House votes to repeal CLASS Act, 267 to 159

Tonight, the House of Representatives voted to repeal the CLASS Act, a key component of ObamaCare.

This is an important step toward Full Repeal of the government takeover of health care.

The bill now moves to the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, has signalled he will not let it come to a vote.

Twenty-eight House Democrats joined 239 Republicans to pass the bill, which passed with a solid majority of 267 members voting in favor and 159 against. (218 is a simple majority in the 435-member House.)  All the “no” votes came from Democrats, who created the program.

Although President Obama’s staff have said the president would veto H.R. 1173, the White House opted NOT to issue a formal veto threat on the bill, signalling a tacit willingness to sign it. 

The bill, H.R. 1173, introduced by Rep. Charles Boustany, Republican of Louisiana, would repeal CLASS, which stands for the “Community Living Assistance Services and Support (CLASS) Act.”

The CLASS Act, authored by late Sen. Ted Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, presents a massive taxpayer bailout risk.

Democrats included CLASS in ObamaCare to help mask the controversial bill’s true cost. 

Recently disclosed documents reveal that, before ObamaCare was passed, President Obama’s secretary of health and human services (HHS) knew that CLASS was unsustainable but purposely hid the information from Congress.

If the American people had been told about the bailout risk, ObamaCare would very likely not have become law.

This information was covered up — an outrageous abuse of power — until House Republicans forced HHS to disclose it. 

Congressional investigators have proved that the Obama Administration lied to Congress and the American people about CLASS.

They should hold immediate hearings on the CLASS Act cover-up to find out: What did the White House know and when did they know it?

FreedomWorks is working hard to force the Obama Administration to come clean.

We must repeal CLASS as part of the Full Repeal of ObamaCare in 2013.

By educating the public about the CLASS Act cover-up, tonight’s vote moves us a step closer to that goal.

Dean Clancy is FreedomWorks’ Legislative Counsel & Vice President, Health Care Policy.