By Bill O'Reilly
It is absolute chaos in Washington; Republicans trying to destroy Obamacare, Democrats desperately trying to hold on to the new law which kicks in this coming January 1st.
Today the Senate voted 54-44 to remove language that defunds Obamacare. From the bill that passed the House earlier this week. So, now the bill goes back to the House, which is controlled by Republicans and an effort will be made to neuter the Senate bill. It's a merry go round back and forth and back and forth.
If a resolution is not reached, it's possible that no money will be allocated for anything. Thus, the government would have to shut down. There is bitterness all over the place.
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AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And now you want to threaten to not only shut down our government but to blow up the world economy unless we go back and undo what we did according to the processes of our democracy? How dare you?
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O'REILLY: That soliloquy posed to Republicans, of course and many in the GOP reply this way.
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SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: What we have to think about when we think about ObamaCare is we have to think about do you believe in freedom or coercion? ObamaCare is riddled with mandatory -- mandatory this, mandatory that. I think there are several hundred mandates. When you hear the word "mandate," that's not freedom. That's your government telling you, you have to do something.
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O'REILLY: Now the problem with the debate is that the Affordable Health Care Law was passed legally and the Supreme Court upheld it. But now there is buyer's remorse from the American public. All the polls say majority of Americans do not want ObamaCare because they think it will hurt them.
And initial evidence says that may be true. Here is a partial list of companies and enterprises that are cutting back hours for workers to avoid have higher healthcare costs. Wal-Mart, Trader Joe's, Subway, Sea World in San Diego, Dave and Busters, Lands End, White Castle, Taco Bell, Burger King, Home Depot, Wendy's, Five Guy's Burgers and even the Sesame Place Theme Park in Pennsylvania.
Obviously the folks who could least afford it, hourly workers, are getting hammered and ironically ObamaCare is aimed at helping those people. Nevertheless, the President is standing firm.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over the last few weeks, the rhetoric has just been cranked up to a place I have never seen before. One congressman said that ObamaCare is the most dangerous piece of legislation ever passed. Think about that. Affordable healthcare is worse than a law that lets slave owners get their runaway slaves back. I mean these are quotes. I'm not making this stuff up.
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O'REILLY: And there has been hysteria over ObamaCare no question. But it's not just on the right, Mr. President. Many of your supporters have entered the land of lunacy.
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SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: We're not going to bow to Tea Party anarchists who deny the mere fact that Obama is the -- ObamaCare is the law. We will not bow to Tea Party anarchists who refuse to accept the Supreme Court ruled Obamacare to be constitutional.
DAN PFEIFFER, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: We are for cutting spending. We're for reforming our taxes. We're for reforming our entitlements. What we're not for is negotiating with people with bomb strapped to their chest.
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O'REILLY: That bomb would be denying funding to the government by shutting it down. "Talking Points" believes there should be a compromise. Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia says he would support a one-year delay for folks who do not want to be forced into the ObamaCare arena.
But the truth is that the Senate and the President will never give up the whole deal, they'll never going to do it. And so if a compromise is not reached the government could essentially shutdown. That would tank the stock market, affect our military people fighting overseas and break down essential services across the board. In effect Washington would become Detroit, a place completely out of control.
And there are some Americans who don't care. But most of us do care. We don't want scorched earth and we don't want a government shutdown that would directly hurt many of our fellow citizens.
So it is that President Obama and the Republican leadership in Congress must sit down and hammer out a deal. Both sides have to give something here. Those who will not compromise will be hurting the country and the American people will know exactly who they are.
And that's "The Memo."
- You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com.
