As we know, Congressman Blum is on the fringes of Congress. He has consistently demonstrated that he is far more beholden to the secretive House Freedom Caucus than to his constituents. Today will be a test of whether or not he has learned from the mistakes of his first year and is willing to finally represent hardworking Iowans. This test will come in the form of an embarrassingly repetitive yet telling vote to defund Planned Parenthood and repeal the entire Affordable Care Act without an alternative.
In Congressman Blum’s own words: “What’s the point?”
“Given that Congressman Blum has already asked ‘what’s the point’ of voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, it should be a no brainer for him to stand up to his party leadership and show some common sense,” said DCCC Spokesman Tyler Law. “If he votes for repeal – without any alternative – it’s just further proof that he is another typical politician that says one thing and does another.”
BACKGROUND
2015: Blum: President Obama “Going To Obviously Not Sign” Obamacare Repeal. “When CQ Roll Call asked freshman Republican Rod Blum of Iowa if he bought the argument that Republicans could tackle the health care law through reconciliation, he made it clear that just because he’s new, he’s not naive. He rephrased the matter as a question of whether Obama would sign such a measure. To which the answer, according to Blum, is ‘not a prayer.’ So why do you keep hearing leadership dangle this carrot that they could actually use reconciliation? ‘I ask that myself,’ Blum said. ‘What’s the point? He’s going to obviously not sign it. So are we making a statement that we’re against Obamacare? I think America knows that. I mean, I ran on that in my district.’” [Roll Call, 4/13/15]