In Congress, health care divide remains

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court's decision to uphold President Obama's health care law was received on Capitol Hill in the same divisive manner in which it was passed two years ago, highlighting the stark divide between the two parties and setting up a central debate in the 2012 congressional elections.

Congressional Republicans vowed to continue their efforts to repeal the 2010 health care law. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said the House will vote on July 11 to repeal the law, but the vote is a symbolic response to the 5-4 decision.

House Republicans have already voted 30 times to repeal the law. Democrats control the Senate and with Obama in the White House, there is no path forward in this Congress for Republicans' repeal efforts.

That means Republicans have shifted their focus to the November elections and the hopes they can retake the Senate and the White House. "Now it just means that we need to get congressional majorities to repeal it," said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who is running for the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., echoed the call for full repeal and said those efforts hinged on "new leadership" in the White House and Senate.

For Democrats, and particularly Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the ruling was a vindication of their 2010 efforts to pass the law, which played a role in costing Democrats their House majority, and Pelosi the speaker's gavel, that year.

Pelosi said she called Vicki Kennedy, the widow of the late senator Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and said with the decision "he can rest in peace." Kennedy, who died in 2009 before the law was passed, spent much of his Senate tenure working to enact universal health care coverage.

"We're very, very excited about this day. It's historic, it ranks right up there with when we passed Social Security and Medicare," Pelosi said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was willing to work with Republicans to fix problems with the health care law through its implementation, but he made it clear he would entertain no repeal efforts. "The matter is settled," he said, "It's time for Republicans to stop refighting yesterday's battles."

The court's decision provides a rallying point for Republicans this November, said Rep. Allen West, a Florida Republican popular within the Tea Party movement. "I think if you go out there and talk to the people there's incredible resolve and vigilance," he said, "I think this was the worst decision that could have come down for the Obama administration."

Pelosi brushed off suggestions that the law will be a central election issue in November, or detrimental to Democrats if it is. "The politics be damned. This is about what we came to do," Pelosi said, adding that Democrats are now focused on full implementation of the law.