sought a list of documents, including the names of all officials responsible for drafting and approving the form, by April 8.

-snip-

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/03/obamacare-voter-registration.php?ref=fpb

[montanacowboy]

1. OFFS

what next? is this what we pay their salaries and benefits for? Jezus H Christ I am sooooooooooooooooooooo sick of this

[Wounded Bear]

2. Obviously, if someone was dumb enough to check "No"......

the black helicopters would be circling his/her house in mere hours.


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Oh, and for the sarcastically challenged, that was:

[ZOB]

3. It's silly, but maybe to just shut everybody up...

...there could be a disclaimer below it:

"Whether or not you choose to register to vote has no bearing on your eligibility for insurance benefits."

[davidpdx]

11. Exactly

It would be that easy.

And welcome to DU!

[ZOB]

13. Thanks!

I don't understand why we have such a hard time coming up with common-sense solutions, but we always seem to run into situations like this.

I don't believe that there's any implied connection between registering to vote and getting health insurance, but why not just word it so nobody can make that claim?

[davidpdx]

15. It's essentially like the motor voter law

Logic has never been a strong point of the Republican Party.

I'm sure they came up with some conspiracy theories that Republicans would get pulled over since Clinton signed that. ROFL

[Scuba]

4. Hey Charles, you want to find voter interference problems, look inside your own Party.

[JoeBlowToo]

5. Actually, linking mandatory voting to government benefits, tax refunds, subsidies, and contracts...

would be a great idea. Our abysmal rate of participation is a disgrace and is the only reason why the Republican party exists.

[Jamaal510]

7. +1

I think Australia has mandatory voting, and they don't have any problems with it. Republican voters ALWAYS show up to vote, presidential election or not. It's just that more left-leaning voters tend to be more easily disillusioned with the political process. I read somewhere that the percentage of eligible voters who vote is only in the 50s. That's crazy.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

6. And the big deal is because........?

More people voting is good, right? Well, I guess not for Republicans, tho

[Arkana]

8. Boustany's an asshole--I remember his lame-assed SOTU response.

Dude looked like he had no neck.

[66 dmhlt]

9. Well, Mr. Boustany, and the reason you don't want American citizens to vote is ...?

[Mz Pip]

10. No one is preventing anyone from registering GOP.

This guy is an idiot.

[davidpdx]

12. If you check no, the guys in white suits come with a straight jacket

to take you to your cell so you can be brainwashed 24 hours a day...

[Cha]

14. We know, Boutstany, that you don't like People voting in America.

But it's real important for you to suck o\ff the government.