{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/op-eds?ID=1628c52e-0c77-45c7-be17-c2c064a7f101", "The Fight to Repeal Obamacare", "2015-12-04", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "House", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sen. John Thune \r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\tBefore it became law, Republicans in Congress warned of the damage the so-called Affordable Care Act would cause and the burdens the American people would face as a result. Five and a half years later, Obamacare  as it became known  has chipped away at family budgets, squeezed small business growth, and led to fewer choices for patients and their doctors. Obamacare has broken nearly every promise its Democrat authors made to the American people, including the oft-repeated promise that if you liked your doctor and health care plan you could keep them, period.\r\nObamacare is broken  it always has been  which is why Republicans who campaigned for the Senate majority in 2014 promised voters that if they gave us the chance, we would send an Obamacare repeal bill to President Obama. Despite fierce opposition from Democrats and the president, Senate Republicans have now made good on that promise.\r\nNow that the Senate has passed a repeal bill, the ball will soon be in the presidents court. He can either support this measure and help lift the burdens Obamacare has placed on the American people, or he can double down on his failed policies. If the president chooses the latter, it will be clear to the American people that the only thing standing in the way of an Obamacare repeal bill being signed into law is the current occupant of the White House.\r\nThe evidence to suggest repealing this fundamentally flawed law is necessary couldnt be any clearer. Obamacare was supposed to lower health care premiums. It didnt. It was supposed to reduce health care costs. It didnt do that either. And it was supposed to protect the health care plans Americans wanted to keep, which couldnt be further from the reality. Obamacare was sold to the American people as a health care solution, but its turned out to be yet another health care problem.\r\nSince Obamacare was signed into law in 2010, Ive heard from countless South Dakotans who have shared with me their personal stories about how this burdensome law is affecting their families. One person recently wrote to tell me that her and her husbands health care plan is going up by more than $8,000 next year. Thats a staggering amount of money. What family can afford such a significant increase in expenses from one year to the next? Sadly, thats only one of many stories Ive heard, and these stories arent unique to South Dakota.\r\nIts time to move away from the presidents broken health care law and toward the kind of health care reform Americans are actually looking for: an affordable, accountable, patient-focused system that gives individuals control of their health care decisions. Its what the American people want, and its what they deserve.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/op-eds?ID=1628c52e-0c77-45c7-be17-c2c064a7f101"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9282329119741917, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}